DayTwo - Letters of Thanks

Today I sat down and wrote 10 thank you letters. I wrote 10 women in my life who have made an impact.

I love email. As soon as email came along I guess you could say I got lazy. Email has made my life easy. Just a quick type, hit a button and there ya go, you are done. Taking time to sit and write on paper and send it in the mail takes much more time, but what is wrong with taking time. Taking time to sit, to write, to say thank you for all you do and have done, to write it with your hand and not just buttons. I still have paper letters from friends, family and even one very special letter I have kept for years. This one letter was sent to me after high school from someone I barely knew and they thanked me for being nice. They said they had a hard time making friends, felt a little alone but that I was always nice to them and it made a difference in their life. People sometimes gave me a hard time for being too nice. But that letter, that letter said I made a difference, and that made all the difference in the world for me. Treat others how you want to be treated. I am far from perfect, but it is a rule I still try to live by.

So that is what I did today, I took time to thank 10 woman in my life who have made me smile, laugh or even sat and listened to me bitch and cry. I want them to know they have made a difference in my life and that I appreciate them and everything they do. I wrote it on some pretty paper, stuck it in the mail and away it went and I smiled. It felt good.

Day One - A Surprise Trip to the Movies

Today was the best day ever!” my 5 year old said at the end of the day. Day one of this journey included surprising my two oldest girls with a trip to the movies. This is something we haven’t done with the kids for almost 2 years.

I have to say I woke up excited about 2010 and all the things I would do. I actually woke up with a smile on my face which is pretty rare because I AM NOT a morning girl. My day started out with me saying a prayer of thanks. Thank you Lord for getting us through 2009. Thank you for my family, for my children and for our health. My dad would say that in any struggle, if you have your family, and you have your health, you have all you need.

I got up, made a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon and biscuits, and we all sat around the table together and talked. I told each one of my girls the story of the day they were born and how excited and happy we were. They have heard this story before, but it is amazing how happy just sharing that story made them feel. We all left the table happy and I proceed to get ready for our little adventure for the day. I told the girls they would need to run some errands with me and as soon as those words came out of my mouth the fit hit the shan. The ultimate level of whining started. This whining started at 10 and did not end until 2:30. “I don’t want to run errands, I hate errands, errands are boring!” To be honest, I was so excited about the surprise I had for them that all I could do is laugh and stretch out the number of places we would go. Little did they know a surprise was waiting for them. When I informed Logan of my idea, he thought it was great. That was until he saw that our 2 year old was going to stay home with him. “Oh holy God help me” he said. I couldn’t help but laugh because watching the kids is what I do and only watching one is a piece of cake. To his defense, I will say our 2 year old can definitely be a handful.

The girls and I left and made our first stop to the dollar store. I let them each pick out a box of candy and proceeded to buy us all a crown. “What is that for mom?” Madelynn asked. I told her, “We will all be a princess for the day.” Then I crowned them “The McCollum princesses,” placed the crown on their head and a necklace of beads around their necks. Madelynn giggled and they smiled with delight. “Where now?” Hailey asked. “To the bank!” I said. “UGH, the BANK, I don’t like the bank. Can we eat our candy? When will we go home?” I just laughed. I made my way to the bank which happens to be next to the regal cinema in Sherwood. I park in front of the theater and my youngest says, “Why did you park so far from the bank? Mom……. MOM, MOM! Are we going to the movies?” “ Yep” I said. “MOM are we going to see The Princess and the Frog?” “Yes we are my princess, are you ready?” They scream and we go get our tickets and walk into the theater. What they did not know is that our very good friends are in there waiting for us, seats saved. They walk in and look for a seat and catch the eye of one of their best friends and scream! YEAH YEAH! “This is the best day ever!” I cannot tell you how this made me feel. With finances so tight, we haven’t been to a movie with the kids in a VERY long time. We figure, we will wait until it comes out on DVD, we have a great TV, so why not just watch it at home. The truth is that no matter how great your TV is, is not the same as experiencing a movie at the theater. I can rememeber seeing Lost Boys as a kid with my best bud Jenni B. and t o this day we still laugh about it.

My daughter Hailey said at least 20 times during the movie, “This is the best day ever!” My heart was full of joy. When we got home, she looked at me and with a big smile, “Mommy thank you, thank you so much. This was the best day ever." Thank you Hailey, thank you Madelynn for giving me the best day ever!

Why am I doing this?

Do you ever have that feeling that life is passing you by? Can you be happy yet feel like you are missing something? I have a wonderful husband and 3 beautiful little girls whom I adore but I still feel like time is passing me by. So many times the day comes to and end and I think, "What the hell happened today?" It feels like a tornado has entered my home, knocked the crap out of me and left me to clean up the mess. I think, "What did I do today?" Well, the same old routine that I have done everyday before that. Yes, I know routine is important with kids but at the same time I think fun is important, living is important, giving to others is important. 2009 has been hard. Dave Ramsey says there is a difference between surviving and thriving and being broke and being poor. I get that. For the last year, all we were doing was surviving. I am sure you have heard the term house poor. Yup, we are one of the many Americans out there just trying to hold on to our home, where all your income seems to go right back into the house. That is why with this year coming to an end I am ending my survive mode and kicking into the thrive mode. My husband's Grandpa Waters is one the greatest men I know. He turned 90 this year. He grew up in the depression in Oklahoma, and was in WII. HE can tells stories of hard times, yet his stories are always of good times. He inspires me to live life to its fullest. Why am I doing this? I am doing this to thrive, to enjoy life, to give to others happiness, to experience new things, and to have fun. We all need some fun, dont we? So that is it, for the next 365 days every day I will try something new. It may be a product, food, a place, recipes, a crazy adventure, but something, Lord know I have always wanted to try snowboarding!