Day 4 of love and inspiration

This goes with the whole theme of my "31 Days" challenge - which is staying positive and focusing on the good.  Life is good; my life is good; your life is good. Yes, things do go wrong and not everything goes our way, but overall we all have a lot to love and be thankful for.  

I know I sometimes get caught up in thinking that life will be better when...

Camdyn starts sleeping through the night

John and I are making more money

My home office is complete

The weather cools down

etc etc etc

If I focus on that, I'll not only miss out on today's moments but also probably drag myself into a world of wanting more.  My goal is to be happy with what I have, and to enjoy this life that God has given specifically to me.

a thankful list

a happy, beautiful baby who brings me joy each and every day

the ability to stay home with her while working part-time

a house to call our own

my two work-from-home jobs

the wonderful friends i've made through blogging - you guys have become my main form of socialization lol :)

a husband who loves me through thick and thin

my family that lives close by and always makes me laugh

my bestest friends who are always there for me, and me for them

My mom has been telling me to make one of these for awhile, and I'm glad I did.  Hope everyone is having a nice day :)

Day 3 of love and inspiration

I've always tried to "live in the moment," but it's also important to do things today that will benefit your future.  Whether it be staying late for work in hopes of getting that promotion, saving $50 extra per month instead of buying Starbucks everyday (speaking to myself here...though I don't see this happening anytime soon), or going for a jog each night so you can meet your goal weight next month.

Along these lines, only a little backwards, I wrote a blog post for Rant Finance (the new job) entitled "Advice to my younger self."  Is there any advice (not just financial) that you would give to your younger self?  

Day 2: Gary Allan-spiration

Most of you know I'm a bit obsessed with Gary Allan.  I actually just found out he's playing in Vegas for New Years Eve.  Oh how I would LOVE to go!!  Why do hotels have to be $300/night on New Years?! :(

For today, my inspiration comes from his latest single, "Every Storm."  All of his songs are incredible to me, but I just so happen to love songs with depressing and meaningful lyrics, haha.  

"Every Storm" is about knowing that everything is going to be ok in the end.  Time heals all, and all things (good or bad) will come to an end.  Here's a copy of the lyrics:

I saw you standing in the middle of the thunder and lightning
I know you're feeling like you just can't win, but you're trying
It's hard to keep on keepin' on, when you're being pushed around
Don't even know which way is up, just keep spinning down, 'round, down…

Every storm runs, runs out of rain
Just like every dark night turns into day
Every heartache will fade away
Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain
So hold your head up and tell yourself that there's something more
Walk out that door
Go find a new rose, don't be afraid of the thorns
'Cause we all have thorns
Just put your feet up to the edge, put your face in the wind
And when you fall back down, keep on rememberin'

Every storm runs, runs out of rain
Just like every dark night turns into day
Every heartache will fade away
Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain
It's gonna run out of pain
It's gonna run out of sting
It's gonna leave you alone
It's gonna set you free
Set you free

Every storm runs, runs out of rain
Just like every dark night turns into day
Every heartache will fade away
Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain
It's gonna set you free,
It's gonna run out of pain,
It's gonna set you free

Listen to this song here.

31 days of love and inspiration: Day 1

I'm joining in on the "31 days" challenge hosted by The Nester.  So far, there are over 800 bloggers joining in on this!  How awesome!  It looks like there are a lot of great topics out there.  I'm looking forward to following along!

My topic is: 31 days of love and inspiration.  I wanted something simple that wouldn't take me forever to write a post on.  My days just seem to fly by lately.  I have been doing a lot of work from home (an exciting announcement to come soon!!) and of course taking care of Camdyn and trying to maintain a clean house!  

For Day 1 I have a simple quote on life:

How true is this?  Things go wrong in life so we learn to recognize and appreciate the good.  Life is so short, and I want mine to be wonderful.  Expecting perfection will only lead to disappointment.  Instead, learn to see the good in every situation and every person.  Focus on that.  

I'm reading a book "Change your Words, Change your Life" by Joyce Meyer, and it's all about training your brain (with tons of references to the Bible, because God is the only one that can actually change us) to think positively.  Thinking positively and speaking only good will force you to believe it.  If you wake up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, chances are, you will.  Wake up and decide that it's going to be a good day and find something positive in what lies ahead.

So here's to love and inspiration!  Make sure to come back daily for more.

31 Days

Happy Saturday, everyone!!

So I saw on The Nester blog that she's hosting a "31 Days" blog series for the month of October.  This is her 2nd year doing this - first year it was her and seven other bloggers; last year it was her and 700 other bloggers!  Who knows how many it will be this year, but I'm going to be one of them :)

Basically, you choose a "mini-series" to blog about for 31 days (everyday in October).  It can be anything...31 days of living by faith, 31 days of baking, 31 days of being a better blogger, 31 days of making your kids happier, 31 days to being more productive at work, etc.  You want to choose a topic that's broad enough that you can write about it for 31 days.

Anyone want to join me??!  You have to create a blog button for this series, which is pretty easy.  I used this tutorial for mine, and I'm assuming you link up on Monday, which is Day 1!

Looking forward to this challenge.  It's going to be a very busy weekend, to say the least.