26 Facts About Me! Monday, Sep 21 2009

I don’t normally give details about myself on my blog because I like to focus on other things, but I have been getting emails lately asking me to talk a little bit more about me. 

Here are a few randoms:

26 Facts about Me

A – Available/Single? Married

B – Best friend? Mark

C – Cake or Pie? Cake, of course.

D – Drink of choice? Unsweetened iced tea

E – Essential every day item? My computer

F – Favorite color? Blue
G – Gummy Bears or Worms? Gummy bears

H – Hometown? Centreville, VA

I – Indulgence? Chocolate

J – January or February? Not a huge fan of the cold, but I think February wins

K – Kids & their names? No kids!

L – Life is incomplete without? Trust, love, and open communication

M – Marriage date? September 15th

N – Number of siblings? None

O – Oranges or Apples? Apples (Granny Smith!!)

P – Phobias/Fears? Spiders or bugs with exoskeletons (e.g., roaches and beetles), scary medical ailments, car crashes, suddenly going blind with no warning

Q – Quote for the day? “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

R – Reason to smile? A happy memory

S – Season? Fall: my favorite!

T – Tag 4 People?

1. Kristen from Goodie Goodie Gumdrops
2. Marc from Blog of the Pelerin
3. Mimi from Damn the Freshman 15
4. Jenny from Peanut Butter and Jenny

U – Unknown fact about me? If I could stay at home and bake all day for a living I would die happy

V – Vegetable you don’t like? Peppers: red, orange, green, yellow…I hate them all

W – Worst habit? I procrastinate often if given the opportunity

X – X-rays you’ve had? My right knee (torn ACL)

Y – Your favorite food? Not possible to pick a favorite

Z – Zoo animal you love? Hippo

 

…Because it’s Monday…

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Outlook Can Make a Difference! Tuesday, Aug 11 2009

I’ve written posts before about the importance of doing things that make you happy and taking time to relax, but I feel like it’s such an important part of living a happy life that it merits more than just one or two posts.  By unveiling the happiest “you” possible, others will be happier and will love the care-free person you are able to become.

I am a worrier and a planner.  I always find myself trying to come up with new long-term financial goals and thinking about when and how I will be able to make my dreams come true.  I’m probably the only 24-year-old who is stressed about saving enough for retirement; I check my 401k balance a couple times a week and brainstorm ways to pay off our mortgage as fast as possible.  Weird, yes…but this can be a good thing if I play the game the smart way.  This type of thinking can be burdensome now but can cause me a lot of relief later (if I am able to retire without a mortgage payment).  While I’m aware of the importance of retirement and of saving and setting high goals for myself, I should make these things less of a “worry” in my mind and more of a “goal.”  Ultimately, my outlook is what will make a difference.

From now on– in my mind– when I think about planning for the future financially, I am going to be inspired by the money we can save if we pay the mortgage off early as opposed to stressed by the timeline or the manner in which I will have to get things “together” to make it all happen.  After all, it’s healthy to have goals but sometimes as life goes on you realize your goals have to be modified a little bit. There’s no harm in changing things later; I shouldn’t be disappointed in myself if these things become impossible.

If anything, I should be proud that I am able to have what I have now and enjoy it. I should take time to really appreciate the fact that I am able to have a house, able to save here and there for retirement, and be thankful that I care enough about my own future to sacrifice now for myself later. Who knows, I may be one of those people that spent decades thinking they will retire at a certain age and will end up bored at home and back at work a month later (*cough* Mom! *cough*). All I can do now is relax, take time for myself, avoid being careless, save a little bit of coin, and spend my days trying to realize my true potential. Everything else will fall into place.

…Because not EVERYTHING in life can be planned. Sometimes you just have to let go and let life happen the way it should…

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A Quote I love… Monday, Jul 27 2009

This was my favorite movie growing up (thanks Dad for watching it 34,234 times!)

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”

—Judy Garland

…Because you will be proud of yourself later if you don’t spend your life acting like someone else…

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The Way You Want to Live… Friday, Jul 24 2009

I have never cared a lot about what strangers have thought of me.  I consider this important because people will always judge you…so why waste time worrying about their opinions? 

While I’ve been good about this aspect of things, I have noticed that I’m not always good about taking opinions in stride when they come from people I care about.  This can be good and bad– but I have to work on having more confidence in every decision that I make (or in my opinions even if they aren’t easy to agree with).  I should always be proud of my decisions.  From that confidence will come support…and having supportive friends and family is what life is really all about.

When everything is said and done, your family and closest friends may not always agree with everything you say and do.  This is just a fact of life– I can’t be perfect and I can’t expect everyone to think my choices are perfect.  What really matters is that they accept me for who I am and love me for who I am.  The rest means nothing.

…Because your friends are the family that you get to choose…

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Remember the Angels! Thursday, Jul 16 2009

A classic scene...

Because today marks the 3 year anniversary of my step-brother Jimmy’s death, it will be a hard day for me. Days like this are never easy, but they teach me a lot. They teach me that nothing is predictable, you should never give up on people or yourself, and you should ALWAYS be thankful for the people that make your life worth living.

I am going to smile today and remember the fun times that I had with Jimmy; this way I honor him the way that he deserves to be honored. He wouldn’t want me to spend the day depressed and sad. I may even watch Top Gun tonight– one of his favorites (we quoted it all the time).

…Because sometimes “the pattern is full” and your favorite people can’t be with you for as long as you think they deserve to be…

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Simple Abundance Friday, Jul 10 2009

This is what it's all about.

I love when situations or people surprise me– in good ways.  I’m not fond of times when people surprise me in bad ways or when people do things that I am shocked about or disappointed in… but I love when I am caught of guard by a good deed or a nice gesture.  For example, a friend of mine did me a favor right before I left my old job and went on to work at a new company– she wrote something for me that was better than I ever could have written and I could tell she put so much thought and time into making it unique and personal.  This meant a lot to me.  I’m not sure that she realizes how grateful I was/am for that, but I have thought about it quite a few times since.

I think that it’s so easy to get caught up in the monotony of everyday life that you sometimes need a surprise to wake up you again and remind you that life isn’t always predictable.  The beauty of life is that you never know where it will lead you.  Sometimes people that you thought you’d never see again end up playing starring roles in your life years later.  I hate to say it, but sometimes people that I have doubted at one time or another go on to surprise me and make me realize that I shouldn’t have doubted them.  This reminds me never to doubt people unless they give you a reason to do so…and to never sell yourself short.

The other day I got home to find a package waiting for me from my dad in Alabama.  Since he didn’t tell me he was going to be sending me something, I was excited to see what was in the box! 

Well, I opened it and saw that it was a hard-cover journal he found that I had given my grandma (Grammy) in 1998 for Christmas.  It was a gratitude journal with pages that were meant to be filled in by the recipient.  She certainly did a good job of adding detailed entries with little highlighted sections and scraps of paper when she had no more room.  She wrote down a lot of little things in her life that were going on… the people that came by to visit her, the things she did, what the calendar dates signified (like anniversaries or days she lost loved ones), the temperature outside, and even highlighted over the days that I called her next to a little smiley face she drew in (which was almost every single day).

I was so glad to get this book.  It is now one of the most special things I own– one of the things I would grab if there were a fire.  I love that my dad knew it would mean a lot to me and sent it, I love that he held on to it, and I love that he didn’t tell me he found it before he sent it.  Getting it in the mail made my day (maybe even made my week).  I was tempted to sit down and read the whole thing, but am forcing myself to read it slowly and enjoy the fact that the little things were enough to keep her completely happy…100% content with her beautiful, simple life.

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Don’t let Disappointment Mess With You! Friday, May 8 2009

This picture makes me want a vacation!

I think that it’s important to take disappointment in stride and have mini pity-parties every now and then, but I also think it’s even more important to just “get over it” and move forward.  Life is full of crazy disappointments.  Don’t let these things rule you and remember that everything happens for a reason.  The things that disappoint you today may be a blessing a year from now. 

Keep your chin up and stay positive!

…Because someone who is constantly sad becomes a sad angry person…

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Organized on the Inside… Thursday, Apr 23 2009

I like to consider myself “organized on the inside” but not necessarily organized on the outside.  What do I mean by this?  My desk at work and my room at home may not be the neatest and most organized (I think that living a life obsessed with color-coding, organizing, and labeling is hell on earth anyway), I make a point to remember important days that mean a lot to me and have a mini-celebration to honor people and moments passed. 

People that know me realize that I love to celebrate everything and anything I possibly can.  I also love traditions.

Examples:

• I like doing little things on Mark’s half-birthday for him.  Nothing crazy, but it’s always fun to celebrate milestones of all sorts.  I call it his “birtha-half day.”
• Heaven days: on days where close family or friends went to heaven, I do something to honor them.  On my Grammy’s heaven day, I wear her ring and I drink from her crystal glasses at dinner.  Sometimes I eat things that I know she loved to honor her.  On my friend Ryan’s heaven day, I will try to be as lazy as possible (I know he would encourage this) and focus on enjoying nature and animals.  On Nellie’s heaven day, I try to laugh as much as possible, enjoy my favorite shows on television, and try not to let anything bother me the whole day. 
• Engagement and dating anniversaries.  Mark and I don’t make a huge deal out of either of these two days because we now have a bigger (and better) anniversary to celebrate– our wedding anniversary.  We still make a point to acknowledge these two days though… and talk about fun moments we had in New York before, during, and after we got engaged.
• Mother’s Day.  I know almost everyone and their mother (hah!) celebrate this day, but I really like to get creative.  I think doing something interesting and unique every year is always appreciated more than I realize.

This is us in the middle of the night...

• Valentine’s Day Elves.  This is something that Mark and I started 2 years ago.  I’m sad that my dad no longer lives near me (he moved to another state about 3 years ago) because he hasn’t been able to experience the magic of the Valentine’s elves.  On the night before Valentine’s Day, we make gift baskets for our moms (and my step-dad Charlie) and we sneak into their houses after they are asleep to deliver them.  This way, when they wake up in the morning, they have a beautiful (and often delicious) assortment of goodies to start their day off with.
• m&m Christmas: every Christmas morning I must incorporate milk chocolate m&m’s into my breakfast.  This means m&m pancakes, m&m brownies (yes, brownies for breakfast; anything goes on Christmas), or just handfuls of those little gems.
• “Vacation-mode”: When I’m on vacation I allow myself to do whatever I want and simply blame it on vacation-mode.  Sleep in until 1:00pm?  Eat crap all day long?  Drink a bit too much?  It’s okay, anything is allowed when you’re on vacation.

I think it’s fun to come up with new traditions, develop new ways to celebrate, remember people you love, and always remember the times in your life that define who you are today. 

So, what was I doing 2 years ago today??

Getting engaged here!! Gramercy Park, NYC

…Because forgetting about days and people that made your life what it is means forgetting about what you are here to do…

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Remember the Good! Saturday, Apr 4 2009

I’m not sure how everyone else feels, but I am so sick of hearing about the economy and how bad things are (and how freaked out the world is).  I feel like even the most optimistic people could become depressed after weeks and weeks of hearing about job loss, foreclosures, and loss of faith in America.

Yes I do!!

I was doing some thinking this morning about the people that I have known who I would consider the “happiest souls” I’ve ever met.  I know I blog about her often, but my grandma (Grammy) was ridiculously awesome when it came to seeing the bright side.  She was content with everything she had– even though it wasn’t much.  She thought relationships and experiences were far more important than money and possessions.  Although she lived on very little, she never felt deprived and wasn’t ashamed of admitting that she didn’t have much.

Even though Grammy can’t be here to witness the economic debacle of today and tomorrow, I always think about how she would react to what’s going on.  I think she would laugh at the chaos of it all, make jokes about being glad that she doesn’t have much money to lose, and focus on what she does have in life that she is thankful for. 

Some of Grammy’s famous lines:

• “I’m so thankful for…” (insert one of her classics: my microwave, my VCR, learning how to use email, to be together for the holiday’s, my Bose radio your dad got me, or Klondike bars– to name a few).
• “Yard by yard, life is hard.  Inch by inch, it’s a cinch.”
• “I’m not going to worry about anything I can’t control.”
• “Life is too short to collect stuff.  I collect love!”

Here’s an old email I found from her a couple of weeks ago that made me happy:

From: Gladys Groome
> > > Date: Friday, February 13, 2004 8:18 pm
> > > Subject: Re: Hi Grammy!!
> > >
> > > > Hi Krissy. So glad to know that you think about me. I really think
> > > > of you every day and miss you so much.  Love, Grammy

I think that it’s important to hear about the things that are going on in America and to understand the real impact of our economic situation.  I also think that while it’s important to listen when you can, it’s also important to just turn off the TV and stop reading about it all every now and then.  Sometimes you just need a break in order to stay sane.

In moments where I feel that I may lose my sanity, I remember the people who are important to me, and try to see this whole mess as an opportunity to spend more time learning how to prepare financially for things in a reponsible way.  Hopefully the preparations will never be needed, but if they are, I’ll be ready.  In the mean time, I’ll be closer to what really matters in life– people and experiences.  Houses, lost retirement income, and savings accounts don’t matter if you die tomorrow of a heart attack from being so stressed about the “what-if’s.”  When all is said and done, what matters is the type of person you have made yourself into.

…Because money is just paper!…

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The Importance of Gratitude Tuesday, Mar 10 2009

I think that in order to be happy with your life and with yourself, you need to realize the significance of being grateful and appreciating what you have. 

I am grateful to be living in America near amazing Washington D.C. I am also grateful that the cherry blossoms will be blooming next month and plan to go enjoy them!

According to research done by top American psychologist Bob Emmons, grateful individuals lead happier, more successful lives.  This makes complete sense to me.  I have always realized the importance of gratitude, but hearing about the research Bob did really hit home for me. 

I’ve noticed that women tend to bond through complaining to eachother.  Men do it too– everyone does it, but I think women are really guilty of this.  I hear people whining to each other all the time about things that really are not the end of the world (sometimes they complain about things that they really should be grateful for). 

Example : “Oh my gosh I am so tired.  I don’t know how I’m going to make it through a whole day of work today.  This morning I had to get the kids ready for school and pack their lunches and little Billy has baseball practice tonight and my husband has to work late and I have no idea what I am going to make for dinner.  I guess I’ll pick something up on the drive home.”

Why this person should be grateful: At least her and her husband have jobs right now.  Also, she has a car that works and can get her anywhere she needs to go.  She has a healthy family and a son who is involved in sports which makes him less likely to get in trouble and more likely to maintain good grades in school.  Plus, she has money for food and has the ability to chose whatever she’d like for dinner tonight– Chinese, Italian– whatever!  This is something to look forward to, not dread.

I do it too– I complain.  I talk about how much I have to get done and ramble on and on about what I need to remember and how it’s impossible to fit everything in.  It’s impossible to avoid complaining 100% of the time because it happens without me even realizing it.  Guess what I’m going to work on from now on?   I am going to try to complain less and see some of the positive aspects of situations that I normally would see as a completely negative, hopeless situation.  I’m on my way to being a more grateful person and I’m excited to know that with practice, positive thinking can quickly become second-nature. 

I like to think that I’m already a pretty positive person, but it never hurts to get better at anything.

How to do become a more grateful person:

• Stop comparing yourself to others;
• Stop comparing what you have to what others have;
• Reflect at least once a day.  What are you grateful for?  What positive things can you draw from your situation in life right now?;
• See the good things.  If you are trying to save money and can’t afford to go out as much as you used to, think about the fact that you’ve still got your house and have the ability to get creative and appreciate what matters most– family;
• Enjoy nature.  The weather is finally starting to get really nice.  Go outside, walk as much as you can, and explore your town on foot instead of by car;
• Make time for yourself;
• Let things go.  This is a hard one but it’s really important.  If something bothers you, walk away, breathe and give yourself time to calm down.  Forgive whoever annoyed you and then forget about it.  Life is too short to waste time mad about something as stupid as the neighbor stealing your Sunday paper.  Don’t let anything ruin your day and steal your joy.

…Because being grateful brings great attidue.  Great attidue brings great things…

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