Major Life Change!! New Seasons and Brave Steps

EEK!


I've been waiting to write this blog post for a few weeks. I'm really nervous and feeling so many emotions right now!

About a month ago Josiah and I were chatting about what it would look like financially if we moved back to Virginia and he commuted back to NYC Monday-Wednesday for grad school. WHOA, right?? It all started after a conversation with my friend Rachel about how much money we would save if we moved back to Virginia for Josiah's thesis semester after Christmas. Both of us were shocked at how feasible it actually started to sound, and after many many prayers and tears and wisdom talks with our mentor types, we finally have made the decision to move back to Virginia Beach after our Brooklyn lease runs out at the end of June. 

This decision was made not simply because we can't afford to live in Brooklyn, or because we don't trust the Lord. It's because we want to always have our future in mind, and make the wise and right choice, even if it is seemingly the difficult one. We genuinely feel like God is opening SO many doors to be able to move back to VA. Not only will I be able to do hair in Hampton Roads FULL TIME (yes, dear clients of mine, you get me all the time!) but I will be able to work on music endeavors with my band Garland, and Josiah will be able to be a full-time student again and work on his writing completely, which has been our desire the whole time that he's been pursuing his MFA. This last semester has been the hardest for us concerning Josiah's school, because he has had to work almost full time and juggle grad school at the same time, but we feel like God is opening the doors for me to be able to support us financially for this next year to better our future and his career. I feel SO passionate and excited to be able to work for us in this season. I feel like God truly has given me the grace and the favor with my work to do this whole-heartedly and with true enjoyment! 

So, this means Josiah will be commuting up to NYC for classes Monday-Wednesday. Some people may think that is crazy sauce, but honestly it is the best thing for us in this season. We can just agree to disagree if you don't agree with it :) I have been commuting to Virginia for this past year, sometimes for two weeks out of the month, and we both agree that Josiah being gone for shorts spurts of time, with me being busy with my work and having my support system around me, is a much better option for the both of us. Not to mention the $20,000 in student loans it will save us. Cray cray, right?! 

We have so many emotions flooding in right now. We have absolutely fallen in love with NYC, Brooklyn, Greenpoint, and our TGC Williamsburg community. I definitely plan on coming up with Josiah and visiting, and will miss the lifestyle (even though it's insane) so so much. I am also filled with hope and excitement at the thought of doing hair full time in VB, which is my absolute favorite thing to do. I am filled with humility and gratitude and I think back to a year full of clients who stretched out appointment times and waited later than their appointment was schedule to support me, and ultimately help Josiah and I be able to survive in one of the most expensive cities in the US. I absolutely couldn't have done it without you, and I am so excited to meet even more clients and wonderful people through my profession. (If you have hair questions, always feel free to contact me!) 

We are genuinely excited for this new change. Excited to live closer to our parents and siblings, excited to get connected into CBC again, and ready to pursue our dreams with all the new talents and strengths NYC has brought to us.  Will it have challenges? Of course! Every season does. That's why we constantly leaning into God's grace and strength. 

In Christ Alone, My Hope Is Found. 

xoxo Wynt In (and out of) The City

Trigger Happy

Bits of New York life that I don't want to forget :) 

Spring Lip Shades, and A Little Gush about NYX Soft Matte Lip Cremes

Yay for Spring!!







Today was so breezy and inviting outside, so Josiah and I headed to one of our favorite Greenpoint Spots called Bakeri! It's the cutest, most feminine cafe I've ever laid eyes on, and I love their breads and chai lattes (aka a chai latte in an enormous literal bowl!)

I've been saving money like a madwoman, which has felt really nice! When your monthly rent is more than most monthly home mortgage payments in your hometown, you learn to not spend money. On anything. Except for the occasional grocery store trip! but I saved up a bit and purchased four FAB but inexpensive lip colors. 

(from top L, clockwise)Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Audacious, NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme in Buenos Aires, NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme in Ibiza, NYC Soft Matte Lip Creme in Monte Carlo. 

Okay, so I am mildly obsessed with NYX Soft Matte Lip Cremes for a few reasons. They come in a lipgloss case, their pigments are so rich, and they are only $6 per tube! Can't even beat that for the amount of last and the smooth glide the creme provides. So head out to your local NYX provider and grab you a couple Spring shades today! Try something brighter, lighter, or more daring than before and rock it with all confidence because you are a woman and because style is just plain fun.

xo

Wynt in The City

Messy vs. Dirty: The Heart and The Home

I just got back into Brooklyn yesterday morning from what seemed like an endless and tumultuous month of traveling on and off. I wanted to get some cleaning done this morning before work, so that when Josiah and I both get off work tonight we can just relax instead of being stressed out at the mess that post-travel suitcases and bathroom bags bring. I only had a few hours allotted before work so I knew I had to choose which cleaning tasks were most important. Immediately my mind went to dishes and bleaching the entire bathroom + kitchen sink. As I was doing this (I promise this is getting somewhere!) I realized that I would prefer a messy house that is clean, rather than a tidy house that is dirty. The living room still had suitcase explosions practically taking over, and blankets everywhere and just a mess of untidy-ness, but I knew just felt it wouldn't be right to only pick up the clothes and make it look nice to the eye, while leaving the kitchen sink yucky and the bathroom dirty. Mind you, I understand in an ideal world you would tidy up and THEN deep clean, but again note the time crunch that is my entire life! I know people in my life that are the exactly opposite to my though process. They would rather live in a dirty house that is tidied up and looks presentable. I don't know if they would actually be open to saying those exact words, but it's very obvious in the way that they live and run a household. 

While I was cleaning, the Lord really began to stir up in my heart the similarities of my thought process to a matter of the heart. Was I someone who would prefer a clean/pure heart and be honest about the issues (or mess) that remained in my flawed person, or would I prefer to look like I have everything together and not have messy relationships/ be afraid to confront my friends and family in love about REAL issue  all the while ignoring the intentions of my heart?! BAM. Just like that I found myself repenting to God. I was suddenly burdened with an intense desire to see the people I know and love be honest, be repentant, be CLEAN before God and look less-than-perfect. Because really, who are we trying to fool? You know the people in your life that try to look like they have everything together with their seven jobs and their ten kids and their perfect marriage, but we all know that everyone has their own struggles. We are human beings, and a beautiful part of being human is the unity that comes with honesty and weakness.  

Recently, a few things have happened in my friend group that have caused a stir of conversations. Some of these chats were of genuine happiness or concern, and some revealed deep hidden ideals in hearts that caused me to really look back and reflect on my own beliefs and convictions. In the world I live in (Brooklyn/NYC specifically) I am challenged daily to whether or not I will stand up for my belief in Jesus Christ as my savior, or will I cooly step back and blend into the apathy and godlessness that is the "city life." My pastor here in Williamsburg, BK recently gave a statistic to us about our community. He said that less than half of one perfect of our community attends a church meeting on a Sunday morning.  Immediately upon hearing this I truly wanted to vomit. Can that possibly be real? And if it is real, what does that say about our city/neighborhood? Initially my thought was solely that this city needs Jesus so desperately. More desperately than I've seen in any of the missions trips I've been on/3rd world countries I've lived in combined. But today as I was deep cleaning my kitchen sink, I realized that where I was raised you wouldn't know the true statistic of what percentage of the population even attended church on a Sunday morning, let alone who believed they had a relationship with Jesus Christ the Son, God the Father, and Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. So many people in a "Bible Belt" culture would say, "Of course I go to church on a Sunday morning!" and even more would say, "Yes, I'm definitely a Christian!" and the conversation would possibly stop there and no deeper questions would be asked. Maybe the surveyor wouldn't have second thoughts as to if that person was being truthful, or if they were just trying to look tidy on the outside and inside of the southern cultural norm. Maybe that person inside feels so lost. Maybe that "statistic" hasn't believed that Jesus Christ was God since they were fifteen years old, but no one has bothered to dig deep enough to notice, so they just quietly slip out of youth groups and Sunday school class, and into a different friend group with enough alcohol and drugs to numb their mind so they don't have to ask the hard questions anymore because it's just too difficult. 

Think about this:

"But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts." -1 Thessalonians 2:4

As a believer, we are told plainly in Scripture that God will test our heart's intent. Yes, learning how to be obedient to God and follow the guidelines laid out for us in Scripture is super important!!! But maybe even more important is the way we allow God to test our hearts and make known to us the true results of his testing. Out of that cleansing process, I believe God allows us to grow into stronger believers, into more obedient, humble, and serving Christians through the help of the Bible and his Spirit that lives inside of us as believers. Speaking the truth to friends in love is NOT easy. Most of the time they get mad at you, and possibly in extreme cases cut you out of their lives because they misunderstand you, or they don't want to deal with the truth of what you're saying. That doesn't mean it isn't right, or more importantly what you are CALLED to do as a Christian and a lover of Jesus. 

I don't think I'm saying anything new here. I don't think I'm above the very thing I'm trying to draw your attention to. It's because I struggle with this issue that I want to write about it. In a way it keeps me accountable, and in a way I just like to read back through my blogs and read about what God was doing in my life when I lived NYC in 2015. 

If you're reading this, know that I prayed for you. I prayed that God would stir something so deep in your heart that you can't close the browser tab of my blog and just forget. Spend some time today in prayer and mediation, and ask God to show you your heart's intention, because sometimes we can fool even ourselves into thinking our spiritual house is clean AND tidy, instead of realizing we haven't deep cleaned in quite some time. 

Here is the question from scripture that I want you to read out loud to yourself:

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." - Galatians 1:10

Let's work together on this. Let's be real friends and stand together for purity in a generation of blurred lines, and stand for the Gospel in a generation of less than one percent of people who attend church on a given Sunday morning.

xo

Wynt In The City

Worst Blogger Ever

Sometimes life happens at lightening speed. It can flow effortlessly from morning to night, and then repeat on a rapid cycle. In these seasons of days, weeks, or months I find myself gasping for air. In these times I find myself striving for rest, peace, and just five minutes to be ALONE, which is something I never thought I would need so desperately as an extrovert. I've learned that being an extrovert doesn't mean you NEVER need alone time. Anyone who has a brain, soul, and beating heart needs alone time.

Living in New York is hard. When I say hard I mean it literally takes a strength that you didn't know you possessed just to do simple everyday tasks. Everyone who lives here understands this freakingly intense struggle, and it bonds you together in a way that no one else can understand. I've connected so well lately to people who either have lived in the City before, or frequent it often. It's definitely changed me, but in ways that are subtle and hard to define. I'm sure in the next six months I will have a clearer vision of what that looks like exactly, but right now all I know is that when I go home people notice a change. They look at me a little differently. Maybe it's a good thing.
I find myself resorting to the things that give me respite from the chaos. Most of the times those things consist of Netflix, my bed, lavender essential oil, and Candy Crush. Just bein' real, y'all.

**I long for the ability to RIGHT AWAY focus on Christ and HIS purpose for my life and HIS plan that makes so much sense (even if that sense is to great for my little brain to wrap around.) That is the only way to remain steadfast when my body, mind, and social ability starts to slip. **

This past week and a half in Virginia was amazing on many levels. I was able to record a music video with my musical counterpart Olivia Dyer (at sunrise in the SNOW. Yes, you read that right!) and work my little tail off, all while having time to spend with loved ones. Even though I enjoyed every second of it, there is still only so much one person can do, especially someone with endo. I refuse to blame my tiredness on endo fatigue, but the fact is that I just shouldn't put myself under the amount of physical stress that I do, even though my mind is keeping up with what's going on. The weekend after my time in Virginia was spent with all of my fellow Jamberry Nails leaders at our leadership retreat, and it was incredible. We were able to bond, share success stories, get real with each other and just flat out laugh and relax. It was work, but the kind of work that lets your body catch up on sleep and standing.

I also notice that my ability to act like Jesus is completely hindered when I don't sleep. I am NOT at all blaming my sin or foolishness on fatigue, I'm just saying my self control loosens up and I make mistakes that I probably wouldn't make when I'm in my right mind. THIS IS WHAT LACK OF SLEEP DOES TO ME PEOPLE! Whoa. I got a little passionate there haha! Anywho. If you are reading this and I offended you, please tell me so we can work it out. I'll be the first one to apologize for my dumbness.... then I read THIS VERSE : "It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones." -Psalm 127:2   and man, it got me. I totally try and take on the full weight of supporting Josiah in school, working any and every job I can, "toiling" away for what?! God knows what we need and He will give it to us as long as we are faithful to Him. I wonder how drastically different my life would look if I put as much effort into my faithfulness to God as I did trying to make money. I would probably look a lot different. Jesus, help me to be more like you. Seriously.

I have been combatting my bad eating habits while in VA (I am not even going to go there...just know that I am not a perfect person!) with fresh juice from Green Street, a hole in the wall juice bar by my workplace. They have an 11 ounce juice that they make right in front of you for $5!! Normally it's carrot, beet, ginger, lime, and apple. It tastes like candy :) So I try and get one every morning in place of the $5 I would've spent on coffee beforehand.

I will post more about my favorite endo-diet allowed foods soon! As soon as I find the time to cook up some new recipes I've been hoarding! Until then...

xo Wynt in the City

Day 4: Finding the Sweetness with No Sugar

Here I am! 4 days after I started this crazy lifestyle change. It feels like SO long ago when I last had coffee or sugar or BREAD! but it's been a very fun challenge thinking of full meals to eat that still taste amazing and make my body actually feeeeel amazing. Josiah keeps me on track during late nights where I feel like ripping my hair out, but during the days I have been feeling great with already improved energy and mood improvements.

I actually tried to go through with this diet a few years ago, and I only lasted a month. I think it was short-lived because I felt like I needed to eat super bland, simple foods to stay within the guidelines of the endo diet, but that's simply not true! It's nice because most Whole30 recipes are all refined sugar free, wheat free, dairy free, etc, so I've really enjoyed following some inspiring cooks on Instagram and drooling over their recipes.

My favorite meal thus far has been a chicken and brown rice dish I made. SUPER simple, but I was feeling creative and came up with a FAB sauce to pair these with. I have yet to come up with a name for it, but for now let's call it:

Spicy Coco-Tomato-Yum Sauce

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 large organic Roma Tomato (diced)
1/2 organic Yellow Onion (chopped)
4 large crushed Cloves of organic Garlic
Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper to taste

Basically just throw it all in a saute pan and simmer for as long as you would like! I let mine simmer for about 20 minutes for the tomatoes to really soak in.

It has the BEST coconutty, spicy, tomato flavor ever ever. and it's endo diet approved!

I've also had some great salads, of course! I've been using olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, with fresh basil to taste for dressings :) 

I have been craving PB&Js sooo so much at night for some reason (when I'm at my weakest and all I want is junk food!) so Josiah created this fabbbb PB&J substitute snack! It's just apple slices, organic peanut butter sweetened a tad with organic raw agave nectar, topped with a raspberry! Best. Snack. Ever. I ate a huge portion of it today because I loved it so much on Saturday night! 

All in all, it's been a good start. I'm just taking this one day at a time, always focusing on how this will hopefully help me beat my endometriosis. BOOM! 

xo Wynt in the City

Not Your Mother's New Year Resolution

I rarely talk openly about Endometriosis, except for with a select group of friends, and never over the internet...ever. Not about my personal struggles, the disease itself, or about the repercussions it can cause in life down the road. Most of the time I try to ignore it, as if my imagination dreamed up this nightmare. I have struggled with this ever since I was 15. As I grew up, the side-effects didn't touch my everyday life except for fatigue, and who in life doesn't have a little fatigue?!

Truth is, it's very real and it's very much getting to the point where I can't ignore it anymore.  

I remember being 18 years old and just getting back from Bolivia. I hadn't figured out what I wanted to do yet so I was living the good life, just spending time with friends and working part-time. I remember very clearly when my symptoms went from annoying to impossible to ignore. The pain I experienced at that moment was so severe that my mom had to pick me up from work right away. She took me to urgent care and after waiting for a few agonizing hours the nurse told me there was nothing they could do. I half expected that response, for I had been hospitalized with pain before and was only given electrolyte water for dehydration. During that week I remember feeling like this wasn't okay. That my body couldn't handle this type of pain anymore and that I needed to stop being lazy already and find. a. solution. I tried all the different solutions that doctors had for me. Lupron injections (extreme side effects including hot flashes, night sweats, and extreme fatigue), many different types of birth control (some that later stated that if take too long can cause infertility), and dieting. Dieting was the only outlet that I truly gave up on because the fatigue of having endometriosis and not drinking caffeine or having sugar while working two jobs and in school COMPLETELY threw me out of commission. All of this while my symptoms would worsen month after month. I hate hate hate the symptoms of endometriosis, specifically the pain. I felt like a baby because of how I acted about it, but I literally felt like my body was falling apart with no relief in pain meds. I never thought I would be that "sick girl" who called out of work or skipped classes because of pain. But here I was, month after month, in quiet agony only understood by the few girls I knew who also had this condition. 

ALL THAT to say...I am tired. 

I am tired of letting pain and fatigue rule my life. I feel the weight of needing to eat right and take care of my body, instead of ignoring a very real and very horrible part of my existence. I am tired of just ignoring the pain when I don't feel it and letting the pain rule my life when I do. 

So, I am making a New Years resolution. Not for a week, but as a lifestyle change. Starting January 1st I will be eating a clean, endometriosis focused diet to starve the phyto-estrogen that is allowing endometrial cells to grow all over my body. I am ready to have energy! I know that it will not be easy, but with Josiah's INCREDIBLE support (no really, he is the BEST!) I feel like this is doable!! 

The diet is simple: no red meats, no refined sugars or honey, no dairy, no caffeine, no wheat/gluten, and no alcohol. Whichhhhh basically means only dark leafy green veggies, lean meats, legumes, only organic eggs, nuts, seeds, and water. whooopieeeeeeeeee

I promise this will NOT turn into a complain blog, though! I plan to share recipes, challenges, victories, and stories of my health progressions with you all. If you think of it, pray for me! I hope in writing all of this out that I can encourage other girls who might have similar struggles. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or if you would like to know more about my diet or endometriosis! 

xo

Wynt in the City