November Gratitude ; Week 1

Listening now…

 

 

It’s that time of year again.

Everyone is gearing up for the holidays, getting cozy, and feeling those Sweet November vibes.

 

 

And while most of the world is skipping over Thanksgiving and running right to Christmas (I know guys I get it, it’s the absolute best and I myself am guilty of watching Christmas movies earlier this year….sorry!) I like to stop and reflect on my gratitude.

 

Via:

 

For the past 3 years on this little blog, I have done November gratitude posts. Looking back on my posts, this one hurts my heart, as it was our very last Thanksgiving with my dear papa.

 

 

Speaking of gratitude, I’ll always be thankful for the Lessons my papa taught me.

 

Re reading them over and reflecting on this past year (this is another reason we love the holidays) they ring more true than ever.

 

Yes, it really has been quite the year. In so many good and changing ways.

 

My November Gratitude ; Week 1:

 

The amazing support I have gotten from my family and friends while starting my business. Go read my last post where I talk about that journey!

 

Starting a business is not by any means easy. If it was, everyone would be doing it! Having a good support system is completely vital to succeed. Frankie has gone above and beyond in being patient with me while we waited to reap the benefits (and see the kind of profit we need to see) to keep me going.

Along with that, he has been SUPER patient while he has been watching me turn our upstairs room into my office and understands that re-selling items means I need to have a fully stocked inventory ; )

 

 

Being able to do what I love, work from home, and receiving those love notes once buyers receive their items. It makes me so happy to see that people love these items as much as I do because I pick each and every one out so carefully!

 

 

Follow my Shannysells instagram page!

You can also follow my journey here on Youtube.

I do a lot of thrift hauls, what sold videos, and vlogs! I just finished doing Vlogtober and had SO much fun doing that and am ready to take on Vlogmas, where I post a video every day in December. So make sure you are following along so you don’t miss that!

Another Youtube goal I have is to post helpful content such as Poshmark and Ebay selling tips (I did 2 tips videos for Ebay already) that are uncommon/ things you don’t hear about a lot while searching for help. Coming soon!

 

I’m so grateful to be spending the holidays for the first year in our new home!

 

 

I am already thinking of ideas to decorate for Christmas and cannot wait to scroll through other blogs and Pinterest for inspiration…!

 

Do you guys already have Christmas decor ideas?

 

I’m grateful for food in my belly, a beautiful and warm home, and having enough money to pay all of my bills.

 

A simple thing yet something we take for granted, isn’t it? To be honest with you guys, a couple of things recently have dramatically changed the way I think about money: losing my job this June, and now making my own money with my business.

This has taught me some extremely valuable lessons: Nothing is guaranteed, even “stable” 9-5 jobs, it is completely up to you how much money you earn and save, and the amount you make will completely depend on how much work you put in.

With my jobs prior, I was making that paycheck every week and since I knew it was coming, I took advantage of it and I was not good at saving money for a rainy day. Now that I work for myself and my income is dependent on the work I put in, the money I am not investing back into the business, or using to pay my bills, gets put away in savings.

I’m truly grateful for the lessons this has taught me!

I think a lot of people are afraid to start a business because of the uncertainty of it but to me from my past experiences, this somehow feels more stable to me because I am in control of it. I have also learned that the uncertainty is not near as scary when you have savings put aside. When you are thinking ahead and know to put away for those less than stellar sales weeks (or restaurant days, whatever that business may be!) it suddenly seems much more do-able as a long term option.

 

I’m grateful for Lifetime Christmas movies.

 

YES I STARTED OKAY. I’m sorry mama! I never watch before Thanksgiving but… this year…is just different. I think because we have our first Christmas in the house coming up and that is so exciting!

So we don’t have cable- but we do have Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu live. We just recently got Hulu live because we don’t have cable and it’s amazing! So while I don’t have Hallmark, I’m so thankful we at least have Lifetime!

 

 

Another thing I am grateful for is anyone who still reads my blog, even through all of the ups and downs! I was working hard on my Youtube for awhile but am not ready to blog once a week again and I have so many ideas!

 

What are you feeling grateful for this November?

 

 

 

 

 

 

November Gratitude

Listening now…

 

 

 

The last 2 years I have done my November Gratitude weekly posts. This year has just been a bit crazier and my blog has been a little more sporadic. 😦

The good news is I am busy for amazing reasons and I have (what feels like) more than ever this year to be grateful for!

When considering what we are appreciative for every day, I think it’s important to think about the little and the big things.

 

Gratitude…

 

Small things like noticing the heart in the jam of the cookie you just baked…

 

Simple Sundays spent baking with your mama, tidying your room to make it just a bit “cozier” and to prepare yourself to have a peaceful week, and a Saturday night spent in by the fire watching the classic Grinch and My Cousin Vinny (for the very first time!) with puppies snoring on top of you.

 

 

Never forgetting to notice the beauty surrounding you

Or where you came from

Or where you have yet to go

 

Gratitude for life’s seemingly twisted paths that lead you directly to where you are meant to be. 

Speaking of paths, I have so much gratitude for life’s weird ways lately.

 

A favorite guided meditation of mine is anything by Sarah Blondin.

I first found her on my Insight Timer app and have loved her ever since.

In this guided meditation,

She talks about following your inspiration and I can’t even tell you how many times I have listened to this lately. A lot. What I talked about above, these twisted paths of life, she normalizes it and writes it off as just another part of our story.  She emphasizes how important these vast experiences are. In this time in my life, when I have been transitioning a lot to try to find my way, this meditation is extremely comforting for me and I hope it helps you too.

Some words from this meditation that I especially love….

 

” If your inspiration requires you to stretch farther out of your skin than you are used to,

Please…do it.

It if requires you to get on a plane and never look back,

Please…do it.

If it requires you to sit and learn patience,

Please…do it.

If it requires you to quit your job, sell your belongings, move across country, buy a boat, walk up to a stranger, write for no reason, cry for no reason…

Please…do it.

I can’t urge you enough….do it.

 

You will always, without fail, land exactly, divinely…where you are meant to land.” 

 

I am feeling especially grateful lately that I have landed (and worked super hard for!) into a career at Etsy.  

 

I have wanted to work somewhere creative for a long time and I feel like for awhile I wasn’t even aware of what I was searching for– but knew it was something more, (this explains all of the random classes I took, lol) and Etsy has all of the things I was missing.

 

 

 

Feeling extremely blessed and hoping they let me stay forever 😉

 

Thank you to my readers who stick by my blog ❤

 

❤ ❤ ❤

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November Gratitude: Year 2/ Week 3

Via:

 

This week I’m grateful for…

 

Overnight oats.

 

 

I’m definitely late to the party on this one but overnight oats are the most amazing thing ever. If you are not familiar, just look them up and you can find tons of recipes. I didn’t look up a recipe my first time making it, you can basically throw anything in there!

Once I experiment I will do a blog post about my favorite overnight oat recipes but this one was delicious: Oats, frozen blueberries, milk, apples, chia seeds, and vanilla extract.

I love the easiness of just leaving it in the fridge and then it’s all ready for the morning!

Remember my obsession with Chia pudding?  When you put chia seeds in with the oats and milk it has a chia pudding tasting vibe to it. Yum. 

 

Friday nights in with my love and my other love: food and beer. I am thankful for giving myself a break.

 

Oops….somehow this post became all about food. But that’s a lot about what Thanksgiving and gratitude is about, right?! Anyway…

There is a local grass fed beef burger and fries/ 50’s vibe burger joint that also has their own frozen custard and ice cream and it’s just heaven. I drive past it every day but I try not to go a lot because I might be 500 pounds.

Lately I have been being easier on myself about what I eat and giving myself more breaks from always eating healthy. Honestly when I go to even 1 spin class, I feel like I earned whatever I ate that week anyway lol.

 

Time for the holiday to spend with family.

 

Via:

 

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving and the festivities that come with it. This year it’s going to be different for our family because our grandparents will be there- they are normally in Florida for the holidays, but my papa is not well right now so they had to opt out of that trip this year. On the bright side, we get to see them for the holidays and make it extra special.

 

Via:

 

Weekends where you have the perfect balance between relaxation, getting stuff done, and seeing people.

 

 

I got a lot done this weekend that I needed to, yet still had time to relax and saw friends that I haven’t seen in awhile (and left my house- yay me!)

We went to a bar that happened to be having a “soul train dance off” night where I felt like I was transformed back into the 70’s looking around at everyone’s outfits (it was also hipster AF so I felt like I was overly staring) but it was really different.

 

What are you grateful for this week?

 

 

 

 

November Gratitude: Year 2/ Week 2

Listening now…

If you missed week 1 gratitude, start here.

This week I’m grateful for….

New opportunities.

I got invited to attend a work fundraiser (and work it) and I am not going to lie, I didn’t want to go at first. Mainly because it was a week night (lol) and I am normally very busy with school work and other things during the week. My work friend convinced me to go and looking back I am really glad I did!

This was an event where you could “walk the red carpet” with the non profit agency I work with. The idea behind the event was to debut a documentary that was made about the clients we help (with the clients actually in the movie- many of whom work for the agency now) and tickets sold at the door benefit our programs.

I felt honored to be there and had a great time- it was also really cool to see my logo that I made for it featured on each photo taken on the red carpet!

We also had the opportunity to throw a group for the teens we work with and baked apple pies and crisps and made thankful trees.

It was really cute to see what the kids wrote and to teach them to appreciate gratitude…

A few different kids wrote our agency on their leaves and our shelters that we run, which was really cute to see.

New Sims games!

Via:

Sims 4 cats and dogs came out this Friday and of course I made a Molly already!

It’s really well done and you can even create mixed breeds, so I created her Chihuahua- Papillon mix.

I am thinking about doing another A Sim Story series  but with the cats and dogs expansion pack.  (And I would actually continue with it this time….)

Let me know what you think!

My Sim version of Molly acts like a goofball like real life Molly.

A weekend to relax and getting back to routines…

Being an introvert,  I am pretty excited to have a little time “off” from having many plans.

Via:

The last few weeks were really fun with Halloween, a busy family wedding, and the work event and group. But I am kind of excited to have a few weeks that aren’t as busy for a little while until the holidays come! This weekend I had a lot of down time which included a lot of Sims time.

Getting back to routines is good, too… that includes going to the gym and back to my spin, zumba, and yoga classes. I haven’t gone in a few weeks and I feel the difference in my body, especially in how tense my shoulders are.

What are you grateful for this week ?

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