Thankful Thursdays #37 – March 11th, 2021

This was an emotional week for me. It basically broke me. But I was able to see the silver lining in it. I hope that everyone is doing well, and that whatever everyone may be going through that they can see the silver lining, too.

Feel free to write what you are thankful for in a journal, or some electronic document. Or you can talk about it among your trusted circle, or just spend some time reflecting it upon yourself.

Here is my list…

1. I am very thankful that I got to “see” (I use quotation marks, because it wasn’t in person, like we normally do) him in the hospital.
2. I am happy that my sister invited me over so I was able to see him.
3. As much as it hurts, my Grandpa being in the hospital brought our family closer together.
4. I am grateful that I have a supportive boyfriend to help me go through this difficult time.
5. I appreciate my followers for being so patient and supportive during these days.

Thank you for all of your kind words. It means the world to me.

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Orange Pekoe Tea

Many of you may not know this, but growing up my Grandpa used to make everyone Orange Pekoe tea for all that would visit him. It was always delicious. In fact that was what has made me love tea.

I brought out my spring and summer mugs. I finally put away my winter and Christmas mugs.

I make my Orange Pekoe tea the way my Grandpa would make it for us.

My boyfriend bought me this mug a few years ago.

Minimalist Game Day Nine

The rules are simple, you get rid of things from your life, either by selling them, throwing them away, or donating them. On the first day, you remove one item, and then on the second day, you remove two items, you keep on playing until it’s the end of the month, or whenever you run out of things to remove from your life. It is okay if you can’t make it until the end of the month. Personally, I would rather see items get donated, or sold to someone else. If you must throw something away, I hope it’s because it isn’t fixable. Even if you have removed three items from your life, you should still be proud of that, because it is three more things you removed before the challenge. But if you are able to complete this challenge, you would have gotten rid of almost 500 items! That’s a lot of stuff.

If you are participating, I would love to know what you are parting with, feel free to let me know in the comments. This is such a fun way to welcome Spring cleaning.

This is from Tuesday March 9th. I just have been so busy, and I’m trying my best to get all caught up for April the 10th, so I can start fresh again very soon.

I feel quite proud of myself with everything I have given away already. Last year, I had given away 192 items. I am really starting to feel a lot lighter now.

I have counted earrings as two items, because some of my earrings I have, only have one, instead of the set. So I thought I may as well count a pair of earrings as two items. You can make up your own rules with these challenges. Add your creativeness to the project.

From this post, I have parted with seven earrings, a ring, and necklace. I have a lot of jewelry over the years. I have told a lot of people that I no longer want any more jewelry as any gifts. Although my boyfriend is still allowed to buy some special pieces.

Thankful Thursdays #36 – March 4th, 2021

This is one of my favourite posts, because I get to talk about what I am thankful for the past week. It is always a good and fun way to end the day, or week with a grateful heart. I would love to hear about yours in the comments.

There are so many benefits of practicing gratitude, so you have never to lose by practicing it. Some of the benefits of gratitude, is you sleep better, and easier, you help lower your stress levels, so it might even be harder for you to feel stress. You also increase your immune system, which helps you decrease your chances of getting sick.

Here is my list from last week…

1. I am thankful that we got to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday. He loved his present, and that I made him brunch, and dinner for us.
2. I am grateful for being able to go through all of belongings from my old room.
3. I am thankful that I am starting to declutter again, it really helps me reorganize, and make more room for the things I enjoy.
4. I am happy that I was able to spend some time with my sister while I was babysitting my niece. Normally she works all day, and then by the time she is done work, it’s dinner, and then my niece goes to bed, and then my sister gets ready for bed, shortly afterwards. But on Tuesday we were able to hang out, and take my niece out to the park, and for a walk. It was a lot of fun.
5. I am grateful for being able to allocate our finances to pay down our debts. I am really happy that we are on the right path to be debt free. It’s going to take us a little while, but we have spent some time working on what to pay off next. Which is really exciting.

March Resolutions 2021

As part of My Happiness Project, each month I focus on different aspects and areas of my life. This is about my journey of how I incorporate new habits, and a thought process into every day. For March, I have decided to focus on my possessions, and how I declutter through more of my things. I plan on putting my energy into ways I can create space in my life. I am really excited to go through my belongings, and finally see what I need and no longer need. I picked the month of March to go through my possessions, which also includes a digital clutter because spring begins in March. I have always viewed March for a fresh start, and new beginnings. On the first day of every month, I will discuss my goals, and resolutions, and how I will be making these changes. Then on the last day of the month, I will talk about how I made these changes, and to discuss on how these habits helped me experience more happiness.

My Resolutions

1. Be cautious on bringing in more clutter into my house and life.
2. Purge through items every day
3. Create a no dumping areas
4. Spend 15 minutes every day deleting emails, duplicates of photos

Be Cautious

I want to have a better relationship when it comes to owning things. I would think more clearly when I make any purchases. I feel like I have done a pretty job when it comes to this. This is something that I want to continue. I am comfortable with having less things in my life. I also like saving the money I have been saving because I’m not going out of my way to buy something new. I also refrain from taking gifts, or other things with me. Normally my Grandma will find something for me, like a new shirt, or something else, I politely decline because I have reached the point in my life, where I am happy living with less.

Purge Items Daily

I have been playing this neat game, every one is welcome to join. Although I am a bit behind in posting everything. The objective of the game is simple, on the first day, you donate, throw away, or sell one item from your house, then on the second day, you remove two items, and so on and so forth. You can either stop at the end of the month, or you whenever you are comfortable with your work. It is okay if you stop before the end of the month. I recently did a Daily Decluttering Challenge last year, where I began by removing one item a day, for 192 days. Any items that you have gotten rid of is more than what you would have gotten rid if you didn’t participate in this challenge.

Create No Dumping Areas

I have mentioned this before, but that’s okay. I feel like everyone has a zone in their house, whether it’s their dresser, dining room table, or kitchen countertop, or a bookshelf. It’s basically an area where people just “dump” everything, because they don’t have a place for them, or just don’t want to deal with any of it. My boyfriend likes to treat our bookshelf like this. It’s his dumping zone. I’ve been trying to tell him to handle and deal with his things instead of just dumping it all on the bookshelves.

Digital Declutter

I would love to go through all of my photos that I have taken for the past few years, and organize them into photo albums. I plan on getting some of them developed. My boyfriend and I have a couple of photo albums already, although we just need to get our photos developed and place them. I know it’s kind of ironic, but to me, I grew up on photo albums, and to me, they spark joy. I feel like if it sparks joy, then it isn’t really clutter. I feel like clutter is anything that holds you back, or adds stress. Another characteristic of clutter is something that no longer adds any value to your life.

I feel like these resolutions are going to make things easier and better in my life. I have been working on these goals already. I can’t wait to update you with my progress. I would love to hear about your journey if you wish to partake in any of these challenges.

February 2021 Resolutions Summary

For my readers whom may not know about my Happiness Project… Each month I focus on making resolutions for myself that focuses on different aspects of my life that help me become more organized, happier, and more loving. I became inspired by the idea from Gretchen Rubin’s book, The Happiness Project. In February, she found ways to add more love to her relationships. So I sort of did the same idea for my month of February as well.

On the first of every month, I will write about my resolutions are, and why. And then on the last day of the month, I will write about my successes and my not so successful resolutions. It has been an exciting journey so far, I have learned a lot about myself.

For more information about my own Happiness Project, feel free to click here;

https://threeyellowdaisies.ca/category/my-happiness-project/

I feel like this was a busy month, so that made things a bit more stressful. The days went by so quickly, that I felt like I didn’t have much time to get the things I wanted to get done, done. So I had to learn to manage my time better, and more efficiently. I feel like my confidence has increased a bit. I have felt like I have been loving myself more. I started partaking a yoga schedule, and getting myself more active.

My February resolutions were…

1. Fight right
2. Give tokens of love
3. Kiss each other good night and good morning
4. Give compliments to each other

Ironically, my boyfriend and I had a stressful month, because we spent a lot of night fighting with each other. Although it gave us chances to work on our fighting, and how to resolve a conflict we were facing at the time. My recommendations to fight right is paint, or draw a picture to express the feelings you are experiencing. You can write a letter to the person, and have that person you are in a disagreement, reply back. You can use; “I feel…” statements. Really refrain from calling each other rude names, because that will just make things worst.

I painted my boyfriend a painting, and I wrote him a letter. I wanted to do more for him, but he was home more than he normally was, because his work was slow. But we spent a lot of time together, to make up for the fact. We watched some new shows together, which is always fun. We took turns cooking, and cleaning.

We definitely kiss each good morning, but sometimes my boyfriend got too tired, and fell asleep before kissing me good night. But for the most part, we did fairly well with this resolution.

I feel like we did give each other compliments, but I guess we could have given each other more compliments. We can work on that next month, too.

All in all, I am starting to feel more happy with making and working on these resolutions. I feel like I will try to do better in March. I can’t wait to start and begin new resolutions. I’ll definitely keep you posted on what I am working on next.

Day 59

This is a lesson from Sunday, which happened to be my boyfriend’s birthday.

We had a fun and relaxing day. I made him breakfast in bed. I also made dinner, too. We had bacon, and fries, and a cup of tea for breakfast. Then for dinner, we had steak, and oven roasted potatoes. Then we just spent the day inside, we didn’t really have much planned. I don’t really like to go out if it isn’t essential. My boyfriend didn’t mind that we didn’t go out. He was more than happy to just stay in.

Sometimes we think we need to make some grand gesture for someone’s birthday. But in fact, it’s the opposite really. We can get by with simplicity. We can have a simple birthday, and it will still be specular. I wrote my boyfriend a letter, and I painted him a picture for his birthday. He really enjoyed and appreciated my efforts to make his day feel special. Sometimes what matters more is your presence, and not your presents.

Today, I look for simple ways to make my days special. I don’t need to spend a lot of money or effort to let someone I love them. It’s often that simple things are more memorable, and meaningful than some kind of extravagant effort.

Thankful Thursday #35 – February 25th, 2021

Hey everyone! I have so much to be thankful for this week.

This is one of my favourite posts that I get to write. Each week I write about all that I was thankful throughout the week. I would love to hear your list.

1. I am thankful for my mother inviting me over for dinner on Wednesday, it was a nice treat. I haven’t seen my Grandparents in awhile, so I was happy to spend time with them.
2. When I babysat my niece last Tuesday, my sister helped my niece make something for me for Valentine’s Day. I was so grateful for that. It’s a picture that she coloured. It’s so cute! My sister bought me chocolates.
3. I am grateful that I started getting into a stricter routine of yoga. I made a promise to myself that I couldn’t go to bed to bed, until I logged in some minutes of yoga. I learned that it is okay to skip one day, but once you skip two days in a row, it makes getting back into the routine so much harder.
4. I am thankful that my boyfriend and I started playing a new game on his phone that has been a lot of fun. It gives us something more to bond over.
5. I am grateful that my boyfriend and I spent a lot of time together. His hours were effected because of the pandemic, so he was home a little more than usual. And that’s okay. But it made us more appreciative for the things we have already.

Goodreads Mondays #19 – February 22nd, 2021

Hey bookworms! Let’s talk about books!

I have a lot of books I would love to read. I am trying to spend more reading to try to work through my To Be Read List.

I have bought this book, Help Me: My Perfectly Disastrous Journey Through the World of Self-Help for my boyfriend as one of his birthday presents two years ago. I feel bad because in those two years, neither one of us have read it, yet. I am planning on reading this book once I finish reading my library books.

This book sounds similar to The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It’s similar because Marianne Power plans on reading 12 self-help books in one year. And each month, she plans on following exactly what the book preaches, and then she would see if that book had benefited in some way. She investigates whether or not reading self help books can make your life any better.

Goodreads Rating: 3.90 stars out of 5

Thankful Thursdays #34 – February 18th, 2021

It is important that we spend time reflecting what we are thankful for. It’s important that we express our gratitude. Whatever we send into the universe, comes back to us multiplied. So the more we express our gratitude into universe, the more it comes back to us.

I have a lot to be thankful for this week, and I hope everyone does, too.

Here is my list…

1. My boyfriend had a snow day, so he didn’t get to go to work that day, instead we just got to hang out together. Which is always fun!
2. We also watched Tarzan, I haven’t seen that movie in awhile. I really enjoyed that movie.
3. I am thankful that I got to spend the day watching my favourite show. I love watching Grey’s Anatomy. I’m trying to get myself for its return next month.
4. I am grateful for spending more time cooking, I love cooking. Yesterday, I even got to watch my show while I cook.
5. I am thankful that things are getting better with my boyfriend and myself. We have a lot of disagreements lately, but I am glad that things are better now.