Merry Christmas

 I hope everyone is enjoying time with their families opening gifts, sharing memories, making memories and being thankful. 

Last night I had a crazy experience that made me realize that despite all the  things that occur in my life that may stress me out, I often forget to be thankful and grateful for the things I do have. Now I know you hear it all the time be grateful for what you have and I never really took the time to really be grateful everyday. I mean sure there is Thanksgiving, to remind us and now Christmas to remind you too but what about the rest of the year. I mean do you really have to wait until November and December before you start being more grateful. I have learned as I got older, that I don't need much and when it comes to Christmas when I was younger and my parents would ask what I wanted, well there really wasn't anything I really wanted. I did get disappointed with the gifts but soon learned that a gift is supposed to be thoughtful in it of itself. The mere fact that someone gave you a gift is special on it's own, even if it's not the gift you "wanted". So what I have learned is just to be happy with whatever I get and for me I just love to give.  Really I do, because the exciting part is picking out something you know a particular person would absolutely love. Well even if they don't, just picking items and thinking of someone else is enjoyable to me. For me there is nothing more then having the chance to spend time with family after a long and stressful year. Being with family is what makes me happy, making memories and remembering old times is relaxing to me. 

 After I got married, I am a horrible daughter for doing this, but I haven't really spent time with my family. I am beyond blessed to have my family(parents and siblings)  in the same country, let alone the same state and they all live under one roof too. I don't visit them as much, it's hard to say the least that now that I am married and have a house of my own and a job to go to, it makes it difficult to find the time to visit. I could, I absolutely could push to make the time, I just don't. My time management isn't good, and I am a slow learner sad to say but true when it comes to managing my time, with work, home, husband and other things that manage to creep up in my life these days. But the other day I did visit my family, it was so relaxing to see them and to laugh with them, joke around with them and remember our childhood, that thinking about it makes me cry a little that I don't do it often. 

Two Thousand and Fourteen has been a challenging year for my husband and I, we have struggled and stressed so much that we promised each other Two Thousand and Fifteen WILL be our year. 

Christmas Eve was an eventful night, filled with family and family friends coming together to celebrate, I really enjoyed myself even though my husband had to work. Leaving the party I got a flat tire and although it was a flat, I was terrified for so many reasons but grateful that I was still in a neighborhood that is safe and not on the highway or in a very bad neighborhood. 

This morning as my husband laid in bed next to me dreaming away, I woke up in a panic and stressing out about all the things going on in our lives right now, tossing and turning trying to go back to sleep didn't help either so I told myself I needed to get up. I have been thinking about starting a journal, but it seems like I have so many journals I start but never finish. This time I figured out that all I need is a Gratitude Journal. So I started one, I even included a prayer after my first entry and I think it will be something I will be doing when I am stressed out and lately that's been happening a lot in my life right now. 

To end this post I just wanted to put a little quote that I found, 

LIFE IS 10% WHAT HAPPENS

TO YOU AND 90% WHAT

YOU DO WITH WHAT 

HAPPENS TO YOU