Recap: Random Acts of Kindness for my 28th Birthday

Happy Monday! I can't say I'm thrilled to see the weekend come to an end, but alas, here we are so we should just go ahead and make the best of it.

As promised, I want to recap my birthday week challenge of performing 28 Random Acts of Kindness today. I'm a little disappointed to say that while I'm really happy with what I did do, I didn't even make it close to reaching my goal. I'm going to focus on the positive though, and share with you the few things I did throughout the week:

1. Used a gift card to buy a coffee at Starbucks and gave it to the person behind me in line

2. Donated my old glasses at Lenscrafters when I picked up my new pair

3. Made an extra effort to compliment coworkers

4. Donated $1 to the American Cancer Society at Walgreens

5. Spent time commenting on blog posts I normally wouldn't take the time to comment on. Everyone loves blog comments!

6. After doing some shopping, I taped a $10 gift card to a cart at Target to help with someone's shopping

7. Baked a batch of Snickerdoodle cookies and delivered them to the local police station with a note thanking the officers for what they do

While I didn't make it anywhere near my goal of 28 RAKs this week, I'm still feeling pretty satisfied! These few simple acts felt really good and it reminded me how much more satisfied I am when I am making a conscious effort to bring joy to others. I may not have made it to 28 in a week, but I'm feeling more motivated than ever to seek out opportunities for RAKs on a daily basis.

I know it would take a lot more than a few simple things like this to change the world, but knowing I can spread joy through a simple act of kindness makes me feel better about what I'm putting out into the world. I may not have reached my goal for the week, but I'm certainly going to make an effort to keep this up!

Cheers to 28 Years! Annual Blog Birthday List

Hello and happy Monday! Today is my 28th birthday and I'm feeling quite content after a wonderful weekend with my love. We spent the weekend in St. Augustine and I'll absolutely be filling you in our trip a little later in the week. In the meantime, it's time to celebrate my birthday in blog style, which means I'm sharing my annual blog birthday list with you all today.

Since I started blogging 3+ years ago, each year I’ve come up with a new theme for a blog birthday list. For example, last year I wrote a list of 27 things I still didn’t know how to do yet. I’ve also done a birthday bucket list of 26 things I wanted to do on my birthday and for my 25th birthday, I wrote a list of things I’d learned in my 25 years.

This year, I wasn’t sure what to do but I wanted to switch it up again. Jonathan took me away for the weekend and I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of 28 random acts of kindness for us to perform throughout the weekend. His response? “Only you would give yourself work on your birthday.” He loved the idea of trying to perform RAKs throughout the weekend, but he didn’t loooove giving ourselves a list and focusing on checking things off that list instead of relaxing and enjoying our time together. He makes a good point. I tend to get a little ahead of myself and I can imagine I would have ended up stressing about the list instead of enjoying every moment with my love.

Don’t you worry though, I think I came up with a plan that still accomplishes what I want to do without taking over our weekend away together. I’m doing a reversed birthday list of sorts this year. Instead of writing a list of RAKs to perform in advance, I’m challenging myself to perform 28 of them throughout my birthday week and share them with you all once it’s over! It'll be fun to keep an eye out for opportunities throughout the day where I can do something small for someone else, rather than coming up with my list of things to do in advance. Needless to say, I'm excited to kick off my 28th year this way.

After spending a relaxing weekend in St. Augustine with Jonathan, I'm feeling so at peace and so grateful for this time in my life. My 27th year was full of joy and so many reasons to be thankful...I can only imagine the blessings 28 will bring. Cheers!

If you have any suggestions for Random Acts of Kindness I can perform this week, I'd love to hear your ideas! Share them in the comments or tweet them to me @AmandaLSnyder13 on Twitter!

Counting my rainbows, not my thunderstorms

It's been raining nonstop for the last few days in Orlando and it doesn't look like it'll be ending anytime soon. I'm staying at Jonathan's for the rest of the week which has meant about an hour commute to and from work. It's also looking like our weekend at Clearwater Beach is going to be pretty rainy. This is all okay. It's okay because as always, I'm trying to focus on the good. Sometimes choosing joy is easier said than done, but it's so worth the effort.

Today I want to share a list of things I'm feeling thankful for right now.
  
Thankful for my health. I'm still in the process of trying to pay the massive amount of medical bills I've racked up over the last few years. Trying to pay these off is causing me a great deal of stress and sometimes I feel like there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel. In the midst of this, I am thankful that I am healthy now and at least I'm not adding to the bills at this point.

Thankful for Jonathan. Today is his 25th birthday. This man is my love, my sunshine, my dream come true. I'm so thankful for his love and support, his patience and humor, his positivity and his faith. I thank God we found each other and get to experience this amazing love every day.

Thankful for supportive friends and family. My family, my best friend Taryn, Jonathan...these are people who I know have my best interest in mind. They are the people who are always supporting me, cheering me on and lifting me up when I need it. 

Thankful for moments like this: Sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up and realize I'm not close enough to Jonathan so I turn over, snuggle up next to him and wrap my arm around him. Then he grabs my hand and pulls me closer to him and I lay there in the middle of the night, half awake, grinning from ear to ear, thanking God and drifting happily back to sleep.

Thankful for Sara Bareilles' latest song, Brave.

Thankful for our trip to the beach this weekend. Yes, I envisioned sunbathing by the pool enjoying an array of fruity beverages, but if we don't end up doing that, I'll be just as happy. The point of this trip is to get away just the two of us and relax for a few days. We could be stuck in the hotel the whole time and I know I'd still enjoy every minute of it. I am, however, still hopeful that maybe the weather will clear up by then. A girl can dream, right? :)

Thankful for so many new followers around here. Whether you've ended up here because of a giveaway, a linkup, my button on another blog or you just so happened to stumble upon my little place on the Internet, I'm so glad you're here and I hope you all enjoy reading along.

There you have it. I could've easily written a post about everything that isn't going well this week, but I feel so much better after focusing in on the good stuff.

What are you feeling thankful for this week?

Random Thoughts #2

I already warned you that I have a lot to say this week. Unfortunately, I can't seem to pull a coherent post together. Do you ever have that problem? You have topics you want to write on and things you want to say, but you just can't seem to piece it all together. Instead, you end up rambling on about a variety of unrelated things. I've already done a post like this just recently, so I guess this is going to be a regular thing here on days I can't focus on one topic. So here goes...

Most importantly, I have a new nephew on his way into this world as we speak and I am esctatic! This is my sister's 3rd child and I cannot wait to get word that he has arrived. My sister lives way up in Buffalo so I can't be there to meet him which kinda stinks, but I am hoping to get up there sometime in the next few months to visit. I can't wait for that.

I pinned this on Pinterest today and actually said "oh shit" out loud at my desk because I was that overwhelmed by how wonderful and awful it was that I found this. Awful because my love for York Peppermint Patties is really intense and I don't think I have the self control to even make these. Good lord they look delightful.

Do you ever feel like negativity has become more common in this world than positivity? I come across too many people who don't know how to react to my attitude and I don't know how to respond. Some people even seem offended. What gives? Are there just too many bad things in the world getting people down and making them cynical?

I understand that it's easier to focus on the negative sometimes. It takes less energy to complain about things you aren't happy with than it is to find the bright side of that situation. I guess I just feel overwhelmed by this lately. Don't get me wrong. I have days that are not-so-great. But on those days, I certainly don't post "FML" Facebook updates or project my negativity onto others. That doesn't do any good. I don't spread happiness and positivity to people on a daily basis. Even I'm guilty of being pessimistic sometimes. But I catch myself. And I wish more people would catch themselves and turn their thought process around.  Maybe this needs it's own post. Maybe I need to blog about how you can cheer yourself up. I don't know.

Taylor Swift is coming to Orlando for two nights in April and I'm going to attempt to snag tickets on Friday morning at 10 a.m. Her shows sell out so fast so I usually don't even attempt to buy tickets. I've never seen her live and I know it would be amazing. If we are actually able to get tickets I am going to completely lose my mind. That's how excited I will be. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Has anyone else not even started their Christmas shopping? So many bloggers I follow said they were finished shopping Thanksgiving weekend. What? How did you do that? Thanksgiving weekend I went shopping and left the mall with two new sweaters, a sequin skirt and new aviators...all for myself. My dad totally judged me to my face. I just hadn't thought about what I wanted to get people yet and nothing jumped out at me. I need to get on this...

Speaking of Christmas, my coworker has Peppermint Kisses in her office. Why are these so delicious? I can't stop sneaking into her office to snag a few. It's getting out of hand. Have you tried these yet? If not, go pick yourself up a bag and proceed to eat the entire thing.

Is it frowned upon to tell your parents you want a flask for Christmas? I can't help but really, really want this one.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Hello friends. I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was delightful. Mine was so delightful that I'm having a really tough time getting my shit together this week.

Thanksgiving weekend is always wonderful. Celebrating Thanksgiving with my family is always special, emotional and full of joy. The long weekend is like a little mini-vacation from work and it's so relaxing to spend a few days at my parents' house. I even volunteered to give the Thanksgiving toast before dinner and I am a little embarrassed to say I wasn't even halfway through it before I started sobbing. Maybe next year.

It was my intention to take lots of cute photos of my family on Thanksgiving, but that didn't work out as planned. My brother acted like the paparazzi was trying to snap photos of him without his consent, my sisters weren't much more cooperative, then I started baking away and didn't really think of it again. I can, however, always count on my child to suck it up for a photo session with his momma, so there's that.

So thankful for this little boy.

I baked my ass off for Thanksgiving this year. I don't bring many cooking skills to the table (yet!), so this is how I contribute to Thanksgiving. These are all super easy to make and I loved how they came out. I linked to the recipes so you can try them for yourself.

Pumpkin Streusel Pudding Cookies

Apple Snickerdoodle Cobbler

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Even Blake was exhausted from all the excitement. He absolutely loves weekends at my parents' house....so much room to run and so many other friends to play with!



Sleepy boy.

Because my BFF Taryn was in Orlando visiting her family for Thanksgiving, I drive back to Orlando for Friday and Saturday to spend time with her, then went back to my parents' for Saturday night and Sunday. This resulted in my spending what felt like 80% of my weekend in the car, but it was totally worth it.

In less than 2 days, Taryn and I managed to squeeze in rasberry mojitos and banana pizza at Cafe Tu Tu Tango, meeting friends for a night on the town and a few hours of fun plus a photoshoot at Epcot. Best friend time is always good for the soul, even if we did get into a drunken argument about nothing on Friday night. When I get my hands on the rest of our photos from Epcot, I'll share them, but in the meantime, this is our time together in a nutshell.

As we typically do, we were running late to meet our friends downtown. I pulled up to the toll booth to find this guy parked there. I was obviously excited about the prospect of a random act of kindness falling into my lap and we couldn't really get around him, so I jumped out to help. He didn't understand English, was lost and didn't have any change, so we helped! I was so caught up in the moment, I didn't think for a second he could've thrown me into his car and driven away. Let's just say my dad wasn't thrilled...

"Every brunette needs a blonde best friend." This photo was taken at Epcot and we got the idea from this pin on Pinterest.

Yes we are almost wearing the same outfit. It wasn't planned, but we went with it anyway.

After dropping Taryn off at the airport and begging her not to leave....

Just causing a scene at the airport.

...I hit the road back to my parents' house to relax for the rest of the weekend. I spent Saturday night watching Elf with my momma and spent Sunday doing a little shopping with mom and dad. My weekend was the perfect combination of fun and relaxation/friend and family time. Thanksgiving was absolutely wonderful and now I'm psyched to get ready for Christmas.

I'm probably due to update you all on other life happenings, but I'll save that for later. Hope all is well in your world today!

What I'm Reading Right Now: The Happiness Project

I don't often post book reviews on here; actually, I never do. I love to read, I've just never really been good about summarizing a book and my thoughts on it on this here blog. I do, however, have to tell you about The Happiness Project.

When I told my brother I was currently reading The Happiness Project, he asked me "Why are you reading it when you are the one who wrote it?" He was clearly teasing me about my obsession with positivity and happiness.

Seriously though, the moment I saw this book under my recommendations on Amazon, I knew I would enjoy it. The book chronicles author Gretchen Rubin's year-long journey to greater happiness. It's not that the author was particularly unhappy, but she realized she should be happier. Each month, she sets specific goals focusing on each area of her life and spends that month taking specific steps to achieve the them.

While following along on her Happiness Project, I've really enjoyed the scientific research she cites throughout the book, along with the several quotes on happiness I've never heard before. I've found myself highlighting and bookmarking pages on my Kindle like it's nobody's business. Some of my favorite passages:

 

 

There are so many times I'm reading along and find myself nodding along as the author talks about the challenges she encountered, her thoughts on happiness and things she learned throughout her journey. It seems kind of silly, but I feel like I get criticized quite often for having a positive attitude. It's almost as if people are dismissive, or don't take me seriously sometimes. It was empowering to read about how the author also encountered these people who criticized or challenged her project. And the passage about how it's more selfless to act happy, but people tend to take that person for granted...that one really stood out to me. I've been able to relate to all of this and really love everything about this book.

 

If you love this kind of stuff as much as I do, I suggest you give it a read!





Weekend in Maine, Travel Woes & the Kindness of Strangers

Hi everyone! So maybe it has taken me about two weeks to get around to this, but I wanted to give you a quick rundown of my weekend trip to Maine earlier this month because some pretty awesome stuff happened.

Weekend in Maine
The reason for the trip: my cousin got married. The wedding was on Lake Sebago and my extended family all stayed in cabins around the lake for the weekend. It was so awesome walking outside our cabin and running into cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. The wedding was beautiful and the weekend was full of relaxation, campfires and quality time with my family. It was perfect.

While most of my family drove (all the way from Florida,) I couldn't quite take that much time off work, so I flew in Friday and came home (or attempted to, but I'll get to that shortly) Monday. The weather up there is gorgeous this time of year and I enjoyed every minute. A group of us even went for a run Sunday morning and I can't tell you how nice it was to run outside and not feel like you are melting! I couldn't find a kite to fly (one of my goals for the weekend), but my sister and I did the zipline across the lake, which was super fun!


1. Dad and I - 2. Mom and I twirling, of course

1. My siblings and I (missing a sister, though!) - 2. Lake Sebago
3. A really neat picture I took of my niece while blowing bubbles on the porch with the kids

1. My nephew Aidan and I - 2. My niece Alyssa and I
Obsessed with these beautiful children.

Travel Woes & the Kindness of Strangers
If you know me in real life, you know that I don't have the best luck with air travel. Now bad luck would be plane crashes and whatnot, so I wouldn't go that far, but I can't take one trip without missing a flight, getting stranded in a random city alone for the night or missing a connection. It never fails and it is never my fault. You'd think a girl with my air travel luck would always schedule non-stop flights, but when you are going on a super quick trip and trying to save money, sometimes you don't have much of a choice. After bad weather in Orlando almost caused me to miss my connection in Atlanta on the way up to Maine (I was that girl hauling ass through the airport at 3:30 to make it to my 3:30 pm flight), I figured the flights home would be smooth sailing. Boy, was I mistaken.

About 20 minutes from landing in Baltimore to make my connecting flight to Orlando, the pilot came on saying because of thunderstorms in Baltimore, we'd have to make a pit stop in Philadelphia. At this point, it's already about 8 p.m. so things aren't looking great. I was actually getting in touch with my good friend from college, Theresa who lives in Philly and was actually a little excited to reunite for a night. Around 8:30 p.m. (the same time my flight was scheduled to leave Baltimore, the pilot comes on saying we are leaving Philly and heading to Baltimore. Most people on the plane were thrilled; I, was crossing my fingers my flight wouldn't leave without me. When we landed in Baltimore, a city where I know no one, the flight attendant broke the news that the flight to Orlando was long gone. I was stranded in Baltimore.

After an emotional goodbye to my sister, niece and nephew earlier in the day and a long afternoon of traveling, I completely lost it and broke down. While waiting for my baggage, crying to my mother on the phone about how AirTran's idea of helping out stranded customers was to give me a "discounted" hotel rate of $60, and coming to find out the hotel they partner with doesn't even offer a shuttle to the airport for my 6 a.m. flight, the most amazing thing happened.

A couple approached me and told me they'd really like to help me. The man walked with me into the airport office to speak to someone about the situation and try to get some other options and they tried to help me find a better hotel, with no luck. After spending an hour in the airport trying to figure something out, they decide to drive me to the hotel and at least try to get me a ride secured to the airport the next morning. When we get to the hotel, the woman at the front desk says they aren't the same hotel that AirTran partners with, so although they do have a shuttle, the room is $120 a night. I'm so exhausted and frustrated at this point, that I thank the couple profusely for their help, but that I am just going to pay the $120 and stay there. The couple leaves and the woman at the front desk tells me that because she feels awful about my experience, she'd like to offer me a generous discount, making the room $60 instead of $120. I was speechless and completely overwhelmed by all the kindness I had experienced in the last few hours.

I got to my room no longer feeling frustrated and angry, but feeling so grateful for being on the receiving end of these Random Acts of Kindness. I can't put into words how appreciative I was of these people. The funny thing is, I went into my trip with all these ideas of RAKs I can perform in the airport and in my travels, but I ended up being on the receiving end and not performing as many as I planned. I would have been a lot worse off that night without these nice people, so thank goodness for them. It's such proof to me that my mission is a good one. Good things come to those who do good and what you put out into the universe will come back to you at some point. The whole "Pay it Forward" idea has never been so apparent.

To sum it up, I had an absolutely wonderful weekend in Maine, a few low travel points and a ton of moments of complete happiness and appreciation for people in my life, family and random strangers.

28 Days of Thanks: Mission Accomplished!

I've had so much fun over the past few weeks and have lots to fill you in on! I'll get to that, but in the midst of the crazy, I never got a chance to tell you all I completed my 28 Days of Thanks project. Since I updated you somewhere around the 14th day, I gave cards to my coworkers, my brother, my new roommate, my cousin, a few more of my girlfriends, another client, my dad, my grandfather and my aunt. A few thoughts now that I've completed the project:

Somewhere a little after the halfway mark, I stopped sending or handing out a card on a daily basis. This explains why I finished a little later than I originally should have. The reason I slowed down a bit has nothing to do with a lack of people to give the cards to, it was more to do with the logistics. This started when I went on my business trip a few weeks ago. Being out of town and working nonstop, it wasn't exactly feasible to get a card in the mail each day. I also never wanted my thank you note for the day to feel forced. The point of this was to reflect and practice thanks everyday, which I definitely did, but if I was in a situation where I couldn't take the time to write a thoughtful, honest message, I didn't want to force it. Soooo, it took me a bit longer than I originally intended, but I did it!

I have to say that my favorite part of this whole process was the reactions I got from everyone I gave a card to. It was nice to know that my note made an impact on each individual and even though it was such a simple gesture, I think it meant a lot to them.

While I don't necessarily intend to start another 28 Days of Thanks Kit, I know that reflecting daily and showing thanks to the people in my life will be more of a regular habit now. Writing a note each day never took more than a few minutes, so I want to make sure I take the time to do that for the people in my life more often.

This definitely has me motivated to come up with other simple and thoughtful ways to show thanks for the people in my life. If you have any good ideas, please share!

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Happy Friday everyone! I'm flying to Boston this afternoon to spend a fun night in the city with my family, then headed to spend the rest of the weekend on a lake in Maine for my cousin's wedding. I absolutely cannot wait to get away for a few days and spend some quality time with my silly family!

Goals for the weekend:

Relax

Dance a ton

Fly a kite

Lots of Random Acts of Kindness during my airport travels

Take an obscene amount of pictures

Soak up every moment with my family

Cry happy tears (this is a given, especially since I'm going to a wedding!)

Go for a run around the lake on Sunday morning and enjoy the scenery

Close my eyes for a minute and really let the special moments sink in

I am soooo looking forward to this getaway and can't wait to fill you in when I get back. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

28 Days of Thanks Update

Yesterday marked the halfway point in my 28 Days of Thanks project and I thought now would be a good time to tell you how it's going. In one word: wonderful.

So far I've given cards to my sisters, two of my very good friends from college, my five-year-old niece, my best friend, my mom, my roommate, one of my doctors, a client, two of my good guy friends and the couple who cleans our office building.

I still have so many people on the list and do you want to know how that makes me feel?

LUCKY BEYOND BELIEF. BLESSED. GRATEFUL.

The most challenging and wonderful aspect to writing the notes each day has been finding the right words to fit into the space I have to write. Each person brings so many wonderful things to my life and even as a writer, I've struggled a bit to find a way to put those things into words. It's a good problem to have, having so many people in your life you are so grateful for.

I've been stressed at work and a little overwhelmed with life lately, but taking a few minutes out of my day to write my thank you card has been so good for me. I can't help but feel at peace writing these notes and reflecting on each person's role in my life. If you know me, you know I've always been mushy about my appreciation for friends, family, etc, but taking time out of each day to reach out to them and show it has been so great.

So yes, I'd say this has been a wonderful experience so far. :)

28 Days of Thanks

I mentioned in a previous post the 28 Days of Thanks Note Card Kit I received as a gift from the woman I met in Mount Dora last weekend. Basically, the kit comes with 28 notecards and envelopes. The idea is to send a card to someone each day with a note thanking them, telling them you are thinking of them or simply saying hello. She asked if I would be interested in trying this out and giving her feedback, as she is developing these kits to sell in her store. I obviously told her I would loooove to! Something I can take 5 minutes to do each day and know that it will brighten someone else's day is a no brainer to me. Who doesn't love receiving a hand written note in the mail? This is going to be such a simple way to show my gratitude for the people in my life.

Today is Day 1 and I'm psyched!

I started by making a list of people who immediately came to mind like family and friends. I even added one of my clients who I've worked with for almost 3 years. She has always been such a pleasure to work with and I know she would appreciate the note. I also included one of my doctors on the list. I had to choose one because let's be honest, I've had wayyy too many doctors in the last few years who have made a HUGE difference in my life. I'm leaving room on the list for people who didn't immediately come to mind. They could be people I haven't met yet or people in my day-to-day life that I may realize later on I need to send one to.

I'll be sure to give you lots of updates along the way to share my experience. I'm hoping this small daily ritual will be a reminder for me to be grateful for the people in my life, no matter how big a role they have in my day-to-day. I hope these notes bring joy to the people who receive them and maybe even inspire them to do the same for people in their life.

The store owner, Lynn, who created the kit, is also blogging about her experience with 28 Days of Thanks. Feel free to check out her blog or her store's website, which has a ton of really cute gifts.

on a mission.

Hello everyone! How's your Tuesday? There are so many other things I should be doing, but the A/C is broken in our office and I am doing everything in my power not to take a nap/leave/take my clothes off, so blogging is the next best choice.

I don't have a whole lot to report, but I do want to share some things I've been up to...

You all know by now that I try my best to spread happiness daily. I make a conscious effort to be a spreader of joy to everyone I come in contact with. While I don't always succeed at this, I try my best and I've seen the difference it makes to others. I've also seen how showing kindness to others can turn my day around and cheer me up.

Well, in the last month or so, I've really tried to take all of this to another level. It all started with the balloon adventure on my birthday. Handing out the balloons to strangers and seeing their reactions to the balloons and the positive quotes on each one really made an impact on me. It was something so simple, but actively going out of my way to spread joy absolutely made my day and made a difference in others' days. This got me thinking about how many other little things I could be doing for others on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

So...I'm on a mission. It isn't very clearly defined, but it's been a huge success so far. I've started making it a priority to conduct at least one Random Act of Kindness each day...something I normally wouldn't think to do. Here are a few I've done so far:

• Everytime I go through the Starbucks drive-thru, I pay for the person behind me. This one is so easy and let's be honest, I do this a lot.
• I picked up Chick-fil-a breakfast for my coworkers last Friday.
• I tried to donate blood when I saw the bus outside the gym last week, but due to my hospitalization back in 2010, I found out I still have to wait a year before I can donate.
• While buying food and toys for Blake at PetSmart, I've donated to their adoption charity.

I'm always looking for new ideas for Random Acts of Kindness. If you have any, please share them in the comments! I'd really appreciate it :)

Thinking a little bigger than RAKs...

I'm becoming a volunteer with Give Kids the World, a resort where children with life-threatening illnessses and their families are treated to weeklong, cost-free fantasy vacations. I actually have my orientation tonight and I can't wait to get started.

My friend Laura and I are also looking into becoming Big Sisters. From what I hear, the process for this takes a little while but I think it will be totally worth it!

People tease me about my outlook on life, saying that I'm not realistic and that life "isn't all rainbows and ponies." I know all of this. I've experienced enough of my own "thunderstorms" to realize that life isn't always perfect. I've experienced pain and heartbreak. I've lived through a life-threatening health situation. I've been in a bad mood "just because" on several occasions. I have good days and not so great days just like everyone else, but I've realized that my "not so great" days don't mean I can't spread joy to others.

I'm on a mission to make a difference and I'm really excited about it. Really, really excited! :)

In the spirit of kindness and giving, some of my favorite quotes on the subject: