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SIMPLE + TRUE

by Grace Theisen

Simple + True EP available now on iTunes and Spotify.

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Seeing Mackinaw by my favorite mode of travel. 😍 - Today I learned that this hotel has over 700 employees from all walks of life and countries. Every year they close their doors for six months, turn off most their electricity and brave the winter. Why? Because it’s cheaper to do repairs every spring and re-paint the hotel then to pay for electrify for 6 months. 😳 This is the one out of eleven wooden hotels left in the world and they have a 90% occupancy rate every season. - How? Because every spring each worker-from CEO to dishwasher-participate in the opening of the hotel and everyone does whatever is needed to make it happen. Your a waiter? Great you can help paint. You tend to the horses? Awesome you can help unload dish-ware. The owners and their family can be found consistently on their hands and knees scraping floors right alongside the kitchen staff or planting flowers with the gardeners. - Today we passed one of the owners and she was in a staff apron working beside the florists making bouquets for customers. It wasn’t until our guide pointed her out later that I even noticed who she was. - There’s no ranks. There’s no status levels. There’s no hierarchy. It’s about family. It’s about everyone pitching in to get the work done. It’s about realizing that while you may be some big wig CEO working next to someone who comes from the slums in Jamaica... you have a commonality in tending and taking care of a place that’s over one hundred years old. It’s about crossing boarders, races, economic status, genders and cultural barriers to simply realize we were all created from One source and that means we’re all just one big giant family. And you dont treat family as strangers. You embrace them, love on them, and get to know them on a deep level. - I think there’s a lot we can all learn from the history of the @grandhotelmichigan. The next time we want to elevate ourselves because we did “X, Y, OR Z” or know “so and so” remembers that none of it matters in the end. Status or possessions do not go to heaven with us. People do.
When your parents and sister try to surprise you with a weekend trip to Mackinaw... but the moment your sister texts you and says: “Make sure you pack dressy clothes and jeans...” you instantly say: “GRAND HOTEL MACKINAW ISLAND AND WE GET TO RIDE HORSES.” 😎 - It’s hard to surprise me when going to my FAVORITE place on earth. It’s decided. I’m moving here and becoming a horse carriage driver. 😍 - Mackinaw day one... you were an absolute dreamboat. Full of delicious food, drinks, scenery and of course shutting down the dance floor with my family. I CANT STOP SMILING. - PLUS THERES ROCKING CHAIRS ON THE WORLD’S LARGEST PORCH. I feel like a tiny doll in a massive castles day it’s kind of amazing.
My time at home has consisted of so many great things. Simple things... but fantastic things. -Windows are rolled down more than up. -Makeup is never worn. -Nights are spent reading not scrolling. -Belly laughs are a constant. (Thanks Kim and Amy) -Hair is never washed. (Because swimming in the lake is bathing right?) -Jeans and boots are my go-to. -Horses and my sweet 4-H community are a must. -Country music is always blaring. -My schedule is not overflowing. -God has space to say things to me. -Loneliness and pain are felt, sat in, acknowledged but not numbed. -Family has become my number one. But the best part? I can feel the stress, the pain and the pressure melting off. - I am starting to feel LIGHT. I am starting to feel FREE. I am starting to feel 100% ME. - So the question to myself lately has been “Why? Why did you let yourself to get to the point of falling a part before you made a change?” The answer? FEAR. I FEARED change. I FEARED letting go. Moving on. Going back to the basics. I FEARED that simpler would equal less important. Less noticeable. Less “showy.” - But in fact it’s made everything in my LIFE more noticeable to the most important person I have to take care of: ME. It’s shown me what actually matters and what doesn’t. - Guys. I’m begging you. DO NOT WAIT. Don’t stay in a situation that’s toxic. Don’t stay in the relationship for the sake of just “getting by.” Quit the job that makes you want to pull your hair out. TRULY. GO TAKE YOUR LIFE BACK. Let God completely turn your life upside down. Because WE ONLY GET ONE. And if we aren’t doing it courageously... what’s the point? - For me taking courage and moving through my fears didn’t mean some big fancy change. It simply meant (and still means) moving home, going to see that counselor, clearing my schedule, REST, learning how to slowly face life without without pain meds, taking the anti-depressant and facing the root of my problems. - I have NO idea what the future holds. But I do know Who holds My Future. And I can honestly say... I am not worried about it. Life is worth the living when it’s lived well. But it’s up to US to make the changes to make sure it isn’t passing by without us.
I use to workout because I wanted to get skinny... I had an obsessive mind that thought “if I just... A,B,C... I’ll be happy.” - Six years of chronic pain and now? I workout to be strong. To fight the pain. To fight depression, anxiety and a victim mentality. - LADIES: don’t wish today away with that kind of thinking. YOU ARE YOU TODAY. How MUCH I WISH I could go back and say to myself, “BUT IF YOU ONLY KNEW WHAT LIES AHEAD... ENJOY EVERY SECOND OF BEING PAIN FREE. YOU’RE PERFECT TODAY.” - And yet hindsight 20-20 is such a beast right? I would give ANYTHING to live in a body that doesn’t hurt. But right not that’s not my reality... so today? I won’t wish it away. I am thankful for what my body CAN do. Because what if tomorrow I can’t walk? Or I lose my legs in a car crash? One. Day. At. A time. - ALSO SKINNY DOESNT EQUATE HAPPY. - Stop comparing. Seriously. I guarantee someone is looking at this picture thinking, “Yeah but... you’re A, B, C.” NO. I’m not. I’m not perfect and no one has an easy life because of looks. Just STOP. (Speaking to myself here too.) No one knows that this picture took a panic attack, depression and not wanting to leave bed after a 12 hour slumber and a song to get me out of bed and face LIFE. To face PAIN and my reality and took an entire car ride to pray for a mindset change to get to THIS picture. - Love the body you have today. Cherish it. Treat it like a FRICKEN TEMPLE. Because comparison and negativity? Yeah they don’t even exist in hindsight 20-20. All you wish is how MUCH you weren’t so hard on yourself. Trust me. - Don’t let Pain be the thing to teach you this lesson. Workout because you want to be able to be able to hold your ground when life tries to knock you down. That’s it. And when someone compliments me for looking stronger? I smile so big. Because only I know how long it’s taken me to get here. - So the next picture you want to compare your life too? Say 5 things you love about YOU. OR an easier solution? GET OFF INSTAGRAM. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Because everyone has the right to post. And if we can’t handle it or get critical? Then it’s time to get off or unfollow.
I know I have a gaurdian angel named Harold but lately I have come to the conclusion he has come to me in the form of a cat named Roo. 🤗 #hemahnumberoneboy #weirdestcatever #bestcatever #neverleavesmyside #acatwholovesroadtrips #graceandroo
I wrote a very honest blog about how an unexpected relationship led me back to Love. This one was easy to write or share... because if I am being honest it all still feels a bit raw. I don’t know about you but I’ve only had two relationships and both of them came this year-at age 26. It was my independence that swore off dating before this and it was dating that showed me my much needed DEpendence on the Lord. Below is a snippet of it. - “I recently came to the realization that for most of my 26 years on planet earth, I’ve lived with fear in the driver’s seat. I have been subconsciously scared of things and people that believe or live differently than the way I do. - I have feared failure, change and relationships, or really anything that came close to rocking my boat (Yep. I tried to live under a rock in my mind). I have used “independence” as a blanket to cover up all of my inner fears. I wanted to portray to others that I was strong and confident, a woman who didn’t “need anyone else” because I could do it on my own. - However, the truth is, I really just feared letting someone else into my imperfections. I feared letting all of my colors show. I feared rejection. I feared conflict. I feared questioning. I feared LOVE. A few months ago, in the middle of the hardest season I’ve faced yet, an unexpected relationship entered into my life. At first, I found myself uncomfortable, confused, terrified, awkward, excited, and if I am really being honest, judgmental. We were at different places in life and had different experiences with faith growing up; and, since I had seemingly walked with the Lord for as long as I can remember, I thought it would be best for me to take matters into my own hands by trying to control the outcome. Fear convinced me that my way was the best way and that my way was the only way, when really, my way was simply the only way I had ever known. It wasn’t until this past week that God showed me so much more. He opened my eyes to see that this unexpected person was actually a precious gift that He placed into my life to bring me back to my first Love. - Let’s rewind so I can explain. (Link in bio to finish)
I will forever be the girl in @nike shoes and @adidaswomen socks... She will forever be the girl in Birkenstocks. - And somehow this unlikely shoe duo will forever be best friends who rock. 🤗 - Also cheers to attempted pressionate kisses for the queen herself, @emilysue322, when really I think I need more lessons in how to kiss a little less intensely. 😂🙈
When you’ve been around people and kids 24/7 for an entire week straight (for an introvert who currently lives alone... this is a LOT) the best way to rejuvenate is to escape ad spend time with this sweet Mama. - Who needs counseling when you have a Wilma?!? She’s the best kind of listener! 😂😍😭 (totally kidding. Everyone needs counseling. Especially with a real person.) - Also cheers to not taking a real shower in over a week and teaching your nieces that showering in the lake and wearing braids 24/7 is equally as healthy and efficient. 🙈 #lovelakelife #thatsconsideredcampingright - And now on to MARRYING @emilysue322 tomorrow!!! - #horsegirl #farmlifeforever
When you finally get to see your sweet girl again after 5 years and you instantly feel a rush of peace. All is well in the world when I am with this mama. She has always been a source of comfort and joy. (Plus sass and hormones.😂) I am SO excited to spend the next month with her. She’s only gotten more beautiful with age. - So so so thankful for my 4-H community, all that it taught me, and for the opportunity to come back, help out, rest and rejuvenate for these next few weeks at home doing things that I love. 🤗

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Finding beauty in pain, through creating art, in pursuit of redemption. 

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