Day 16

Ahh, summer dresses. They make me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my miiiiiiiiind. . . oh wait, not the song.

Hehe.

Today's dress is brought to you by Torrid. It's the dress I wore when my husband and I went to the courthouse and signed our marriage papers. It's from last year, and is no longer in the stores, so sorry about that. They do have other really cute dresses at Torrid though, so go check it out! I swear, they don't sponsor me in any way, shape or form, but I am a walking advertisement for their store, SO THEY SHOULD. lol. 

Necklace and earrings from Wal-Mart (believe it or not, they were only 12 bucks!).

Tieks Love Potions - maiden voyage to the porch! Not sure if we're going anywhere or not. I might actually end up changing into some cleaning day clothes later, as my kitchen needs a scrub down. I just felt like being pretty this morning. :) 

Blooper Pics!!

The wind kept trying to get my skirt! 

I was dead heading a rose, but hey, look! Blue prints!! 

Religious Discussion Type of Post Ahead. 

My intent is NOT to offend anyone. Please don't take what I have to say here the wrong way. It's explaining my religion, as I've gotten quite a few PM's about it. I'm open and willing to talk to anyone about religion. These are my beliefs and it's not meant to hurt anyone, or detract from their beliefs any at all. I love each and every one of you, no matter what you believe! I hope you can continue to love me too. <3

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Today happens to be a Sunday. We don't do church in our house, I just like to dress up and look pretty. My husband is an atheist, I'm agnostic-ish and our daughter hasn't figured it all out yet, but is leaning agnostic. My ex is a Pagan and my son is a Christian. 

Biggest reason for my beliefs? I was brought up in a cult like religion (Jehovah's Witness) and when left, I started doing research on religion and I really realized that most of them are the exact same thing. 

Everyone clammors for theirs being better than the others, but when you have over 40,000 types of Christianity, it's a little bonkers. The fact that almost all religions (Christian, Muslim, Buddhism, etc) preach the same thing (love your neighbor, don't be a jerk, follow the teachings of (insert prophet here), be good, share, etc.) but most people who follow those religions don't ACT like their prophet's teachings. They sit in church and pat themselves on the back about it, but when it comes down to it, they aren't helping the homeless, sharing anything, helping their neighbors, etc. It's not hard to look around and see that most people are NOT following Jesus' teachings - and that's just Christianity.

The thing is, no matter how far I look wide, I find that I still remember certain scriptures. Such as: 

Matthew 7: 13-14

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." 

This makes me think that maybe, just maybe, researching your religion and coming to a point where you aren't following church doctrine, but listening to your heart, finding your spiritual balance on your own, and maybe even just trusting that voice inside of you, is the right path.

I'm not putting anyone down for their beliefs. One of the beautiful things about this country is that we all get to believe what we want to. However, for me personally, the further I've gotten away from religion, the more peace I find and the happier I am. 

I guess the motto of today's story is that you should find peace within. Don't look outside of you to love you. Don't look outside of you to find peace, or talk to God. Look within. When you figure out yourself, you find your center and your balance. 

I hope you all have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow! 

P.S. I'm not "spreading my atheist agenda" like someone said I was. *headdesk* Cognitive dissonance anyone?