Tag Archives: love

Fabulous Friday: Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough

It’s the day after Thanksgiving. Why and when do we stop being thankful? No doubt we will arrive at this day next year feeling like we take all the goodness in our lives for granted. How do you prevent that from happening? You learn to appreciate all the people in you lives! The cool thing is, if you say enough nice things, you’ll eventually start hearing nice things back! It’s like an endless circle of happy.

I know I sound like one of those annoyingly joyous people who walks around smiling strangers and complimenting their sweaters. Well I admit that I sort of am. But I wasn’t always like this and I can testify that it feels a little odd at first. But it turns out that when you live like this, and you’re having a rough day, someone will return a compliment and make your hour! The return on investment is awesome!

On that note, I’m going to publish the comments I’ve been getting from readers to their loved ones. Thanks to everyone that commented. It’s been wonderful to hear all the positivity. And don’t forget to pass them the link to this blog OR just tell them in real life. I will definitely be doing this again sometime soon so, if you didn’t you should participate next time?

Format:

Who it’s dedicated to – The compliment. – The sender

Jordan C. – I love your intellectual curiosity! The way you like to take puzzles apart, piece by piece, until they make sense has made our house a more fun place to be! – Ben

Nikki M. – She is smart, funny, beautiful and my best friend in the world. – Katy H.

Ryan D. – You are understanding and (mostly patient when I can be a handful. Your smile brightens the room and make others feel welcome. I love how you are so goofy & not care what others think when trying to make me smile. – Alana T.

Ashley H. (that’s me!) – You are a brave young woman who inspires me with every blog. -Sue G.

Susan S. – A mom, a mentor, and a perpetual chaser of her dreams. To see the determination to try new things and always follow your dreams until you attain them, no matter how long it takes, is a life lesson one can only learn from witnessing. So, thanks for keepin’ on Mom. – Maggie S.

You – Every time you take the time out of your day to read A Happy Lass, you increase my confidence and love for blogging. Thank you! – Ashley H.

Remember Your Dreams?

4 Replies

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything from within the depth of my brain but I realized recently that I’ve made great strides in my life and I want to tell you all about it.

My dad always said that graduating from college came as a great shock to him. Financially, he was suddenly making money and had credit cards and basically went crazy with it. Emotionally, he went from being at the top of the food chain to the very very bottom of the barrel. Luckily, I’m not finding the transition quite as drastic but man is it a shock! I thank goodness architecture steeled me for servitude, the hard work thing isn’t a problem. And my finances have just switched from spending the bank’s money to all the money I make now being given right back to them. My belt will remain cinched for the next 15 years. There’s no sudden freedom in that department.

The area I have had trouble with is figuring out where and how to channel all that passion I graduated with. School was hard. I’m talking drive you to tears almost daily, lock you in the same room with the same people on lots of red bull for days at a time hard. School was hard. But it also made me an incredibly strong, capable, ambitious woman. It forced me to define a reason for every one of my actions. It forced me to cut out the bull crap and focus on my immediate and future goals. My goals, upon graduating, were both for my career and personal life.

Personal: I wanted to travel and find a place I love to finally settle down and, eventually, have a family. I wanted to remain close with some incredible people I met in college while hopefully branching out and meeting new people. I wanted to get back to my family. My lovely, supportive, completely outrageous, and weird family, who I love and miss so dearly. I wanted to get back to them. And I wanted to stay with this amazing man that I met in my final year. Mike, my other half. I wanted our relationship to continue to grow and get stronger.

Career: I wanted to get some experience under a construction contractor, enough to have some confidence in my ability to know and direct the process. Then I wanted to start designing and building anything and everything. I wanted to have my own business as soon as I felt confident enough.

Wow was I shocked at how quickly a person’s ambition and dreams can be crushed under the weight of real life. While I am continuously working towards those goals, and am actually reaching some of them right this moment, I’m finding that so many of them were lost in the shuffle. So, in order to keep my goals at the forefront of my mind, and to keep myself from going insane in my current position in life, I remind myself why I’m doing what I’m doing.

What am I accomplishing for my life but also (and this is new for me) what am I bringing to other people’s lives. I am finding that, in helping other people define and reach their dreams in my place of work, I’m discovering and reaching my own. My dreams shift and meld with me. With each new experience, I try to improve as a person. As I become a better person, my dreams become better too!

A dream, a goal, and ambition does not have to be static. In fact, it’s better if it’s not. Dreams should flex as I grow as a person. They will become more detailed or more blurry. They will, sometimes, completely change direction. But the important thing about reaching my dreams, I realized, is that I find fulfillment in all the steps along the way. I will never get to the end point and think, was that really worth it?

So what are your dreams and goals? When was the last time you defined them? Maybe it’s time to write them down.

Motivational Monday: C’mon People…

8 Replies

Well I posted Friday’s post a little late but still…C’MON PEOPLE! 79 people saw last Friday’s post but only one courageous soul decided to reply. I know you all are listening because I’ve asked for your help before and you came out in the masses. So why is it that when I ask you to tell me what you think about ME, you’re all for it, but when it comes to other people, you’re silent.

So today, I will continue the exercise. Comment here, or on Friday’s post. All you have to do is compliment someone in your life. A genuine, heartfelt compliment that has nothing to do with their looks or outward appearance. Include their first name and last initial.

Some encouragement:

Helping others find happiness means you are that much closer to your own.

So do it, NOW. Comment here, verbalize something nice about a person you know and respect.

*Note to Ben, my brave reader, your quote will be published on Friday along with the others. Thanks for participating when no one else would 🙂

Bahahaha! This photographer (Seth Casteel: amazon, source) takes awesome pics of doggie underwater. HAPPY MONDAY (and almost Thanksgiving!)

Friends and Family Friday: Compliment Much?

1 Reply

My team meeting for work this week was AWESOME. Each of us four coworkers stood up front and received one compliment from the other three. It was interesting to hear nice things from people who I greatly respect but don’t really have a personal relationship with.

So we’re going to try it here, in my little corner of the blogosphere. If you do this, the outcome will be awesome.

And yes, I’M TALKING TO YOU.

3 simple steps:

1. In the comments section below, hit “reply.” If you’re reading this by email, also hit “reply” and I’ll get it as a comment (my Gran discovered that one).

2. Write a something nice about a person in your life that you’ve never complimented before. And I’m not talking, “Hey I like your sweater.” No. Something about they’re character, personality, and/or lifestyle. It can be ANYONE. Include their first name and last initial.

Example: “Ami G. I know some of the physical and emotional challenges you’ve encountered in your life and your positive attitude and love for life are inspiring.” <it doesn’t have to be that mushy but you get the idea.

3. Tell them in real life OR send them the link to this blog. I’m going to publish every single one of your compliments on Monday.

If you are hesitant to do this for a someone you aren’t too close with, imagine how good it would feel if they did it for you.

Take a minute to think and then write it out!

🙂

Workout Wednesday: Whicooooosh!

Tasty Tuesday: Steak and Potatoes

1 Reply

I don’t really love steak. I’m not a big-slab-of-meat kind of person. But when I asked Mike what his favorite meal was and he replied, “steak and potatoes,” it became the dish that I cooked for him for our “date” this past Saturday. I entered into the situation with a little bit of trepidation because I’ve never cooked steak before but I’d say it turned out pretty well.

I knew I would have very little time on Saturday so I prepped everything the day before. I put the grass-fed steak in this awesome Zesty Dijon Marinade (I found the recipe here):

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup Dijon mustard (we didn’t have any so I used honey mustard)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp salt

2 garlic cloves

Mix it all together, add the meat, and refrigerate concoction for 3 to 24 hours.

Then I cut up all the potatoes and stored them in a plastic bag for the night.

When Saturday came, I took him pottery painting (haha. more on that later) and then came home and popped the potatoes in the oven with a little salt and pepper (I added some garlic cloves and chopped red pepper at the last minute)

and then threw the steak on my new iron skillet (5 minutes for each side of a 1 inch steak).

And voila! It was pretty delicious. A little overcooked but I’ll get better at the timing thing. Also, it’s important to mention that I completely disregarded my stomach’s dislike of red meat with this recipe. I haven’t been experiencing any negative symptoms from the grass-fed beef so I thought I’d be fine. I think it was the sheer quantity of beef that did me in but my stomach was a little grumbly and stubborn for about 24 hours after this meal. And of course, Mike was fine.

I hope you’re all having wonderful days. It’s not Monday anymore. YAY!

🙂

Motivational Monday: The Power of a Smile

2 Replies

Any of my regular readers know that I follow almost every post with a smile. I’d like to explain myself. I spent the weekend in Orlando, FL with a lot of very healthy, very motivated, very image conscious people. Basically, they were all gorgeous. Now I have no issue with confidence. I have it, a lot of it. But it took me a long time to get this way, and every once in a while, my resolve and internal buoy just plain fails.

Saying I felt like an outsider this weekend would be an understatement. It was my first work conference and I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of information and the level of dedication that the rest of the attendees had. Also, I have a different belief system than the company as a whole and it made things very uncomfortable at times.

With that as my base, I decided that I would use the three days to learn as much as possible to apply to my own life but also to connect with as many people as I could in a genuine way.

So I just started smiling and talking. I walked up to strangers, many of them and told them things that I truly believed. I smiled at one girl and told her that I absolutely loved everything she was wearing, because I did! I would have stolen the clothes right off her back if I could. I talked to the IT guy because he looked so fricken bored up there moving the spotlight. I asked him what he really thought of the conference: he had learned a lot but also thought some of it was crazy (it was) and it was SO nice to connect with the outside world for a just a few minutes.

Leaving Orlando, I realized that I had learned more than just the value of chiropractic and great nutrition, I learned what it takes to brighten people’s day even in an uncomfortable situation. You just have to smile! Not only does it make their day happier, but it starves those negative thoughts that might otherwise fester in your own brain.

So just smile! It works I swear 🙂

Friday Fun Times: Ice Skating!

1 Reply

Our lives were becoming stale. Wake up groggy and still tired, go to work, come home and eat dinner, watch tv, go to bed, repeat. It’s even boring writing it! So Mike and I decided to institute date night. For those of you that know us, you know that we didn’t go on our first date until we were 4 months into our relationship and living together. The whole graduation/moving to Illinois thing meant that we did things kind of backwards. SO, we have no idea how to date each other!

Of course, we are very short on money, so we have been exploring Peoria in a frugal way. Last Friday we went out to dinner (ordered only appetizers because they’re cheaper) then went ice skating! I told Mike that he had to arrange this one and, considering that he’s the romantically challenged of the two of us, he did a fantastic job.

There’s a rink right around the corner from us and it cost $6 each for ice time AND rentals. WOOHOO!

^ As far as I’m concerned, humans were not meant to have blades on their feet so I stumbled across the ice like a dancing baboon. Mike, however, is one of those people who is good at everything and he jumped on the ice and started skating backwards and doing turns and hockey stops and blah blah blah. I was slightly envious but also very proud of my man 🙂

‘Twas a great way to spend a Friday night. Cheap, cheerful, and sweat-inducing.

What do you do for a cheap date night?

Freedom Friday: Axccepting Imperfecshuns

4 Replies

I was talking to a patient the other day and, after reading my blog for a few weeks, she told me a that she is a perfectionist like me. I had always thrown that term around loosely, knowing that I have a tendency to focus on things that cannot be fixed, but I’d never truly thought about it. Being a perfectionist means never accepting when you’ve made a mistake or can’t do something as well as you’d like to. Boy am I a perfectionist! But it wasn’t until she pointed it out that I realized how useless it is to be this way.

The truth is that none of us are perfect. Stop. Think about it. Really think. NONE OF US ARE PERFECT. None of us are even close. Everyone has their cravings and addictions. Everyone has an area of life that they wish they could be better in. I am terrible at being single (I need love 24/7) and I can’t locate Hong Kong on a map for the life of me. Some people need to eat fries on a regular basis, others can’t compute the square root of 144. It’s ok!

^ There it is! (photo credit)

You can’t overcome your fear of imperfection until you understand it. So next time before you start beating yourself up for doing something silly, catch yourself and think, “It’s ok, no one is perfect.” Once you have a list going of things you would like to make better, pick one and concentrate on it. And this is where the baby steps come in. Take baby steps. Right now, I’m taking baby steps to eat much less sugar and to get off of my evening-time addiction. Each goal could take me months but it will probably take years. That’s ok, as long as I recognize it, and have a plan to progress. To reach the next place in my life as an even better person.

One more thing, sometimes the imperfections turn into happy things! Like the fact that I’m terrible at dancing and have learned to just not care. How liberating and fun! It means that my dancing makes people smile and maybe do their terrible dancing right along with me 🙂

Ok, that is all. I hope you have a great Friday and a wonderfully imperfect weekend. 🙂

Now tell me: What is one of your imperfections?

Fabulous Friday: Bargain Beauty

2 Replies

From time to time, I may have to post about some incredible deals I find for lady stuff. Today, I’ll be sharing some sweet knowledge nuggets with you fellow females.

Last month, for my birthday, I really wanted to treat myself to some pamper time. I get a monthly wax of my nether regions (SO much easier than shaving and much less red and bumpy) and thought maybe I could add in a facial or manicure or something equally awesome. I had not yet found a salon in Peoria so I started the search!

Where to look, where to look…I must have checked out 20 salons in a 10 mile radius and couldn’t find anything even close to affordable. Then I remembered how cheap massage schools are and decided to just get a massage, delay the search, and postpone my wax until next month (poor Mike).

As I drove to work, I mulled over my tense shoulders and the forest growing in that pretty triangle between my legs, and I spotted it! A beauty school! I got to work and immediately looked up their price menu. $12 for a wax and $20 for a body salt scrub (wth is that?).

I went in for my appointment later that week and had vague memories of my mom bringing me to these fun places when I was young (man, that woman is full of great ideas!) . The wax was painful as usual but the body salt scrub was incredible. I was in a giant, humongous shower and instead of faucets in the wall, there were 6 of them attached to a long arm that extended over the bed I was laying in. It looked like a scene from the Saw movies. I disrobed and laid down. They (2 people!) laid a “modesty towel” over my lady bits and proceeded to scrub me down with a glorious smelling salt scrub. They showered me down with the Arm O’ Faucets (oh my gosh) and then dried and mosturized my body. I died and went to heaven. It was so intensely relaxing.

^Yes, please tell me more about your wonderful body treatments.

Anyway, all that was MORE than worth the $32 and teacher poking her head in every once in a while to make sure everything was going ok. Treat yourself to something nice and don’t feel guilty about it. Just Google “beauty school” in your home town.

**If you are one of my 55 wonderful followers, I received a very interesting comment on yesterday’s post and have since edited the content a bit. Please check it out quickly if you read yesterday. Thanks!

And have a WONDERFUL day! WOOOHOOOO, it’s Friday.

🙂