I've Got Sunshine On a Cloudy Day

Another thing that I am extremely grateful for, at this age and stage in my life, are my grandparents. Quite simply, I'm lucky to have them. Unfortunately, my mom's mom and my dad's dad passed away from different illnesses only a few years apart from each other when I was in elementary school. I do have fond, positive memories with both of them, and pictures to last a lifetime as well. But the years that followed are the ones that are fuzzy. Being a defiant pre-teen and eventually a moody teenager, I don't really recall ever being excited to spend time with my grandparents. They were at all the important celebrations and holidays, so I would talk and visit with them then. It kept me happy and we kept in touch. Then college came, and time with grandparents while I was home on breaks meant time away from my friends who were also home on break. I managed to see them for the holidays, and they did always bring that comforting smile of home back to my face. But I must admit,

This kid gets it. He is the happiest, cutest, most inspirational little one out there. Check out the video below, which will definitely leave you smiling, and challenge yourself to say these things more! Kid President's 20 Things We Should Say More Often

According to the amazingly wonderful people at Soul Pancake , those of us who are the happiest in life are the ones who say thank you the most and show the most gratitude. As I just prepared myself to sit down and write tonight, I realized something. As a lover of writing, an English teacher, and a positive person, my favorite word has always been serendipity - making fortunate discoveries by accident. It's a beautiful word, it has a charming look to it, and it's most certainly fun to say. However, I just decided that serendipity is now tied with my second favorite word and I suddenly have two favorite words. Gratitude. There are many different definitions, all touching on the same idea but lining their words up in different poetic ways. For example, "an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has," " thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation, feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive," or simply, &

Things I'm thankful for today: 1. Arriving home safely from NY last night 2. Waking up this morning 3. The sun rising on my way to work 4. The ability to see, smell, taste, feel, and hear. 5. The ability to breathe, think, and love. While driving to New York yesterday morning and back home last night, I found my mind wandering to a variety of locations. I was thinking about some of the things in life I'm most afraid of- what I worry about and show concern for on a pretty regular basis. I was thinking about how beautiful the trees looked as the sun shined through their yellow leaves as we are now in the second half of my favorite season. I was thinking about how lucky I am to have the ability to do so many things that really shouldn't be taken for granted- including the ability to drive, to move my muscles, to breathe, to think and understand, (or try to understand) to empathize, to wonder, to believe, to show faith, and the strongest of all, to love. Love is patie

Why start fresh on January 1st? What does January have that November doesn't? There are a few personal things I want to work on in the coming weeks to improve my health, mood, and mental capacity. I'm in a mood for lists lately so here we go. 1. Put less sugar in my coffee. 2. WORK OUT. I'm envious of people I see running in the morning while I'm driving to work at dawn. However, a yoga class here or there as well as a continuous practice of my Jillian Michaels DVD should be better than what I'm doing now for a work out (nothing) and should give me more energy and a bit more strength. 3. Change my alarm clock to sleep an extra 10 minutes in the morning. Waking up before 5am is insanely early, and now that it's pitch black outside for my entire commute it's even more insane. I think waking up at 5am and leaving the house by 6:15 should be plenty of time to get to work, park, and get settled in my room before my meetings and lessons begin. 4. Pray more an

It's time to check in with myself and see how things are going. As the sun shines brilliantly through yellow and orange leaves and I patiently hold on to every last bit of autumn sunshine for the day, I find myself thinking back to where I was last summer. Summer 2012 found myself in places I didn't think I'd be, but in places and with people that I was excited to welcome with open arms. I had read a book called "The Happiness Project" and decided that as part of my daily life I was going to challenge myself and model after the author by creating my own rules to live by. I titled these rules my own Ten Commandments . A year later, I am reflecting on how the rules are going, if they've helped me, if they've calmed some of my anxiety, and if they are worth the effort I put in to brainstorming and practicing them last summer.   My first commandment is "think before you speak." I'd say overall this has helped me avoid situations I might not w

For the most part, I am a pretty positive person. My friends call me inspiring, my students call me helpful, and my mom calls me impractical. I like to always look at the bright side, always tell myself that it can be worse, and when things are bad that they too will pass. I'm full of cliches and quotes and I'm motivated by do-gooders and humanitarians. But this week, I'm sad. I'm overtired, I'm emotional, and I'm down right sad. And that's okay, because I am allowed to be sad once in a while. Things I'm sad about this week: 1. The fact that I'm so extremely exhausted 2. Living so far away from the majority of my closest friends 3. Going to a student's mom's wake; no child should have to experience that 4. Being challenged by some pretty tough students on a daily basis 5. Weekend plans changing 6. The weather turning slowly from fall to winter 7. The fact that it's pitch dark out when I get to work in the morning 8. The news F

After a really rough day at work, it's the little things that bring me happiness. I was luckily able to take my thoughts for a walk this evening and breathe in some fresh air while I counted my blessings. A gentle reminder to never take anything for granted.

What is it about Fall that everyone becomes suddenly obsessed with once the air turns crisp? I always felt I was a minority when I said fall was my favorite season simply because of sweatshirt weather, crunchy leaves, apple crisp, and pumpkins. Now, I'm surrounded by fall loving, pumpkin spicing, autumnal overloading people. Fall is by far the best of the seasons, especially since I'm lucky enough to live in such a beautiful state full of variety in landscape and scenery including both city and lush countryside. The trees, the views, and the sunsets are just pieces of what make the full fall puzzle so enjoyable. The rest of it is the anticipation from a year of waiting. We learn to look forward to the changing seasons; it's a new start, a fresh page, an ending to a previous season of memories. The unexpected weather, sometimes still holding onto summer and sometimes ready for winter, the pretty decorations, and the last minute chances to enjoy the fresh air before we all

Do you accept my apology? My poor, poor blog. How easily I forget about you and toss you in the corner to collect dust. You cross my mind though, Blog, I often think to myself, "I need to write about that" or "there's my next blog post" and as quickly as the thought enters my jam packed mind, it disappears. Here is my dedication, in this newly found 47 minutes I have ahead of me. I wish to keep you shiny and new, clear and sparkly. I did have a bit of a webpage snafu and fear that I've lost my followers, or rather, they've lost me. Rookie move, trying to change my URL and thinking it would automatically redirect those who had me bookmarked or tried searching for me. I'm still here! So now, I will make my posts perhaps a little shorter, perhaps a little more focused, and I will most certainly try to make them more frequent. So- share away! Post away! Comment away! I have often found a lot of comfort and serenity in my blog, and I hope to share

I debated with myself for a little while this morning about whether or not to go to yoga, and then reasoned that it was a beautiful day, one of those days that feels more like fall than like mid-August. In other words, the best kind of days. The sky dawned a brilliant blue with picturesque puffy cotton ball clouds sporadically  tossed throughout. I'm always in awe at how "green" everything looks throughout the spring and summer- the trees and lush grass. I was just in a good, Earth loving mood this morning and figured the best place to be was in a yoga class giving thanks for such things. It was one of the best yoga classes I have ever been to. I attend a variety of yoga classes for different reasons. Sometimes I'm in a spiritual mood and want a good lecture from a good instructor, sometimes I prefer a good stretch, and even other times I prefer a good sweat. This morning intertwined all three and left me feeling grateful. Today's lesson was all about how we can

This morning I decided to wake up my brain cells and my blog and bring it back to life. This blog acted as my therapy and comfort zone for so long, my "feel good go-to spot" whenever I needed some motivation. I've been on a hiatus it seems and it's time to give it some lovin' again. The hardest thing about keeping a blog, I think, is to find new topics to write about that will keep my readers coming back for more. I always seem to resort back to the same general ideas; inspiration, motivation, positivity, etc. I tend to rave about my girlfriends and my family, and I usually include a quote or two containing someone else's wise words between the quotation marks. I find it hard to make a blog post humorous; my sense of humor only comes out best when I'm around my friends, and I don't have any awe-inspiring stories of my own to share either. But for some reason when I sat down here this morning, a song popped into my head. Not a song I've even listene

I must admit, I am a little anxious and excited about the days that lie ahead. Obviously. beauty of being a teacher is that we work crazy hours, teach infinite lessons, face a whole lot of challenges, and try to get through to many students for 10 months out of the year, but are lucky enough to do what we choose for the remaining time in between. I have just completed my first year as a real life, real world, classroom teacher. It wasn't easy, and it's only going to get more challenging in the years to come, but from now until mid-August, I can turn off my alarm clock and think about my own personal hobbies, interests, and passions. My bucket list has had the same thing at the very top spot for a number of years now. #1 for me is to visit the beautiful and unique city of Chicago. I've been to many cities in the US but Chicago is one I've heard such wonderful things about so it's risen to the top of my list. It has actually become a passion and obsession of mine.

As a lover of other people's words of wisdom, I often find quotes that I can relate to or connect to my daily life. I try to share special quotes that remind me of certain people, or provide comforting quotes to loved ones in need. Before I started my new teaching job back in November I searched and searched for the perfect quote to share with my students on our first day together. Once I found the wise words of Henry Ford, I knew these were the ones: "Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success." This was perfect. We were just beginning mid-year, and simply by keeping together, the learning, teaching, and understanding was being progressed. My dedicated students that stuck it out for the remainder of the year and who worked well became successful. As I sit here now and grade final essays, I suddenly realize that I have 5 days left with my students. It's fun to count down the days until summer vacation  with the knowle

I am grateful for the experiences and opportunities I have had thus far in my life. I am grateful for the unconditional love my mother has showed me for the last 26 years. I am grateful for the roof currently over my head in a house that I'm comfortable in. I am grateful that my stomach is full. I am grateful for the amazing students I have met this year teaching in Hartford. I am grateful for my health, my sight, my limbs, my muscles, my hearing, and my senses. I am grateful for the love that Ryan has showed me and the constant inspiration and dedication he shows me on a daily basis. I am grateful for the relationship I have with Christina despite being so far away. I am grateful for the very best friends that have blessed me by walking into my life and never walking out. I am grateful for two living, loving grandparents and a wonderful family of cousins, aunts, and uncles. I am grateful for the lessons my friends have taught me and the encouragement and support we share. I am gra

This past Sunday I was treated to some neighborhood excitement as my hometown held it's second annual half marathon and 5k road race. The weather could not have been more perfect- that vibrant blue sky glistened while the aroma of fresh cut green grass filled the nose and eyes (if you're an allergy sufferer!) A cool breeze kept the runners comfortable as they strolled by the thousands down the otherwise quiet streets. As a local resident, cheering fan, and kinda-sorta runner, I was amazed at the number of generous and grateful runners that I saw pass by my street Sunday morning. I stood at the top of my street with friends, family, and neighbors and we were able to watch runners pass during the first mile and last mile of the half marathon, as well as walk over a block to watch the 5k runners go by. I was amazed at how many runners thanked us for cheering, said “good morning” as they breathlessly ran by, cheered with us as they ran, or even came over for a high five. It w

Mother's Day is just three weeks away! Need a card? Why not put a big smile on Mom's face and on my face with the purchase of this homemade greeting card, made with love, for the very special Mom in your life. Or, check out the variety I have for anyone! Here is a link to my relatively new Etsy shop ! Something that makes me happy and brings me peace while I craft. Take a look at what I have to offer, and please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, or requests! I would love to help :) https://www.etsy.com/shop/AppleGreenLiz

"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow. " -William Shakespeare I have become more and more aware lately that one of the most important foundations in my life is also one of the hardest to come by. In sharing stories, travels, pictures, and memories over many years and many miles, it has become clear to me that my group of friends are indeed special and rare. They are genuine, they are loyal, and they are simply the best. Now, as my "mid-twenties" disappear into "late twenties" I become more aware of how wonderful it is to surround myself with my friends. I miss the days of endless pajamas and chit chatting, I miss the dressing up to spend the night dancing and laughing, I miss seeing friends in the hallways or in class, and I miss making new memories as often as we once were able to. These days, the memories that are made are further between, but

One of the things I enjoy the most is also one of the things that I find most difficult. Choosing a topic to write about for my beloved blog is a personal challenge of mine, with the added pressure of pleasing my readers and leaving a lasting impression of them wanting more. When I come on here wanting to fill my own desire to write, wanting to give in to my own need, I tend to stare at the screen, type, delete, and retype, over and over. I tend to lead to the same topics- motivation, life, positivity, silver linings. But what happens when the best of me takes over? Where do the most positive people turn when they aren't feeling so uppity, so positive? I don't want to sugar coat my life and make it seem like I'm always this happy-go-lucky positive Polly. Life gets real. Real life gets stressful. Growing up is hard and moods change quite frequently. I'm very blessed to have the life that I do- full of love, of friends who will never leave my side, and a family that suppo

If I could design any dream job in the world, I would want to sit on a dock by a lake somewhere warm, with a pristine view of the sunrise and the sunset, while I write and decorate greeting cards for Hallmark. I am personally obsessed with greeting cards of all shapes, sizes, and purposes, just knowing that their sole purpose is to provide some sort of warmth, smile, or message of encouragement to the receiver on the other end. However, my other dream job would be working with high school students at an inner city high school, teaching them English and a sense of positivity. Luckily, I was given the option of the latter, so all is not lost. That being said, during my down time, on my off days, or while I just need some time away from grading paper and creating plans, I do like to search for cards with a certain friend or loved one in mind. I like to be able to provide a surprise and a smile in this ever changing and often stressful world. Recently, I decided to take up the hobby on m

My students are really beginning to grow on me. It's been a steady climb, I feel, since my first day. I'm feeling like a better teacher with a little bit more knowledge in my head each day, and it's obvious that they are starting to feel more comfortable in my class as well. There was one slight downfall last week, we hit a brick wall if you will. Since then though, I do see an improvement. We've climbed over the wall and are now stronger because of the climb. It's amazing how things fluctuate between weeks and even days. A few times I have been on the verge of tears, wanting to just rush home and hide from my kids in my bed. But more often I find myself laughing, I notice more students just stopping in to say hi and share stories with me, or ask to come to my room during lunch. I even hear them say, "no keep reading!" when I tell them that's all we have time for. My students aren't the only ones in the room who are learning. I've learned ple

When is enough enough? At what point are we able to train our brain to think positively no matter what the situation is? I have recently realized that some people think being too negative is a bad thing, while being too positive is also a bad thing. Someone recently referred to it as "unrealistic" to be too positive. Why? How? Give me an example. There are of course terribly sad situations and life experiences where it is very difficult to remain positive or to even understand what is happening. That, however, does not mean better times aren't ahead. It does not make thinking positively "unrealistic." The way our mind works, we make gut reactions, or snap judgements, according to author Malcolm Gladwell . The amount of time it takes to form a gut reaction, initial opinion, first impression, is within seconds. It's the same amount of work whether the reaction is positive or negative, so why not teach ourselves, train our brains to react in a positive way?

So here it is, January 1st, 2013. A new year, a new chance to reflect back on the past, on accomplishments and regrets, on love and life, and on what's still to come. For me, it's been overall a pretty darn good year; there were some accomplishments that were unexpected and warmly welcomed, as well as a few personal regrets that I have in turn learned lessons from. I believe that some of the most important accomplishments from the year are not those that can be held, not those that can be proven with paperwork or pictures, or circled on the calendar, but those that are about the personal growth that I feel I was able to recognize in myself and even admire. I have watched myself grow, I have watched myself set and reach my own goals, and I have watched how differently I may now handle certain situations and opportunities. I believe that a large part of my new and improved outlook on life and on myself came from my practice of yoga , which I am obsessed with and grateful for. Y