It's the five-month countdown....

Please tell me you were thinking of this song when you saw the post title. Please. I definitely had it in mind while crafting that little bugger. If you weren't, just go ahead and read it again, thinking of Europe in all their glory. (p.s. did you know that Europe released a new album this March?! Not even joking you right now...thanks, Wikipedia.)

Anywho, 'tis true, 'tis true, Lee and I will be wed five months from yesterday! CrAzY to think about, especially since the last few weeks have really brought an overwhelming sense of peace in the present. Get this:  we actually like being engaged!! a.k.a. we aren't sitting around wishing for, "well when we're married 'this,'" or, "only X amount of days...get me outta here!" ("here" referring to engagement).  This has been a constant conversation with us, and even though the goodbyes at night don't get any easier, we are 1) so thankful that we don't have to spend all of our time together on Skype like the good ol' days and 2) both very much enjoying this brief time of engagement in our lives. It's not like we can one day go back and say, "let's just be engaged again!" Not gonna happen. Not because I don't want it to, but because, ummm, marriage. Ya feel me?

This whole notion of having peace in the present is a really profound reality in my life right now, especially as my one-year anniversary of packing up Lady and moving out of Fargo comes up in a week. (Any new followers out there: Lady is my Altima. Read the post I wrote here, or watch a younger, tanner me getting the keys here!) There have been many times over the past year (up until this very day!) where I have thought to myself, "Man, I. miss. Fargo." And, truth be told. I do miss it. But more than Fargo itself, I miss the life I had in Fargo. This blog didn't even capture 1/8 of the many good blessings I received while I was there, but now that the reality has finally set in that I will simply just not live that way again (with teammates, working for FOCUS, mentoring women as a full-time job...), I have been forced to succumb to the reality of the present.

And you know what?

I think I like it!

Not only do I like it, but now that I'm finally starting to realize that this is the daily life of KMK, it's starting to feel normal, not like I'm just trying to fit into life like I'm a piece from the wrong puzzle. Sure, there are rough days when I wish for the way things were, and boy do I miss my friends from the hinterland. But little by little this emotional sap has been coming around to accept the way things are, and actually enjoy myself so much more.

We went to Galena with the Kaufman's for Mother's Day! What a wonderful day.

Swimming into shallower waters...

Today also marks the beginning of a completely vanity-driven attempt at a not having caffeine nor chocolate. Want to know why? Because all hell broke loose on my face and in recent months pubescent style acne has been covering my entire chin. I mean, I've gotten small break-outs here and there, but this is completely different! Even while going through puberty I don't remember having a breakout quite like this.

"Kelsey, don't you think maybe you're a little stressed with the whole wedding/huge life change/still adjusting to Iowa thing?"

Well, maybe. BUT. But but but this might be different. I don't feel really stressed out by those things, and in all honesty wedding planning is kind of a breeze (so far!). I did zero outside research, but after doing a quick overview of my diet and lifestyle, I've realized a few pretty common denominators in recent months:  coffee and chocolate...and I did switch my face-washing system right around the time this all began... SO I am going to resort to my former way of life and ditch the new system (for now!), even though I love the way it makes my skin feel and has just the perfect amount of tingly sensation after step 2. You all know that tingly sensation that just makes your skin feel cleaner?! Even if it actually isn't? That's just the best. But it doesn't quite make up for a chin that could be mistaken for a pizza. So it's time to give 'er a rest and go back to the basics here.

p.s. please ignore the coffee I sipped this morning while getting ready for work; it was Panera coffee leftover from yesterday, I swear! You can't let stuff like that just go to waste...

Anyone else out there in their mid-twenties having acne breakouts? What did you do to get rid of them? Hit me with some advice!