Travel Bucket List

Bucket Lists! Everyone should have one. We usually have a list of places or things we want to visit/do during this lifetime. Considering this is my travel blog, I decided that I would publish my travel bucket list here.

1. Dubai
2. Africa (mainly West and South)
3. Thailand
4. Greece
5. Maldives
6. Bora Bora
7. South America (Every country)
8. Central America (Every country)
9. Bali
10. NOLA/Essence Fest
11. Las Vegas
12. Jamaica
13. Cuba
14. Spain
15. Croatia

This is just a short list for now. It will definitely expand over the years. I'm looking forward to checking places off and adding more to my list. Where do you want to go? Share your list in the comments!

Love Always,

Kelli 

The Return Home & The Stressful Search

As most of you know by now, I decided to end my journey in Costa Rica and return to the States. I came back last month (April) and moved with my mother to Sebring, Fl. My dad's coming a bit later. Anyways, the choice to come home, as mentioned previously, was not an easy one but it was the right one. I'm glad to be here with family and friends to support me. However, I would not trade my experience in Costa Rica for the world! I met so many amazing people and made so many awesome memories! I can't wait to go back and visit.

When I decided to come home, I immediately started job searching. I applied for a job with Enterprise, the car company, that we all thought was going to be a sure thing. Only, it wasn't. I was extremely disappointed when I got the email that I didn't get the position, after I'd flown to Tampa for 24hrs for an interview. Maybe it wasn't the smartest decision to fly there but for an interview but I thought it'd be worth it.

Since then, I've been searching for jobs here in Sebring and in the Orlando area. The search is extremely stressful and draining. I thought that I'd for sure be able to get a part-time job (or two), to hold me until I could find something full-time. Unfortunately, I was wrong again. It's low season here in Sebring so all of the places are cutting back on their employees and hours. Not hiring like in the DMV for the summer. All of the snowbirds left and since this is a major snowbird town, there's no need to beef up staffing during the summer.

With the exception of today, I've submitted no less than 4 applications a day. Some days I've submitted more than 10. I've been looking for marketing, administrative, adjunct teaching, admissions positions and more. However, it's definitely a struggle.

I ask that you all keep me in your prayers as I continue this search. I pray that I will be gainfully employed by the end of this month and if that's not what I'm supposed to be doing, I pray that God will show me what it is that I am supposed to be doing. I ask that you all pray for the same.

I love and appreciate all of the support!

Love,
Kelli Marie

Courage

Courage. A word that I have heard a lot in the past few weeks in its various forms. So much so, that I think God handpicked the word to be my theme this year. So what is courage? Megan Alvarez says, “Courage is not the absence of fear or despair, but the ability to overcome them.” According to those in my inner circle and some others, I made an extremely courageous decision to quit my life as I knew it and move 2,000+ miles away to a foreign country. I’ve been living in Costa Rica for 6 months now and I’m extremely grateful for their daily reminders of my courageous spirit. It’s hard y’all! It’s really hard to be so far away from friends and family with no local support system. It’s been a really rough past month or so. I’ve been struggling with anxiety and depression for, honestly, probably years now. These last few weeks had me at a pretty low point. I was faced with a major decision and every option, to me, made me feel like I failed. I was reminded by my parents, my siblings, my grandparents and my 3 best girlfriends that, by no means have I failed. It’s taken incredible courage to get here, stay here and make the decisions that I have been faced with. With that being said, I have decided that my time here in Costa Rica is coming to it's end. I will be returning to the States in April and shortly thereafter, moving to Florida with my mom. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my mom's visit to Costa Rica next week and the rest of the time I have here in this beautiful country! I can always come back!

This experience, more than anything, has taught me how to make the best decisions for me, regardless of what others think. It's also been an awesome reminder that I need to keep leaning on God. He'll always have my back.

Anyways, this is a pretty short post for me but I'll be posting after my trip with Mom. Thanks to all of you for the love and support! It's meant a great deal to me and still does! Until next time, don't forget:

Travel out of your comfort zone, Live your BEST life and of course, Be COURAGEOUS! 

Love always, 

Kelli Marie 

Happy New Year! 2018 is here!

My brother's Austin, Aaron and me on my birthday.

It's officially a new year! I'm thankful that we've made it through another year. One of the things I never really thought about before this year is that, most of us celebrate "a new year" twice a year. You celebrate seeing another year of life with your birthday and a new calendar year every year on January 1st. I am blessed to have both of those dates be only days apart. This means that, for me, the end of the year is one big celebration starting with Christmas, continuing with my birthday on Dec. 29th, and ending with New Years Day. 

My Girls and me on my birthday

My grandparents and me at Epcot

I was blessed to be able to go home and spend the holidays with my family and friends. You don't realize how much you take celebrating the holidays together for granted until you miss one. I missed Thanksgiving last year and it really had me feeling down and somewhat depressed. Being home for Christmas was the best present I could've asked for.

My Siblings and me

With the start of a new year, we often think about all the things we want to do better or differently with the fresh start. We usually call them New Years Resolutions (as I'm sure you know). The year 2017 for me was an interesting one. I made a major move to Costa Rica in an attempt to change my life. My family and I suffered some really tough losses (RIP Keaton Mack III, #E4K #LLK. Love you bro!). We celebrated some major successes like my brother graduating from college, my sister getting all A's and B's in grad school this last semester, my parents buying a house in Florida and myself making it through an entire year without being hospitalized due to my stress related illness! (That's major y'all!) We have a lot to be thankful for. All of this was on my mind while thinking about my 2018 resolutions.

My Family on Christmas Day

There were things that I didn't get around to in 2017 either due to lack of motivation, depression or circumstances. I realized that I tend to make resolutions that are pretty lofty and somewhat intimidating. This often causes me to shut down and make no progress on those goals instead of breaking it down into smaller pieces that I can actually work with. On top of that, I'm a career procrastinator. I have always worked better and produced better under pressure. However, I am realizing how detrimental to my health that can be.

With all of that being said, I have a few things that I want to do differently this year. I'm going to list them below:

1. Start each day with meditation/time with God.
2. Read one book/month that will help me further my career goals.
3. Focus on being a better teacher by removing my cell phones from my classroom and not waiting until the last minute to prepare.
4. Focus on being healthier by making better food choices and increasing my exercise.
5. Write more
6. Develop a business plan and do something for my business every month.
7. Use my amazing iBloom Planner daily!!! 

These are just a few of my resolutions.  There is more that I want to do but I'm trying not to overwhelm myself (and you for that matter).

The sun has set on 2017 and as continue our journey in 2018, I'd like to challenge you all to re-evaluate your goals. Simplify them and then break them down into bite sized pieces. Find a planner and break down your plan monthly/weekly/daily and as you complete the things, check them off. It's amazing how accomplished you feel after something as simple as checking off a completed task on your to-do list.

Sunset over the Gulf of Nicoya

 Until my next post, Travel, Live, Be! 

Love Always, 

Kelli Marie