7 QT - Grateful for the New & Old Years

Yesterday I wrote about my theme for 2015 - Year of Gratefulness.  I am only two days into the new year, but thus far I am enjoying my theme!  As one year closes and another begins, I decided to share some of the things I am grateful for from 2014.
Linked up over at This Ain't the Lyceum for 7QT Friday.

 

(1) Memories

I am grateful for all the fun times and good memories from 2014.  Some of my highlights included: frequent meals at a new favorite restaurant Mexicali; spending a week w/ my family at the beach; a special birthday date; a visit from my long-distance friend from grad school including a day trip down to Rhode Island & Mystic with her as well as an evening in Boston; seeing the Improv Asylum in Boston with friends from College; St. Patrick's Day Parade weekend;  a daytrip to Mystic Aquarium & the beach; a family weekend trip to CT to celebrate my grandfather's 90th Birthday!; and a lot of fun holiday celebrations to round out the year.

 

(2) Dating a Great Guy

We are going through a season of change right now and not really sure where our relationship will go, but I am still grateful I had the chance to love and be loved by a really awesome guy, and to have a lot of fun together.

 

(3) New Friends

I am happy that 2014 gave me the opportunity to make new friends, and deepen some existing friendships.  I am glad I have a great group of ladies with whom I can enjoy both fun times and fellowship.

 

(4) Family

This one is nothing new, but I am still very grateful for my family!

 

(5) My Job(s)

As of October I have now been at my full-time job for a little over a year.  I recently had the chance to help with the training of some newer employees, and it really made me realize just how much I have learned in those fifteen months. I am really grateful to have a job I enjoy, the opportunity to work with good co-workers and a supervisor who I can learn a lot from.  I am also grateful to work for a company which treats its employees well, and where there is opportunity for career growth.

 

(6) Learning About Relationships

Before dating that great guy I mentioned in take 2, I didn't really have much dating experience.  I had been on dates but no real serious relationships.  As someone with mental illness, relationships have always been a struggle for me.  Whether it is a friendship a love relationship etc. I always struggle with knowing when to open up and how much. I act confident, but still constantly worry what others think of me. I wondered if I was even capable of love. I am grateful that 2014 taught me that I am lovable and capable of love.

 

(7) God's Faithfulness

I am grateful that God remains faithful to us at all times!


Linked up at This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 QT Friday.  Also linked up at:
Missional Women



2015 - Year of Gratefulness

I did make some career goals for 2015, and I do want to increase my fitness so that I can enjoy hiking this summer, but I am not really into the New Year's resolution thing this year. So, in lieu of a New Year's Resolution, I have adopted a theme for the year 2015:


YEAR OF GRATEFULNESS

 

In 2015 I am challenging myself - and you - to be grateful.

At first glance this seems like a very simple challenge.  After all, everyone reading this no doubt already has a lot to be grateful for.  A computer or mobile device and internet access to start (and I can only assume you made sure your basic needs were taken care of first).  I am sure most of us already spent the holiday season in appreciation for time with family, gifts received, time off work etc.  But I am not challenging us to be grateful on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I am not challenging us to be grateful on the good days.  I am challenging us to be grateful not only on the days of family parties, payday, birthdays and happy moments, but on every day in between as well.

 

I am challenging you to be thankful on the just okay days.  And the less than okay days.  And the flat out crappy days.

 

 I challenge you, and me, to find at least one thing to be grateful for.  Every. single. day.

 

Throughout the year I will be sharing many of the things I am thankful for.  Here on my blog and also on Facebook and other social media, using #yearofgratefulness.  Please join me!

Linked up at:
The Modest Mom Blog, Spiritual Sundays, Serving Joyfully , Missional Women

 



7 Quick, Quick Takes

I don't even know the last time I participated in seven quick takes!  I have still been there as a reader on occasion, but I've been very much out of the blog circuit lately.  C'est la vie....

 

Here's What I've Been Up To Instead ---

 

 

(1) Working

I work. A lot.  So do all of you.  It's not all too interesting.

 

(2) Dating

I have a boyfriend.  I like him.  Sometimes we go on dates.  Sometimes we both work 60+ hour weeks and there are no dates. Sometimes we fight.  I love him.

 

(3) Budgeting

I am working on a Total Money Makeover ala Dave Ramsey.  It is part of the reason I'm back to blogging - it's a cheap hobby, and has the potential for side income.

(4) Shopping

I like to shop.  Yes I know I am on a budget.  Hence why I am all about thrift stores and thredUP!  Is anyone else digging thredUP's cute "GiftUP" section as much as me?
(P.S.  If you're not already a thredUP user here is a link, to get $10 off your first purchase!)

(5) SellingPart of my job involves sales.  I thought I would dislike that part.  It is actually my favorite part! And I am pretty good at it.  Like more than 150% to my goal good at it.

(6) Moving
I moved.  This is my first "on my own" big girl apartment. It was a bit overdue. 

(7) Forgetting
Moving has been humorous when I do things like go to cook and forget that I have no silverware.  On the plus side, I can scramble an egg with a spoon.  (Literally I had a spoon. One spoon.)

 

(7b) Decorating

That first "big girl" apartment means I get to decorate.  It is fun!  Me and my $5 thrift store budget managed to get several decorations :)



Catching Up and My TMMO

Once again I am here "catching up," I guess the question is how many times can I start a post with "so long, no blog" or something similar.  Anyways, hopefully I am back here for more frequent blogging but given my track record I make no promises!

 

My life has been heading all sorts of directions lately, and unfortunately many of those directions have led me away from God.  Yes I still believe life is a journey.  Yes the goals I have set for my Journey are still important.  But I was ignoring them for awhile, and even now my approach to them is a bit different.  I am back to praying regularly, but I can't say the same for regular Church attendance.  I cannot say I have been doing much to model Christ-like living for others so I suppose both goals 1 and 2 need some major work.  Goal 3, being able to see Christ in others and treat them accordingly, is almost second-nature to me though I suppose lately I have been treating people well more from a humanistic approach than a truly Christ-centered one.  Goals 4 and 5 are both much less religious in nature, and I suppose I can say I have been doing very well at 4, making a positive difference in the lives of others, and not quite as well on 5, which is to work everyday at being the best version of myself.  I definitely want to be the best me possible, but lately there has been a lot of room for more work!  So friends, whether I continue with more frequent blogging or not, I would love to be in your prayers!

 

As you may have seen in the pages I am now working on a Total Money Makeover to help me with the big goal of becoming debt free!  This is a major focus of my journey right now, one I am very excited about and plan to blog more about!  The other big change in my journey is that I am preparing to move into my own apartment.  After living back home with my folks for almost five years after college/graduate school I am excited to leave the nest again.  That means you can also expect some fun posts about setting up house and all things domestic.  While I did live in the dorms and an apartment in college, and in a rental house with roommates during my graduate program this is my first time really being "out on my own" and I am both excited and nervous about the prospect!  Pretty grateful to all the family members offering me extra dishes, lamps, tag sale items etc. to help me move on a budget.

 I am curious if any other bloggers/readers are working on or have completed a TMMO of their own?  Did you make any big changes like a move or have a big change in expenses during your Makeover? Do you have any tips to share! 

My Apolgies from the Letters E, F, G, and H

My apologies from the letters E, F, G and H.  They are sad that they have missed the fun here in the blogging world.  Originally my E post was to be about "Everything,"  a quick little update of what's going on in life.  But then life itself caught up in the form of working first shift at my day job, followed by an awake overnight shift, followed by working an Easter Bunny event at a Children's Museum the next day, and then babysitting that evening.  So while that E post was more or less written in my head, sleep won.

 

And so you are going to get one lovely combined post from my friends E, F and G. 

 

Everything Fails, Great....

 

Whether you want to say my life is a joke, everything in my life is a series of failures right now, or omigod if something else happens I might cry - they all summarize the past few days for me, and should be followed by a nice sarcastic "Great."

 

It started when I went to the mall to pick up a phone charger since mine had broken.  While in the mall (with an almost dead uncharged phone), I lost my keys. Over the course of the next TWO HOURS I searched the entire mall for them. Went back to eveyr store I visited, searched under and around my car in the parking lot, called mall security.  Yes, two hours, no keys, and now a dead phone.  I called AAA for a lockout hoping my keys would be in the car, still no keys.  My dad came to pick me up and I ended up calling AAA again, to have the car towed.  Did you know its very difficult to tow a car without the keys?  It is....no keys, no neutral.  AKA they had to drag my car. 

 

We can add to this some also humorous moments such as me putting money in the wrong straps at work, dropping coin all over another tellers feet and breaking a wrap of nickels in the process, falling over a chair, almost being late to work, and then the internet in my house not working for two days...

 

So no, don't write me out of the AtoZ challenge quite yet.  Just accept my apologies from the letters E, F, G and H (my lovely friend H will have her own post later today) and remember that sometimes you just need to laugh and say...

 

Everything Fails, Great.....

 

Donuts

Today is the fourth day, letter D, of the Blogging A to Z challenge.  I am stepping away from my undeclared theme of life and faith to talk about another great thing that starts with D - Donuts.

 

I like Donuts.  I like Dunkin Donuts iced coffee (hello, New Englander here).

 

I do not like the kind of donuts that you put on your car when you have a flat.  I enjoyed about four days of driving on a donut this week.  My donut happens to be bright red.  It made for some comical situations.

 

Now i am going to step back into the faith realm, to tell you that my mechanic thinks I should just get my car blessed!  Seriously, that is what he told me because I get seriously ridiculous amounts of flat tires.  I have probably purchased at least 4-6 tires from him within the past two years.  So sometime soon I am breaking out the holy water, invoking St. Christopher, and getting that car blessed! 

Creed for the Churched and UnChurched

As a Catholic I have probably recited the Creeds (Nicene and Apostle) dozens of times.  I know as a Theology teacher that the creeds have been around since at least the Council of Nicea back some 1800 years ago.

 

Yes as a Catholic these creeds summarize my faith. They unify the beliefs of my Church, and yet as someone who lately is mostly un-churched I know they are only part of my belief.  I know that as a Christian Catholic my relationship with God is of utmost importance, and the creed summarizes some of what that relationship looks like.  I also know that my beliefs are effected by my life experience, my time in Church and out of it.  So here is my Creed:

 

I believe in God, Creator.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son, fully human and fully divine, our Savior, Messiah, Teacher and Friend.
I believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary.
I believe that Mary’s Fiat (Lk. 1:38) is the model of perfect Christianity, and that Mary holds a special place in heaven and in Christianity.
I believe that Jesus humbled himself into human form, and shared in our humanity – the joy, struggle and pain of life.
I believe that Jesus was crucified, died, visited hell, and was resurrected into Heaven.

I believe that Jesus lives and reigns in Heaven along with God the Creator.

I believe that Jesus came to save all people, and that those who did not know him are not automatically damned.

I believe in a real heaven and a real hell, and that Jesus as judge will determine where we get to spend our time.

I believe in the Holy Spirit.

I believe in The Church.

I believe in the forgiveness of sins.

I believe that the Saints eternally present in heaven continue to pray for us, and that we can ask for their intercession.

I believe that the Sacraments of the Church improve our lives and bring us closer to Christ.