Food For Thought Friday – My Roller-Coaster of a Life!

Here’s a nice, long, and personal “welcome back” post! :) Hope you guys missed me!

Life sure has a way of making sure you’re always on your toes. The past year has been an absolute roller coaster full of changes, both good and bad. There has been death in the family, moves, celebrations, debt, lessons, struggles, happiness, and so much growing. But, here I am today. I am alive, happy, and thankful for every single moment. Past events have helped me learn the difference between who I am and who I want to be. Ever since I realized that these are two different things, I have been working hard every day to better myself as a person. I have made mistakes, some of them worse than others, but who hasn’t? Every day is a new day to change who you were yesterday. There are constant ups and downs in life, and the key is to just accept everything for what it is. I have learned that being upset has never once solved anything. Being proactive and positive does. There are many situations that I wish I had handled differently, but focusing on thoughts like these only made me frustrated. Instead, I have learned from them. I have forgiven myself on the condition that it will never happen again, and that any future situations will be handled with a clear head and complete understanding.

A couple months ago I moved back to Arizona from Maryland. This was a hard move, and it had a terrible weight and negative effect due to the reason behind it. However, with a little help and motivation from my best friend and personal hero, I applied my new way of thinking immediately which saved me a lot of trouble. Instead of grieving or becoming lost in thoughts, I made myself busy and signed up at a University with a Bachelor’s degree in mind. While unpacking, I researched classes and schedules, using each moment of my free time productively. I went to the gym, I read great books and started to get my life back together again. There were trip ups and mess ups, but my best friend continued to reassure me that I was on the right track and everything would be fine. I kept my chin up and stayed positive, and soon good things began to happen. When you keep a bright outlook on life, life tends to reward your efforts.

I honestly couldn’t have accomplished such an amazing 180 life change without the constant reassurance and motivation of my best friend. He has been there for me since day one, and has never once let me get away with a single negative thought. We kept each other on track and have found amazing benefits to our lives and outlook. Hang on to your loved ones closely, motivate them and encourage them every day because you never know when you may have to let them go. Most of all, appreciate them. The people who have seen you at your worst but still love and support you are those you need to truly hang on to. My experiences have shown me the hard way that the very moment you take something for granted, you lose it…and unfortunately, you’re not likely to get it back no matter what you do. I am extremely thankful for my best friend and I let him know it every day. To say he saved my life is an understatement. He  gave me one, and I am truly grateful.

Ember Cove Soap

Because of my new outlook on life, I did a complete overhaul of my site, www.embercove.com to reflect the great changes that I have experienced. This is a brand new chapter and it can only lead to great things. Whatever trials life throws at me, I can’t say I’ll be ready…but I can say that I will accept them for what they are and handle them accordingly.

New posts will be flowing in a lot more often, so keep your eye on this blog. :) I have a lot to write about and even more to share. My goal is to keep this blog not only to provide information for my company, but also as motivation to anyone else out there who may be struggling. I just have one more thing to say. Everything gets better, but it also gets worse. You just have to accept that life is going to throw something at you when you least expect it, good or bad. You aren’t the same person who you were yesterday,  and as long as you keep trying to stay positive and make happy changes to your life, things will work out for the best. :D

Food for Thought Friday – Get Out of the House!

Notice the new blog layout? I love it and I hope you do too! :) I needed to brighten it up as things have been getting a bit grey for me due to monotony, and I am a very positive and bubbly person normally. The reason for this? Not getting out of the house like I should be.

State Park in AZ

I moved to my current apartment on April 6th of this year, but due to the 45-50 minute commute to my significant others work, we are moving again into a new rental on July 1st (this time a house!). This will not only put us closer to his work, but it will also allow me to live a bit closer to society which is what I’ve been craving after moving away from home. I originally moved from Arizona, and although I lived in a small town, there was plenty to do close by. Now that I live on the other side of the states and away from family, things are a bit different for me.

Currently, our residence is in the middle of no-where. The post office is a ten minute drive, and any grocery store is twenty minutes away. Our nearest neighbors are never home during the day so my activities for the past months have been cleaning, working on Ember Cove (my favorite thing!), and walking my dog around the neighborhood. The only time I really “get out of the house” is on weekdays when I make my post office runs, and weekends sometimes to go do grocery shopping.

Although a bit lonely sometimes, I do not mind this quiet life most of the time. I try to “make the best of it” with any situation I find myself in. When I am out of the house I make new friends, but there is a peculiar pattern with everyone I meet from this funny little town. Most have lived here their entire life, and have never been out of the state. I live an hour from D.C., and another good portion of people I meet have never even been there. I have been to D.C. a couple times prior to moving close to it, and I’ve only been there once since moving here and that was at night so there wasn’t much to do. Not even venturing out of the state? This is something I can’t even fathom as my family has traveled every summer since I was born.

Lake Superior in Duluth, MN

Being cooped up in the house for too long usually makes me a bit anxious which can lead to stress in anyone and that is not good. Even going for walks has me wanting a little more adventure. Without a change of scenery, life becomes sort of monotonous which makes a normally laid back and relaxed person a bit irritable (me). I understand that traveling and getting out of the house equals spending money, which is rough on everyone. We’re on a tight budget ourselves, which is why I decided to go do free things this weekend and only pay for food and travel. This weekend we’re going to the National Zoo and hopefully some Smithsonian Museums, all of which are free. The break from the apartment will be so refreshing and I’m absolutely excited about it.

As everyone knows, I try to live life beautifully no matter what. Everyone should try to do the same, although I know it’s frustrating sometimes. Being cooped up in your house or at work will not help with this though, so I highly encourage everyone to get out this weekend and go do something fun! Rain or shine, try your best to make time to get out and see new scenery. Have a picnic with friends or family, drive somewhere down a road you’ve never been and watch the sunset, pick flowers, wave at cars as they drive by…just make sure you’re out of the house! There are so many free things to do, the possibilities are endless.

Lost in NM

If you have something fun planned for this weekend, please share it! Getting out of our normal rut is extremely healthy and will encourage us to be a lot more positive in our thoughts. Even though I love my business dearly, I’m not happy when I sit at the computer every single day without change. No one is. Use this weekend to refresh your mood and recharge. Forget about your normal routine and find time to relax away from home. Not sure where to go? When I moved I didn’t know either, so I just did a Google search of what to do in this state. Usually state websites are a great way to find something to do that’s near to you, and there’s sure to be at least one thing that you haven’t done yet! If you get lost on the way there and never make it to your destination, that’s an adventure in itself so don’t use it as an excuse for why you didn’t refresh and recharge this weekend. :)