My 3 HAPPY, Grateful, and Positive Thoughts of the Day: 08-24-14...sort of!! LOL

Hello Blog readers!!  Yes, it has been at least a week since I last blogged, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped counting my blessings, being happy, staying positive, or being grateful for the people and events in my life.  My son starts full-time Kindergarten in another week, so the past week has been spent with back-to-school shopping, needed appointments, and soaking up what's left of the summer time I have with him.  I can’t imagine him being gone all day in school.  I’ll sure miss all those spontaneous hugs, kisses, and I Love Yous throughout the day.  But this is one of those rights of passage that must be experienced by both of us.  I'm good with it all.

Needless to say, there has been much that’s made me happy and grateful this past week.  I’ll just list some of them off.

            Through a comment on Facebook, an old friend brought back some great memories about a super yummy restaurant we used to visit back in our 20s.  Nothing like being a regular and being greated with your favorite drinks as soon as you get in!!

            Loved school supply shopping with my son.  It was some give-and-take on a few decisions, but overall it was a success!!

            Loved how my son gets more and more excited with each day as it gets closer to the start of Kindergarten.

            Finally got our day-at-the-Jersey shore trip set for me, my son, and my parents for this week.  It’s really special for me as I used to live down the Jersey shore in my early 20s.  I haven’t been back down there since I moved back north.  In that time, Sandy hit as did a bad fire on the Seaside Heights/Park boardwalk.  I think seeing all the changes due to these two major events will be a bit emotional for me.  But like with everything else, life goes on and change is good!!  I get to share with my son a place that will always be special to me and some place that has always felt like “home” to me, even when I didn’t live there.

            OK, I’ll finish this with one more and then off to bed for me as it will be an EARLY morning for me, and anyone who knows me knows that I’m not exactly “Suzy Sunshine” in the morning!  LOL.......I’m incredibly grateful and happy for an individual I met about two months ago.  Words cannot adequately describe the amazingly positive effect this person and new friend has made on my life.  It really has changed my life and me for the better.  But I’m sure that will be another post at a later date.  No doubt my grandma in heaven is smiling down on me!!!  

Well, time to say good night my cyber friends!!  Please don't forget, your comments are always welcome!!  Post away!! :-D

Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and blessings,

Kristyn

My 3 HAPPY, Grateful, and Positive Thoughts of the Day: 08-17-14

Welcome to Sunday night!!  Weekends for me tend to be a bit haphazard, loosey goosey, go where the spirit leads me kind of thing.  On Facebook I did keep up on the 3 Happy Thoughts Challenge I was given, it just didn’t translate into blog posts.  So, consider this my make up blog post!!  LOL 

My 3 HAPPY, Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day:

Friday 08-15-14

1.      My extra large, hot, black coffee from Dunkin Donuts!!! 

2.      The amazingly delicious pulled pork I made!! YUM YUM!!!

3.      Going out last night for coffee and amazing conversation with one of the nicest and truly genuine individuals I've ever met.

Saturday:  08-16-14

1.      Received my son's Kindergarten teacher assignment in today's mail. Excited to take him school supply and school clothes shopping next week!!!

2.      I was happy to see it was another nice Summer day!! Enjoying this warm weather for as long as I can!!

3.      Thoroughly enjoyed an evening at home alone tonight watching God's Not Dead. It was an excellent movie!

Sunday:  08-17-14

1.      Super happy my son is back home from his dad's this weekend!!!

2.      It makes me happy to learn new things every day!!

3.      Happy that I found another local source of local, pasture-raised eggs where the chickens aren't given any GMO corn feed.

Two more days left to this Facebook challenge, and then back to our regularly-scheduled posts!!  LOL  I will say, it was nice to revisit these this evening.  Nothing like going to bed with nothing but happy, positive, grateful thoughts going through my mind!!

Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and a lifetime of blessings!!

Kristyn

My 3 HAPPY, Grateful, and Positive Thoughts of the Day: 08-14-14

As I mentioned yesterday, I was challenged on Facebook to share 3 things a day for 7 days that make me happy.  It is late right where I live, so I'm pretty much going to just cut and paste what I shared over there.  In no way do I mean to be lazy about this, but it's been a very looooooong week, and I need to get my beauty sleep!!


My 3 HAPPY, Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day:

1. Seeing how determined my son was today to learn the new kata in his karate class brought me such happiness and joy. I'm so proud of my little guy!!
2. I had a couple of laughs today when meeting my new financial advisor. He has a VERY Irish name and I wonder if it would have been taking it too far if I asked him if he was the leprechaun who would share the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!!
3. I was very happy that the lawyer I picked to handle the closing on my house was such a laid back, chill kind of guy, not some pretentious stuffed suit.

Wow, this really is one big 'ol formatting mess!!!  LOL  But, hey, just goes to show I may be optimistic but I'm certainly not perfect!!  :-D

Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and a lifetime of blessings!!

Kristyn

My 3 HAPPY, Grateful, and Positive Thoughts of the Day: 08-13-14

Today I was finally challenged by one of my IRL (in real life) friends on Facebook (FB) for 7 days to list what makes me happy and challenge 2 new people every day.  I do believe I mentioned this back on Saturday that seeing this challenge on other friends’ FB pages is what started me blogging again.  This is so up my alley!!  So for the next 7 days I will list what I did on FB that day.  However, I may add a bit more to each one here seeing as I tried to keep it short and sweet on there!!  I already post soooooooo much on there anyway!!

My 3 HAPPY, Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day:

1.      I got to enjoy a bacon burger for lunch today (no bun for me, of course!!!) which I’d been craving for a while now.  Anyone who knows me, heck even strangers have figured this out, knows that I have a bacon OBSESSION!!!!

2.      I love dark and stormy clouds and got to see some amazing ones rolling in prior to today’s downpour!!  The rain was quick and hard, but it was perfect to me.  Of course I wasn’t stuck driving in it, so that’s what made it even more perfect!! 

3.      I got to partake in some uncontrollable giggle fits with my son this morning!!  I don’t remember what quite brought them on, but by his not being able to stop it just made me start in, too.  As I’m sure is true with others, once that starts in between two people, it’s all over!!  Especially when one of them is a child!!

So there we have it, thanks to my friend, there are my happy, grateful, and positive thoughts of the day!! 

Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and a lifetime of blessings!!

Kristyn

My 3 Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day: 08-12-14

Alrighty, I just realized I have to be up earlier than usual tomorrow morning, so this will be short and sweet and lack some photos!!  LOL

My 3 Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day.

1.      My son and I had so much fun today playing with a volcano experiment that I bought him some time earlier this year.  Nothing like fizzing volcanos and dinosaurs in the “molten lava and tar” to pass some time on this grey and rainy summer day we were having!!

2.      Delicious, super sweet cantaloupe for snacking today.  Need I say more?!?!!!

3.      I am grateful that the pest control people came out today to spray for wasps yet again.  They’ve decided to be overactive for some reason this spring/summer.  Then again, it didn’t help that my son accidentally disturbed one of their nests Thursday night and caused him to get stung twice.  OUCHIE!!  :-(   The one positive thing to come from this experience was to learn that he doesn’t have allergic reactions to wasp stings as this was his first time being stung.

And there you go, my grateful and positive thoughts of the day!! 

Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and a lifetime of blessings!!

Kristyn

PS – Please feel free to leave any comments on here or on my Facebook page.  I’d love to get your input!!

My 3 Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day: 08-11-14

WooHoo!!!  Third day in a row with a posting!!  Easy to do when all I’m really doing is counting my blessings and the people and/or things I’m grateful for or the positive feelings and/or thoughts I’ve had during the day!! 

My 3 Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day.

1.      I’m grateful that I’ve finally learned to truly stand up for myself and stick to my guns when it comes to my ex.  Let’s just say I made two significant steps forward today in two big “projects” going on in my life where he is involved in one way or another.  I feel like I should “High 5” myself!!  LOL

That's how I felt today!!!

2.      I am grateful that people are viewing and reading my blog.  I can completely understand my friends, be they “real life” friends or “cyber life” FB/Twitter friends/followers reading this.   However, I couldn’t believe that I’ve gotten hits on my blog from the United States (that's pretty much a given as that is where I'm from), the Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, Poland, Venezuela, Sweden, and Italy.  How cool is that?!?!!!  By the way, if you are reading this and would like to “Share” it with your Facebook friends or Twitter followers, by all means, go right ahead!!  I believe there’s a link up top underneath the header that you can click.  Also, you can become a “Member,” not that I know exactly what that means other than I think you get notifications when I post something new.  The more the merrier!!!

Well, it's true!!!  LOL

3.      I am grateful for the countless laughs I’ve had over the years due to the comedic genius and awesome acting chops of Robin Williams.  It was such a shock to read the news earlier today about his apparent suicide.  I’ve dealt with depression in the past, and I am so thankful for my friends, doctors, and family members for the support they showed me.  Reach out to your loved ones or even strangers who you see are sad, depressed, suffering, just not acting like themselves, or who may just need a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen to them.  Heck, smile at a stranger as that smile could completely change his or her day or thoughts.  It genuinely can.

Self explanatory!! :-)

There you have it, my grateful and positive thoughts of the day.  Why not take a minute to reflect on your own.

Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and a lifetime of blessings!!

Kristyn

PS – Please feel free to leave any comments on here or on my Facebook page.  I’d love to get your input!!

My 3 Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day: 08-10-14

As it’s been a busy and productive day and it’s late, I’m going to keep this post short.  Well, at least short for me!!  LOL  But, I didn’t want the day to end without my writing it.  I really do want to make this a daily habit.  It’ll be my daily reminder and reflection of what is good in my life.  Here we go!

My 3 Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day.

1.      I am grateful for living in an area that is abundant with farms and all the delicious and nutritious foods they supply us with.  As you will see by the photo, I ate like a queen this morning!!!  Nothing like a big, yummy, healthy (Paleo) breakfast to start my day with!! 

Organic, pasture-raised eggs; pasture-raised bacon (pigs live in "Piggy Woods!!!") organic arugula, and cantaloupe

2.      I am grateful for tonight’s Super Moon!!  Some may think I’m crazy, but the beauty of that big, gorgeous moon brings me a feeling of amazement.  Not only am I seeing the moon, but so is everyone else around the globe.  It truly makes one realize that you are just one of millions out there in this world.  Quite humbling.  

Super Moon reflecting on the pond across the road.  Lousy pic, I know!!

3.       I am grateful to my friend who sent me photos of my son having a blast at a local fair today!!  My son was with his father this weekend so I didn’t get the opportunity to take my son to the fair that he’d been talking about for months.  It was great seeing that his father took him and that my son was enjoying the rides and hanging out with his buddy (my friend’s son)!!!

Kids having fun at the fair!!

There you have it, my positivity and optimism of the day!!!

Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and a lifetime of blessings!!

Kristyn

My 3 Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day: 08-09-14

A lot in my life has happened since my last blog post in January.  I have to admit, it’s been a rough year so far.  I’m inherently one of those optimistic, “every cloud has a silver lining” individuals; but the past 8+ months have really tested me in all aspects of my life:  emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  There are many times I’ve thought about this blog, getting out in writing what’s been going on, but it didn’t happen for whatever reason or excuse.  Maybe I just didn’t want to re-live the bad/sad/disappointing stuff all over again.  As Elsa would sing “the past is in the past.”  However, as much as I try to bury it all and/or deal with it and move forward, it can get hard at times.  But despite it all, I still smile and look for the positive and beauty all around me.  It’s just who I am.

What’s prompted me to blog today is that I’m in a bit of a funk at this exact moment, despite the insanely gorgeous and perfect summer day we’re having here in my part of NY.  I realized I really needed to get my head out of this mindset and thought of a great way to do it.  Over the past month or two I’ve seen many friends partake in a “challenge” of sorts going around Facebook where they’ll list 3 or 5 positive things they are either grateful for or are positives in their lives on that particular day.  So I figured that’d be a great way to break the blahs.  Also, it really is something I should do every day.  You need to have positive thoughts and be grateful every single day you wake up.  Those happy, thankful thoughts will then continue to multiply over and over again, day after day.

So, without further ado, here are My 3 Grateful and Positive Thoughts of the Day.

1.     No surprise on this one. I am grateful for my son!!  He is my ray of loving, huggable, kissable sunshine every single day.  There are no words I could write that would ever do him and his love justice.  The mother/son bond we share is undeniable.

2.     Although she is no longer with us (one of the incredibly heartbreaking events back in January/February this year), I am so very grateful for the nearly 44 years I had with my grandmother.  Again, no words I could say would ever do her unconditional love and support for me justice.  I miss her so incredibly much.  Love you grandma.  You are forever in my heart and spirit.

A really old and rather "risky" photo back in the day of my grandma (L) and great grandma (R)!!!  

3.     I am grateful for the new medication (Tecfidera) I’m on for Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  My "official" 13-year MS diagnosis anniversary was this past July.  Although the Tecfidera does not cure the illness, it’s what they call a "disease modifying drug."  For me, it has had a significant and noticeable improvement in at least one area of my illness.  This is the first time in at least 5 years, if not longer, that I haven’t needed a cane for stability assistance while walking in the heat and humidity of the summer months.  Haven’t needed a cane in the slightest and that makes me feel amazingly grateful and positive!!

Meet Pepe', my original cane and now one of many fashionable canes in my collection!!  LOL

So there you have it, my positivity and optimism of the day!!!

Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and a lifetime of blessings!!

Kristyn

PS – For my previous blog readers, notice the change in my sign off?!?!!  Yeah, that’s another positive thing that’s happened to me in the past month or so, but I’ll save that for another day!!

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

First and foremost, let me say Welcome to 2014 and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  OK, enough of the formalities, let’s just jump right in!!

And so it begins…the start of a new year.  What exactly does that mean, though?  Yes, I know what the calendar says, but in some ways, I wonder what the big hubbub is all about, especially in regards to New Year’s Resolutions.  Why is it only on January 1^st that most people decide to make resolutions for the specific year ahead?   Shouldn’t this be an ongoing process, but without the tag of “resolution” on it?  Isn’t this how we keep from being stagnant and grow as individuals, by striving to make ourselves and our lives better each and every day?  At least I know that’s how I live and view my life.  Granted, I tend not to call them resolutions, but instead I consider them goals, and for good reason.  I don’t need to do this on January 1^st, as in all actuality I do it all the time.  As an example, instead of saying “I’m going to go on a diet starting January 1^st and lose x-amount of weight this year,” why not set a goal of eating healthier, real foods every day?  That will in turn create a lifelong habit instead of a short-term goal that has an end point once you lose the weight you set out to.  I can attest to this personally in regards to a “New Year’s Resolution” I made at the beginning of 2009, which also happens to be a VERY common resolution year-after-year among many females regardless of age.  I made the 2009 New Year’s Resolution to weigh a certain amount and fit into a “little black dress” I’d been saving all those years (18 years at that point to be exact) by my 40^th birthday (which I turned in the early part of 2010…gave myself enough time to lose the weight as I had 65 pounds to lose by then).  Outcome was, I DID successfully accomplish this particular New Year’s resolution and weighed what I set out to for my 40^th birthday, and I DID fit into that "little black dress" without struggling at all.  However, because I lost the weight in a relatively unhealthy way, I ended up regaining 20 of those pounds right back on even before 2010 was over.  Only when I started eating healthy towards the end of 2011 and learning about nutrient-dense food was I able to lose the weight I gained back, but I’ve also kept that weight off plus a bit more AND I lost more overall body fat and inches without even trying, all without ever feeling hungry or deprived, which many of us end up feeling when we follow an unhealthy and/or fad “diet.”  Plus, without even having it as a part of my initial "resolution,” I significantly improved my overall physical health, emotional well being, and I was able to go off of all but one medication related to my Multiple Sclerosis symptoms.  Goes to show what you can accomplish when you don’t limit yourself to a single resolution, but set out on an overall goal. 

So, by reading this, take a look back to January 1^st.  Did you make New Year’s resolutions?  Is there maybe a way you can broaden their scope and make them more of everyday goals to better yourself as an individual, your day-to-day life, and your overall future instead of just being pigeon-holed into one set outcome?  This doesn't have to be about weight loss, this can be about ANYTHING you want to grow/change in your life.  You’ve got nothing to lose and there is no feeling of having “failed” if you did end up “breaking” your original New Year’s resolutions.  Think about it.  

Wishing you peace, love, and happiness,

Kristyn