Gratitude List

 

Choose a number and make a gratitude list.

First off, Merry Christmas!

My favorite day of the year is here.

We opened many presents, ate french toast, and had a Pitbull dance party in the kitchen.

You heard me, a Pitbull dance party.

It was so fun watching Ian open presents this year.

Last year he was only two months old so he really didn’t know what was going on.

This year he started to figure out why there were boxes wrapped in snowmen and Santa hats.

I loved watching him figure out Christmas, and I know each year will get better and better.

Since football is on and I have to start making food for Christmas dinner, I’m going to keep this short. This is my favorite day of the year and I want to spend as much time with my family as possible.

It’s only fitting that since today is the 25th of December I make a list of 25 things I’m grateful for.

1. Ian
2. My family
3. My Husband
4. Pizza
5. My job
6. The fact that I can still run an eight minute mile
7. Marlo
8. Christmas scented candles
9. All of the wonderful presents that were given and received today
10. My health
11. Mashed Potatoes
12. The roof over my head
13. My friends
14. That I get the day off tomorrow
15. My new watch
16. Freeform’s Harry Potter marathon this weekend
17. Coffee
18. Coaching
19. My vacuum cleaner
20. Fourth place in our fantasy football league
21. Taylor Swift
22. Netflix
23. That Ian usually sleeps through the night in his own crib
24. Dark chocolate
25. The fact that I get to live this wonderful life every single day

I hope everyone reading this has the most amazing day and gets to spend it with those who matter most. I’m so excited about dinner tonight I can’t really think of anything else so Merry Christmas, I hope you got to watch Elf at least once today.

❤

 

Megan’s Month: June 2017

June was so good to me, and I know I say this every month, but I can’t believe it’s over already.

One month closer to Ian’s first birthday.

One month closer to Christmas.

One month closer to meeting my nephew.

I swear the older I get the month’s go by faster.

How do I make it stop?

There was something different about this month, it marked the end of an era.

The end of the first seven years of my twenties.

Pretty Little Liars ended.

All month I’ve been thinking about how much closer I was getting to the finale of Pretty Little Liars, I just kept doing what I do with a lot of things..thinking it’ll never actually happen until it does.

Tuesday rolled around and I texted my sister to come over and watch it with me, Ben and Jerry’s and all. She agreed, because who can turn down Ben and Jerry’s? The more the day passed the more I thought about it, a huge part of our twenties was almost over.

Seven years ago brings you back to the summer of 2010. Pretty Little Liars was coming back from their mid season break and I begged Janelle to start the show with me, at that point the only show I had ever been obsessed with was Lost, but I didn’t expect what would happen next.

Every Tuesday during the winter and summer for seven years Janelle and I would gather around the TV and watch the drama unfold in the town of Rosewood. We would get so into it, discussing fan theories as to who A was, and gasping when something dramatic happened..

which was always fyi. 

This show was the only show that Janelle and I watched exclusively together. It was our thing. Even when I moved out, she came over to watch it and when she didn’t come over we would text about what was unfolding. I didn’t realize until Tuesday just how big a part of our lives that show was.

It was our ritual, it was us.

I get super attached to things, and I hold on to them and the memories they make.

It’s what I do..and this was no exception.

I texted Janelle asking why I was so weirdly emotional about the ending of Pretty Little Liars.

Then it clicked, it was ending.

Our Tuesday ritual.

Yeah we have other shows, but that was the first. It was the first seven years of our twenties.

And after that two hour finale we would never get it back.

Yes I know..

I’m dedicating half of my monthly review to a teenage drama tv show..but it was such a big part of our lives.

It was our early adulthood turned into our late twenties.

It was all of our summer nights glued to the tv genuinely happy to be in that moment with each other.

Things will keep getting different sooner than  later.

Janelle will be a mom, and a great one at that, and we might not have that one show that captivates us as much as Pretty Little Liars did, and that’s ok.

I’ll always cherish those new memories and the ones we will soon make watching our sons grow up together less than a year apart in age.

I know it’ll be magical.

I just get so attached to the smallest things, holding onto them, fearing that things won’t be the same once they’re gone.

My favorite senior just graduated and I’m no longer her coach.

Ian is growing closer and closer to a year old and I can’t figure out how to pause it.

Time won’t slow down even though I keep asking.

That’s the most fascinating thing to me, how fast life happens.

I’ll never stop being amazed by it.

June brought more to me than just Pretty Little Listen, I promise.

June brought summer, and summer brings summer vacation. Jason gets to spend time with Ian and I can’t wait to hear about the days they’re going to have.

June reminded me how much I miss running, and the last week of the month was spent running every day.

June reminded me that I need to let go sometimes, that it’s okay.

Some other random things that I’ve been into this month..

The Office

Iced Coffees with Almond Milk

LANY

Running

Talking with my sister on the phone 

Hanging out with friends I haven’t seen in a while

Boomerangs on Instagram

Thank you June, thank you for reminding me that sometimes you can let go of things. That it doesn’t mean its the end, just the start of something new. Thank you for pushing me to start running again and giving me 80 degree days.

You da real MVP.

Soundtrack to June 2017…the entire LANY album because I’m obsessed and it’s seriously everything that I’ve listened to this month.

Quote of the Month:

“Life is a collection of moments.”

❤

Megan’s Month: May 2017

The older I get the more I realize that days go by faster.

Experiences fly by just enough for you to take a picture, and next thing you know the year is almost over.

Everyone always told me before Ian was born to be careful because time flies by so fast.

I would just laugh, roll  my eyes, and assume I know everything like usual.

But I was wrong.

The next thing I know my little man is turning seven months old and I’m left wondering how it all went by so fast.

How my favorite track season ended.

How my little man is so close to crawling.

How some of my favorite kids will be graduating soon.

How I am inching closer and closer to 30.

Okay….maybe that was a bit dramatic but you get my point?

When I was in my early twenties time stood still. Breakups were the end of the world, work lasted forever, and tough workouts felt like they were going to kill me.

Now at 27, I’m left begging the hand on the clock to slow down.

Last night I was watching my son inches away from crawling and had this crazy thought, that there will be a time when my husband and I think to ourselves about when he couldn’t crawl.

That we’ll look at each other and say..

Remember when he couldn’t crawl.

Remember when he was so small he could fall asleep on our chest.

Remember when he couldn’t talk.

That these moments happening now, will be memories sooner than I can realize. That I’ll look back at these times in five years and think about how they just felt like yesterday.

I do that a lot.

Think about how just five years ago I was a senior in College about to embark on life.

How I swore that I knew everything, that my boyfriend at the time was the best thing ever, and how my parents knew nothing.

I was wrong.

About everything.

Just as much as I was wrong about what I thought I knew, I was wrong about time moving slow.

That has been my theme this month.

Time.

Time moving too fast.

Not enough time to get things done.

Making the best of the time you have.

Time, Time, Time.

The older I get the more I value time. More than I ever thought I would. When you’re younger you feel like you’re stuck in one spot forever, or that your biggest problem is so much bigger than it actually is.

But now that I’m getting older I realize that’s not the case.

Time doesn’t stand still, it goes by so fast. It’s so important to stop in the moment and remember everything about where you are and what you’re doing. Remember the people you’re with, the way you feel, and the sounds that you hear.

Remember it all.

I was so bummed out at the beginning of the month when I realized the track season was almost over.

I couldn’t believe my little guy was already seven months old.

I can’t believe it’s almost June and in a couple of weeks I have to see some of my favorite kids graduate.

I tried my best to really remember everything and everyone I was with in those moments, those moments that would soon be memories.

Those moments that I’ll look back on when my Freshman are Seniors and I’ll wonder how four years went by so fast.

Or when Ian’s has his first day of school and all I can think about was when he couldn’t even crawl yet.

Time has a funny way of sneaking up on you when least expect it, kind of like June did to me this month.

But I don’t hate it.

I’m excited to keep making memories and enjoying the moments I’m in.

I like time.

Here’s some other things that I’ve liked this month..

My new camera.

Family walks at the park.

Sex and the City.

Lifting Weights.

Not buying coffee as much.

Hurricane by Luke Combs.

I appreciate the month of May. I appreciate the great moments that led to memories, and the times that I wish time would have stood still. I appreciate all of the times I stopped to take a deep breath and really take in the moment as I was in it.

So thank you May.

Thank you for teaching me a lesson that I thought I had down.

Thank you for giving me so many memories.

Thank you for being so good to me.

Next time I write this we will be half way through the year, and that blows my mind.

I look forward to the next half of the year, but for now I’m going to try and really think about the moment I’m in. Appreciate everything and every one.

Soundtrack to May 2017:

Quote of the month:

“Do more than just exist.”

❤

Pre Friday Funk.

Do you ever have those days where you just feel..bleh.

You’re not having a bad day necessarily but you’re not having a great day.

That’s me today.

I have been sick since the beginning of the month, I could use some more sleep, and I have no idea what to write about in my blog.

All minor things but are still things that can get you in a funk if you allow them to…and I have done so.

Shout out to my husband who has to listen to me complain.

When texting my husband complaining about my day he said something that I didn’t want to hear but that I needed to hear.

“Think about what you have to look forward to.”

He’s so good at that..telling me what I need to hear, and I am so lucky to have those people in my life that tell me those things.

Instead of spending the last couple of hours dragging my feet around thinking about all of these different reasons why I’m having a bad day I should look at what I have coming up. In just a few minutes I get to go see my amazing little boy. Picking him up from daycare and seeing that wonderful smile makes everything better. After I pick him up I’m going to buy coffee because I want it and I’m going to cuddle with my son. Jason and I get to go visit my dad, have dinner with him, and watch Jeopardy. When I get home I’m going to curl up under a blanket and watch my favorite show in the entire world.

Try it.

Whenever you think you’re having a bad day or in a funk, grab a piece of paper and write down all of the things you have to look forward to or all of the things you love. It’s impossible to be mad after you reflect on the things you have in your life.

Thank Jason, without knowing it you’ve inspired me to write this post and get out of my funk..maybe I’ll keep you around for a little longer..

I think we get into funks because we’ve lost sight of what we DO have. We just simply forget the amazing things we do have in life and we spend our time focusing on what’s wrong.

Another big factor of this funk that people get into is comparing what they have to what others have. It’s so easy to scroll through Instagram or Facebook and see the lives of others looking flawless and adventurous while you spend 8 hours a day behind a desk and get envious.

So much time is spent comparing ourselves to others and wanting what other people have that we lose sight of what we already have. We spend our time trying to think of ways to make our lives better, different, or exactly like someone else s that we forget to see the beauty in our own unique stories.

Funks happen..you can’t avoid them..but you can fight back.

Remember what you have, remember who you have, and remember why you’re here.

I have an amazing son, life, job, and cat.

I have the most amazing support system who supports me in every aspect of my life and gives me advice when I need it most.

I am here to help my son grow into the most amazing person he can be. I am here to watch that journey and capture every moment of it that I can.

I like to call this my gratitude list.

Whenever you’re in a funk or stuck comparing your life to the lives of others get a list going. Grab your phone or a spare pen and paper and get writing. Write down everything you love and write down who you love. Write down what you have to look forward to and write down why you’re here.

It’s hard to be in a funk when you’re looking at a giant piece of paper reminding you that you’re life is pretty special.

Thanks again Jason, you continue to help me grow in a million different ways.

❤