mission statement

I've been wanting to create a personal mission statement for quite some time, and last night I found a really great tool that finally helped me do just that. While I'm not sure I want to share my mission statement just yet, I'm really, really excited about it! I am hoping that referring back to it reminds me of the things I want to accomplish and keeps me on track to do so.

That's the point, right?

Anyway, if you, too, have been looking to do something like this for yourself...look no further! :)

{wordless} giving

Our daughter has the most caring, most thoughtful, most giving heart. In my thirty years, I've only come across a handful of people I'd honestly say that about, and she is not included because I am biased. Honestly, because she is mine, the bar has been held that much higher for her to be there.

She cries because she so happy that she can't handle the emotion, she feels pain for her friends (which often makes her cry, too), and she's the first one to offer up something of her own if she knows someone else will enjoy it.

The latter is the case with this photograph. It's of an owl sticker she found among her many Christmas gifts, and something she held in her hand as she came down the stairs just a few minutes ago  singsonging, "Mooooommm, I have a present for you. I know it's something you'll like..."

She never ceases to amaze me. I cannot, for the life of me, picture my seven-year-old self giving anyone anything. Not a sticker, not a toy...nothing. I liked my things, and I liked them to remain mine. Nor did I --or,  rarely do I now, even-- ever show the depth of emotion that this little girl does.

She is amazing and wonderful, and I have so very much to learn from her.

giving thanks: day 1

I don't claim to be religious. I don't go to church. I often struggle with faith.

But most every night, before I go to sleep, I pray. I make it a point to thank God for giving me the opportunity to live another day, for the wellbeing of my family and friends, and for anything else I am feeling grateful for -- including the little things. 

I really try not to ask Him for much, and when I do ask for something, I save it for last. I began praying to specifically to show my gratitude, and I try to keep it that way.

It seemed only fitting that this kick off my month of giving thanks ♡

{wordless} happy halloween!

30 days of giving thanks

It’s simple.

Take a moment each day in November and thank someone in your life.

Send a text, make a call, leave a post-it,

write an old fashioned letter…

Make eye contact.

Smile.

And say, “thanks.”

It doesn’t matter how you thank them.  

Simply think of someone in your life - each day - and tell them why you are thankful for them.  

Give them your thanks.

Thank thirty people in thirty days.

Can’t think of thirty people?

Look more closely at the people you encounter in a day. 

The postman.

The barista.

The friendly teller at the bank.

The woman who always stamps your parking ticket.

Your neighbor down the street.

Is there a local store owner who makes you feel welcome every time you shop?

Do you have a favorite sacker at the grocery store?

How about someone you work with that makes you laugh?

Do you have a favorite hair stylist, or a massage therapist, or yoga teacher?

Have you you told your best friend how much you appreciate their friendship?

Did you ever thank your favorite teacher?

Has anyone helped change the course of your life?

What about someone you are really close to – like your kids or spouse – when’s the last time you thanked them?

***

Isn't this an amazing idea? I'm really looking forward to the positivity and warmth this brings into my life over the next month. You can join in too at:

  A Free Spirit Life.

the boy i fell in love with.

I was sorting through some papers and things Mike's grandmother sent back with him after his last visit with her, and I came upon a little newsletter he'd done about himself for a class in high school, just weeks before we started dating.

"THE DAILY MIKE" was printed neatly across the top of a sheet of ragged red construction paper; the words 'Price: FREE' were minuscule in the upper right. Rectangles painstakingly drawn with a ruler contained little blurbs about him, such as his horoscope, favorite foods, greatest accomplishment, and interests. He liked the clichéd long walks on the beach, by the way...in case you were curious ;)

What got me was the photo of himself he'd attached. I saw that, and I was suddenly a freshman in high school again, giddy and feeling my insides get all squishy at the very sight of him. Here was the boy I fell in love with, who stole my heart and has held onto it after all of these years.

He's not that boy anymore, and I'm not that girl. We're man and woman, husband and wife. We've changed and grown immensely, we've built a life and a family.

Does he still make me feel the way he did back then? Absolutely. But, I love him in a different way than I did then. I love him more. It's just...there is nothing like the feeling of first love.

I am so very, very ridiculously lucky (and thankful) to be still in love with --and married to-- mine.