Day 10: 10 Things To Be Thankful For- The Strength of A Woman

Being a woman is empowering, being a mother is superhuman! JMP and I met in our early 20’s, and since then we have seen each other through life’s challenges. We both have been through things that we couldn’t have dreamed of, and you know what??? We survived! We survived to be better women, stronger, more compassionate, and a host of other adjectives too numerous to mention.

JMP is an amazing friend and listener with wisdom beyond her years. I am very impressed at how she handles adversity looking it dead in the face with positivity, and an “anything’s possible” mentality! I told her one time how much weight I wanted to lose thinking I might as well just cut off some limbs or something, and she responds, “Oh that’s totally doable, if you do yadda yadda yadda it’s totally reasonable that you reach that goal!” I thought to myself, “are you serious? This seems impossible!” She reflects such strength and inner power.

And I’m impressed every time I think of what woman take, put up with, and overcome, giving birth amidst a natural disaster, a woman in Africa gives birth in a tree! Mothers running marathons, I mean these are AMAZING women! Please let every experience shape you, and grow from what may seem to be mistakes. Women are so powerful it is truly a beautiful thing!

For all of our woman readers out there, we want you to think of a moment in your past that made you powerful. You survived that moment, you have lived to see another day, and guess what you can do anything and everything you put your mind to. So, pat yourself on the back. You are GREAT!!!

Never forget your personal power to choose where your life goes today!

New Year New Beginning

     WE love new beginnings, fresh haircuts, and just an overall revamping to ones life and purpose. It’s like an opportunity to start fresh, be positive, and say, “why not be great”! A new year brings new possibilities, hopes, and goals. I recently was listening to a spot on NPR about a new book, “365 days of thank you’s”. In which a lawyer who had an unfortunate string of events decided to turn things around in the new year and write a hand written thank you note everyday of the year to somebody in his life. He was inspired by the repercussions of such a simple act. We love to write cards and letters to friends, but I thought how could I do this more fully? How can I be more thankful, and just a better mother, daughter, co-worker, friend, and person in general.


So for 2011 I want to be different… I want to be a better version of myself. So here are a few of things I will be working on in 2011 (among others):

1. Commit, and stick to the promise to myself to take better care of myself with proper rest, water, exercise, and cooking more at home.

2. Always express my gratitude for all the good in my life. A friend’s listening ear, a smile, etc…

3. Also I want to change my perspective on the things that I have no control over, and find a way to look at it from a different point of view.

Jean-Marie feels the same way. She's ready and can't wait to embrace 2011 with:

1. I want to be commited to saving money where ever possible. Which will also reduce waste, create a more relaxing family life, and allow us to enjoy the things we want to do.

2. Reducing waste where ever possible by re-using, recycling, and up-cycling. I have just discovered a new way to wrap gifts so stay tuned for a blog post about that. Hopefully you can incorporate it into your life.

3. By being commited to my garden come the spring/summer. I think this will be such an amazing way to eat REALLY good food, REDUCE our carbon foot print, and SAVE a lot of money on our grocery bill. I can't wait to get started!!!

And we as BtanJerine also have our goal list:

We want to give you some NEW and AMAZING acessories that will make you feel like a better version of yourself in the new year.  And hopefully reflect something fresh, positive, and upbeat.  We also want to continue to give you great tips on how you can help save our planet by recycling, reducing and up-cycling.

stop by our shop and see what's new:

www.etsy.com/shop/btanjerine
We hope your year starts off with a bang!!!

Love,

BtanJerine