Happy Thanksgiving!

Well of course, I'm no exception, my blog this week will discuss what else, Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving for so many reasons: Spending time with my amazing family! The amazing food that my hubby cooks with love for all of us to enjoy! And, the fact that all across the country millions of us are actually taking a moment to give thanks!

If you're anything like me, I'm sure you are feeling a special feeling around this time of year, something makes you happy and you want to give or even volunteer your time to a charitable cause.

Something inside of me feels hopeful and joyous and excited and I don't want this feeling to end.

So I have a made a promise to myself that I will continue to do everything possible to remain in this state long after thanksgiving is gone. Once the reminders from places pleading for you to volunteer, or help in some monetary way, I will remember what it feels like to be there for others, to be of service, and to think of others instead of just myself.  It's an amazing and rewarding feeling.

But most of all, I will hold tightly to this feeling of gratitude for this amazing life God has blessed me with. I will rejoice in my family, tell them and show them how much I love them. I hope you have the opportunity to do the same. From my family to yours HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving 2012

  

Till Next Time!

Time to Plan!

For those of you who are following my entries, sorry about missing last week; I had a difficult week at school and it sucked up all of my focus. So what is on my mind....

If you've read my last few entries they seem to have a theme and that is, I'm getting older and my young-ens are leaving me.  And, I'm not really handling it that well. 

But, I have to say, I feel so much better this week. I feel excited about the next chapter of my life and I am looking forward to the years ahead. With that being said, I want to touch on something I heard is good for all of us to do. Teacher after teacher recommend this be done, what is it you ask?  Plan!

As we come to the end of yet another year I will do what I've been taught, and that is, to plan the year ahead. In the past I've taken the approach of, "why bother planning it never works out," but you see, that's precisely why it never worked out for me, because of my expectancy of it not happening. 

But this year will be different, I will plan out everything from how many conferences I want to attend, to where and when I will take a vacation. Some of you may not understand the importance of me "planning a vacation" but trust me, planning something so far in advance and actually going through with it will be huge.

So give it a try, go to Target, (love Targe) get yourself a nice big planner/calendar and cuddle up on your couch with your favorite beverage

and start filling-in all the wonderful things you are going to do this up coming year. 

Once you're done you're going to feel so excited about the year ahead that I'm certain your most precious desires will manifest in the year 2014!

The big 4-0 Just a Number??

  Just a number???

Sure it is--in a way, but in another way it means much more to me. 

So yes, over the summer I had my 40th birthday and at the time I really didn't give it a lot of thought. It was just another number. After all, I didn't feel 40 so it didn't really matter to me. But now, a few months later I'm starting to analyze this whole 40 number. 

Lately I've been analyzing myself a lot, I've been trying to find myself. I know, I'm 40, I should know by now right??

But no, I don't. And I'm wondering, am I the only one? 

For me, personally, I believe it has to do with the fact that I started a family at 18 and therefore, had little time for self analysis. My life, thoughts and concerns were always placed on my family's needs, wants and desires, so now that I actually have the time for self reflection I'm not sure what to do with it. Too much thinking.

So for over 20 years my husband and I have been parents living the family life--carving pumpkins, trick-o-treating, going to the movies as a family, you know doing the family thing. And now that the kids are grown we find ourselves not really knowing what we should do on holidays like Halloween. So in an effort to be adults, not just parents, we went to a Jazz Festival in our town and what happened there really shocked me. Put it this way, I was crying on my way home.

Ok, so this is the scene at the festival, a bunch of adults hanging out having a good time with their friends, most with a glass of wine or a beer in hand . Others dancing, dining, just having a good ole time. And all I could think about was how much that wasn't my scene. I didn't want to be there amongst these adults drinking and dancing.

I just wanted to go home and do what I've always done-- hang out with my family.

But then, thanks to my husband's wise words I recovered from the madness . He suggested that in this new chapter of our lives we don't have to become people we are not. You see, we've never been the clubbing, drinking, partying types, so why start now. We don't have to change the things we like just because our kids aren't part of the "everyday" decisions.

So what to do:

1. We like being home, so be home... maybe have our friends over. Now that I'd like!
2. We like going to the movies-- so we'll do that :)
3. Explore new things.  And we won't force ourselves to do things we already know we don't like. (i.e. clubs)

So what's the lesson? The lesson is that no matter what chapter of life you find yourself in, chances are that you might experience some sort of change, but this doesn't have to be a bad thing.  All you have to do is be optimistic about what's ahead. But, most important, do the things you like, don't force yourself to be what you think the world expects you to be or be doing. 

Till next time :)