It has been a LONG while since I have written a blog post, and I am not 100% sure why! Since then I have CRUSHED some goals and gone on some epic adventures and just truly lived HAPPILY! Towards the end of October, my husband and I found out that we were going to have a BABY :) So that just added more happiness onto our plate!
We have been finishing up the Tiny house this past week... and by we, I mean Andrew and his father. We should be moving in within the next week and I just found myself going through "baby registery checklists" and "THINGS YOU NEED FOR BABY" articles feeling a lot of anxiety. I kept thinking of how we are going to store all of this STUFF!? Instead of looking up "what you need for baby" I decided to look up the opposite......"What do you NOT need for baby". Did you know that we are perfectly fine not getting a crib, fancy diaper pail, changing table, PILES of diapers all at once? The best form of entertainment for the baby is a face and voice <3 Don't get me wrong, our child will be perfectly content with their fun little toys and books we will have.... they just won't have quite as much. And that is just fine.
I have been donating and selling an insane amount of clothing and accessories recently and as hard as it is to hand it over, the minute it is out of my hands I feel a rush of freedom. I am actually really excited to go through our house hold items and sort out what we do not need. This sense of freedom is just thrilling and gives me such internal happiness it's unexplainable. I am beginning to feel fully confident that when I get asked "But what do you do with all of your stuff?" I can say "It fits in there just fine!"
I am that person who will come out of the woods after adventuring in them for a period of time, feeling a bit overwhelmed by civilization. We get use to society and materialism for so long that we forget what it's like to not conform to it's idea of how we are supposed to look, be, or feel. I am sure that when we have our baby we will have family and friends commenting on how we need more or that we need more space, and I know that it's going to be hard some days to not agree with them. But in the end, I will try to remember this feeling of freedom and excitement to not be America's idea of normal. We are choosing to simplify our lives and live off of our needs instead of wants (besides the wants of travel, that will always be a must).
I am planning on picking up this blog a little bit more, and writing about how doing all of these changes will bring happiness. I will also discuss how I may spread happiness or help others create a loving space around them to feel AMAZING about who they are and what they are doing to live their life the way they see fit.
BE KIND. SMILE A LOT. AND KEEP IT SIMPLE
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Happiness is....Going your own way
| I shall be telling this with a sigh | |
| Somewhere ages and ages hence: | |
| Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— | |
| I took the one less traveled by, | |
| And that has made all the difference. |
A majority of the time, when I come to a "fork" in the road with options presented to me, I bring up this last part of the poem "The Road not Taken" by Robert Frost. Sometimes I do end up making the decision based on past choices, but a majority of the time I do what I feel is right for me and take a different direction than others would.
Don't be afraid to do things differently or unique to yourself. If you feel like it is something that you truly want or feel that is right, then DO IT THAT WAY! You have one life and you should live it the way you feel is best (and most fun).
I have so any friends that get nervous about moving away from home (I went through the same thing). You are afraid of the Unknown. You have your dream job presented to you, or you have the opportunity to live in the place that you have always wanted to go to...... but you hesitate because it's new. GO! LEAVE! EXPERIENCE! You can ALWAYS come home if you decide that this is not for you, but you can never take back the "I wish I would haves" that you may have at the end of your life. Being afraid of change is NORMAL. Being scared to take on a new challenge is something that is supposed to happen. That is what makes it all such a thrill! Look at that mountain and tremble with fear.......be scared and be brave, you can do it! Then when you get to the top and look around, you will see how worth it was to keep climbing.
Going your own way and taking on challenges is never easy, if it were easy then where would the joy in accomplishment come from? No grown adult that I have met (yet) has ever called me up saying "OMG, I JUST MADE A PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH!! YAYYYY"! Nope, not one. Now, if they made a PB&J in a new unique way--then I am sure that I would get that call! But my point is, if you keep on doing the same day to day tasks that are simple, easy, and unfulfilling.... your life may seem simple, easy, and unfulfilling. I look at that last sentence now and think... "hmm, simple and easy.... that seems like a great life" YES it does, who doesn't want their life to be easy?! Well, it never is nor will it ever be! The "easy" isn't stating that life will just go exactly how you want it to, it's stating that your life is easy, because you are in a repetitive state. You wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, cook dinner, netflix and chill, then go to bed and do the same thing the next morning. With repetition like that, if it were in my life, I would perhaps go a little nuts and probably become depressed with my day to day tasks. BUT-- That is just me! Some people LOVE this-- which is GREAT for them! :) The point is-- JUST GO OUT AND DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK! :)
Today I challenge you to go out and do the thing that you have always wanted to do! Maybe it's ordering the salad for lunch when everyone else is ordering burgers, or vice versa. Maybe it's dancing in the middle of a conversation because your favorite song just came on the radio. Maybe its finally planning that trip to the tropics over the holiday season so you can escape the family craziness at home :) Whatever it is! GO OUT AND KNOW IT'S OKAY TO DO IT! This is your life and you can live it the way that you see fit! As long as you always remember to BE KIND! :)
Thank you
Marey
Friday, June 24, 2016
Happiness is.....knowing you are not perfect
"I don't want to be perfect....Perfect is boring"- My 9 year old niece Autumn
That girl knows more about life at age 9 than most people do at age 50.
What is perfect anyway? I can't even begin to define it because perfection means something different to every body. Some people may view perfection as having a nice big house where everything is displayed as if Pinterest came to life in all of their rooms. Other's may view it as having the fittest body and the cleanest diet, not a care in the world and eating carrots like I eat Cheetos....I mean, carrots are nature's Cheeto right?
Perfection to me is eating the salad AND the cookie. Having a HOME filled with love, laughter, and a few messes from where memories were made. Exercising to feel healthy and happy, not to have the medias idea of a perfect body. Finding adventures in the small or large city you live in.... no town is too small to have an adventure. Forgetting to put make up on before your work day starts because you made an epic breakfast and you were dancing too hard in the kitchen to remember.
You have to let go of society's version of perfect. Nobody is "PERFECT". We all have our unique qualities and "Quirks" that make up our personalities, embrace them.
Those of you who really know me, know that I am basically organized chaos. I have the worst anxiety about being late so I am typically over an hour early. I mimic a tornado when I enter a room<-- I still don't understand how I do that?! I run everywhere I go (I mean in stores to get groceries, helping customers, etc) and I come on strong like a shot of whiskey. I own one (maybe 2??) pair of high heels and I cannot even begin to tell you where they might be.... ugh, its like walking down hill all night, who truly enjoys that? These are all things that I used to be self conscious about. I would be nervous of how people viewed me or even judged me. But then I remembered ........ who cares? If someone doesn't like the fact that I ran across a store to get them a jacket to try on, then they don't see the fact that I just want to deliver great service in the shortest amount of time. If people see me out and about in a cute sundress rocking some running shoes and judge that I should throw on a pump... they might get jealous if the zombie apocalypse happens and I can move faster than them. Sorry hunny, if you aren't fast, you're food. See?? how simple is it to turn your insecurities into POSITIVE QUALITIES about yourself?! :) I am still working on the Tornado one.... maybe it will be like the movie "Signs" where the little girl leaves her glasses of water everywhere and ends up saving her entire family.
Another thing that you need to embrace is: FAILURE! It's okay to fail, it means that you tried! Every time that you try again, you just get better and better. Success doesn't happen over night or without failing a few times...maybe even hundreds and hundreds of times. Keep trying and don't give up on your dream. This is something from the movie "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" One of my favorite Disney movies <3 I tell this to myself almost daily, because I fail.... daily! Enjoy :)
YOU ARE PERFECT :)
BE HAPPY, BE BRAVE, BE COURAGEOUS AND BE KIND!
That girl knows more about life at age 9 than most people do at age 50.
What is perfect anyway? I can't even begin to define it because perfection means something different to every body. Some people may view perfection as having a nice big house where everything is displayed as if Pinterest came to life in all of their rooms. Other's may view it as having the fittest body and the cleanest diet, not a care in the world and eating carrots like I eat Cheetos....I mean, carrots are nature's Cheeto right?
Perfection to me is eating the salad AND the cookie. Having a HOME filled with love, laughter, and a few messes from where memories were made. Exercising to feel healthy and happy, not to have the medias idea of a perfect body. Finding adventures in the small or large city you live in.... no town is too small to have an adventure. Forgetting to put make up on before your work day starts because you made an epic breakfast and you were dancing too hard in the kitchen to remember.
You have to let go of society's version of perfect. Nobody is "PERFECT". We all have our unique qualities and "Quirks" that make up our personalities, embrace them.
Those of you who really know me, know that I am basically organized chaos. I have the worst anxiety about being late so I am typically over an hour early. I mimic a tornado when I enter a room<-- I still don't understand how I do that?! I run everywhere I go (I mean in stores to get groceries, helping customers, etc) and I come on strong like a shot of whiskey. I own one (maybe 2??) pair of high heels and I cannot even begin to tell you where they might be.... ugh, its like walking down hill all night, who truly enjoys that? These are all things that I used to be self conscious about. I would be nervous of how people viewed me or even judged me. But then I remembered ........ who cares? If someone doesn't like the fact that I ran across a store to get them a jacket to try on, then they don't see the fact that I just want to deliver great service in the shortest amount of time. If people see me out and about in a cute sundress rocking some running shoes and judge that I should throw on a pump... they might get jealous if the zombie apocalypse happens and I can move faster than them. Sorry hunny, if you aren't fast, you're food. See?? how simple is it to turn your insecurities into POSITIVE QUALITIES about yourself?! :) I am still working on the Tornado one.... maybe it will be like the movie "Signs" where the little girl leaves her glasses of water everywhere and ends up saving her entire family.
Another thing that you need to embrace is: FAILURE! It's okay to fail, it means that you tried! Every time that you try again, you just get better and better. Success doesn't happen over night or without failing a few times...maybe even hundreds and hundreds of times. Keep trying and don't give up on your dream. This is something from the movie "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" One of my favorite Disney movies <3 I tell this to myself almost daily, because I fail.... daily! Enjoy :)
So now, go on and keep failing until you succeed! And like Rick from the Walking Dead says
YOU ARE PERFECT :)
BE HAPPY, BE BRAVE, BE COURAGEOUS AND BE KIND!
Monday, June 13, 2016
Happiness is…Love
As the news of what happened in Orlando floods my life over the past 24 hours… I can't help but feel sadness, anger, and frustration come over me. How could someone have so much hate in their heart that they could do such a thing? How can this happen? WHY?!?!
As my heart goes out to all the friends and families of those injured or lost, I will remain a little quieter today.
As a nation that has stated an endless amount of times that "LOVE IS LOVE"-we need to spread that love more than ever right now.
We need to prove that love can over come hate.
We need to be KIND to our neighbors, even if we "think" they are an enemy.
We need to reach out to those who need us.
We need to teach our children acts of kindness instead of acts of anger.
We need to love unconditionally and without question.
We need to remember that every single person we meet is completely different than who we are
We need to remember that those differences are what makes us magnificent
We need to be there for the people who are most affected by hate
We need to speak up when others are being tormented or bullied
We need to remember that even the smallest act can be heroic
We need to ask if a friend, family member, or stranger needs help
We need to spread love and share happiness to those who feel hate in their hearts
We need to show the world that love can conquer all
WE……
Today, tomorrow, and the rest of your life, find ways to reach out and show someone that we are here for each other. Spread kindness throughout the world. BE the hero. Stand up and shout when no one else is saying anything.
The world won't change if we all sit and wait for someone else to speak up.
Feel. Cry. Mourn. Do.
Lin-Manuel Miranda said it best "Love is Love is Love is Love is Love is Love is Love is LOVE cannot be killed or swept aside"
May we all come together to create, share, and amplify the love that we have for one another so that this may never happen again.
You and Beautiful, Smart, and Amazing.
I Love You.
As my heart goes out to all the friends and families of those injured or lost, I will remain a little quieter today.
As a nation that has stated an endless amount of times that "LOVE IS LOVE"-we need to spread that love more than ever right now.
We need to prove that love can over come hate.
We need to be KIND to our neighbors, even if we "think" they are an enemy.
We need to reach out to those who need us.
We need to teach our children acts of kindness instead of acts of anger.
We need to love unconditionally and without question.
We need to remember that every single person we meet is completely different than who we are
We need to remember that those differences are what makes us magnificent
We need to be there for the people who are most affected by hate
We need to speak up when others are being tormented or bullied
We need to remember that even the smallest act can be heroic
We need to ask if a friend, family member, or stranger needs help
We need to spread love and share happiness to those who feel hate in their hearts
We need to show the world that love can conquer all
WE……
Today, tomorrow, and the rest of your life, find ways to reach out and show someone that we are here for each other. Spread kindness throughout the world. BE the hero. Stand up and shout when no one else is saying anything.
The world won't change if we all sit and wait for someone else to speak up.
Feel. Cry. Mourn. Do.
Lin-Manuel Miranda said it best "Love is Love is Love is Love is Love is Love is Love is LOVE cannot be killed or swept aside"
May we all come together to create, share, and amplify the love that we have for one another so that this may never happen again.
You and Beautiful, Smart, and Amazing.
I Love You.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Happiness is Running in Airplane mode
Have you ever had those days where you wake up in the morning and you can't think fast enough about what you HAVE to do that day? It's like your stress and anxiety of your "TO DO" list is in fact your alarm clock. You haven't even rolled out of bed yet and you are already thinking about what steps you have to take in order to make your day work as fluent as possible. This was me almost everyday for awhile. Ugh I know! I just wouldn't turn off, and sometimes, I still don't! I am always a "go go go " person, and I have learned to LOVE that about myself. The only part that I still struggle with is that I look at taking a nap as a waste of time....I'll sleep when it's dark out because I love the sunshine way too much.
I have learned to find a healthy balance between stress and just not caring. A little stress is good! It gives you drive and determination. No stress can sometimes be bad, you just end up not caring or you sometimes don't make the best decisions.
When the "Struggle is real" as the T-shirts say... I have learned to set myself up on airplane mode. No, I do not shut off my phone or email (although at times I should) but I literally turn myself off from letting the irrelevant stresses get to me. Judgements from others, passive aggressive banter, and gossip are just some of the many stresses that I just seem to let go of. Who cares? You will always have people who think "Oh.... you're going to wear that?"-- YEP and I am going to rock the crap out of it! Or "Oh... you need to do this at your wedding, not that... this is tradition"...... WELL HONEY, Traditions start somewhere, so maybe we are starting a new one! :) Don't worry about it! Be true to who you are, and if someone is going to fault you for it....then they really are more envious that they don't feel as comfortable in their own skin as you do in yours.
Why do I say "Airplane mode?"
When I am running through the woods and the sunshine is peaking through the tree branches as the wind plays tag with their leaves.....I breathe in. Here I am completely free. I run a little further and my legs almost grow more youthful, as does the rest of my body. I am untouchable. My smile is as wide as it can get and my arms begin to reach out on either side of my body. I am running with my arms out, banking left and right, laughing at myself. I am a kid, pretending to be an airplane with not a care in the world besides where my next footstep will be. This is something that I do so often that it's no longer embarrassing. I get giggles from other trail runners as we pass each other, but more often than not, they like the idea too and instantly start to play along. These moments are priceless
My friend, and coworker, Amy and I ran a half marathon this past weekend and we ran in airplane mode quite a few times! Our goal was just to have fun and laugh the entire way! We had runners laughing and cheering each other on! It was by far the greatest energy that we could give out. Rather than think about how much pain their legs were in, they have two goofy girls to laugh at while they ran. Sometimes you have to share your airplane to get others to join in on the fun! (MarathonFoto captured it perfectly!)
When you are feeling overwhelmed or a little stressed out, visualize what is causing it and try to think if the stress is worth it. Why is the stress there and is it necessary? Most of the time, it's out of your control and the worrying will just take second off your life and happiness from your heart. You are beautiful, amazing, and down right awesome! Never foreget that! And as always, remember to BE KIND!
Have the Best Day EVER! And if you are stressed out, go into airplane mode :)
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
There is no path to happiness, happiness IS the path.
"There is no path to happiness, happiness is the path"-Buddha
I purchased a greeting card that said this at Trader Joes the other day, just because I loved what it represented. No one in their right mind wakes up and says to themselves "I hope that I am not happy today". If you do please call me right now because I would like to pick your brain a little bit, then make you laugh your butt off.
"I just want to be happy" is what a majority of us hope for throughout our lives. Some days we have really hard, sad, and frustrating days. The others are GREAT, quite possibly the "BEST DAY EVER!" I want you to look back on all of those days and connect the dots. When I do that, there is not ONE hard day that can be missed for me to obtain the great days. Along side the days of pain and saddness came the days of laughter and sunshine, and this is what makes my happiness great!
My path to Happiness is so much different than yours.
Do not compare paths. Do not look at someone elses happiness and think "That is what I need to be happy", because it's not. When we start to compare and judge others is when we get lost from our own path. Stay true to what makes you happy. Smile more often, even when you don't feel like it. I am that crazy girl cheering at mile 23 of a marathon telling people to SMILE because it makes the running easier and less painful. I have to confess-- smiling does NOT stop your legs from going numb and your knees from aching. Some people look at me with the expression of "Oh yeah?? why aren't you out here running? Shut your face happy person". Others smile, and for a moment, they believe that the pain will fade away and it will be just as joyous of a run as it was at mile one. If you believe hard enough, it actually does!
Wake up and tell yourself that today is going to be the BEST DAY EVER.
Drink your tea or coffee in the sun shine, or open all of the windows to hear the rain fall outside. Embrace the rain to appreciate the sun.
When my brothers and I were little our mother used a magic trick to make us not scared of the storms. When the rain clouds began to roll in, my mom would look out the window and say "It looks like a great day to bake cookies". As the rain would fall and the thunder and lightning would begin to play it's music, we would be in the kitchen making rows and rows of cookies as Elton John would be playing in the background just enough to distract us from the "scary noises" outside. By adjusting the environment my mother took a scary situation and turned it into a memory full of laughter, love, and excitment. There is not a rain storm that goes by where I don't smell the fresh baked cookies from my memory. To this day I still bake a fresh batch of cookies when it storms.
There is no end to happiness, which is why we need to start viewing it as the journey and not the destination. Stop worrying about what yours looks like and what others may have that you don't, you have so much in your life that others don't have as well. You are beautiful, amazing, and worth it.
Don't forget to laugh, cry, dance, sing, call your loved ones, or eat chocolate today!
Do what you need to do to have the Best Day Ever.
I am going to start mine off with a run--- I hope that those strangers are ready for my HIGH FIVES!
Marey
I purchased a greeting card that said this at Trader Joes the other day, just because I loved what it represented. No one in their right mind wakes up and says to themselves "I hope that I am not happy today". If you do please call me right now because I would like to pick your brain a little bit, then make you laugh your butt off.
"I just want to be happy" is what a majority of us hope for throughout our lives. Some days we have really hard, sad, and frustrating days. The others are GREAT, quite possibly the "BEST DAY EVER!" I want you to look back on all of those days and connect the dots. When I do that, there is not ONE hard day that can be missed for me to obtain the great days. Along side the days of pain and saddness came the days of laughter and sunshine, and this is what makes my happiness great!
My path to Happiness is so much different than yours.
Do not compare paths. Do not look at someone elses happiness and think "That is what I need to be happy", because it's not. When we start to compare and judge others is when we get lost from our own path. Stay true to what makes you happy. Smile more often, even when you don't feel like it. I am that crazy girl cheering at mile 23 of a marathon telling people to SMILE because it makes the running easier and less painful. I have to confess-- smiling does NOT stop your legs from going numb and your knees from aching. Some people look at me with the expression of "Oh yeah?? why aren't you out here running? Shut your face happy person". Others smile, and for a moment, they believe that the pain will fade away and it will be just as joyous of a run as it was at mile one. If you believe hard enough, it actually does!
Wake up and tell yourself that today is going to be the BEST DAY EVER.
Drink your tea or coffee in the sun shine, or open all of the windows to hear the rain fall outside. Embrace the rain to appreciate the sun.
When my brothers and I were little our mother used a magic trick to make us not scared of the storms. When the rain clouds began to roll in, my mom would look out the window and say "It looks like a great day to bake cookies". As the rain would fall and the thunder and lightning would begin to play it's music, we would be in the kitchen making rows and rows of cookies as Elton John would be playing in the background just enough to distract us from the "scary noises" outside. By adjusting the environment my mother took a scary situation and turned it into a memory full of laughter, love, and excitment. There is not a rain storm that goes by where I don't smell the fresh baked cookies from my memory. To this day I still bake a fresh batch of cookies when it storms.
There is no end to happiness, which is why we need to start viewing it as the journey and not the destination. Stop worrying about what yours looks like and what others may have that you don't, you have so much in your life that others don't have as well. You are beautiful, amazing, and worth it.
Don't forget to laugh, cry, dance, sing, call your loved ones, or eat chocolate today!
Do what you need to do to have the Best Day Ever.
I am going to start mine off with a run--- I hope that those strangers are ready for my HIGH FIVES!
Marey
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Happiness is Dreaming Big
This is the mantra that I tell myself before any big event in my life that I dreamt up to accomplish. Why do I say this? Because... I am scared to death the months leading up to it. I am quite the dreamer. I love to challenge (and scare) myself with crazy dreams. So much that my mother and aunt came together and decided that they were going to have me watch the movie "Everest" in hopes that it would freak me out from ever doing that---don't worry, I have no desire to freeze my butt off with little oxygen :) On the other hand, Never say never right? :)
Live the Life you dream up for yourself.
You can do anything you dream up. Seriously. 10 years ago if you had told me I would run marathons, do a half iron man, hike 14ers, do the Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim of the Grand Canyon in 1 day, and become best friends with people around the world from working my DREAM JOB I probably would have hid in my room because of how scared I was of that fact. I kid you not, I was an anxiety stricken lady scared of anything outside of my comfort zone. I saw that dream that I wanted, but feared the work to accomplish it. I am not going to lie, it's a LOT of work--but the work is both hard and rewarding at the same time. Some of the hardest parts deal with changing your attitude towards life. Even when your life seems hard, bad, "un-doable" you have to see the good. You have to believe that you can do this and that you are capable of anything you work so hard for.
Make friends with the strangers you run into
We are told many times throughout our lives to not talk to strangers. Well, if I stuck to that as an adult... I would have very little written in my accomplishment list. Climbing the 14ers in Colorado started with a conversation on a run with a new friend that I had just made the week before. 2 months later we are stuck at the keyhole section in a snow storm on Longs Peak.
Stairway to Heaven in Hawaii began as a researched dream before arriving in Oahu for work. Day 2 I meet an awesome stranger who asks me "Do you like to work out"---ummmm yes. "Well in the morning we are going to do a little hike called the stairway to heaven, if you want to join you can". The next morning I am texting my brother at 2 am telling him what I am doing and he responds with "Isn't it 2 am there?? You are crazy!" On that hike, the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim hike came up in conversation and I remember thinking "This guy is just nuts... I don't know how that is even possible." 5 months later, there I was, part of the Canyon Slayer crew and part of a new Family. Yesterday,I dreamt of heading back to Oahu to Finish the 3 peaks hike and swim out the "China Mans hat" to hike up to the top and swim back....Next Time :) Had I been reserved and freaked out to meet new friends, my life would be extremely different than it is now. Don't be scared to chat with the person behind you in the coffee line or at the grocery store. I have made some great friends and got some of the best advice from the people sitting next to me on airplanes (that is when I am not passed out with my mouth wide open).
Work Hard
Hard work truly pays off, so set yourself up for success. Work isn't something that you should dread doing every day. Don't get me wrong, there are the tedious tasks that you may have at your job that you don't LOVE but at the end of everyday it's a good thing to have a sense of accomplishment before you go to bed. I tend to set small work goals every morning for the day ahead of me and cross them off mentally as I go. If you are a list person, make that list of tiny daily goals that you can physically see crossed off, this will help so much in your daily work life. My goals for today? CRUSH my clinic that I have tonight, make people laugh, and don't be scared to embarrass myself.
I hope that you all dream bigger than you could possibly imagine! Write those dreams down and look at them every day. Find ways to motivate yourself to accomplish those dreams and set aside time everyday to make sure that you are able to visualize where you want to be in your life.
You really can do anything.
Thank you!
Marey
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)