Twosday XXXVI // Celebrate Now

 Posted by at 6:00 am  30 Days of Heather, Twosday
Apr 302013
 

Reasons I’m Applying “Celebrate Now” to my 30th Year

  1. Too often we’ve been reminded lately that life can change in an instant.
  2. I’m determined to balance the part of me who tries to work her life away.

Recommended Reading Regarding Celebrating Now

  1. On "Spending Out" from Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project
  2. Use the Good Wine Glasses and Don’t Save Cute Outfits from Red, White and New

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Inspirational Quotes I’m Applying to My 30th Year

  1. Don’t save something for a special occasion. Every day of your life is a special occasion. -Thomas S Monson
  2. Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. -Mary Manin Morrissey

Ways to Join in and Celebrate Now Today:

  1. Participate in the Celebrate Now Activity by finding a way to make today great for yourself.
  2. Participate in the Celebrate Now Bonus Activity by finding a way to make today special for someone else, too

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Small Ways to Add Something Special to Your Day

  1. Make your space smell wonderful.  Burn your favorite candle, use the room spray you bring out before parties, wear your special occasion perfume, or bake cookies just to make the house smell delicious!
  2. Stop saving your favorite accessories for special events only. Wear your favorite scarf when running errands, your fancy jewels to the office, and your “race day” sneaks on your run today, just to make it special!

Dessert Beverages Sure to Add Some Pizazz to Your Day

  1. Happy Hour Hot Fudge Milkshake from Joy the Baker
  2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Baileys Milkshakes from who else but Jess at How Sweet Eats

Posts Full of Ways to Make Today Special for Someone Else

  1. 52 Random Acts of Kindness for 2013 from Dishin with Rebelle
  2. 26.2 Acts of kindness to Practice in Honor of Boston from DianaPantz

Great Little Reminders of Now to Hang on the Wall:

  1. Here’s to Now from Earmark 
  2. You are Here Now from Farouche

Twosday XXXIV // Celebrate Encouragement

 Posted by at 8:00 pm  30 Days of Heather, Twosday
Apr 162013
 

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Songs I Sing at the Top of My Lungs When I Need Encouragement In Life

  1. Do it Anyway – Ben Folds Five
  2. Steer – Missy Higgins

Songs I Play on Repeat When I Need Encouragement when Running

  1. My Body – Young the Giant
  2. No Stopping Us – Jason Mraz

encouragement

Encouragement Quotations I’m Diggin’

  1. Instruction does much, but encouragement everything. –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  2. Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you. -William Arthur

Celebrate Encouragement Activities to Choose From
Encourage Yourself

  1. Read something uplifting to your soul.  My #1 suggestion for my lady friends is Kobi Yamada’s book, She.  I received it in a care package from my sweet friend Jana, when I was coming out of a dark season of my life.  It was perfect. It still IS perfect.  Want a taste for yourself? I’d noticed lots of quotes from the book on Pinterest recently, so I created a board with a collection of them!  Check it out: She
  2. Write an email to your future self.  Use FutureMe.Org to send an email to yourself in the future.  Choose which a date and write a message.  What do you want to remind yourself of down the road?  What words of wisdom might you wish your younger-self would have sent to you today? Pay it forward and send yourself a note of encouragements!

day16

Celebrate Encouragement Bonus Activities to Choose From
Encourage Others

  1. Print out the #ths30days Take Some Encouragement printable and post it in a public area for others to take the encouragement they need.  Simple Instructions: Add your own encouragement to the two blank spots, cut along the dotted line, and cut a line in-between each encouragement tab. Put it up at the local coffee shop, your office break room, or on the announcements board at the library.  Spread the encouragement in your community!
  2. That blogger who you think delivers 100% of the time; every post, awesome content?  Tell them so.  The person who you can’t stop laughing at on Twitter?  Tell them so.  The founder of the Twitter chat that changed your life and your follower numbers?  Tell them so.  Because these folks that work online for a living, they don’t have a management team giving them high fives, and good jobs, and thanking them for their work.  They don’t have a boss giving them performance reviews each year and the reviews they do read, when they find them online, aren’t always uplifting. Encourage them with an email or a tweet or a comment.  Be genuine and gracious.

Spectacular Pinterest Boards of Encouragement

  1. Mimi of the North
  2. Angie Bubblebum

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People Who Installed an Appreciation for Encouragement in My Life by Example

  1. Danielle.  Everything I learned about leaving surprise notes for friends, sending mail just because, and giving little gifts to brighten a day I learned from Danielle.  I can only imagine how special she makes her daughters feel each day!
  2. My mother, for certain. I started hearing the phrase “you have a gift of encouragement” in high school, but never as often as when I lived in the Bible-belt south, where spiritual gifts are often discussed over brisket the first time you meet someone, and then over coffee at least once a month for the next several years. It was funny to me then, and perhaps even more now, to be told I have a “gifting” that was thanks to having a great mother who embraced parenting by pouring into me and encouraging me to pour into others. I am so thankful for this and happy to still aim to be more like my mother each and every day.

More Resources About that Whole “Gift of Encouragement” Thing
Because I am in no way qualified to explain the general Christian understanding of spiritual gifts.

  1. Encouragement on Spirit Given Gifts
  2. Spiritual Gifts Part 4 from Mars Hill Church in Washington

 

 

p.s. some of the items I share [because I love them & think you’ll love them, too!] and link to on this post are available for sale in my amazon affiliate store. I’d love if you made amazon purchases through my store – you can search and shop for ANY item on Amazon as you normally would, by following this link. It helps to keep THS alive and well. xo

Twosday: XXXII // Celebrate Wonder

 Posted by at 6:00 am  30 Days of Heather, Twosday
Apr 022013
 

30DaysHeather_FINAL

About Bubbles Floating

  1. I’ve always felt like bubbles held some sort of magic power.  Maybe it’s Glinda’s fault, with all her floating and bringing of goodness to wherever her bubble lands. 
  2. I love to watch youngsters experience bubbles, especially for the first few times.  Little ones watching bubbles shows so much pure, unprovoked wonder.  Proven recently by Henry and Caitlin.

Wonder Quotations

  1. Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. – Franz Kafka
  2. Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory. – Betty Smith, Joy in the Morning

wonderquote

Thinking back to when I was growing up, my mom was always doing these awesome little activities you might read about today in a Family Fun magazine.  I think back so fondly of all the creativity she was pouring into our days during my childhood.

Bubble Activities Mom Orchestrated in My Childhood

  1. One plastic baby pool filled with bubbles and a variety of shapes and sizes of ring-type items to experiment with: bubble rings of many sizes, a loop of string tied to a ring for two of us to hold and try to run with, squares, and stars, and hearts made with a hallow center.  Of note: green strawberry grid baskets make a whole bunch of tiny little bubbles at once. It’s magical.
  2. Colored bubble art.  She dyed bubbles with food coloring, handed out plain white paper, and blew bubbles of many colors our way to catch onto our soon to be masterpieces. It’s one of my favorite memories of Midlothian summers.

#ths30Days Activities to Choose from Today:

  1. Write a poem about the magic and wonder held in bubbles.
  2. Try this art project:

bubbleart1

Two Ways of Dying Bubbles for the Project
though this past weekend we played with Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles, too.

  1. Watercolors: http://mycakies.com/2012/06/diy-watercolor-bubble-art/ 
  2. Food Colloring http://vividlayers.blogspot.com/2011/09/bubble-prints.html

Blowing Bubble Products Currently Hanging Out in My “Save for Later” Cart

  1. Kookamunga Krazee Kitty Catnip Bubbles – because something tells me Benson would go crazy for them.
  2.  Blowing Bubbles print from Rosy Designs Etsy shop. 

bubblegift

Bonus Activities to Choose From

  1. Spread the joy that blowing bubbles can bring; leave a bottle of bubbles and a note for a friend who could use a silly little pick me up.
  2. Know someone that deserves some pampering? Give the gift of bubble bath!  Put together a simply gift set with your favorite tools for relaxation.  I love this Mini Honey Bear Bubble from the Be Greatful Etsy shop. Can’t beat the adorable honey bear shaped bottle and that it’s available in a Honeycomb scent!  How cute would this be wrapped with a jar of local honey and some tea with a beautiful mug or some homemade bread, muffins, or cookies?

Bubbles I’m Obsessing Over

  1. Speech Bubbles.  It wasn’t long ago that I felt myself attracted to them in design and then I realized – duh! – that’s the THS logo!  Since then I’ve gone nuts finding them and I’ve even started a Pinterest board to collect ideas and harvest a sort of wish list for future reward ideas and impromptu splurges: Speech Bubbles
  2. Cristallo Venetian Glass Bubble Pendant. so gorgeous.

 

 

p.s. some of the items I share [because I love them & think you’ll love them, too!] and link to on this post are available for sale in my amazon affiliate store. I’d love if you made amazon purchases through my store – you can search and shop for ANY item on Amazon as you normally would, by following this link. It helps to keep THS alive and well. xo

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