"Even in the midst of tragedy, she can still smile."

A little over two years ago, Emilies father passed away. It was during that exact same time frame that a guy who had recently moved to town started attending her small group Bible study. They had both been to the same party a few months before (and both noticed each other) but they didn't actually talk that night. They began talking at their weekly study and one night, instead of making his normal quick departure, James hung around after it was over and waited for Emilie to finish talking with her friends. It was that night that he asked Emilie out for dinner. He knew this girl had just gone through something so devastating, but yet she was still managing a smile. He saw her sweet spirit in the midst of her personal loss.

Their first date was awkward (aren't they all!) but full of generous conversation. This was something special. They both knew. It was the first serious relationship for both of them, but they knew.

A few months later and despite the fact that they were already discussing marriage, James surprised her on a Monday afternoon hike with a sweet proposal overlooking the city. It was an otherwise average ordinary day, except for these two. These two were about to embark on something magical.

They had a quick engagement filled with excitement and wedding plans. They began their covenant on March 1st, 2014.

When I asked them about their first year of marriage, they both remarked, "if the first year is supposed to be the toughest, then the rest of our lives is going to be pretty amazing!"

Happy one year anniversary to Emilie and James!

The tip: TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS ON YOUR PHONE

Seems so simple and for the longest time, I really did think it wasn't affecting me or causing me to be distracted. However, about two weeks ago I turned off all notifications on my phone with the exception of calls and texts and I am REALLY enjoying the difference!!

All throughout the day before my phone would light up and notifications from FB, email and Instagram would blink onto the screen begging me for attention. I am kind of OCD when it comes to the notification reminders on my phone and I HATE when the little red circles show up inviting me to see what is going on. I HAVE to get rid of them. Paul can keep 1000+ unread emails in his inbox, but there is NO WAY I could do that. I have to clean it up.

So in my previous life (two weeks ago) when I would check my phone for the time or simply see the screen activate, I would see the notifications and quickly scroll through them. That would inevitably lead me to open up an app and look at that. Then I might click on an article or make a comment on someones IG or FB. Then 20 min later I get back to whatever I was doing.

PRODUCTIVITY NIGHTMARE.

NOW I have all of the notifications turned off. Nothing blinks on my screen. No little annoying red dots show on my apps (except for that dumb system update that I am putting off) and I only go and check my email or FB or IG when I have a few minutes to spare in between doing more important tasks for my business or school. (YES, I said school! More on that later. tehehe...don't you hate that???)

I really didn't think I would like this, but I am actually really loving it. I had to turn notifications back on briefly so I could get these screen grabs and I instantly noticed how I fell back into that same pattern. I was very happy to turn them off again.

I am all about will power and making smart choices, but if you do recognize something that is hard for you to resist, and there is something you can do about it to help make it easier to resist....then DO IT!! I have been feeling so much more productive these past few weeks and don't feel as tied to my phone which I am positive will be beneficial not only to my business but to everyone else around me!

If you haven't considered doing this before, I challenge you to try it and see how your day to day activities change for the better!!