My Baby's 6 Months Old!

Obviously not my big baby! 

He's almost 5, which is another mind blowing fact.

The younger, sweeter baby which I am referring to….

Sparkle & Stone.

It struck me the other day, 

after my very first Colorado market,

that all of this crazy snowballing dream was really 

coming to fruition.

All of my hard work and literal bloody stumps 

and endless chipped and broken nails

were for a reason.

Something was really happening here,

and people were actually liking it.

Thinking about the fact that it's only been 

6 months since our very first market makes my jaw hit the floor.

While it seems like just yesterday, it also feels 

like we've been doing this for so much longer.

 

But the point of all of this isn't to 

boast about how awesome the past 6 months have been.

(although they have been pretty fucking awesome!)

The real point of all of this is to recognize the 

real reason behind all of the success.

First and foremost,

I have to thank my husband.

Not only was his choice to shake up our family 

dynamic a huge catalyst for me finally 

getting off my ass and chasing down my dream,

but it was also a great use of his free time to be my 'do boy'.

This man has run the gamut for me.

I have had the craziest of request 

for construction work on table displays.

He has sat countless hours at markets by my side 

selling things to all kinds of crazy bitches.

And all the while with a giant smile on his face,

most likely cursing me through his teeth, 

but a smile on his face none the less.

If it were not for him,

I literally couldn't do this.

The second person, 

my original baby, Ash.

This kid is a champ.

I will leave out all of the bribes and threats 

that I've delved out to this kid over the past 6 months,

and say this….

All those long hours and shit eating grins,

the boy has done 'em too.

Not many kids could pull it off like he can either.

Trust me I've seen it.

He's become quite the salesman,

and loves nothing more than being my 

"assistant" on market days.

You can tell by the crazed look in his eyes

in the picture above that sugar is involved.

Lots of sugar.

Lastly, You guys.

All my Bitches.

(I mean that in the least threatening kind of way.)

The people that love me and support me 

are really the reason that 

all of the time and work has become a success.

I have met some really amazing people in the past few months.

You guys are the inspiration and the drive.

There isn't a single market that goes by that I don't 

leave with a new friend/customer.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I can't thank you all enough for all of this.

While I am throwing out thank you's,

I also have to give a great big shout out to 

a new friend/customer, Lauren Defilippo.

Lauren is also new to CO,

descending from NYC.

As soon as I learned this about her,

found out she was a photographer,

and realized how totally awesome she was,

I knew we had to be friends.

Lauren was at the Denver HaHo,

photographing the event and was so kind to share these 

images that she captured of our booth.

Thank you so much Lauren for capturing something that I 

never have time to, and for being totally RAD!

Check out her website…

www.laurendefilippo.com

...and while you are perusing the inter webs…

click the "SHOP" button above to head over to 

Sparkle & Stone 

Thankful Thursday

A few years back as I was catching up with an old college friend and his wife,

they kept telling me that they were now living simply.

It really seemed to be a main theme in our conversation,

but I have to honest; I wasn't really sure what they had meant.

Living Simply?

It really can mean so many things.

To me it's more than just de-cluttering our stuff and our minds.

It's more than using only what you need and reducing your waste.

It's really truly living gently.

It's living with intention, respect, and awareness.

It's showing gratitude to the Earth and those that also inhabit this beautiful place with us.

However the most important aspect of a simple life to me is

wrapping my head around what is right for me and my family and what is not.

Once we have chosen what is not right for us, for our home, for our lifestyle, for our belief system,

we simply put it aside without judgment or criticism.

For someone who decides that living a grateful and simple life,

the realization that not all people find happiness and satisfaction in the same things is 

the greatest enlightenment.

Let go of what is not for you.

Put it aside.

Do not judge.

Do not complain.

Just let it be.

My life and my theories are not perfect, but I am grateful for them all.

Be grateful & inspire.

Thankful Thursday: Let's get happy

For my summer vacation read I picked up the best selling book

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

I felt a little silly a first reading it.

I am not much for the "self-helpy" books, but this had a different undertone to it.

It wasn't all woe is me. 

Instead I found myself totally relating to Gretchen's explaining of 

her quest to be more happy, not less miserable.

Now mind you I am not but only half way into the book, and I still have lots of reading to do.

But, after spending some amazing quality time with my 

family last week a certain thing about happiness occurred to me.

My Dad, Step Mom, and sisters all flocked to the lake.

Some of my sisters even brought some friends.

It was a week of lots of girls, 8 of them to be exact.

Eight women under one roof...

It was like a sorority house with a 30 year age gap.

When there are that many personalities in one cabin, 

and mother nature is playing the "rain on your vacation" game,

some truths about people start to really come out.

The passages I was reading kept making more and more sense.

Not everyone's happiness looks the same.

For me, in that moment, my happiness was being surrounded by 

my parents, my sisters, the serenity of the lake, the little 

details that I was capturing on our adventures and the big laughs we left along the way.

I found myself grabbing onto every single moment and then found 

myself dealing with a bit of sorrow when that moment was over.

I never want it to end.

While some found the greatest happiness in a drive alone through the country,

others found the most joy in the uncertainty of what tomorrow would bring. 

My point is this.

It is impossible to look at someone and know what makes them happy.

All we can do is be grateful that there are so many different kinds of people that make the 

huge happy place go round.

One can not define the terms of happiness,

but only recognize it when they see it.

So see it.  Look for it.  Share it.  Emote it.

The happier you are, the happier those around you will become.

Be Grateful & Inspire

Random Acts of Gratitude

I have been talking about this project for some time now.  Trying to get feed back from those near and dear to me.  Sometimes I think that there is a fine line between creativity and insanity.  So I must pause to thanks those that talk me off the crazy person ledge sometimes and give me the feed back I need to be creative and inspirational.

Over the past few months I have come to notice just how inconsiderate people can be sometimes.  I gets my blood boiling thinking about how little regard people really have for one and other these days.  I think about my great grandmother who would talk to anyone.  In line and the store she would strike up conversations, she made friends with waitresses at restaurants, and she would often remind passers by to smile.  These days I am seeing the beauty of interaction with strangers in a whole new light.  Through my child, the chatter box.  This kid.  My boy says "Hello!" to everyone he passes.  Almost completely without exception.  He's a good kid.  A kind hearted boy.  He's silly too.  

All of these things combined with his love of putting stickers in creative places made me think of an idea.  He and I would create little "Acts of Gratitude".  Notes, do dads, found objects with a message, simple notes.  Then like ninja's we would randomly place them where every we went.

Today we launched our first two.  

The first one we left tucked on a shelf at Wal-Mart.

The epicenter of where people need to be reminded of how to treat each other.

This little wedge of rubber lemon reads:

"Hey You! Pick Me!

Put a Smile on your face, and pass it on!"

The second one we left on the window sill at Howley's.

It seemed like the perfect little spot, 

camouflaged among all the magazines and fliers.

It reads:

"A gift for you! yes...you!

Life is too sweet to let the sour stuff get in the way."

I have left the Turquoise Violets 

web address on the back to see if anyone responds.

I really think that it would amazing 

(and restore a little of my hope for humanity)

if someone contacted the blog saying that they found one of these

Random Acts of Gratitude.

Be on the look out!

Be Grateful

& 

Inspire

Hope From Harrison

I just can't keep it in any longer! 

Please, before you read any further,

 jump on over to the Hope From Harrison website,

and read about their story!

Ok...back now?

I had the honor of volunteering with 

Hope From Harrison this past weekend,

and I was so moved by Matt & Melissa Hudson

and everything that they do to help 

children and families in need.

I instantly knew that I had to be apart of it all.

The Hudson's passion for gratitude and living every day to it's fullest

inspired and moved me in such a way that was earth shaking.

I am so excited to announce that 

The Harrison Bracelet

will be available for purchase soon!

Proceeds will go directly to the organization.

Go to their Facebook page to get more pre-order information!

Thankful Thursday

Praying before meals in something that rarely happens in this house.  It's pretty much limited to Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinners.  It's not that we don't know how, or not that we don't care to, it is really just not our practice.  Grace before every meal was something that I grew up with, and frankly grew out of.  I feel kinda terrible actually admitting that.

Upon recently enrolling the boy in a religious based VPK (because they don't offer VPK at military schools), I decided that I had better start prepping him for praying before his lunch.  His school that he will be attending come fall says a prayer before eating, does a small bible study daily, and they go to chapel once a week.  You can imagine the sudden feeling of indigestion the hubs is feeling about all of this. ha. 

But, if I was going to teach my child to "pray" before meals...it was going to be my way.  No thanking God for the food that's on the table, rather just giving "thanks" for the meal.  In short just a series of "I am thankful for...", a few from me, and a few from the boy.

So we sat to eat, and I said:

"Tonight we are going to say grace."

the boy: "Grace."

me: "No, we are going to say grace."

the boy: "Grace."

me: "Seriously, let's say grace."

the boy (now much louder and a bit  frustrated): "GRACE!!!!!"

That was when I realized that this had turned into a fun little game of "who's on first".

The point being that we did it.

I eventually realized that he had no idea what I meant by "saying grace", so I went first, and told him what I was thankful for that day.  He followed with some silly almost 4 year old ramblings about being thankful for "butts, and dogs, and poopoo caacaa", he then got THE LOOK and scraped together some appropriate things to be grateful for.

After doing this for a few days in a row it is starting to become obvious that the boy is gaining and understanding of what it actually means to be thankful as opposed to just saying "thank you".  I am teaching him young the importance of living a gracious lifestyle.  Showing him that the more gratitude that you display the happier you will be.

Teach your children to be grateful through your actions and words.  Let them follow you in expressing their thanks, and maybe the future generations will learn to live humbly instead of living with entitlement. 

For now, Happy Thankful Thursday!

Be Grateful & Inspire

Thankful Thursday

I do believe that since we have all spent the week glued to CNN, 

that the above quote is really truly enough said.

Be Grateful & Inspire

Thankful Thursday

What would happen if tomorrow you woke up,

and all you had were the things that you were thankful for today?

What would be left?

 Would you be left with nothing?

Or would there be an overwhelming amount of things?

Would those 'things' be material possession?

Or would you be so full of gratitude and thanks that your insides would burst?

As I sit here and reflect on this thought, I am left to wonder what I would have.

I consider my self to be a pretty thankful person,

but I am not a "prayer".

Which begs the question....

If I am not taking the devoted time to bundle all my "thanks" into a 

quick synapsis for someone to hear,

does anyone know that I am thankful for the gifts in my life?

I remember the nights of my childhood, knelt down beside my bed.

Every night before climbing in between my sheets I would do the run down:

"Dear God,

Thank you for my Mom and Dad.

Thank you for my Grandparents.

Thank you for my Sibling.

Thank you for my awesome toys.

ect..."

So, since I don't take the 10 minutes before bed to hit my "Thank You" quota...

What would I have left in the morning if all that was left was the acknowledged?

Honestly, I am not sure that anything would change.

And do I believe that you have to say those "Thank You's" out loud to mean it? 

NO.

Being grateful is a way of life,

and if you are....everyone will know.

Would I have enough?

Would my life still be full of joy?

I can answer these two with certainty.

YES.

Just because I don't kneel down and rattle off a list of things and people that I am thankful for,

doesn't mean that I am not oozing with gratitude.

So think about it.

What would be left for you?

Where would you be?

And who would you be there with?

Would anything change? 

Or are you living a life of gratitude to ensure that everything that you have is enough?

Don't focus on the negative.

What has happened has happened.

It's the past.

Nobody knows what tomorrow has in store for us.

We can only go into it with a positive attitude, ready to be thankful.

Today is all we can control.

Today is a gift.

Be thankful TODAY, right now, right this very instant, 

for tomorrow it could all be gone!

Be Grateful & Inspire

Thankful Thursday....late again

So, I decided that Thankful Thursday was going to be a bit of a change this week.  Instead of my super insightful words of wisdom random ramblings about why we should show gratitude towards others, I am just going to give a great big opened armed thank you of my own....laced with a bit of levity.

For the past few months I have been dying to go to Thursday night yoga 

at my gym.  The instructor has substituted my normal friday morning class a few times and is always amazing.  Due to scheduling conflicts with bed time and the hubs work schedule,

I had never found the time to make it to that 8pm session.

Well this week was different.

When I asked the hubs if I could go, his answer was "of corse".

While the class I normally take is definitely difficult,

the Thursday night class was a whole new world.

The age demographic and amount of strength possessed by the other participants was 

a bit intimidating.  But I found myself challenged in a new way that I wasn't sure existed inside me.

I stretched further, breathed deeper, and was more focused than normal.

All of that yoga talk about radiating light and transferring energy all really made sense.

It was no longer just talk, I really felt all of those things.

I was able to hold poses that I didn't know were in my practice,

and also came across a few that I didn't know existed and have new goals to conquer.

In our final shavasana I really was at peace.

I am normally having an internal argument with the voices in my head telling them to shut up so I can have a still and peaceful mind. Ha.

When it was all said and done it was the best yoga class I have ever taken,

and I have the hubs to thank for that.

So darling, Thank you for always making my dreams come true.

To everyone else, sorry this was a day late...

I was too busy nursing my sore body back to life last night,

and 'thanking' my husband for being so awesome.

And a brief note on the above video.

Fog and Smog produced these hilarious music videos on YouTube.

You really should check them all out! 

Yoga Girl has been stuck in my head since the first time I saw it, 

and I can't help but hum that little tune when in my down dog.

Thankful Thursday...er Friday

(source)

After coming off of my funk from missing my best friend and NYC combined with the punch in the gut news that I received in the middle of the week, I am starting today with a new foot forward.  This week I have spent a lot of time reflecting and my mind keeps wandering back to one simple notion.

 Ego vs Gratitude vs Society.

If there was ever a microcosm of todays society that lived and breathed and sustained it would be New York City.  The amount of 'daily lives' that buzz around that city are unreal, yet there was an underwhelming sense of gratitude and human connection being shown.  As a matter of fact I was laughed at by my best friend and her husband about how kind and happy I was towards the locals.  Truly, it's just second nature to me now.  You treat people kind and fair.  You give that stranger an extra second to say hello.  An excuse me on the subway can prevent ruining someones train ride.  A gentle touch and warm glance can provide that much needed human connection.  Celebrating someone for just being can be one of the most rewarding gestures.  Now I must side note here....I don't want you guys to think that I am some sort of freak who went around the city with a cheesy smile pasted on my face, touching every stranger, and making small talk with every passer by...they have a special name for people like that...it's called crazy.  Instead I just continued my daily practice of showing people that 'I cared' in a place where no shits are given about the person next to you.

All of this thinking about a lack of human connection and perception of down right anger makes me think.  What causes people who are by nature supposed to be happy, to be so unhappy?  I have gone back and forth on this weighing out the possibilities of 'why', and it really boils down to one thing.  Ego.  We are trapped in a reality where people have a tendency to believe that their problem are the most important. Their shit stinks more than your shit.  They have had a harder day. And here's where the Ego really kicks in.....NONE of this is their fault.  The professional Ego centric maniac has no problem passing all of that blame of their own hardships right onto someone else's plate.  Anyone else's to be frank.  Where does all of this lead us?  In my opinion, downfall.  I truly believe that living an Ego centric life is the downfall of society.  And you can scale that 'society' on many different levels, it could be a family society, work, community, city, country, ect. In short if you live on the top of your ivory tower thinking that the reason that you shit stinks is due to everyone around you, at some point everyone is going to get tired of smelling your shit and move on.

The moral of this increasingly long winded story is this.  If you choose to be Ego centric that is your prerogative but know this, you are choosing a life of solitude and your microcosm of society will crumble around your shity smelling pedestal.  If you decide that that life stinks then you must remove your head out of your own ass and choose to live a life of gratitude.  I choose that life. 

Reconnect with the human connection.  Be grateful and Inspire.

Thankful Thursday

As I sit here at the crack of dawn, blurry eyed and not quite awake,

I can't help but watch those around me. 

Everyone here is headed for the same adventure to a far away place.

While none of our adventures will be the same.

Those sitting at my gate are obviously headed to the same destination as I am, 

but how similar will our journey's be?

The man next to me grumbles under his breath 

as I politely greet with with a smile and good morning.

He's dressed in a suit so I assume he's headed to New York on business.

His forehead is creased with lines of stress and a life of disgruntled behavior.

He seems angry.

Maybe he's upset that he has to sit next to some purple haired smiling freak.

Maybe he's mad at his secretary for scheduling such an early flight.

There's the lady half way down the terminal who is toting way too much luggage for just one person

and trying to wrangle up her two small children.

I can't help for a minute to be thankful that I am not traveling with the boy today,

and in the next second am cursing myself for not jumping to my feet to go help her.

People all around her are just staring in hopes that they won't be "stuck"

near her on the plane I am sure.

Across from me is an elderly couple.

They are holding hands while they wait to board the plane.

They haven't stopped staring at me.

I can only imagine what they are thinking.

Judgment.

It's funny to me that there is so much judgement today.

Because I look like a Crayola box exploded on me I must be a terrible irresponsible person.

I just smile.

Knowing that I am a wonderful person.

I am secretly waiting for the opportunity to prove their judgments wrong.

I have so much to be grateful for.

I am about to see my favorite lady.

My husband surprised me with the amazing trip.

And that's just what's happing right this very minute.

Recognize the moments in your life that deserve it.

The food and nourishment in your belly.

The roof over your head and the people that make up your individual community.

That stranger sitting next to you.

All of these things may have something to offer you 

if you take the moment to see the gifts inside of them.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday

(source)

Today, 

on a lovely play date with some of our best friends,

I witnessed something that really shook me.

As we were wrangling up our kids,

packing up our bags,

and cleaning up our picnics 

Brenda, Lori, and I were stopped in our tracks.

We stood there and watched as two other mothers 

across the park cackled and laughed at their two children,

probably ages 11 and 6, pushed and kicked two large trash cans

back and forth until all of the garbage was strewn about.

Instantly I was 

Irate. 

Disgusted.

and Shaking.

How could these women just stand by with their iPhones

video taping and encouraging such idiotic behavior.

And don't even get me started on the littering part.

I started to get a little bit....

"Oh hold me back Ladies!!!",

but then I realized that for lack of a better term,

her ghetto-ness/white trash would our match me any day.

Myself, being someone who has never been in a physical altercation,

would have never stood a chance when push came to shove.

I did want to go bananas on her though.

I had to get out of there! 

Fast!

If I said something on the was past them to the car,

I knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

As we past and all of our children gave them a 

"what the fuck are you guys doing?"

look, I walked proud knowing that not one of 

my boys friends was stupid enough to do something like that.

No worries though,

the above mentioned mothers-of-the-year

made their hellions clean up the messes that they had made.

For the past few hours since the horrific public display of parenting,

I have not been able to stop thinking about it.

Did they really clean up the mess? 

All of it?

Did those kids touch a homeless persons urine?

Exactly how much bacteria was growing in that can?

Yuck!

Did they was their hands before dinner?

Have they ever eaten a vegetable?

The shit cycle has been churning non stop since seeing the whole thing go down.

Let's face it...

(cover your ears!)

those Bitches ruined my day.

Why?

Because negativity will posses your life.

Negative people.

Negative thoughts.

Negative situations.

The negativity took over for me today.

I have had a headache, and I have been tired and frustrated.

I must flush the yuck out and breath in the positive.

Because positive thinking will always lead to positive living.

Be grateful & Inspire

Thankful Thursday

(source)

Do you ever just pause.

Stop everything.

Close your eyes, stand still, and just... 

be?

In a world where we are chasing the perpetual rabbit and 

in a constant battle with being bigger and better and stronger,

it's easy for us to just forget it all and be happy.

Society pressures us to strive to be better

and to search for the next best thing.

But what is wrong with where you are?

Right at this very moment.

Is there peace and happiness 

right where you stand?

Take that moment.

Stop searching and trying so hard.

It's already here.

Your perfect moment.

You have to just be.

Be Grateful & Inspire

30x30

First I must begin with a brief apology 

for Day 10's tardiness.

You see, it has taken my almost 30 year old ass

all day to feel like a human being again.

Needless to say,

I don't get out much.

But when I do, I tend to get silly.

Last night was full of giggles,

jokes about 30 year old boobs,

tender moments between friends,

and a very cold, long wait for a cab.

Friends of your 30's are so wonderful.

I was fortunate as a child and teen to move enough times 

to have a very formative and diverse community of friends.

Through the wonders of social media, 

I have really had the awesome opportunity

 to stay in contact with so many of those wonderful women.

I can almost pull layers of myself apart like an onion, 

and tell you who influenced that tid-bit of my personality.

Those tid-bits that make me who I am today.

The memories, laughs, tears, and fights that got me to where I am today.

And as I take a good hard look at the women, 

MY LADYBIRDS, 

who are major parts of mine and my families lives,

I am simply humbled.

xo

thankful thursday

(source)

recognition. just how aware of your own happiness are you? how aware of your expressions of gratitude are you? is all of your recognition of thanks and praise kept in a selfish place? tucked deep down inside so that you don't have to share it with the world? who benefits from that? 

hiding your gratitude does nothing. no one will ever know that you appreciate the things that you have, the things that are done for you, or just life in general.  i have a problem of really wearing my emotions on my sleeve, but this emotion, i urge you to put this one out there.  why not share it with everyone you meet. 

there is a novel idea...sharing gratitude. pass it on. maybe someone needs the acknowledgement more then you know.  the lovely ladies over at 365grateful, whom i find everyday inspiration from, have come up with an amazing challenge this month. HUGS! why not? they are challenging us to 8 a day. read here to find out the reasons why. it's science folks.

meanwhile, shout it out from the roof tops! if you have something to be happy or thankful about, tell someone. hug someone. tell someone while you are hugging them.  and be warned, if you are within arms reach of me, brace your self for a hug. 

thankful thursday

(source)

ok, here it is, i have skirted this issue for quiet some time now. for what reasons, i am not sure. it's no secret that i am not super religious, despite being raised in a traditional catholic family, you know church every sunday, sunday school on sunday and wednesday, and when i was staying with my grandmother....well she went to church everyday. needless to say, i spent a lot of my childhood trying to understand religion, not just understand all the rules and memorizing all the things that we had to memorize.... what i was trying to understand is why you 'had to be religious to be a good person'.

now i know that many of you at this point are wanting to stop reading, but let me reassure you that this is not a rant about religion being bad or good, or any of my personal beliefs. simply it is going to focus on one thing....gratitude.

in my recent research for my weekly "thankful thursday" i have found an overwhelming common denominator....God.  why is it that the majority of the quotes regarding gratitude have such a religious undertone?  while i have no problem and somewhat understand....you know the whole message of the bible thing, the problem that i have is the lack of non-religious material about giving thanks. where is the support from the other side? i'm feeling a bit out numbered here folks.

today's quote nailed it! "your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behavior does".  i really couldn't have put it better myself.  so many people look at my husband and i and assume that we must be bad people....you know all covered in tattoos, nose rings, and alternative appearances and lifestyles...but give us two minutes to actually get to know us and you will find that there is much more to us.  we are some of the most caring and gracious freaks out there! hehe.  our religious beliefs, or lack their of, do not determine how we treat people and the world around us.

as a society we need to get past 'giving thanks' being something that we only do at church (or on turkey day) but something that we live everyday, where ever we are. behave in a manor that others know you appreciate the things around you. and on the flip side of that....some of you bible thumpers need to take a good hard long look in the mirror and practice what you preach.

the moral of the story is this: be good to people, give thanks for what you have, share your gratitude with others. plain and simple, religion or not. living a gracious lifestyle will bring you to a better place.

thankful thursday

(source)

go to the grocery store and find the sugar aisle.  now go ahead and take out your calculator because you are going to need it. start counting the endless amounts of artificial sweeteners. there are so many. fake. full of things that don't really exist.  all with one thing in common...they are all trying to make us happy.

now apply this to your life. think of all the fake thank you's, the empty mass "wishes", and half assed praises.  do any of these make us truly happy? gratitude is the purest of ingredients. it comes straight from the soul. share your graciousness with others and soon you will find yourself living the sweetest life. and always remember....it is not the happy people that are thankful, it is the thankful people that are happy.

thankful thursday

(source)

this little quote is coming into my life on a day that i really need it. it's funny how those things happen.  

i am sitting hear on the verge of pulling my hair out over the boys insane behavior lately. i find myself at wits end wondering what to do. i feel like i have tried everything.  but then i stop. think. reflect. there are so many things about the boy that i have to be thankful for! 

i am the proud parent of one strong willed and brilliant little boy. he must be brilliant because he's found a way to make his zen mommy loose her cool! haha.  

amongst all the craziness and timeouts there are these moments where i look at him and think about the miracle of this little creature that the hubs and i created. the boy is healthy, strong, intelligent, and so stinkin adorable.  he has these dance moves that make me giggle every time, he has the ability to make strangers laugh, and a serious love for nature. he's everything i ever dreamed of, minus the tantrums....which (fingers crossed) will pass.

and on a totally different topic...you never realize how much you enjoy the little things until they are gone! i am doing little at home experiment to determine if my swollen lymph nodes in my armpits are due to  a reaction from my deodorant.  i have decided to go au natural today....and peee ewww! how i do enjoy and miss you deodorant....even if you are giving me armpit cancer. 

for the rest of you that can not smell me....enjoy the little things! be grateful! and have a wonderful week!

thankful thursday: share a smile

(source)

do you ever smile at strangers? i do it all the time. it was how i was raised. most people just give a half assed smile in return. sometimes they give a stare like "girl - you must be crazy". occasionally i get a dirty look in return. but it's rare to get a genuine smile right back at me.

i grew up spending a lot of time with my great grandmother, veronica. she smiled at everyone. all. the. time.  she was constantly telling me to smile. and was known for walking up to a complete stranger and demanding the same from them. as a kid i was so embarrassed by her willingness to tell people to turn that frown upside down - but as an adult....well i wish she was still here to help me brighten peoples day.

smiling doesn't hurt. so why is it that so many people walk around with such smug looks on their faces? many would argue that they don't have anything worth smiling for. this is where i demand to interject. 

{i can her my grandma's words running through my head and right out my mouth.} 

nothing to smile for? really nothing at all? you are here aren't you? alive? and well? you have a home? food on your plate? people who love you? is there really nothing in the world that is worth the contraction of a few small muscles in your face? smile!

i get it. i have bad days too. but if i smile out of kindness at you, can you please return the favor? and that's all it is...my inner kindness shining through. it's my inner sunshine. i am not crazy!

and now for you...try it. just for one day try smiling at strangers that you pass. maybe start small and simple. old people in the grocery store are easy....they will always smile back. start with one, then two, shit why not three. try it for one whole day, then the next day, and the day after that. next thing you know it will become habit and you will find yourself sending smiles out to the world (and people will look at your like your nuts too!)

smiles are contagious....and free. give them to everyone you meet. be thankful that you have something to smile about.