I've Got Sunshine On a Cloudy Day

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...