gratitude.

I downloaded the Gratitude! app for my iPhone and I have to admit it's the first app I have ever paid for (I splurged for .99 cents ha)!  I would see others post their lists of what they were grateful for and I thought this would be a great idea for myself.  So many days I find it is easy to keep track of what didn't go right, what I would have changed, things that just plain ol' sucked.  I thought it would be a great idea to keep track of things that went right, blessings in disguise or just things that I am so grateful for in my life.  

I love reflecting on the end of the day and listing them using the Gratitude! app.   I am also a believer that the energy we put into this life is the energy that comes back to our life.  My grandma always said "this too shall pass" and she was always so calm when things could easily get overwhelming.  She had 8 children and her husband, my grandfather, was in the air force which meant moving a lot and raising children on her own.  I know some days are so overwhelming that all I want to do is eat a tub of ice cream in bed while bawling my eyes out at some sappy love story.  I know that if I stay in my feelings too long, it will be harder to pry myself out of my bed, however, and I would rather reflect on my blessings and keep pushing forward!

My goal:   write about what I am grateful every day.  What are you grateful for?

This was not a sponsored post, I genuinely love this app!

Namaste!

A local yoga collective wrote a grant to be able to come and teach my place of employment several poses before our meeting each week.  I've never tried yoga and at first I felt self conscious, but the experience has always been overwhelmingly peaceful.  As a new member at a local gym, I was beyond excited to see they taught yoga and made a commitment to go and try.  Today was my first morning, I arrived early and placed my mat at the back of the room.  I was nervous, yet excited and curious if I could hang for the entire hour without quietly finding the exit.  ;-)

It was an amazing experience and to put it mildly, I'm addicted!  I have to admit that during the deep breathing and meditation, it was hard for me to not concentrate on  where my legs, arms, etc should be, but I know that will come with practice.  I am very excited for this journey as I focus on more self-care for myself.

It is easy when you are a mom to neglect your needs because you are used to doing everything for everyone else.  It is nice to stop, let go and just be... just be Tara for a moment, not mom, not employee, sister, daughter or the many other roles, but to be aware of your own person.  Yoga has definitely given me that and I cannot wait for my next class!

Great articles and information about yoga can be found here Yoga Journal

looking back.

I just re-discovered my LiveJournal with the last post of 2007.  I can’t believe it’s still there, untouched and just like I left it 5 years ago.   I remembered my password which surprises me since I can’t seem to remember anything without writing it down (oh old age, gotta love it)!  It’s so amazing to look back on a whole other life that is entirely different than the one I live now, almost like a stranger peering into someone else’s life.  I’m so thankful I documented it though and got a kick out of looking at the old pictures and stories I shared.  My oldest was 4 and my youngest had just turned 2 when I stopped and now they are 10 and 7.

One of the stories I shared was when my oldest introduced his brother to a new friend at the park:  “This is my friend, brother.”

Another was buying him his Halloween costume and him only wanting to be referred to as “Yaya T-Rex” (he couldn’t say his name, Isaiah).   Then for the next 23 nights he thought it was Halloween!

I thanked Hyland Teething Tablets for being a godsend for Jaden’s teething and how I was thankful for when he started only waking up 1x during the night.

I also documented Jaden’s first hair cut and that Isaiah referred to his curls, “Jaden has girl hair!”  I remember his hair cut, all his curls gone and how he know looked like a big boy.

Also, Isaiah liked to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle little star like a donut in the sky” just to crack himself up.  Isaiah and I singing “He’s got the whole world in his hands”and other bible songs while Jaden danced and bobbed his head like a rockstar.

So tonight as Isaiah and I are reading the old posts, he looks at me and says:  ”Thanks Mom, for writing all this stuff!”  Makes me realize that I really do want to blog more like I had, documenting all the times we share and important stories to look back on.  :-)