November gratitude: week 4

Listening now…

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

I am sorry guys- life has been busy, as it happens.

A good kind of busy, though. The kind of busy that means that life is moving forward and things are movin’ on up. Also, we are ripping up our floors because we have some cheeky Jack Russells who insist that the floor is theirs to do whatever they please with (pee) and therefore, it must go.

Alas, we have week 4 of our gratitude and I have so much to be grateful for. The show must go on, even if the floor is being pulled out beneath you.

 Grateful for family. Family you may see often and family that you may not…grateful for new family members and old traditions. 

My cousin brought home a Siberian Husky for Thanksgiving- meet our new addition to the family, Grizzly. Grizzly lives in a frat house and is quite the ladies man.

Grizzly enjoys cheesecake, time with the family, and long walks to the fridge. (to get more cheesecake)

A tradition I think we must continue: Caramel apple sangria…. nom.

Grateful for the Christmas holiday and all it entails: cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, Christmas shopping, warm fuzzy feeling, etc. etc.

And puppies who let you dress them up for the holiday…

It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Via:

Happy November everyone!

November gratitude: week 1

Listening now…

 

 

 

Last November I talked and thought a lot about gratitude. 

I want to keep that going for this year and do a weekly gratitude post! It’s the perfect time to give thanks for what we have when Thanksgiving will be upon us shortly. By the way…I can’t even believe that!

This blog was created at a time when I was having trouble being mindful, staying in the present, and not inducing anxiety for myself thinking about the future. I still struggle with that and maybe we all do. Especially as a 20 something, who feels like she must have it all figured out. As if time is passing by so quickly…

I think stopping to think about all that we have to be grateful for is really helpful in keeping yourself in the present.

 

Week 1 gratitude: 

 

I am grateful for an awesome job that lets me help people.

 

I work for a nonprofit helping teens and young adults 16-24 obtain and keep employment. Along with this, comes an array of other issues they are dealing with rather than just jobs.

Working with people who have a lot less than you do on a daily basis can really make you more appreciative of the little things in your life, that you may take for granted without even realizing it.

In addition to that, I work for a company that gives a lot of time off and offers great flexibility and freedom. It gives me the opportunity to work on other projects on the side, go to school if I want to, and work on bettering myself.

 

This is what I did today!

 

 

I am grateful for my favorite people (and dogs) in my life. Grateful that my family is not only that, but also are my best friends.

 

(I love them all to infinity and beyond. Lolz. Had to.)

 

I am grateful for my creativity.

There was a point that I thought I was not creative simply because I am not good at drawing, painting, etc.

I have realized as I’ve grown up that creativity comes in so many forms. Just because you may not be able to draw any other form of person besides stick figure form does not mean that you are not creative!

Blogging has helped me realize a whole other creative world- putting words and pictures together, along with music that resonates with what I am writing about on that particular post, makes me feel good. It makes me feel even better when people respond to it. Thank you readers!

And planning with my Happy planner makes me feel this way, too.

I am grateful for my body and the way it lets me move every day.

 

How often do we stop and think how amazing our bodies are to us? Not enough, I think.

It came to me recently in my Zumba class-just wow. Zumba is such a mix of mental and physical work. Following along the best you can to the moves, remembering the moves, and physically moving quickly to the beat of the music. It’s hard. Our bodies do so much for us every day and it’s so important that we thank it by nourishing it with good food, exercise, and sometimes even wine 😉

I am grateful for my car and the freedom it gives me.

Okay, I know it’s a material item, but I am currently working with a young single mom whose car has broken down (2nd car in about 2-3 months) and it has me feeling especially grateful for my car and all of the freedom it gives me. I have been there- broken down on the side of the road multiple times on my way to college and stuck somewhere because my car would not start and has some mysterious electrical issue. (I would just have to wait a little while and it would start again) So I know what it’s like…when I graduated college and was finally able to afford a decent car I was beyond happy.

My car treats me well and I love it.

 

I am grateful for November, a time to remind us to give thanks and be grateful.

 

I was looking for an inspirational gratitude quote to end this with, but I came across this. I think it sends just as important of a message to remain grateful even in hard or stressful times. : )

 

 What are you grateful for this week?

 

 

It’s Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown

 

Thankful for new friends. Here, my friend Julia and I, help throw our annual Adolescent Services Thanksgiving dinner for the nonprofit we work for- our clients, their families, and friends enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal complete with pie! (Pictured above)

Watching now:

I have always embraced and loved every Charlie Brown movie during the holidays. They are just a classic tradition. That warm and fuzzy feeling; watching them do that little dance.

In the clip above, Snoopy cooks up a classic and traditional Thanksgiving meal of toast with butter and popcorn, which he ends up serving with pretzel sticks and jelly beans, of course.

Go Snoop.

                           Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the movie:

 

“Why don’t you come along, Linus? We can hold hands under the table” -Sally

 

“I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner! All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast.”

 

“Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. Ours was the first country in the world to make a national holiday to give thanks.”- Linus

 

“But Thanksgiving was more than eating, Chuck. You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those pilgrims were thankful for what happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that’s what they mean by Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown.” -Marcy

 

 What thankfulness are you celebrating this holiday? Think about how far you have come from last year and in what ways you have made even your bad situations into a positive one or a learning experience! : )