Come What May And Love It...

Well hello there!

I hope all is well with you! :)

Today is a personal day on the blog!

(I have written and deleted this post three times now...so this is the last kick at it.)

I have been wanting to bring you guys "up to speed" on my life for quite a while now, but I just didn't know what to say.  I never know who is reading this, and everyone interprets things differently.  So please try to understand my point of view...or simply just don't judge.  :)

So here goes...   

Have you ever had a moment when you see something, hear something, or read something and go, "Oh my goodness! That is my life!"?

I had one of those moments today.

I was reading an email from an old friend and the last line said this...

I swear I have heard this phrase a million times but today it smacked me right in the face.
It perfectly sums up where I am at right now.

Because amidst all of the trials, upsets, and life altering circumstances I have found myself in...

I have found myself.

And I love it.

Life has softened me, molded me, sanded down my rough edges and polished me...I am in no way naive enough to believe that life is anywhere close to being finished with the refining process - but I have come a long ways.

I have learnt important lessons. Met inspiring people. Inspired others in my own way. Lived through one of my worst nightmares. Accomplished things I never thought were possible.  And above all, I have learned to love myself and where I am at in life.

There are so many things that I miss and that I always will miss.

But there are also so many things that I have gained.

 I have come to love the situation that I find myself in because it has allowed me to get to where I am now. 

I am happy with where I am.

Please don't take this as me being insensitive to my situation. Because I am not. I am simply saying that life has ups and downs - I have fought to get over my mountains. And I am proud of myself.  Life is 

bitter-sweet - it is more bitter at times and more sweet in others. But life is good.

I have incredible memories and an amazing angel. I will never forget that.

 I am going to make my angel proud.

Over the next while I will be sharing my new life with you all...

My goals and plans. My dreams. My hobbies.  My new friends.

The blog is going to transform into what I always wanted it to be!

I hope you will stay with me while I continue on my journey! I have so much to tell you! :)

I just need you to know that I am ready for what life brings next.
Things don't get easier...they just get different. I experience the truth of that statement every day. Life is different. But life is good.
In the end, everything works out how it is supposed to. :)

Looking forward to the future!
Dakota

Thankful Thursday...

Well hello there!

I hope everything is wonderful with you! 

I have had a busy week with work and life and sleep...you know how it goes! :)

Today is special because I am posting my very first "Thankful Thursday".  

 The first of many more to come!

I know technically it is Friday but last night I was caught up in playing around with all the amazing things you can do on a blog...and let's just say that took a little more time then expected.

So I have taken a moment to ponder the events of this week...to think of each day and to pick out a few things that I am grateful for! I thought sharing them with you might be a good way to begin my morning...and maybe you can take some time to think of a few things you are grateful for to! :)

Nothing starts a day off better then a little bit of gratitude!

So here we go!

Sunshine! 

It has been so wonderful to walk around in a t-shirt outside! Having the sun out this week made my horse happy, my dog happy, my vehicles happy (big day at the car wash) and all of that made me extremely happy!

My Animals!
Nothing brings a smile to my face faster then watching my furry friends and learning about their hilarious and loving personalities! This week I took a little extra time to cuddle and feed them treats...a few extra car rides and nibbles of grain. I bet the animals were thankful to! ;)

Technology and Social Media!
I am SO thankful that even though my family may be far away, I can pick up the phone any time and feel like I am right there with them! Texting, phone calls, Facebook...I am just so happy that I get to communicate with them as much as I do.

Friends!
This week I have been able to have some great visits with friends! It is so wonderful to catch up and to know that they are thinking of me.  Plus a few of them are pregnant so hearing all of their baby news is SO exciting!

and

Work!
I am so thankful that I have a job that I love, and that I can support myself by doing it.  I am so lucky to work in a setting where I am basically serving those around me 24/7.  I have found that when I take less time to focus on myself and more time to focus on others - my day goes so much better and I am so much happier!


I hope you enjoyed my list of things that I am thankful for!
Maybe take some time today to make your own...you will be glad you did! :)
When you sit down and think about it...we really are so very blessed in so many ways.

With love,
Dakota

Don't Cry Because It's Over, Smile Because It Happened...

Well hello there,

Confession time...

Deciding what to do with the blog has been very difficult for me. I won't lie...I LOVE this blog! The things that is has done for me and even more importantly...what it has done for many others completely humbles and fascinates me. I feel like what it has become, is something I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams. 

I have spent countless hours thinking of where to take it from here and I am still waiting for my "light bulb" moment...but I have faith it will come! For now please just bear with me as my posts may be random and rather scatter brained...which I promise you is really just a glimpse of what goes on in my mind. Ha! But while I search for some direction...if you have any advice, ideas, questions, or if you just want to encourage me to keep emptying the contents of my over-active brain onto the internet...please let me know! :)

Now to the good stuff...

One of my favourite things to do is to sit in front of the bathroom mirror for a realllllllllly long time and think.  I have often been teased about this, but little did they know there was some serious soul searching going on! I can literally stare back at myself and reflect on how much has changed and how much I have grown. It is quite the experience. If you have never tried it, you should! 

 In one of my more recent "pondering sessions" I thought back on the events of the last few months and then of the last few years...yikes/wow/wahoo!/oh man...it was insanely overwhelming. But I was able to take a step back from everything. I was able to see the negative; the things that had gone wrong, or simply just not how I had planned. And I was able to see the positive...which came as a result of conquering each mountain in front of me.

When life threw me some "less then desirable" experiences...I had two options:

One - I could focus on everything that was lost, taken away and destroyed.

or

Two - I could be grateful for the memories, and then focus on everything that was still here.

I found a saying that I now have in my home...I see it every day and I love how simple the message is - but the power that is behind it.  It says;

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened"

So easy to say, rather difficult to do?  It is hard - but it is all about your mindset.  And for me I found that the only way I could get the icky, negative thoughts out of my head was to flip them around into something positive.  I had to be grateful instead of being angry or sad.  

Let me give you an example;

It was unbelievably hard, not to be given the opportunity to say goodbye the moment things happened.  I was a long ways away. I couldn't do a thing. And as much as I did have a chance to say goodbye, it still wasn't the same as "being there" at that moment. I am sure you understand what I am saying.  BUT  it would have been much harder to sit beside him and make the decision of whether or not to end life support...see, tender mercy.  I didn't have to make any decisions. Thank goodness the decision was made for me.  I just had to accept it.

We have to flip these things in our brains to make them easier to cope with! 

My Grandma shared a perfect, much simpler example of this with me.

One day she left a bottle of fabric softener on top of the washing machine...with the lid not completely tight.  The washer turned on...the fabric softener fell off.  As you can imagine this was quite the mess to clean up!  That stuff is slick! But how did Grandma choose to think about it? Well she decided her house sure smelled nice!

Last week I woke up very early on a day off, after a very late night, to go Visiting Teaching. I was up, dressed and out the door early enough to allow myself time to sit in my car, read over my lesson, gather my thoughts, say a prayer etc. After texting my companion for directions to the Sister's house that we were going to...she replied with, "I thought that was tomorrow!" Turns out...it was! My first thought? Are you kidding me?! I got out of bed for nothing?! My second thought? Wow, that was so nice to sit in complete silence and to take a moment to refresh myself and to start off my day with a different spirit then I normally do. AND I had even more time to ponder the message! ;) 

Clearly it is all in our mindset, and I love how invincible I feel when I choose to think this way.

Give it a try! I really believe you won't be let down. No matter what happens today, focus on the positive! Focus on everything you DO have...the rest will work itself out in the end. It always does. 

Great things will come.

If you have any wonderful stories about when you put this method to use...please share them with me in the comments below! It is so refreshing to hear different experiences! :)  

I hope you all have a wonderfully, positive day! :)

Love, 

Dakota