Day Four

I am grateful to be able to write and illustrate because they bring me joy and let me share that joy with others. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am truly blessed for my parents because of their continual love for me and my family and for making me laugh throughout my whole life. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am very thankful for the beautiful chilly day I had because I saw glitter drift through a nice breeze and let the cold, rose my cheeks and remind me to be present. Also thank you for the birds foot prints in the wintery dusting. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

With all my heart, thank you for Jon because of how incredibly handsome his is, for how amazing his love he gives is, and for working hard for his family day after day. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am truly grateful for Aurora because of how thoughtful she is and for her big hugs. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am very blessed for Aidan because of how he keeps me on my toes and for reminding me to stay grounded when anger shows up. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so happy and blessed for Noah because of how he looks out for others and for having such a warming loud laugh. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am incredibly grateful for Cole because of how he has a different perspective than everyone and how helpful and kind he is. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am deeply blessed for Mary Jane and Tom because of how they look out for my husband and our family and for helping mold, shape Jon into who he is today. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so lucky and grateful for Mark and Tammy because of their remodeling wisdom and for their outlook on life. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am truly blessed and grateful for scrappy because of the warm cuddles he gives and for being the best dog in the whole world, and for being my sidekick, Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am truly blessed for our home because it keeps everyone safe and warm and because of all the charm and love filled in our home. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so happy and grateful for Jon’s dream job because he gets to work with his best friends, Bobby, Cole, and Noah, it brings him an abundance of joy and money, and for loving what he’s doing daily. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

With all my heart, thank you Universe for your guidance because I love living my life; being able to give, witness, and receive love; and for all the joyful surprises that come my way. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am deeply blessed for my friends and family because they let me shine my light on them and they shine theirs back on me, because of all the different perspectives and laughs everyone has, and for letting me love them hard and letting me receive it back. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am truly blessed for our abundance of money because it pays for my bills, new clothes, and lets me be generous to others. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

With all the cells in my body, thank you for the trees because of their phenomenal beauty and for cleaning our air, water, and soil. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so thankful and blessed for today because I learned how to center and ground myself more and for being able to create and be in a state of joy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Have a good night and let the moon shine upon your soul. 🙂

#gratitude #gratitudechallenge #grateful #365gratitudechallenge #gratitudewitch

Day Three

Today I wrote my gratitude list this morning after I finished all my weekly errands.

I wrote it out, then grounded myself by reading my list out loud and in my head while being in awareness of joy and gratitude. The sun danced with the clouds as I did my little ritual.

I’d like to leave tonight with a random quote (meaning just opened the book and picked one.) from The Greatest Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Found on page 82 ” Most people believe that negative situations come from outside of them; they believe that it’s either people, circumstances, or events in the world that have caused negative situations in their life. But nothing is inherently good or bad, as Shakespeare told us: ‘There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.'”

I have to be honest, this page keeps opening for me when I do this practice of asking the universe for guidance. Mostly I believe is because I’ve been in my head a little too much as of late. But I am at the stage where I can recognize it and stop it before I let it rule my awareness.

I am blessed for a full day of laughter, love, light, silliness, and even being the discipliner. lol Thank you for this day, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Have a great night!

Day Two

Today I have many things to be grateful for. My kids first day of the new semester, it went well-even without their phones. My stepson retained some of the math during our homework today and he wanted his homework done. Very grateful that algebra is slowly clicking with him. I am grateful that my fight with aurora ended quicker than normal and that she understood where I was coming from. I am grateful I noticed my ego came to play and remained silent after my anger got the best of me. I am grateful she speaks to me about how she sees life. I am blessed to witness Sirius and Orion for be playful and scurrying about, then coming back to me. I am truly blessed for scrappy for being my sidekick and partner in crime. The crime of treats that is. I am happy and thankful that he sees the treat window as such and that I have the means to supply him with treats. I am blessed Cole and Noah told my mom thank you for their Christmas gifts this year and for listening to me. I am fantastically grateful for the Universe because of how the Universe guides me and always has my back and for it’s joyful surprises. I am so lucky and thankful for our abundance of money because I am able to buy what we need and also what we want. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I am truly blessed for Jon because he loves all of me and is letting go quicker. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am very grateful for Jon’s dream job because I loves working with Bobby, Cole, and Noah, it brings him joy daily, and for the abundance of money it brings to my family. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am beyond blessed for our home because it keeps my family safe and warm and it’s filled with love, light, and hope. I am grateful and blessed to be living my life because of the state of joy I get to stay in and for all the love I get to give, witness, and receive. Thank you, thank you, thank you. With all my heart, thank you for Jon because I love the love we share, because he’s a great father, and for being thoughtful and for providing for our family. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am truly blessed for my parents because of their sense of humor and for all the love they send my way. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am very thankful for Mary Jane and Tom because of all the funny stories new and old and for their grand love for their kids. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so blessed and happy for Mark and Tammy because of their thoughtfulness and for all the fun we have playing games and laughing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so lucky and fortunate for my family and friends because they add so much joy and crying-laughing into my life and they’re there for me in a second, just like I am for them. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am incredibly grateful for the trees because of their grand breath-taking beauty and for how they clean our soil, water, and air. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

With all my heart, thank you for my plants because they bring joy and happiness into my daily life and for cleaning my air and adding beauty to my home. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Joyful joyful lord I adore you, thankful for your light and mine. Thank you lord for all your blessings. Thank you, thank, thank, thank you-ou.

Goodnight and have an awesome day.

One

01/17/2022

I am truly grateful for my life because I get to give, witness, and receive love. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

With all my heart, thank you for Jon because he’s understanding, a great father, and for laughing with me. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

I am deeply blessed for Aurora because of her great big smile and for trying to do better in school. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am very grateful for Aidan because of how he’s handling taking a break from his games and for being able to talk to me about anything. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am extremely grateful for Noah because he looks out for others and for being a good brother. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so blessed and grateful for Cole because of his great laugh and for adulting his credit and trying to be better. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am incredibly blessed for my parents because of their continual love and support and for making me laugh and smile. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you so much for Mary Jane and Tom for all the love you give my family and for all the great memories old and new. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am ecstatically blessed for Mark and Tammy because of their love and heart for my family and for all the fun in the sun. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am very thankful for our home, because it keeps my family safe and warm and for all the hope and light that shines in it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am truly grateful for Jon’s dream job because it brings him joy daily, he gets to work with Bobby, Cole, and Noah, and it brings our family an abundance of money. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

With all my heart, thank you for the Universe because the Universe always has my back, for all the love you send my way, and for all the joyful surprises you bring to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so happy and blessed for Scrappy, Orion, and Sirius because of their warm cuddles, happy eyes, and joyful nature. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

With all my heart, thank you for the trees because of their grand beauty and for cleaning our soil, water, and air. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am so blessed and grateful for my families health because we love playing games together outside and inside, and we love walks, running, jumping, and being together. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am incredibly thankful for my friends and family because they all give me different perspectives, voices, and for always being there for me and letting me be there for them too. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you so incredibly much for our abundance of money because it pays for our bills and more and lets my family go on vacations together. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Day one of yearly gratitude challenge. 01/17/2022 Full Moon.

Have a great night!

Okay.. here we go.

I have a problem being public, in the pubic eye. For that reason, I can’t seem to push myself to write openly and honestly online. (Even though, my dream is to be a published children book author.) What I am getting at is how an old coworker of mine, has started living his dream and does it with the help of social media. His doing exactly what he wants to do in his life. I’m so proud of him, I bought one of his first watercolors when he just started his journey. We met at a Walmart parking lot and now I have a beautiful bat painting hanging up in my house.

So, it got me thinking. What can I do everyday as a complete commitment? And I can’t decide on one thing creative that I stay in. I could draw, paint, sew, paper work, metal work, or stain glass. Or should it be book reviews or showing me making a book that might get published? But I can’t do that daily. I’d love to say pottery, but I don’t have the means do so currently where I could start a shop. As you can see I love doing it all which leads to me to being that friend who is all over the place. It’s true, I own it.

Lastly, the only thing I can think of doing daily is gratitude. I have big dreams and I ground myself by doing gratitude about twice or more a week.

I have decided to make a year long gratitude challenge. Where every single day I write what I am grateful for, at least ten nouns. I will not kill myself over errors in my writing. I will let my perfectionism go. (At least for my online gratitude journal.)

My rules for this year. 01/17/2022

(It should be known I’m typing this at 11pm while my house is asleep and that my daily routine will most likely be at night. But I don’t care when I do it, as long as I do it daily.)

Once daily I’ll post on here my reasons why I am grateful for the day. It’s okay if it’s done in my notebook and a picture is taken and it’s okay if it’s typed. I will respond to people online, but at my own pace and speed. I have days that can seem endless, but that doesn’t mean I can skip. Writing out what I’m grateful for and saying my thank you’s daily, just seems to be the perfect idea to me.

I’ve had a truly magical year. During that time, I was private about it. I felt like telling everyone my great fortune would come off as bragging. Or preachy. I’ve offended an old co-worker last Christmas being too positive. It lead me to think, maybe I shouldn’t share my thoughts and maybe I am coming off as preachy. I am not that kind of person, I don’t want to be seen that way. But I had a year where so much went right it’s hard not to notice. There was some bad things that happened to me, but with gratitude grounding me, right around the corner were huge blessings. I mean right around the corner.

I read The Greatest Secret by Rhonda Byrne in March. I started rereading it currently, I highly recommend it. Last year, I didn’t get into grad school for Children’s Literature, our landlord for the last eight years- told us he was selling our place, and our kids needed a teacher-me for half of the year. But, we bought a really nice boat, I had a greenhouse and my own plants, we bought a house in June that came with garden beds in a really tough market, and I put my toes in the sand in the Bahamas two weeks ago. It’s not even a full year from when I read it, but it’s been eye opening and share worthy.

I’ve been pretty happy and it’s a full moon time to release and let go.

So, I’m letting go of being scared of sharing a slice of myself. Or I guess not giving a fuck who reads about me and why I am grateful. I’m not going to tell you what to do, I am just going to have this page to hold myself accountable for the next year. If people join in-awesome! If people don’t-superb!

Love ya and enjoy your night!

Friends From Uranus

This is the title to my middle grade, humor, adventure, scifi book. FRIENDS FROM URANUS is completed at 36k words and underneath I have my illustration example pages 🤗

This book is centered around my blended family, if Martians took up base in our upstairs toilet. With this said, it’s not exactly my family- but definitely inspired by them.

10 year old Aslan smacks the spider in the upstairs bathroom for his younger sister, only to see a teeny-tiny green man jump, lasso another spider, and rush out of view. Once he befriends the Uranians, they tell him his dad is targeted by the Martians. They need his help to save the earth and his dad before his dad’s memories are lost for forever..

Litter Getter Power Today

Today was day two for me picking up litter by my hometown exit off of I96. My funny and kind daughter was with me today. We both had fun filming our litter pickup and talking about what we were finding.

She had so many ideas for today’s videos and plenty more for later. I heard all about them on the ride home.
We really had a great time together and she wants to do more. Yay!
The Litter Collector on Tiktok

Today was a stackable kind of day, where all of a sudden there was a shift in my plans, I handled it well though. I was able to still push through and pick up two bags of trash. That right now is my goal per pickup. It takes about forty five minutes to an hour to pick it all up and walk it all back our jeep.

Day Two Done!

We found lots of cans and water bottles; car parts; plastic bags from shopping, salt, soil; capri sun; plastic cups; fast-food packets; and much more. Most rememberable item: a metal cover for semi truck wheels.

While I started editing for this blog, I noticed I got into great detail explaining my reasons why I am getting a job this year. If you’re interested in that it’s below. Otherwise, have a lovely day and if you see some litter pick it up! Then clean your hands.

I’m a stay at home mom and an unpublished children book writer. Though, I’m applying for remote work currently. I had a year off for my dreams after getting my Bachelors degree- and the year happened to be 2020. Not the best year to give to my dreams, but I’m ready to make some money. We live in a cramped townhouse, five of us currently in a two bedroom townhouse, but we have made it a true home for the last seven years. I’d love a house before my two youngest are in high school, which is this fall. I have to say, I’ve been super grateful for last year and the time I’ve had with all my kids, being there for them during it all and having a lot of fun together.

I realized a couple days ago that I’m putting my masters on the back burner for now. I’m not sure if I should go towards botany, get my MFA in creative writing, or figuring it out myself with learning on the web for both. I had an aha moment when I figured out I can pick any job I want right now.

I thought hard and I figured out what I truly want in a job. One that helps the environment. I have a deep sadness that comes over me when I walk by litter and I don’t pick it up. I feel great when I do. I also would like a job that paid me with an abundance of money. Something I could do from my home, especially for the next semester for my two eighth graders. They are on and off again with their grades with online school, but neither one has entered a school this whole year. So, I remember what my friend Kim said, “Just be a little gentle, it’s a hard year for everyone.”

I do, but I also take away one technology item for one D or lower and if they have two- no technology. It’s so funny how quickly they read books with out their phones and other devices. They read everyday during school and for thirty minutes before bed. But no tech, way faster.

Back on topic!

My three job requirement checklist: Helps the environment, pays me fabulously well, and is a remote job. I’ve been applying this week. Also I wouldn’t mind a greenhouse job for the summer. My best Christmas present was a Greenhouse from my husband. After the whole year of me verbally telling my husband and anyone how much I wanted one. And yes, maybe I even started collecting parts to make my own.

With this all said and done, I am also doing Tiktok and picking up litter for my purpose. I feel a deep need to and I think in a while I might do meetups and clean up a whole area in a day. I saw some bad spots passing through some towns to grab some Christmas plates for my mom from swap. I’d love to clean up a large portion in a day.

Ahh, see that whole rant did circle back on to why I created my Tiktok for right now. Haha. Okay, I do like that I have incorporated a service, my purpose into a routine and so far it feels great. Goodnite!

My youngest stepson is 14!

Technically, he’s still 13, but we celebrated his birthday today. It’s been a joy watching him grow up, I’ve known him since he was six. My youngest stepson I knew before he listened, had glasses, type one diabetes, and celiac disease. His biggest problem when I met him was getting him to sit down while he ate. And also for, wanting all the attention, all the time. He didn’t care if it was negative or positive. Until slowly he started to listen..

Now, he’s a grateful guy who continues to give me hugs after every single meal I make or for bringing him anything he needs. He’s always there with a hug and a genuine thank you. He’s also been my litter picker upper partner for a long while. We’ve been picking up litter before Covid, but I looked at it differently since. All I saw was germs. Until this week, I’ve had enough. I want to do my part and I can do it smartly. (See post before this 😉 )

Personally, it’s getting harder for me watching all my kids grow up. It’s also been a huge blessing, I’ve been able to be truly present with them. Fourteen to me is a true teenager, he’ll be starting high school next year. Hard to spit out: same with my daughter. For me, I’m going to cherish these last couple of years.

Almost my whole family, missing one girlfriend. Also the girlfriend in this photo is accidentally being blocked by my husband in four of the five photos I took. :/

We had a great Birthday dinner. I barbecued chicken and burgers; steamed broccoli; and I made my signature cheesy potatoes. We bought a DQ sheet cake. We made it gluten free by doing Reese’s blizzard and Reese’s crushed inside instead of the normal cookie crumble. It’s a delicious substitute! Our Dairy Queen in town is one of the best.

He’s been obsessed with that silly Glizzy song. Glizzy means hotdog. I was awkward to the max when I ordered this cake, but they pulled it off.
Glizzy ice cream cake it is! 😂🤣😂

He got a nice gaming keyboard, mouse, and headset and some Xbox cards from his oldest brother. He’s been a gamer since he was four I think my husband said, maybe five? If you ever want an earful about video games ask him what he’s currently trying to defeat. This year I’ve been playing Fortnite with my kids, I’m getting better. They mostly make fun of me for being newb.

The last year he’s been trying to put his knees up on the table during dinner. I have rules at dinner time. So of course during his birthday cake he had his knees on the table and he had to stand up to open his present. Okay bud, Happy Birthday.

I’m writing this reflecting on our laugher and also I’m awake waiting thirty more minutes so I can check his blood sugar before I head to bed. I wrote my MG FRIENDS FROM URANUS with him as the main character. I had so much fun writing it for him. I’m changing the beginning with a goal of querying by the 30th and moving onto a new project in February.

The main thing he said about his book, was to make sure his Omnipod was showing in each of my illustrations. Omnipod is his disposable insulin pump that is always on him. We talked over and over again how much of a role his diabetes should play in the book. After he read it he said, “I can’t believe how much you got into my head!” I laughed and reminded him that I’m always listening. I have my illustrations in my artwork tab if you’re curious, but know I need to redo them I’m when I change my first chapter.

Time to check his blood sugar.

Goodnight✨🚀

Resolutions

If you follow the astonishing The Crow Lady Tarot on Youtube- Sagittarius reading for January, you might notice some symbolism.

I had some large-in-charge plans for last week and instead I ended up taking time for my spirit. I thought I only needed one day to be sad, but I guess I needed a little more. I had a different Christmas than I planned and my confidence shifted. With all this said, I’m over being upset about my wrecked plans and now I’m moving forward with a week missing. This Sagittarius can’t be down for too long.

One of my plans is picking up trash multiple times a week and hopefully leading into everyday routine. Today was day one. See, I have had this soul-pull to pick up the trash all last year. I used to do it every time I went on my daily walk, but with Covid happening, I’ve hesitated. I have looked away and watched in all of my experiences be surrounded by trash, litter around me. I haven’t from the mere germs of it all. Recently my soul has been screaming at me, so I bought these grabbers you’ll see in my video below. After today I will buy gloves too for next time. Lesson learned: Amazon grabbers with frosty snow is a no go.

I got my hands nice and dirty today and I was okay with it. I used the snow to clean my hands. It was a beautiful day a little chilly around 32 degrees out with the sun peeking through the clouds.

My expressway exit to my town has been bothering me since June. I got my grabbers in the mail yesterday and I told my stepson he needs to help me. My daughter will be helping me on as well, I get her back from her dad’s tomorrow.

With the snow at first it was hard to find anything, but the closer we got to the expressway the more we found. We picked up two bags full of bottles, cans, a life jacket, fuel can, car parts, a couple of buckets, and a super large piece of rusty metal. most likely a car piece.

We left things behind because I only thought two bags would be enough, but I see this area will take a while to clean up and I’ll most likely see plenty more after snow melts. So, join me on Tiktok under The Litter Collector or follow me here. After my commitment to myself gets stronger, I’ll have meetups for certain parts of the expressway, or streets that need a little love.

#pickitup #I96 #litter #trash #dowhatyoucan #letsgetit #littercollector