Monday, December 28, 2015

Putting Life Into Perspective

Over the course of the past several years, in my life, I have had a few changes. The biggest one was separating from my husband of almost 14 years (at that time)  in 2009. We have been separated now for 6 years. Through 14 years of marriage, life was never easy. I understood that as a couple, there would be challenges, and I was willing to stand by him through those challenges and felt that as a couple, we would get through them together. Until one day I realized it wasn't just bad luck we were having that was causing us to face such challenges. It was his attitude. However, it wasn't until about a year before we were separated that I realized this. Now, 6 years later after the separation, my realizations have come full circle.

"Jon" always had a very negative and defeatist attitude about everything. When I would ask him why he was always so negative, he would tell me "I'm not being negative, I'm being a realist." At the time, that seemed like a perfectly acceptable answer and I began to defend his "realist" attitude. I lost all sight of what being positive should be and I set myself up for his failures because I knew the next "challenge" was always around the corner. I learned to expect them and believed we just were born to struggle as Jon said we were. Jon lost job after job and I would get every excuse in the book from "I'm just not fast enough" to " The boss doesn't like me". One would think he was back in second grade again, whining about how the teacher doesn't like him.  Every time he would start a new job, he would go in with the same old attitude and never a fresh clean slate.

I felt that attitude of his carry with me. I always had a low self esteem and lived constantly with the feelings that I wasn't good enough to do anything, but I have learned that his attitude and negativity affected me and who I was even further than what I had already thought of myself. The longer we were together, the more I began to feel that I wasn't worth better. He lost quite a few jobs in our marriage, and it just became a normal way of life for him. He became comfortable to the way we were living and it was always a struggle, yet he never did anything to make things better. It was acceptable to him that this was his life. He didn't want more for me, or our two children. 

Jon's life consisted of never doing any more or any less than what was needed  I don't think I ever wanted a lot. A nice, modest home and a safe, loving environment for our kids to grow up in. Long story short, when he lost his then current job after only working there a year, we decided it was time to work on separating from each other. Our marriage at that point became a marriage of convenience. In 2009, he finally moved out. 

I have come to learn over the past few years that much of what we are made of has every thing to do with energy. Things we do affect that energy. How we keep our space, who lives in our space and who even visits our space all effects our lives. I believe negative energy breeds negative energy and positive breeds positive. 

Good things happen when you have a more positive attitude. You can't allow yourself to be trapped into darkness by all that is negative. It will eat you alive. Literally. If you allow yourself to feel constantly stressed and take on negative energy, it can only make you ill. 

Without going into further details about "Jon" and I, lets just say Jon consistently and continues to dwell in all that is negative. He is still a small part of my life because of our two kids. Whenever Jon comes over, he is never without some kind of dramatic baggage. This Christmas eve/day when he càme over to see the kids was no different. Long story short, he had a car accident in his new car. But instead of being thankful that it wasn't much worse and that he was alive and not seriously or fatally injured, he whined about what a bad way he was in. What bad way? You're alive, aren't you? Cars are replaceable, human life isn't!! He spoke about how much the holidays make him depressed and how he has nothing. 

This is where I began to put my life into perspective. For the first time I realized that what happens to him is something I can't control. I need to stop worrying about things that are out of my control. I can't fix Jon, as much and as hard as I've tried. He dwells in a pit of darkness. He makes poor decisions and poor choices. I have too. I'm not perfect by any means. However, I am in the process of change. Positive changes. Surrounding myself with all that is good in my life. I have struggles like anyone else. We all do. But the trick is not getting so stuck in those struggles that you think that is where you belong. You deserve all that is good. We all do!! Life is good. It truly is and that's what we have to be thankful for. Don't look for all the bad in your life. Don't hold on to that. Find the the good. Cherish the precious moments and embrace the positivity! 



 

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Keep Christmas With You


Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to all. I hope everyone had a beautiful and blessed Christmas. As I am sitting here this morning, having my coffee, I am reminded of one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite Christmas shows. Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

For the younger generation that might not have seen it, I don't think it gets aired anymore, Big Bird ends up running all over town searching for the answer to the question asked to him by Oscar The Grouch, "How do you think a big guy like Santa Claus can get down those itty bitty chimneys?" And if that wasn't enough, Oscar also told him that if Santa can't down the chimneys, there'll be no presents on Christmas morning.

So the song I am about to post comes from that show.

http://youtu.be/Sd5PEVKuAro

Keep Christmas With You All Through The Year

When Christmas time is over and presents put away, don't be sad
There'll be so much to treasure about this Christmas day and the fun we've had
So may happy feelings to celebrate with you
And, oh, the good times hurry by so fast,
But even when it's over there's something you can do to make Christmas last

Keep Christmas with you
All through the year,
When Christmas is over,
You can keep it near.
Think of this Christmas day
When Christmas is far away.

Keep Christmas with you
All through the year,
When Christmas is over,
Save some Christmas cheer.
These precious moments,

Hold them very dear
And keep Christmas with you
All through the year.

Christmas means the spirit of giving
Peace and joy to you,
The goodness of loving,
The gladness of living;
These are Christmas too.

So, keep Christmas with you
All through the year,
When Christmas is over,
Save some Christmas cheer.
These precious moments,
Hold them very dear
And keep Christmas with you
All through the year.

As I said, one of my favorite songs. It just means the good feelings don't need to end at Christmas. We should keep those good, positive feelings all year long. Embrace them. Cherish them!!

Wishing everyone all the love and happiness for a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!! Cherish the moments, and embrace the positivity!!

Credits:
   Sesame Street
   The Children's Television Workshop

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Positive Focus

I actually started this post on on 11/22. To be honest, I haven't felt much like writing the past couple of weeks. I thought about it several times, but after the terrorist attacks on Friday evening, November 13th in Paris, I have been having a hard time with my thoughts and a bit of anxiety. With that being said, and as hard as it is sometimes, we can't give in to fear and terror. 

I found myself on quite a few occasions this past two weeks having to take a step or two back and refocusing on what's right in front of me at any given moment. I found myself taking those moments to meditate and trying to be at peace. I needed to just refocus and channel positive thoughts and some positive energy. 

A few months ago, I started experimenting with meditation and was surprised at how it made me feel more calm and relaxed. I stumbled onto an app called "OMG, I can meditate" through the App Store. I found the woman's voice very calm and soothing. When you start the app, they give you a free week trial on ALL of the different meditations. Of course, once the week ends, then they want you to pay for it, and honestly, I found it a bit pricey. I just use it for the basic meditation practice. I am going to start looking for something else in the app department for meditation, and I am usually looking for articles online to help me as well. 

I feel it is so important to do what you can to help yourself get back into that positive state of mind and embracing the positivity. Otherwise, you just downward spiral and you're struggling to survive on a mental level. Just something as simple as being mindful of the present moment, taking the time to breathe and focus can be very helpful. 

I found my positivity again with Thanskgiving. We had a wonderful holiday with a nice dinner out, and a post Thanksgiving weekend get together at my home with my cousins! It was awesome to have the house filled with love and laughter. Since losing my second oldest cousin in August, I have felt a strong urge to make sure the rest of us all stay close. We definitely got that this weekend. 

Life is too short to live it in fear; to worry about things that might not ever happen. Overall, you to learn to control the things that only we can control. Keep yourself focused on the moments right in front of you, cherish them and always embrace the positivity. 

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Dutch Oven Cooking

Hey Everyone! So as you all know, I received this beautiful, enameled cast iron dutch oven for my birthday which I just absolutely love! You can cook with it on the stove top, or you can also put it into the oven for roasting or baking. It honestly has become my favorite piece of cookware in the kitchen. So, needless to say, I have been experimenting with it, and I tried a couple new recipes!

The first thing I tried was a roasted chicken. I'll be honest, I didn't really have a recipe for this per se, so I kinda....winged it. (ba dump bump chhhhhhh....Ok, that was bad! LOL) However, I did borrow the concept behind my roasted chicken from this recipe here , but did a totally different take on my chicken as I didn't have rosemary on hand, or lemon. I had cilantro, and lime. This recipe was very easy and it made for a really easy, throw together kinda meal. 

I used about a 5lb bird for my meal. So, preheat your oven to 475 degrees. I started by taking 1/2 stick of melted butter. To that melted butter, I added some fresh minced garlic, but you could use the garlic from the jar. I added some chopped cilantro and zest from my limes. I also seasoned the melted butter with some salt and pepper to taste. Next, I used salt and pepper to season the cavity liberally. I cut the limes in half, juiced them and set aside the juice as well as the rinds. 

I sliced some onions, a little bit on the thick side and lined the bottom of the dutch oven with them. I also drizzled a little bit of extra virgin olive oil ("EVOO" as Rachel Ray likes to say) over the onions as well. Save the scraps from your onions. By this time, the butter mixture has hardened some. Using your hands, get very friendly with your bird and slather him up with the butter mixture everywhere. Carefully peel the skin away on the breast and slather the butter where you can on the meat under the skin as well, but don't tear the skin. Place the chicken in the dutch over right on top of the onions. Stuff the cavity of the bird with the onion scraps, garlic, the lime rinds and extra cilantro. 

It is usually suggested that you tie the chickens legs together. They say it helps with the cooking process and helps with even cooking. I didn't have any kitchen twine, so I didn't tie up my chicken. But if you have some twine, or even PLAIN dental floss, now would be the time to tie up your chicken. Pour the reserved lime juice over the chicken.

Don't cover your chicken. Let it roast, but if you see that it's getting to dark for your taste, then cover it ajar so that your protect it from the direct heat. With that being said, place your chicken in the oven at 475 for the first 15 minutes and then turn the oven down to 350 and roast at 20 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature reads 165. You can also baste your chicken about half way through, if you want. Although I didn't. I tried not to disturb it too much and just keeping the good heat in the oven. 

This chicken turned out amazing. It was very tasty and moist. I am looking forward to making it again soon!! 






The next recipe I tried was this homemade apple cider beef stew from the Taste Of Home website. This is a wonderful recipe for fall. A little bit of a different twist from your standard beef stew. It has sweetness from the apple cider, (you can also use apple juice) and yet subtle savory flavor. I really enjoyed the sweetness in this stew though. 

We made this on Halloween evening as I had my mom over for dinner. I did make a slight alteration on this recipe though. The original recipe called for 3 cups of apple cider and 2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar. After I added that with the stew beef, it just didn't seem like it would be enough for 4 people. My daughter and her boyfriend were here for dinner as well. Anyway, I actually added 6 cups of apple cider and 4 Tbsp aopple cider vinegar to my 2 lbs of stew beef. We adjusted the vegetables accordingly to a double recipe and the ratio of beef to liquid actually worked out pretty well. I don't know, please feel free to experiment, but after I added the liquid to the beef, I was fearful that it wouldn't be enough. I also found that although the cook time states 1-3/4 hours, we found that it took longer to get the veggies tender. Other than that, great recipe....tasty and pretty easy!! Below is the recipe that I altered, but you can get the original recipe here!!



 TOTAL TIME: Prep: 30 min. Cook: 1-3/4 hours (you will probably need more time than this)














Ingredients

  • 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 6 cups apple cider or juice
  • 4 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 4 teaspoons salt, optional
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 6-8 medium carrots, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
  • 6 celery ribs, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
  • 3 medium onions, cut into wedges
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup water

Directions
  1. In a Dutch oven, brown beef on all sides in oil over medium-high heat; drain. Add the cider, vinegar, salt if desired, thyme and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/4 hours.
  2. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and onions; return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until beef and vegetables are tender.
  3. Combine flour and water until smooth; stir into stew. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Yield: 8 servings.


If there is nothing else I enjoy more, it is being together with family, cooking and having a meal together. I find I enjoy this the most when I am feeling down, or a bit stressed. Being with family and having meals together is one way that I find the good moments in my life, cherish them and embrace the positivity!! Thanks so much for reading.

Sources:

Bowl Of Delicious
Taste Of Home




Friday, October 16, 2015

Fall Cooking

Hey There!! Fall is upon us! I actually broke down and turned on the furnace tonight. There was a little bit of a chill in the house when I came home. It's cold outside and they're actually calling for a little bit of the white stuff this weekend! Fantastic. (insert sarcasm here)

Anyway, I celebrated a birthday a week ago and from my Mom and Dad, I received an awesome dutch oven, along with a brand new set of some really nice knives. The dutch oven is cast iron and enamel coated. It's a beautiful teal color. 

For me, when fall comes, and it comes to great meals, I love anything that is hearty, and makes you feel warm and satiated. I love doing soups and chili's a lot!! As seen on my other blog, Crazy Cat Mommy's Corner, I shared with my readers how I make my own CHILI!! So feel free to take a peek over there, if you haven't already!

This week though, we were looking for something a bit different. My daughter found this recipe for White Chicken Chili from Taste Of Home. So head on over there and check it out. A little side note on the recipe--- It calls for Cayenne Pepper. I opted to go with crushed red pepper flakes. The Cayenne pepper was $5.99 at my local grocery store for a little bottle. Red pepper flakes were a little cheaper. Other than that, I found this to be a great recipe. We all agreed it was a keeper. If you try it, you'll find that it is a little more soupier than a regular chili. But it works. It's the mashed great northern white beans that give it its creamy consistency. But definitely worth a try. We all enjoyed it. 

Below we have posted pictures from my Twitter feed. I was sharing the process as I went along. My camera didn't quite capture the true pretty color of my new dutch oven though, but its still beautiful just the same!! I am looking so forward to getting a lot of use out of it for many years to come. 

To me, I find awesome positivity in being able to cook meals for my kids and have us come together for a new recipe I have found. I enjoy being able to bring all of us together for meal times and have that time together. With them being older now, we all tend to have different schedules. However, we always manage to find the time to have meals together when we can. I make sure that I cherish those times together. Family is so important. 

So, let me know if you try the recipe and how you liked it. Thank you for reading and remember, take the time to cherish the moments, and embrace the positivity! 











Sunday, October 4, 2015

Everything Happens For A Reason


Sometimes disappointing things in life just happen. We don't know why they do or we may think the universe is just against us, but I have always held on to the faith that sometimes, everything happens for a reason. We might not always know the reason at the time, and we might not ever find out that reason. 



The week my cousin passed away, I had picked up around 72 hours at work because I had/have been having some financial difficulties lately. Between finishing out the week I was on and the new week that was coming up, I would have put in 96 hours total between both my clients.  It wasn't something I wanted to do, but I needed to do. I had prayed for help about a week or two prior, and all of a sudden, my clients other aide just up and left her, telling the agency she wouldn't be able to work for the next few weeks. I felt that was my sign, my help that I asked for. So I called my agency picking up whatever hours I could. 

So I finished up the Saturday of that week with a 12 hr shift. That was August 1st. I worked Sunday, August 2nd, a 12 hour shift.  Long story short, with the client I picked up the extra 72 hours with, when I got in on Tuesday for my evening shift, I found out her son had cancelled for the next week and a half starting with Wednesday, August 5th. I was upset and angry. But then, my mom reminded me "Everything happens for a reason."  On August 6th, when I would have been working a 12 hr shift, at 9 am in the morning, that's when I got the text from one of my aunts to call her. That's when I found out my cousin died.

 I was extremely grateful to be home with my two children and not at work. I was able to break the news to them and we were able to find comfort in one another. I was able to be there for my Aunt in her time of need. I was able to partake in helping create memory boards for my cousins services. Something I wouldn't have been able to do if I had been working 12 hour shifts. In a time of darkness, I was grateful to be able to have some positives that came out of it. 




As I have stated before, life is about trying to find the positive moments that you can, find what you're grateful for and blessed with. This weekend, my mom, my daughter and I were scheduled to go away together for an all girls weekend at my parents cabin which is located in the southern tier part of WNY near Olean, NY. 

We were looking so forward to it. It's especially pretty this time of year with the fall leaves changing. Well as the week went on, we knew it wouldn't be as beautiful as we had hoped due to weather. It's been raining, a little cooler and damp! 

But as I packed up my pumpkin cake I had just finished frosting, and waited for my daughter and her boyfriend to get home from school, I got a call from my mom. She sounded so disappointed. 



We have a very steep, stone hill that leads up to our cabin. To this day, so many years later, we often wonder why on earth we purchased a cabin on such a steep hill. Anyway, my parents had paid a guy to grate the hill and straighten it out as every few years, it gets pretty weathered and rutted. Well, it wasn't done as quickly as they had hoped. They actually expected it done much sooner than just this past week. 

So when my mom called me, the last thing I expected her to tell me was that we couldn't go to our cabin. As I said, the guy just fixed the road and turned the dirt and had grated it. He told my parents that with all the rain we had been getting, it might not be a good idea to go up the road because it is so wet. I am not sure if he was worried about our tires causing damage to the freshly grated road because of the potential for mud, or if was worried about the potential for danger trying to make it up in the mud. I still wanted to try and go. My mom has an AWD vehicle. I said "We can make it, let's go!!" I've always liked to believe we are unstoppable! Now that I'm writing this, and thinking about my cousin, knowing her, she definitely would have risked it and gone anyway. I don't believe she let anything stop her. 

However, my mom in her infinite wisdom brought up a very good point. In all the years we have had our cabin, driving there and never knowing what we would face once we got to that hill, no one has ever called us to tell us you might not want to come. But the fact that this guy called us and told us, my mom felt we should heed the warning. So as disappointed as we were, we decided it best to stay home. Now to break the news to my daughter.

She actually took it better than I thought. I mean, yes, she is 19 and a very mature 19. It's not like I was expecting her to stomp her feet and pitch a fit! LOL But, she was the one that reminded ME about finding the positivity!! 

I have only adopted this new mentality in my life recently. I am still learning to embrace it and accept it in a few different facets of my life. It's about a whole new journey for me. It's about teaching myself and learning to control the things that only I can control. It's more about me not dwelling in negative energy and focusing on the positivity. I was very proud of my daughter that in that moment, she reminded me of that with her attitude. That no matter what, it's all going to be ok. I feel blessed and accomplished that I feel as if my new outlook has been affecting her positively also!!

With the disappointment behind us, we made a new plan. My mom came over to my house with the plan to spend the night. She brought everything with her for what we would have had for breakfast the next day. We all got comfy, we ordered in Chinese food for dinner, played a game and made popcorn, and stayed up til 1 am having some quality family time. Oh and of course, no family fun time evening is complete with out good music!!

Yesterday, we had coffee and pumpkin cake, and later we made a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, biscuits and juice. Mom stayed for most of the day and we enjoyed each other's company just as much as we would have at the cabin and I think that's what matters most. 

So as I sit here on my porch, sipping coffee on a beautiful, crisp fall Sunday morning, I am reminded life happens and life goes on. But if you dwell in the negative parts of life, you lose out on some of the wonderful blessings life has to offer. You lose focus on what is right in front of you. The next time something disappointing happens, take a step back and re-center yourself. Take a breath and take a moment to be grateful for what you have in that immediate moment. Your health, a loving family, and a roof over your head. Say thank you. Remember to cherish those moments and to always embrace the positivity. 

Monday, September 28, 2015

Celebrating Life

It was such a beautiful day yesterday. We spent it in Rushford, NY celebrating what would have been my cousin's 37th birthday. Most of us (some had to work or had prior commitments) all got together, found a spot overlooking Rushford lake, and we released balloons in honor of her birthday. We laughed, we cried and we celebrated. The weather was amazing! We couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate her! She was such a beautiful soul with an amazing spirit, always living every moment of life to the fullest.

 The last time we saw each other was for another cousin's wedding. The time before that, Christmas. We really seemed to connect at that time, as she sat at our table for dinner. I enjoyed her company and her presence. She made us feel like kids again. We talked and laughed. We promised each other we would get together for lunch when she comes to town. We won't get to do that now. But I am forever grateful for the time we did get to spend together at Christmas and at the wedding. I can't sit here and dwell on the moments we won't have together, but rather cherish the moments we did have. 

Life is never a guarantee. We don't know when our time here is up. So we must always live life to the fullest and remember to always embrace the positivity.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Finding the Positivity

                                                   GOOD SUNDAY MORNING!!

It is a beautiful, cool morning here in WNY today! For the first time in my life, this morning, I sat up in bed, touched my feet to the floor and I just said "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."  I took in a deep breath and got up to start getting ready for the day.

Life is about living and trying to stay in a positive state of mind. I am learning that more and more. I know there may be times when that is difficult. We all have those moments. I find that, for myself personally, I have a tendency to be aware of all the bad things that may be going on around me, whether it be something locally, somewhere around the world, or to me personally. But I have learned that we need to find the positives in our day. I think when bad things are happening, we try to snuff it out, bury it down. When we do that, we tend to forget about the good that's happening, because I think we try to bury down all of it, and the good gets buried too. 

A few months ago, over the summer, before my cousin died, I was in a waiting area of a physical therapy center waiting for someone. A patient comes in and sits down next to me to wait. She was a stroke patient, and I have come to know her over time. I know what she has struggled with and what her current struggles are. She is able to walk, with the assistance of a cane, but she has no use of her left arm. I know that this has been hard for her because she so desperately wants to be back to normal. 

So as she sat down next to me, I gave her a smile and asked how she was doing. She sighed and said "Oh, ok. How are you?" I could tell she was disgruntled, but I smiled back at her and I said very happily "I am pretty good. I can't complain. Any day I wake up and am blessed with a new day, it's a good day." She just looked at me and said "Ugh, why bother."                                                           Sadly, it kind of reminded me of Eeyore. I felt bad for her, but yet at the same time, I thought a negative attitude and energy isn't really good for anyone. While I had the private thoughts to myself, I realize now that maybe I should have said them to her. She really had accomplished so much after her stroke and that's what she needed to look at. Focus on the positives!!

I take time to focus on my blessings every day. I am thankful to be given another day. I am thankful and so very blessed to have my children. I am fortunate enough to have an amazing Mom and Dad and wonderful family and friends. Life might not be perfect, but I am happy to have my life. I hope you take the time to do that for yourself too. If things get rough, just stop, breathe and take a few minutes to just think about the good things that are going on too. Don't let the good things get buried so far that all you can focus on is the bad. 

Thanks for reading. Take time today to cherish the moments, and always remember to embrace the positivity.






Embrace Life

Life – we all live it. The way we choose to live our lives is ultimately our choice. Some people are more fortunate than others. Some are not quite as fortunate. While some choose to live modestly, there are those that choose to live more extravagantly. However, being rich or poor monetarily isn’t what’s important. I think what truly matters is having good health, and having family and good friends that love and support you, no matter what. It’s also about the quality of life you live, being a hard worker to achieve that quality, yet to love life and enjoy it to the fullest.

On August 6th, 2015, I lost one of my seven cousin's. She was in Australia vacationing with her brother. They went to go on a scuba dive with a tourist group. They were with instructors. They were down in the water for about 8 minutes, at 20 ft below when my cousin signaled to her brother there was a problem. They quickly surfaced and had her on the boat very quickly. By that point, she had lost consciousness. There were two doctors present and they immediately began performing CPR. A team of eight people were taking turns working on her for 90 minutes. By the time the rescue personnel got there, they pronounced her dead.

My cousin lived her life to the fullest. There is no doubt about that. She touched so many lives, literally across the world and back. She worked, she traveled and she played. She had so many hobbies and things that she was in to. She saw so many places in the world that most of us only dream about.

For the last couple of years, I have been struggling with some issues in my life. For the last month and a half, I have struggled with losing her. I am the oldest of eight cousins. You never think that someone younger than you will cross over before you. So her death has really rocked my world. Her death has put many things into perspective for me.

For the last year or so, I have been on a personal journey myself. I have been reading some self-help books, I swear, at (almost) 43, I think I started going through a midlife crisis about 2 years ago. I pulled away from friends in my life and started focusing more on my family. I started trying to find myself and who I was. Then as I said, when my cousin died, life was put into perspective even more.

I have been trying more and more to not dwell on the negativity, but rather the positivity. I have been trying to be more mindful of myself and the moments I am in. I have been experimenting with some simple meditation techniques. Anything that I thought would just help release the negative energy and stresses I have been feeling so much of.

So this morning as I was sitting on my porch with an exceptionally delicious cup of coffee, I found myself breathing in the fresh air, fully and completely (probably for the first time in my life) taking in the moment. Being mindful and present and all of a sudden my cousin popped into my head....thoughts of her and her life and how she lived, never taking a single moment for granted. She embraced life. She cherished it.

As I sat there thinking about her, the idea for this blog was born. I am hoping that it will have a positive impact in my life as well as others that maybe struggling with some negativity in their lives or that just may be going through a difficult time and need some inspiration or some positive energy.

Thank you for reading. Cherish the moment and remember to embrace the positivity!