The Messy Bits

Hola amigos,

Lately a theme that has been resonating in my life is about embracing the little things, the small moments that bring me joy, regardless if those moments are big or small. I’ve noticed that I haven’t truly felt joy in things in a while, but I think that is due to the fact that I’ve been waiting for my life to finally be “perfect” or all together…which I’m realizing isn’t going to happen in the near future and maybe not ever.

One of my favorite movie quotes is from the movie Letters to Juliet where one of the characters describes how great it would be for his grandmother to get to marry a man who once was a stable boy but who now owns the whole estate. He says,”And you got to skip the messy bits,” to which his grandmother laughs and replies, “Life is the messy bits!”

I’ve always loved that quote because it is so true, but she puts it in such a goodnatured way. Life is a journey; I don’t have to know exactly what career path I want to follow, or what passion of mine I’m going to have the most success in, or even what my life will look like in five years. Life is the messy bits, and there’s no skipping around it, so you might as well have fun celebrating every little messy piece! 🙂

Soooooo…I wanted to share with you all of the small joys I’ve found in life in the past two weeks (as well as hopefully give you a few laughs!).

I got my wisdom teeth out on the 17th, and the videos that my dad took of me are hilarious!! I don’t even remember 75% of anything that went on in them, but they make for great comedic material in retrospect. Two things were apparent to me after viewing all 14 videos- my vanity was a priority while high (I kept saying I wanted bigger lips for some reason), and I didn’t lose my Spanish!! haha I’ll give y’all a little peek of the insanity below!

My dad and I always say that phrase to each other. “¿Qué pasa, calabaza? ¡Nada nada, limonada!” (the strings are attached to the gauze in my mouth)

Oh goodness, please don’t judge me for my vain ambitions while high hahahaha. Also, bless my poor father! I’m going to go marinate in shame now…

Good news, I’m almost as good as new, and on to eating soft solid foods now. So I decided to try making spaghetti squash the other night for the first time and it turned out great!! My dinner ended up being a healthy sp.sq. pizza bowl with dairy-free cheese and it was delicious!!! I definitely plan on making it again in the future!

And last, but definitely not least, I’ve been getting my dance on!!!! So if y’all don’t already know this about me, I do ballroom dancing, and decided (recently) to specialize in Latin dances, so I’m pumped to be working on that. I did the Winter Olympics, our in-house showcase, on Jan 13th (videos below), and I have some shows/comps coming up in the next couple of months so I’m super excited!!!! More on that later.

CHA CHA

SALSA

I’ve got tons to improve on, but I’m excited to be spending my time on something that makes me really happy! 🙂

What are your small (or BIG!) joys that have occurred in your life lately? If you don’t have an answer right now, then I challenge you to be intentional this week about seeking out joy in the small moments of your life, whether that be at work, at home, or even on the drive in between.

I’d love to hear your messy bits moments- share by either commenting, emailing me, or messaging me on my instagram (@jessipallen)

Can’t wait! 🙂

Live fearlessly authentic – J