Thankful Thursdays

Good Morning Maine Families! It is Thankful Thursday!

Kendra Here! I want to share with you how I show gratitude and why I believe it is a critical part of how we should raise our families.

No matter your situation, someone always has more than you. Someone will always have a nicer car, a more functional relationship, and a bigger house. Yet, there will always be someone whom has less than you do. As a society I feel that we spend too many hours thinking about what we don't have instead of opening our eyes to what we do have.

Our children may complain when they are presented with chicken dinner when they would have preferred Mac and Cheese. Your co-worker may complain that they were passed up for a promotion. At the same time you continue to find fault in your relationships. We are surrounded by negative and ungrateful views of our world that it can be hard to step back and see all that we have.

I myself find it hard to be grateful for my boyfriend even though he cooks me wonderful dinners, listens, and makes me laugh. I find it hard to appreciate my family when we have been arguing. I also forget to appreciate my girlfriends that mean so much to me.

My solution???

Write it down and say it aloud!!!

This is a jar I created to write down what I am thankful for. I cut up some pretty scrapbook paper into thin stripes. I then write "Thank you for _________________" and fill in whatever I feel especially happy about. I even write thank you for my paycheck or thank for dinner tonight when nothing particularly exciting happened that day. When I finish writing it down I say it aloud and roll it up into my jar. I say more appreciative of what I have after I do this! This is great for kids also!

This is a DIY project I am really proud of! I found it on Pinterest and it was super easy to complete! I found an old mirror at Goodwill (one of my favorite places!) and bought some white spray paint( you could use any color). I picked out some scrapbook stickers and found this phrase online "gratitude turns what you have into enough". Place the stickers on the clean mirror. Spray paint over the stickers. I had to do a few coats of spray paint. Once the paint is dry you can gently peel off the stickers and you should be left with a pretty phrase with the mirror coming through. I then used a scrapbook punch with pretty paper and made some flowers and glued them around the phrase. To finish it off I stuck some pictures of my boyfriend and I into the bottom of the frame. 

Hello! Kaite here :)
        Thankful Thursdays is a day I am really excited about! How often in life do we find ourselves talking about the hardships in life (granted there are lots out there!) instead of focusing on the blessings around us? Sometimes certain circumstances just seem so big and hard to deal with that we miss the little joys, the kind gestures, the warm smiles, and a special moment shared with a loved one!
        I have so much to be thankful for! A wonderful husband, a loving family, a job doing the work I love, a cute dog, and friends who encourage and challenge me! Just a few months ago I was talking to my husband about how I miss "girl time." Don't get me wrong, my husband is great and I love to do anything and everything with him, but sometimes you just need girl time! My family moved away November of last year, so my sister's were far away! My friends all lived down south, or far enough away to make it hard to visit. Then I met Kendra through Tone It Up..............
         She is like a sister to me! She encourages me! She pushes me to do better! She makes me laugh! She likes sushi! And Books!! She gets me :) Isn't it amazing how quickly you can become fast friends with someone, but honestly we never would've met if we didn't step outside of our comfort zone! Meeting up that first time I was nervous, I'm sure she was too! Now we're starting out on this journey to help families and to hopefully make a difference in lives.
         So how about you? Do you take time to meet new people? Do you have a friend to go and workout with? Or go to dinner and just chat? Or when you talk about a big project offers to come help so that it's easier? It is important to have a friend like that! So step outside of your comfort zones, make a plan to try something new! Because you never know who could be your next best friend!