~Motivational Monday~ My New Perspective

In honor of the week of Thanksgiving - I'm thankfully switching gears.

Putting on my new perspective you might say!

It was pointed out to me today that we should not only spend time being thankful for the things that we have been given and that God has blessed us with; but we should also take time to be thankful for the things that have been taken away... the things that God has saved us from.

I know firsthand, that when going through trials and tribulations it is so easy to turn around and blame others, or get MAD at God for not giving us what we want or giving it to us the way WE want it. 
Wow, it is so easy.  
The hurt and pain that we feel inside tends to overtake us and we lose perspective.  (how many times have I written about perspective?!)  We get so focused on the things we want and things that are important in this world.

I'm going through a divorce - it's no secret.
And I've been hurt and angry and confused... and well, 100 other emotions I can think of.

But today - I was reminded, that no matter what people say, no matter HOW people judge, no matter how the story is told and where fault lands, the fact of the matter is... quite frankly - I love you all, but I don't answer to anyone but my God.  And as long as in my heart I know that I'm following His will and I did right by Him, I am at peace.
I fought.  ME.  MYSELF... I fought to hold a marriage together.... when in fact, it was never my fight to fight.
I should have given this ALL to God long ago....
God sees a bigger picture.
And sometimes... he takes away.  And many times, that is beyond our human comprehension.

We are blessed with gifts from God.  And believe it or not, we are blessed when he takes away.
It may not feel like it sometimes, but I believe it to be true.  Because I do believe there is a bigger plan that God has in store.

So, in hindsight..... I looked back over the past year of my life today...
And I have so many things to be thankful for.

~I am thankful that I had to ability to go back to school this past year and GRADUATE~

~I am thankful that I made a career change at this point in my life and can now say I have a job I LOVE!~

~I am thankful for ALL of my family - I am TRULY blessed!~

~I am thankful for my friends - they have been my ROCK for years and abundantly so as of late~

~I am thankful that my daddy DID get to walk me down the aisle~

~I am thankful for my son and the wonderful young man he is growing up to be~

~I am thankful to say that I have loved and been loved~

~I am thankful for my parents and the way I was raised and the foundation they gave me to stand on~

and oddly enough....

~I am thankful for all the things I wanted in my life, that God saw fit to spare me from.  I am thankful for "unanswered prayers" that were truly answered in a way to protect me and keep me closer to him.~

~I am thankful that this past year has shown me things and taught me things that I might never have understood otherwise.~

~But most of all, I am SO thankful that this past year has brought my walk closer to Him.~

I am thankful that people judge me and talk about me and question why I'm different.  It means I stood for something... and that something is my GOD!

And I am MOST thankful that I ALWAYS know that His arms are around me and protect and comfort me when I need it the most!

Post It Note Tuesday ~Thank ya GEEZUS!~

Welcome back to Post-It Note Tuesday

I took the week off last week but I'm Baaaaaaack!!!!!!
Thank ya GEEEZUS!   LOL

Feel free to comment - or link up and post your own Post-it Notes!
You can make your own Post It Notes <> and....run over and check out Supah Mommy's post its and you can link up there!

He LOOOOOVES him some Kenny Chesney!!! 

Bwaaa haaaa haaaaaaaaa

One day I WILL provoke him enough to get his butt on here and show his face  ;-)

XOXO

"TIWT" Happy Thanksgiving - let family time begin =)

As always - from the beautiful and talented Sass comes the "Things I want Thursday" post.  HOWEVER with it being Thanksgiving and all - today we are rolling with "Things I'm THANKFUL for Thursday"  YAY!

Here is just a small peek at all the things I have to be thankful for today!

1.  getting to sleep in today!  (hee hee)

2.  having a roof over my head, food on the table, and a vehicle to get me where I need to go!  And a job to be able to pay for all that!  (well....almost - ha ha)

3.  my son - who 14 years ago changed my life FOREVER!  I never knew you could love like this.

4.  my family - who I turned my back on years ago...and they welcomed me back - even after all the wrong turns and mistakes I had made - with open arms.  My very spunky, weird, insane, HUGE heart of a family could never be duplicated or replaced  =)  I'm so thankful for that!!

5.  the fact that today I will be giving my son and early Christmas present.  It's the BEST Christmas present ever and he might fall over when he realizes what it is!!!!  PROMISE!  (there WILL be a blog about that later!)

6.  my faith and Christian upbringing - I don't know how people make it through life without having a God to turn to.  There are days that I couldn't get up out of bed and walk without him by my side.

7.  my friends - I am SO thankful for ALL the friends that I have been blessed with in my life.  I can't even begin to name them all but EACH of them brings me a unique and special kind of joy that I could not live without!  I am especially thankful for those friends of mine who challenge me almost daily to be a better person!  =)

8.  my blog and all the friends I have made on this journey.  I never ever thought I would be able to say this - but I'm thankful to each and every one of you who read me and allow me to vent and cry and scream and say totally retarded things....  and you read and get to know me and send love my way!  and even prayers when asked for.  I'm thankful that I have a place to come and speak and just be me...  and you all accept me as I am.  Thank you to the bloggy world and all my bloggy buds.

I seriously could go on and on and on with this list all day long (but I have to go cook and get ready for family time!!)....  I am thankful for the life that I call mine.  I am crazy with it some days, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!
{{Hugs and Kisses}}
Tami G

5K equals way too much time to think today!

There are soooooooo many things I want to share with you all today!
GOSH - I haven't been on to really blog for like a day now and I feel like I'm about to bust...
I have SO many blogs started that I want to talk about today - but instead - because I can't choose which ONE I want to put all my focus into.....I'm just gonna do the usual.....UNLOAD RANDOMLY on you all!  LOL
(thanks for listening - big smile!)

First of all......I completed my first 5K today!!!!!  whoooooo hooooo YAY!!!!  This is something I never thought I would ever ever be able to do or want to do.  But I did and my time was like 36 minutes or so (won't know exact time until tomorrow)  which is not to shabby for my FIRST race ever AND considering I really just started even exercising not even 5 months ago!  Anyway - WOW what a freaking rush and what a freaking feeling.  It was amazing...  (see, I have a blog started about the race, but I can't focus on one thing today)  So after the race, while doing some riding around today, I got to thinking about ALOT (thus the need to unload)

Ok - so I started this blog in order to turn over a new leaf in my life and learn to appreciate "the life I never expected".  Today I had one of those moments.  During the race & continuing after the race, I got to thinking about my life, where I am and how in the world I ended up here.
Hello - I ran a 5K.  Who would have ever thought?!?!  How did I get here?  I want to first of all thank my friend Denise =)   She is my friend/aunt/sister/mom/everything all rolled into one.  Months ago, she decided to start going to the gym and recommended I join her.  I eventually did and look how far we have come.  My friend Denise ALSO ran the 5K today...it was kinda on her bucket list  =)   Amazing!

This one little thankful thought to my girl Denise sent me spiraling out of control...LOL
Now I have spent hours today thinking about all the people in my life.  I don't have the time or energy to sit and type about each of them individually - nor do you all want to know THAT much about me OR my insane family and friends!  haha
So instead......I wanted to spread my joy that came from my thoughts today!

I have come so far in my life.....and alot of times (way more than I should) I talk about how strong I am and how I'm a single mom and I do EVERYTHING all by myself.
This is SUCH a lie.  I mean - physically yes it appears that way - right?!?!   But let me just say - without all of the love and support that I receive from my family and friends - I could never do and acheive the things I have accomplished in my life.
For some people who don't know me - I mean the REAL me, on the outside looking in, they see me.....stable, accomplished, successful, driven, relentless, etc.

But let me tell you this - all of those things and more would never be possible without the people in my life and so many times I forget to take the time to say thank you and really really appreciate how lucky I am.  but don't mistake me as that girl who has it all together and who has had life handed to me on a silver spoon!  SURE I want everyone to see that on that outside - we all do......and yes - that may be the image I portray to those people I meet on this crazy journey we call life.  But make no mistake, I'm a crazy, spontaneous, hangin by a thread train-wreck some (most) days.  And if it weren't for all the great people God has put in my life - I don't know what I would do OR where I would have ended up.
Sometimes we try to control our lives way too much and we worry that we can never do enough or we get down on ourselves for not being where we thought we would be.  A very good friend of mine recently reminded me "Tammy, NO ONE is where they thought they would be when they thought they would be there, and if they tell you that they are - they are lying!"  He's so right.  I'm soooooo not where I thought I should be at age 33 - I mean NO WHERE - not in any aspect.  BUT - thing is, I'm right where God WANTS me to be and today I took the time to thank HIM for bringing me through everything I have been through and giving me the shoulders of my friends and family to get me here.  What would I do without them?!
I ran a 5K for God's sake!
Who knew the power of living and loving the life you never expected.
Let go of the reigns and let God guide you!  and when you finally let go, sit back and be so thankful for all you have come through and all the things you HAVE accomplished, even though they aren't the things that are on your list.....a 5K was never on mine & I could name lots more that weren't, but that doesn't make me any less thankful for them!

In conclusion - for ALL of you out there who have been a part of my life - THANK YOU for being you!  Thank you for listening and giving advice & allowing me to be a part of your life too!
(my new blogger buddies - you guys have been a bigger part of my life and thoughts than you may ever know...your encouragement and prayers and random emails are a very unexpected new road in my life!!  And again - for that I am so thankful!)

Sorry if I've been a bit rambly today - it's been a crazy emotional weekend and though I was at a loss for words in my last blog - I seem to be overflowing with them today!  hee hee

XOXO
HAPPY HALLOWEEN - I'm off to get ready  =)

THIS is why I blog.......

I love getting comments on my blogs.  Not everyone follows me on blogger so I also post my link on facebook & sometimes I get comments on facebook too!
So I just wanted to give a shout out to my facebook followers and share a comment I got this afternoon.

"just know that I have had a few pretty bad days and everytime I read your blog I feel much better. Oprah ain't got shit on you girl! :)"

THANKS BRIAN!!!!

And thanks Jennifer for letting me know you read!  =)    Start blogging girl - it's great therapy AND you never know what you might say that might make someone's day!   (plus you never know what you might READ that just might make urs!!)

I can think of NO greater compliment than to know that something I have said or done or experienced has helped someone else in some small way!
Thanks for making me smile  8-)