Showing Appreciation

Via

This week has been National Teacher Appreciation Week.

The amount of appreciation I've received is incredible.

I am so honored by all my students, parents, and total strangers!

Thank you!

However, most of the appreciation has been shown in the form of food.

And it made me realize that I often show myself appreciation in the form of food as well.

Think about it.  Do you?

Chicken biscuits, bagels, cupcakes, free Chic-a-filet sandwiches, BOGO Chipotle...

FOOD!

And, not good food either.  Tasty yes, healthy NO.

I started to think about things that I could use to show my appreciation to others rather than food:

For the neighbor who helped me with my car...

taking their trash to the road on trash day.

For the people who have helped edit my National Boards...

a bouquet of handpicked flowers.

For my husband...

a handwritten love note.

For the friend I cherish...

a card in the mail.

For my parents who rock my world...

movie tickets for a date night.

There are so many ways we can show appreciation for others without shoving bad food in their face.

It's hard to say no to a Panera bagel or mini cupcakes so why even face the temptation?

For me, a simple note or card goes a long way.

To show appreciation for reaching my own goals I'm going to stop rewarding myself with food and junk and start coming up with other forms of appreciation.

Some of the things I have in mind for me:

pedicure

new workout clothes

new hairstyle

wine tasting

running shoes

How will you show yourself appreciation?

The Bandwagon

Via

There are times in life when its easy for us to accomplish our goals and there are times that are more trying causing our goals to shift or to be pushed back.  The problem is often times when our goals shift we lose sight of them totally.  Thus falling off the bandwagon.

It's important to remember that one bad day can't undo a series of good days.  One cheat meal won't undo a week of healthy choices.  One chocolate bar doesn't equate a pound and one day off won't diminish your muscle.  Just don't let that one cheat/chocolate/lazy day turn into more than one.

There is temptation everywhere: the bowl of candy in the office, the soda machine in the lounge, the Sonic on the way home from work.  Not to mention the distraction: the floor that hasn't been swept in days, the last episode of The Office on DVR, the book that needs finishing.  Excuses are plentiful.

Keep your goals front and center.  Do whatever you have to do to hang onto the bandwagon for dear life.  After all, it just may be a matter of life.  I do lots of things to keep my goals as a top priority.

• Share them.  Talk about your goals with as many people as will listen.  Post about them on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter.  Talk about them in the grocery aisle.  Text them to your friends.  I have found the more I talk about my goal, the more committed I am to reaching it.  I don't want to let all those people down if I don't!
• Post a calendar somewhere so you see it every day.  For me, its my refrigerator.  I look at my fridge at least three times a day if not more.  I love crossing off my workout each day and having my completed workouts at the end of each month.  
• Plan.  I plan everything.  I plan my workouts and my meals.  Sometimes that means brining clothes and shoes to work to get my workout done between school and classes or meetings.  Sometimes it means running before I work or right after before plans with my hubby.  Sundays are my meal planning days.  I plan our meals for the week based on what our schedules are like and what we have in our pantry.  I prepare all of our vegetables, fruits, salad, etc. so that we can grab and go throughout the week.
• Surround yourself with motivation.  I only read blogs that inspire me in some way (faith, fitness, career, etc.) and I only follow people on Instagram that motivate me.  Surrounding yourself with positive people will, in turn, make you more positive.  The more positive you are, the more achievable your goals will seem and the harder you will strive to reach them.  If there are toxic people in my life, I spend as little time as possible with them.  I just don't have time to hear things like, "I don't know how you do it.  I couldn't do it."

What do you do to keep yourself on the bandwagon?

Perspective.

It's interesting to me how a few things happen in our lives and we assume that its the worst weekend ever or that we have somehow, mistakingly upset the Heavens and we're being punished. #Guilty.

Then, something happens and it puts everything else into perspective.

Last Monday my husband's bank was robbed.  Luckily, the man was unarmed and no one was hurt.  But, as I sat in my classroom trying to figure out when and how I could get my car fixed so that I wouldn't go without it all week, it hit me that my car is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.  The things that my husband and I argue about sometimes - they aren't really that important.  It's times like these God jerks a knot in your tail and makes you see the bigger picture.

My dad always says, "Marriage is the hardest job you will ever love."

Honestly, prior to getting married I thought he was teasing my mom when he would say that.  See, they have an incredible marriage.  I'm sure its not picture-perfect, but they were good enough parents never to let my brother or me see those imperfections.  They respect each other enough to communicate behind closed doors and without raising voices.  

I have to say, I totally agree with them.  After a frustrating weekend of things that seemed really significant at the time, Monday opened my eyes.  We had a rough weekend complete with dog bites and a fender bender in our own driveway, but none of that mattered as long as my husband was okay.  The little things were quickly forgotten.  

My husband and I have been married for almost three years.  Some would say we're in the honeymoon stage and some would say that has just ended.  Over those three years, our marriage and relationship has changed and evolved.  As I think it should do...  You learn a lot about a person in three years of living together and loving one another.

Sometimes love is hard and sometimes it is easy.

Sometimes love is messy.

I think the important thing to remember is that it is always worth it.  So, even when we have a rough weekend or we have an argument (let's be real here...no marriage is as perfect in real life as it is in Blog World or on Pinterest), its important to remember that those moments are propelling us into the next big advancement in our relationships.  

It's not the moment itself, but how we handle that moment that defines our love for one another.

Love and marriage are never going to be like the movies.  For one, its not scripted.  And two, you can only watch a movie so many times before you grow bored with it.  Thank God for that.

Chicken Chick