in her shoes - a feature with the obriens

good morning friends.  it's wednesday which means it's in her shoes feature day :) i have two lovely ladies that have so nicely shared their shoes with us and i can't wait to share.

first, i bring you the lovely rachel of the obriens - take it away miss...

What motivates you to get your day started?

Making my bed. There is just something about a clean, nice bed that makes me feel like I've started the morning out right. I feel organized and prepared for the day ahead. It's almost as if I made one good choice [in keeping the house clean] and that good choice will help me to make other good choices throughout the entire day. That, and saying a prayer first thing in the morning. I feel as if my day has really started when I do those things.

What part of your day do you most look forward to and why? 

I actually look forward to the end of the day. Not because everything is finally coming to a close and a stressful day is over, but I find night so peaceful. It's where I can sit with the hubs, think about what I accomplished, and just relax. I turn off several lights, light candles throughout the house, clean up any messes made throughout the day, then sit in my bed and write in my journal. Sometimes we'll take a walk after the sun has set, or have a nice night out. In Georgia [where I grew up] I use to go sit out on our porch and watch heat lightening streak across the sky, or my sister and I would lie on our trampoline and look at the stars. My favorite time to take road trips is at night. To me, night is beautiful. It's calm, lovely, and reflective. 

What do you like most about where you live?

It's so open here in Utah - you walk outside and it's all mountains and sky. It's breathtakingly beautiful - surreal, almost. The summers are dry and dusty and you're surrounded by desert beauty. Then winter comes and you're engulfed in a whole other world. The snow falls, the ground turns white, and the bare, empty trees become ethereal objects of elegance. 

What part of your day is the most difficult and what do you do to overcome that?

Getting out of bed is always the hardest for me. Mornings use to be my favorite part of the day; I couldn't wait to jump out of bed and get going. Now, it takes everything I have just to pull myself away from the covers and open my eyes. I'm not sure why or when it started being so hard, but I tried everything I could to get over it, to enjoy mornings again. It was especially hard because if I don't start my day out right, if I don't have a good morning, my whole day could fall apart. I finally just told myself I couldn't think about it; I couldn't think about how much I didn't want to get up. As soon as my alarm goes off, I pull the covers off and get in the shower. As soon as I'm out of the shower I get dressed; I do my hair; I eat breakfast; I put on my makeup, etc. I don't sit down or stop until I'm completely ready, even on weekends. I kind-of came up with a little motto after that that I use for all areas of my life: Just do it. Don't think about how hard it will be or how much I don't want to do something. Just get up, and do it. Soon, the hard part is over and I can enjoy the aftermath of being done. 

What do you love most about yourself today?

I love myself for believing in fresh starts. For accepting the imperfections that use to hold me back; for telling myself that it's ok to fall short; and for believing in progression and improvement and accepting the challenges and trials of everyday life.

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thank you rachel for being a part of this series and sharing your shoes with us.  where you live looks absolutely breath taking, and all of us should love ourselves the way you do :)

another in her shoes feature is coming this afternoon with lynzi of lil mrs housewife