L I V E L I M I T L E S S
Hi family!
For those of you who don’t follow me on IG (@TimaGStyle) I just uploaded my update video on how my life is currently going as I now live in Los Angeles on my YouTube channel.
Watch and make sure that you like, comment, + SUBSCRIBE!
More content coming soon.
#LiveLimitless | Tima G. ❤
Hi everyone! It has been way too long since I have written a blog post and honestly, I missed it. For the most part, I use my IG account to share my everyday life (or as much as I think I should share). All that to say, I really wanted to share a small part of the current season I am in.
I feel like most people think I am living my best life simply because I am in the city of many dreams, the city of the creatives, the city of angels. And do not, seriously, get me wrong, I love being here. BUT. Everything in life comes at a cost. Whether Christian or not, there are sacrifices you have to make and decisions you have to choose in order to move forward.
So… This last season I have endured probably the toughest test of my faith (still am). I am not the strongest person in the bunch, but what I am finding is that as long as I am standing on God’s word, I can withstand anything. Some would dare to say withstanding the hits of life makes you weak; you should protect yourself, fight back, do all that you can to make it work, etc. etc. but honestly there is only so much you can do on your own that at a very opportune time, you will crack. And I have.
It all started at the end of February, when I had a crazy feeling I would need to transition from my current job then to another. I ignored the feeling, tried to ride the wave, and boom. On March 29th I was laid off.
Compared to most popular reactions, I was very excited to not be a part of the company because I disliked my position. I was not growing and I was simply not thriving in my skills or talents. Like anyone would, I began to apply to jobs I was most certainly qualified for (or at least I thought) and got a few calls back.
Interview after interview, I did not receive any follow up and did not land a thing. Month after month, I cried and waited and prayed, and doubted, and feared, and you can only imagine. I was near depression. Those 3 long months of April, May, and June without a job IN LOS ANGELES have been the hardest. I was stressed. For sure not financially stable. I had to catch rides in order to save gas. Did I mention my car had the most issues during those three months, totaling up to more than my rent??? I even had to ask my younger brother to help me pay a bill I just could not afford.
Most of you know that I like to think things through (sometimes too long) when making decisions and man… staying in LA has been the hardest yet most growing choice I have made. During that dark time of my life, I have evolved into a passionate, relentless woman who believes the impossible can still happen despite circumstance.
I now work part time, thank God, but it is still hard. Trying to get out of debt and feed myself on a budget is VERY hard. But you know what, I simply want to share this reality because it is not always what it seems. I used to be so open about my wounds and pains in the past, but recently I have only shared highlights of LA living because I felt shame in the reality I am in. Of course, not everyone needs to know the details of my life, but I do believe that by being real in the process I can absolutely encourage someone in a similar situation.
Throughout this time, I have learned that my contentment cannot be established in a job, people with access, money, or possessions. I have developed the most raw and organic way to Jesus’ heart by being very very very open with how I have felt and I would not trade those beautiful moments with Him for any career. My soul is refreshed with His sweet reminders of old promises I forgot about and I cannot wait to see them unfold.
During this time though, I have been working on my personal brand, and a project that is very dear to my heart. You will soon know about this so stay tuned!
Until the pre-view… #LiveLimitless.
❤ Tima G.
Although I really don’t have many, I love statement tees.
When I saw this one at H&M, I knew I needed to get it. At first I didn’t get the full significance of it, but the more I have worn it, the more I have realized I want to embrace every moment I live.
N O W IS NOW.
I’m a vision-driven person, and I love that about myself. What I fail to do often though is to relax and enjoy the ride as I pursue my dreams.
To all those dreamers, goal-setters, and perfectionists, I want to remind you to LIVE IN THE MOMENT. It is great to work towards what you envision, but I think we need to do a better job at celebrating the breaths we have to achieve those goals.
Btw, this whole outfit was so my jam this weekend. I lowkey took risks, and I am so glad I did. 😉 Top is from H&M, denim is from American Eagle, boots from my so loved Zara, and earrings from F21.
Shoutout to one of my best friends as well for my black and rose gold bracelet! Shop her website at Ryanne G.
❤ Video update will be released soon! I cannot wait to share what has been going on in my life so YOU can be encouraged and inspired.
Love you guys.
#LiveLimitless | Tima G.
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting one of my IG followers (that I also follow) to do a photoshoot at an amazing location in Los Angeles. Her name is Danielle Torres and she is a SoCal based photographer. We began to follow each other a while back, maybe two years ago, and we have finally met! We met up at the so-loved-by-bloggers Alfred’s Tea spot on Melrose. After chatting for a few, we headed out to the luxurious Greystone Mansion and took in multiple breaths of fresh air as we walked through its glorious design.
One reason why I love social media is because this generation is able to meet people whom we had never encountered in person 15 years ago. It is bananas how a simple follow will let you grow in a community outside of the photos. Danielle and I love creativity and artistry, so shooting with her was a blast and super effortless.
Danielle is 23, has had a lot of ups and downs in life, but is living life so graciously and so expectant for the best to come. I want to say thank you to Danielle for the opportunity and wanted to feature her work on my blog because she is simply amazing. She loves God, wants to set an example for her family and this beautiful generation we live in, and desires to create magic daily.
If you are interested in getting in touch with her, follow her IG account @daniellecelestetorres. She is incredibly sweet, real, and so humble.
Til next time,
#LiveLimitless | Tima G. ❤
As many of you know, I recently moved to California for an internship with the amazing Bianca Olthoff and her ministry, In the Name Of Love. With only one month to figure out if I should have came, how it was all going to be provided for, etc., God has blown me away with everything that has been happening.
Last year I mentioned to God how I wanted to visit the West Coast before I officially moved to NY. Although NY didn’t work out, I still desired to come out to the sunny state of California. During spring break, I remember trying to plan out a birthday trip with the girls out to LA and seeing who would want to join me. That trip also did not happen but needless to say, I am now in the city of Angels every weekend. What is life?!
Call it luck or coincidence, I know this has been God all along. I might have missed His direction or made it all up in my mind, I don’t know. What I do know is that His favor and protection have been with me all along. People wish of going places and working towards them, (in which I do too) but when you have God on your side, some things just fall on you because He loves you.
This summer I want to challenge how you see God. I want you to simply ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Not in any specific way; just ask Him. He knows what way will speak to your heart more than I can try to suggest.
God is a God of wonder, of grace, of mystery, and of so much adventure.
I really believe He wants to show us more of who He is. Sometimes this new perspective comes when we ask for those desires we have deep in our hearts. Speak them out! Do you want to travel around the world? Ask Him to make a way and provide right opportunities. Have you thought about starting a book? Begin to write it out and ask Him for wisdom on how to publish it. You’ve never had your own car? Oh, He can make it happen. One of my intern sisters got a car as soon as she came out to California. Trust me, He can do it ALL as we seek Him and obey Him. He will never f a i l us. He will always desire to leave us with wonder.
Pray for me as I am in a new land with new expectations. I am praying for all of you my readers. You are all so amazing! And I cannot wait to share more adventures in the future.
As always, follow me on IG / SnapChat to see what I am up to! Til next time!
#LiveLimitless | Tima G. ❤
As many of you know, I planned on moving to New York City about 6 months ago. I began this plan literally one year ago, had a budget, found a roommate, and expressed a lot of faith for my vision to take this concrete jungle by storm.
Needless to say, with wise counsel in my life, I decided that last November was not God’s best time for me to move to NYC. I did go to explore, connect with others, and to be re-inspired by the city that never sleeps.
Very shortly after my 2 week stay, I experienced a rough season. I was questioning if I heard God, if I was going crazy for even trying to go, if I looked stupid for even saying a word about my vision to people, the list goes on and on. My mind waged war within. I wanted to live for Christ wholeheartedly but I was so heartbroken. Where was God in this situation?
I slowly began to drift away from trusting Jesus and His plan for my life. I began to disobey the smallest things because I was careless. In my mind, since God did not care about my plans, I was not going to care about His. But even then, I knew deep inside that God was looking out for me, even when I didn’t see it. I forced myself to stay in church, to serve every week, to invest in others’ visions with what I could, and to simply be faithful with what I had.
I wish I could say it was easy and that I was joyful this entire time, but I would be lying.
It was HARD. Actually, it sometimes still is hard.
I felt like the last one picked out on a team, like God forgot about me and my desires, like everything I had done was unnoticed, etc. And even THEN, I still was faithful with what I had.
A few weeks before my birthday, I was tagged on an IG post for a summer internship and it caught me off-guard because I honestly did not think I was qualified for it. The person that tagged me encouraged me to apply and that same night I filled out that application.
The same week of my birthday, I got an email saying I was one of the girls being considered for the duration of the summer internship. So I interviewed and I just let God take care of everything else. I took a vacation in Miami for my birthday, and it was as if the enemy just wanted to destroy my entire hope. My purse, wallet, cash, and camera got stolen. (blog post here) And you can only imagine how I felt. But even THEN, I praised God and declared Him faithful in my time of loss/violation.
As much as I wanted to just say forget this faith walk, I kept surrendering everything to God. I experienced so much loss in the last year that I felt I had no better option than to continue surrendering my plans and will to Him. Through all my emotions/faith being shaken, I got a second email saying I would get another interview opportunity that would determine my plans for the summer.
I got excited yet nervous because I was not expecting to be a part. I felt like this was too good to be true, too good for me, too big and amazing for little ol’ me.
(WHY DO I UN-QUALIFY MYSELF SO MUCH?!)
As the second interview ended, I prayed and surrendered everything to God all over again. I left my plans in God’s hands. I did my part and now it was up to Him to do His. I only wanted to be accepted if this was part of His plan for my life. And guess what?
I AM GOING TO C A L I F O R N I A
FOR THE A SEAT AT THE TABLE INTERNSHIP
WITH BIANCA OLTHOFF.
*crying emoji*
What is life right now?!
I am still beyond overwhelmed trying to make sense of why I have clothing piles laying out everywhere as I try to pack. It would take another 30 minutes for me to type up all the emotions I have had experienced in the last four weeks when I found out I got in the internship. Talk about excitement, expectation, faith, joy, hope, anticipation, a little bit of nervousness, man.
The only thing I can say is that GOD IS FAITHFUL. He is able. He is gracious. He is our Shepherd.
Can I just brag on Him? I literally don’t know how this happened. Six months ago I was crying and questioning everything in my life, and now I am rejoicing and thanking God for His unexplainable plans. Wow. WOW. W O W. My mind is blown.
If you have been questioning God’s plan for your life, know He HAS you. He really does. Even when things do not make sense—trust Him. Even when all hell breaks loose—TRUST HIM. Even when everything seems to be going in the opposite direction—TRUST HIM. I saw myself in New York City and now I am going to Cali. LOL. God is funny. But oh so intentional; who knows, maybe this is a stepping stone? Maybe this is needed before NYC? I do not know. And you know what? That is okay. We have to learn how to be okay with not knowing it all. I have tried and tried to figure out my life and I fail every single time. That is part of having FAITH. It is not faith when you see it all; it is faith when you don’t see it all and still trust.
I cannot wait to get to California. This is my first time going to the West Coast and yooooo….. I am about to be tanning everyday. LOL. But really, I am going to have a blast and I cannot wait to share my journey with you all!
Join me in my California journey starting next week. Check out my IG and FB for more updates. Until next time!
#LiveLimitless || Tima G. ❤
A year older. A year wiser. A year more grateful to say the least.
On April 7th, I celebrated my 25th birthday by going on a mini vacation to Southeast Florida. I visited one of my best friends and like girls, we planned everything we could to do. Being the blogger I am, I decided to pack all my essentials, including money to shop and my vlogging camera to get the fun footage so I could relive every single moment!
My trip began with leaving Tulsa at 6am and arriving in Florida around 1pm. I got picked up by Dawn, my girl for life, and she took me to a local burger and brewery joint called KUSH. I don’t drink, but I sure do eat and those burgers were DELISH. Mine included guava and dude, I have never tasted a burger that great. After lunch, we drove home and started to get ready for my birthday dinner.
My birthday dinner took place in Brickell at the Sugar East Miami restaurant and it was AMAZING. We got to go to the rooftop and take gorgeous photos, I ordered a delicious steak, and I spent a great amount of time with lovely people.
On Saturday, Dawn and I needed to go to Target so I could purchase a swimsuit since mine did not arrive on time back home. Once we packed for the beach, we cruised around Ft. Lauderdale and encountered Nelly performing E.I. just for me! Okay okay, not really, but it felt like it. HAHAH. Eventually we got to the beach and spent quality time relaxing with some of my college friends. I also got some fun pictures there and let me just say, I lowkey am proud of my friend for capturing some dope shots. Shout out to Yves!
By the evening, it was too late to drive all the way back home to change, so instead we grabbed a quick bite and headed to Biscayne Drive (cues Future song) where Dawn’s friend lives. We got to get ready at the beautiful apartment with a city view that was breathtaking and soon hit the town for some food/music.
And then Sunday came.
It was Palm Sunday, so I was excited to go to church. It had been over a year since I visited Vous but I was thrilled to be back. The sermon was really good (P. Rich talked about being the light in the world) and after church, we decided to take some pictures in Wynwood. Dawn’s homeboy worked at a local coffeeshop, so we decided to go and just take pictures around that area. Being the person that I am, I decided to get some coffee (surprise surprise) and then changed into my second outfit of the day.
As we are going outside and back to Dawn’s car, we notice two guys in motorcycles around the coffeeshop. I surely thought they were customers, so I looked and smiled, and then paid them no further attention.
I grabbed my DSLR camera, began to test shoot Luke (Dawn’s friend), and then handed it to him so he could start shooting us. While Dawn and Luke went across the street, I put my purse and camera bag in the trunk. I cross the street to make sure the right lens is on the camera and then realize that the trunk was still left open.
Dawn immediately runs across the street to close it and we finally began to shoot our pictures. About an hour later, we get hungry and try to go eat at a spot a few blocks away. I step out the car and remembered I put my purse in the trunk, so I kindly ask Dawn to pop the trunk open.
She opens it and I do not see my belongings.
We urgently rush back to the coffeeshop, I frantically ask the manager if he had seen a purse and he nonchalantly says no.
I run back to the car, tear up her trunk, and realize my purse and camera bag had been stolen.
I froze.
I began to pray in the spirit. I called my bank, cancelled my cards, checked the previous transactions, and unbelievably heard the times these men on motorcycles attempted to violate my account. I felt so numb. Abused. Angry. Violated.
I filed a police report and then we went back to our friend’s apartment to finally eat and just take a breather. As we began to head home, I played worship music, cried, and began to simply worship with a heart of thankfulness.
Thankful for what?! you may ask.
Welp. Where do I begin. Honestly, I have not felt that much disgust at specific human beings in a while. The fact that I genuinely smiled at their faces and they took a part of who I was is so evil. I am still praying about how I see these men. I don’t know why they did it. I don’t know why this happened. What I do know is that God is sovereign. The entire time I wanted to fight back and just go off, but I couldn’t. I had a supernatural peace in the situation of loss. And I am beyond thankful for that itself. To add to the list, I am thankful:
He is my protector. I could have easily been snatched myself.
He is my comforter. In the midst of crying, all I kept hearing is I love you.
He is my provider. Even in this situation of loss, I know that He will not fail me with what I need in my life.
I am mostly thankful for now realizing that I cannot trust in materialistic things. As hard as it is to have had two men take advantage of me, I know that God is for me. And that He alone is enough. It sucks to have all my personal information at someone else’s fingertips, including videos of my life because they took my camera and promise journal where I wrote down things God whispered in my heart. It hurts to think about it, but I am praying that their hearts turn around for Jesus as my life is a testimony of His goodness and grace right in their hands.
You guys know I am very real with my life and best believe that on Monday I did a lot of reflecting. On my life. On what truly matters. The scripture about storing riches in Heaven and not on earth where thieves might steal them (Matt. 6:20) has never been so real to me than now. I plan on studying what “heavenly riches” looks like because obviously my perspective was a little skewed. Or maybe a lot.
Regardless, I want to say thank you for the birthday wishes, the comments, the prayers, and the memories every single one of you has shared with me. I love you with the love of Christ and pray you continue to have faith in Him. Even when the enemy throws arrows, stand firm and fight with with His word. It will N E V E R return void.
I had a lot of things coming up for you guys, like my spring lookbook, my birthday vlog and pictures, and among other videos, but clearly, I do not have the footage anymore. Both of my memory cards where taken. I do apologize but I did not see this coming.
I do ask that you guys pray for me as I am still trying to get all things replaced, like credit cards, ID, a purse, a wallet, battery chargers, etc. I know God will guide me through all this and I trust that He is ultimately in control. Among this prayer request, I also ask that you pray for the guys who did this. I don’t know their intentions or life’s circumstances. Yet I know they need God like I need Him myself.
I love you all. Talk to you soon!
#LiveLimitless || Tima G. ❤
