It's Been A Long Time

Wow! I haven't written on this bog in 4 years. I have to confess that I really felt I was running out of things to write about. But in reality I had loads of things to share but could not bring myself to write about them. My family and I have been on quite a journey these past 4 years. There have been many highs and lows. Unfortunately there were more lows than highs. There have been lay offs, changes in my teaching position, health issues with family members. The biggest and ongoing situation is my middle son's battle with drug addiction. With all of this I struggled to feel gratitude toward anything in my life. With this feeling of emptiness, we fell deeper into a slump. We struggled with our son to get him help. It is difficult to help someone who doesn't want help. This was coupled with my husband being laid off. This is probably when I should have been writing the most and yet I just couldn't bring myself to do it. However, we never gave up. We managed to bring ourselves together and stuck together as a family with great love. That is the one thing that never faultered. I truly believe it is the one thing that has helped us get through everything. My husband now has a great job with great monitory opportunities. Although my son adimently refused rehab, we were able to get him help with a great counselor that he sees every week. He has taken himself off of the misuse of prescription drugs, we are working to get him to stop smoking pot. His school has been supportive in allowing him to complete high school at home by doing the assignments at home. He has completed all of his work on his own with some minimal help. He is scheduled to graduate with his class in June. He hopes to attend a community college in the fall. He has had a couple of jobs but they were temporary and didn't quite work out. Tomorrow he wants me to take him to fill out more applications in the hope of getting another job. All of this is a step in the right direction for him.
We did have a series of good things happen as well. My older son graduated high school in 2010 and has been attending college on a half scholarship. My daughter is now a teenager. She does very well in school and has been on the honor roll many times. She has also been a member of her dance studio's competition team. She has become quite the beautiful dancer.
It has been difficult for us the past 4 years but our love is what got us through it successfully. It is the love that we have for eachother that I am most grateful for. This is what I have come to realize today as I begin to write in my gratitude journal again. I hope to continue and I hope that you will continue this gratitude journey with me. What are you most grateful for? Please share.

1st Week of School!

School is in! It has been a crazy week. I have been away from the blogging world for a couple of days and I missed everybody. I'm back now. The first week of school is always very hectic for teachers. I have been so exhausted these past couple of days I've been coming home and falling asleep for an hour before making dinner. However, I am very grateful to get back to work. I truly love my job! I haven't met with any students yet as it is too early to tell which students will need my help in math. I have spent my days setting up computers, meeting with new teachers, attending workshops, and tending to last minute setting up. So, I guess this entry will be about my gratitude for my job.
Some things I love about being a teacher:
I am grateful for the growth that the students make.
I am grateful for working with the teachers to help them better implement math and technology into the curriculum.
I am grateful for the teaching assistants who work for me. They really help to make my job easier.
I am grateful for the friends that I have made these past 20 years. They are relationships that I will cherish for the rest of my life even past retirement.

Today's Affirmation: "I am at peace. Divine peace and harmony surround me and dwell in me. I feel tolerance, compassion and love for all people, myself included."

Feeling gratitude for my job gives me a great feeling of peace in my world. When I enjoy what I do, I feel joy with the rest of my life. I have studied and worked hard to achieve my place in my school. This gives me a great sense of satisfaction and PEACE!
Below you will find a video to watch Abraham Hicks explain the Appreciation vs. Gratitude.

Ok, so I'm working on moving toward apprecation!

Here is another video to help you meditate your gratefulness or appreciation:



I hope this can help you in your journey in finding complete appreciation for all that you have in your universe.

Family Around the Firepit

The hot sun, the pool, the beach, dad's great barbeque, these are a few of the kids' favorite things about summer. However, the most favored thing that we all love the most is the firepit that we bought last summer. Throughout the summer, most of our dinners are cooked on the barbeque (Bobby Flay, we're ready for a throwdown), especially on the weekend. Those dinners usually end with other family members stopping by for coffee and a sit around the firepit. This summer we have been able to really get the fire roaring. The grown-ups sit around the fire and the kids run around the backyard either catching fireflies or having running races. As the fire dies down to embers, we bring out the marshmallows and the kids roast them over the embers- yum! Of all of the ups and downs that we have had throughout this summer, our pow-wows around the firepit have been probably the best part of the summer. The warmth of the fire, the coffee in paper cups, and the light conversation bring us together as a family. These are the times that make memories for the kids. Just like I always remember how special my mom always made my birthday, my kids will have joyous memories of summers with their cousins running around the backyard and roasting marshmallows around the firepit. I bought the firepit because I liked the way it looked. I really had no idea the impact that it would make on my kid's memories of summer in their childhood. Tomorrow, my husband and I will clean it out of all its soot and ash and put the cover on it. It will not be lit again until next summer. As I lay here tonight ready to go to sleep, I am filled with abundance of love of family and am grateful that some of our most precious moments are spent around that firepit. It is sad to cover it up for the season, but I look forward to many more summer evenings sitting around the firepit.
Today's affirmation reads: "I trust in my inner wisdom. As I go about my daily affairs, I listen to my own guidance. My intuition is always on my side. I trust it to be there at all times. I am safe."
I had great intuition in purchasing that firepit! Eventhough I liked the way it looked, I somehow I knew that this item would be something special for us as a family. I listened to my own guidance and I trust that it will be there with me in many other experiences that life will bring to me.
What is your favorite summer memory? How did it impact your family relationships?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday! Today I am feeling grateful for all of the wonderful birthdays I had as a child growing up. I have fond memories of my mom and dad and family doing everything they could to make my day very special. I didn't have lavish parties and the celebrations usually included my mom, dad, brother and grandparents. But those small celebrations were grand to me. I remember that my mom used to wrap everything in individual boxes to make it seem to me that I got tons of things. She probably could have put everything in one box or gift bag and called it a day. But she wanted me to unwrap as many things as possible. As I got older, I had many friends who used to take me out for a night on the town and that was such a great memory.
As the years past I got married and had children. My grandparents and dad have past on, my brother has his own family and friends have drifted apart. My mom still does everything she can to make my day special. Sometimes we go out to lunch. But the pile of gifts has been reduced a gift card inside a birthday card. Today I am grateful for my wonderful husband who right now is out with my daughter scurring around town gathering things for another small family celebration. I am happy that my older son has cleaned his room that he shares with his younger brother. I am happy that my middle son has so far chosen to spend the day at home rather than out with friends. My mother-in-law is returning home today from her visit with her daughter in Virginia. My mom will come over later. I am grateful for a small barbeque(because that is all that my husband can cook- in fact he is quite good at it) and cake and a nice fire going in the firepit. I don't need lavish parties and piles of gifts! I am grateful for the love that surrounds me today. The greatest gift is all of the things that my family is doing for me to try to make my day special.
So, today's affirmation is quite appropriate for today. It reads "My future is glorious. I now live in limitless love, light, and joy. All is well in my world." Today is first day of my new birth year and it will be my best year yet. I look forward to all the wonderful experiences that will come to me this year!