52 Weeks and Money Saving Tip for Keurig Users

Happy Friday Everyone!

This is how I feel!

We've been sweltering all week with this heat wave in Chicago-land.  It is finally going to break for the weekend, and I am so ready for it!  

I have been lazy this week with my 52 Weeks of Kindness.  The best I can come up this week is that I have been kind to myself.  I have geared up my healthy living again.  It is time to start spending some quality time taking care of myself!  Eating well and exercising most days.  I've been taking the little bear to day care on my bicycle.  He loves it and I get a great work out in!  Kindness for both of us!  =)

I am also going to share a little $ saving tip I have discovered this week.  Do any of you use a Keurig Coffee Maker?  I love mine, but I have always felt a bit guilty about all those pods filling up the trash can.  I am the only coffee drinker in my house, and typically I only drink one cup.  So having the convenience of the Keurig one cup maker is a plus I am not willing to give up.

The down side of the whole thing is all the extra trash with all those pods, plus the over all cost.  Seriously, even only making one cup a day I would easily spend $30 a month on coffee pods.  

I have had a reusable filter for my Keurig, but only ever used it for my loose teas.  I had it in my head that with out the paper filter the coffee would not work right.  Let me just say, completely and totally wrong!!!

Not only do the reusable filter work with normal coffee, I think the cup of joe is even better!  Here is the filter I use:

They have fancier ones out there, but really the Solofill one works just fine for me.  I bought 2 of them, so I always have a clean one ready.  Easy to use and makes great coffee, can't complain about that!  Plus now rather than spending $30 a month, I'm back to spending $5 on a can of coffee... or I can get fancy and buy any beans I like and grind my own.  With an extra $25 buck in my pocket a month, the sky is the limit!  haha

So that is my week of kindness, a little for me and a little for you!  Don't forget to head over to My Three Bittles to see how Amber's week went!  Have a great weekend!

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Banana Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Cookies and 52 Weeks!

Wow another week comes to a close!  They seem to be going faster each week.  Friday means it is time for another round of 52 Weeks.  

As I started to think about what I did this week for an act of kindness, I really did not have much.  I smiled at strangers, bought dinner for friends, and was generally kind; but no one big act to highlight.  Then I found myself with an extra hour yesterday.  I decided to bake up a batch of cookies for the hubs to take into work today.  The folks he works with all like sweets, and who doesn't like sweets at work on a Friday!

I decided to make some Banana-Oatmeal-Coconut-Chocolate Cookie Bars.  I am calling them B.O.C.C for short.  These cookies are a little slice of gooey goodness.  All the ingredients blend very well, and a small cookie goes a long way!  

Since today is all about kindness, I am happily sharing the recipe!  I hope you all enjoy.

 
Don't forget to head over to My Three Bittles to link up with Amber and her 52 Weeks Project.  It is a great chance to celebrate kindness in this world!

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Meditation Monday - Be Happy

source

Welcome to a new week.  This week let's remember that happiness is a choice you make.  You can either choose to be happy or choose to focus on the negative and be miserable.  I know sometimes the sad is going to be there, and you will need to spend time in the sadness.  The key is to not let it control all of your life.  Keep the control and choose the happy.

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Simple Gifts

Following on our meditation theme of simplicity for this week, I have been thinking a lot about the Shaker song "Simple Gifts" written in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett.

This song has always spoken to me, even as a child when I was living a simple life.  The little girl I was would sing this in church as loud as possible, yearning to dance in the pew.  To this day when I hear it I am filled with hope, joy, and peace.

  

Now that I am older, and living a slightly more complicated life I have found the words as moving and inspirational as the tune.  Jewel's Version above speaks to the older me. 

 

Tis the gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend, we will not be ashamed, To turn, turn, will be our delight, Till by turning, turning we come round right                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Gifts

To see life as a gift every day.  To find joy and peace in waking up with just what you need, because your needs are SIMPLE.  To be free from the "rat race" and mass consumerism we all to often find ourselves in.      

These days the line about coming "down where you ought to be" stands out.  It is a line of hope.  You may not be in the right spot now, but that place is there waiting for you.   

I am also moved by the second verse, and how opened and agreeable it is to compromise.  It is a good reminder that some times even if you are faced with a set back or a delay, just keep turning/adapting/moving and you'll be right again.       

 

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52 Weeks of Kindness

Happy Friday!  I have been looking forward to this all week.  We have a busy weekend planned with Easter Egg hunts, breakfast with bunnies, and my little bear's last swim class.  It should be a fun one.

It is also time to link up with Amber at My Three Bittles for her 52 Weeks Project.   

This week I donated a ton of stuff to Goodwill.  I have been packing and sorting stuff for a few months, trying to simplify and streamline my house.  The funny thing is that it's not making me feel any more organized or pulled together.  I think that I am organizing my stuff to avoid making some decisions in my life.  At least my procrastination on the hard decisions will benefit those in need at the Goodwill!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

   

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Happiness

The other day I stumbled upon an inspirational pin about happiness that got me thinking a lot about how we define happiness and how it effects our lives.  

Pinterest Source

On the surface this is a pretty straight forward quote - basically the less you fight your life and the more you accept it, the happier your will be.  OK, I can buy into that.  I mean lord know I will never be a six foot tall runway model, so there is no point in killing myself to try to look like one.  Accepting my body as what it is will most definitely increase my level of happy.

dictionary.com

The more I thought about it though, the more this quote also rubs me the wrong way.  Is just accepting and making the most of things the secret of being happy?  What kind of world would we live in if no one challenged the status quo?  If everyone just shrugged their shoulders and said "eh that's life why fight it"?

I will never be a model but that does not mean that I should just accept that I will always be a little overweight and out of shape.  That type of acceptance just makes me sad.  I like to think that we have more choices and more control over this life and our happiness.  

Pinterest having the infinite wealth of inspirational quotes that it does, here is one a little more suited to my style of happiness!

Pinterest Source

I would say that the secret of being happy is KNOWING where you are in life, and then CHOOSING to make the most out of every day.  How about you?  What does your definition of happiness look like?
 
   

Don't forget to stop back tomorrow and link up with the Oh What a HAPPY Day Party.  We can choose to be happy and share our joys together!

52 Weeks of Kindness

Happy Friday Everyone!  This week has flown by for me... not sure why, but I'm not going to complain about it!

My random act of kindness this week was to host a birthday party for my father-in-law's girlfriend - aka Mimi to my little bear.  Mimi has been around as long as I have in the family.  She has always welcomed us and treated us as she does her own kids.  In fact her grandkids are the ones who started the Mimi thing, and she was only thrilled when we picked it up too.  She is a great lady and I was more than happy to throw together a little party for her.

Thrown together is the perfect phrase to.  We were in town visiting my mom and were going to spend the afternoon with the in-laws.  I was expecting just cake and the 5 of us, but turns out Mimi was expecting a bit more.  I literally planned out the party and food for  the 8 more people as the hubs drove us to their house.  A quick stop at the grocery store and at the local BBQ joint and the party was set.  

Mimi was thrilled and impressed that I had done so much.  I kept telling her it was not that much, but I could not convince her that it really was not that much.  The key is the impromptu party was fun and Mimi was overjoyed!  Which in turn made me and my father-in-law happy too!  
 
Don't forget to check out the other great acts of kindness @ the 52 Weeks link up hosted by Amber at My Three Bittles.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

   

Looking to grow your blog? I have Sponsor Spots open this week - priced to fit any budget, including FREE! Hop over to my sponsor page for more details.

Thoughts on Forgiveness

I have been thinking a lot lately about forgiveness.  On the surface the act of forgiving seems like it should be a simple thing.  You are wronged, the other party apologizes, and you forgive.  The problem is that in the real world it never seems to work out that way.  There are almost always over loaded emotions and hurt feelings involved.  

The act of forgiving is in fact very complicated.  A lot of the time that apology mentioned never comes… or comes too easily and the other party does not really understand why they are apologizing.  For whatever the reason, hearing “I’m sorry” does not automatically flip the forgiveness switch in our brains or our hearts.

The thing that we must all remember is that by giving the gift of forgiveness to those who have wrong us, we also give the gift of release to ourselves.  Holding on to anger or hurt feelings in the long run is only going to hold us back.  Why waste energy building up resentment and grudges, when you could be using that energy for so many more rewarding acts?  

Please note, that I am not supporting to instantly let go all your hurt feelings; or to push them away and pretend they are not there.  You need to process the feelings, experience them, analyze the true cause, and then deal with them.  If not, the next time someone wrongs you in a similar manner the hurt will be even stronger.  By not dealing with our hurt feelings, the memory stays under the surface festering.  It becomes a permanent sore spot.  
 
The gift in forgiveness is allowing yourself to own your hurt and then being able to let go of it.  Once you make that decision to forgive, the weight and pressure of holding onto your pain is lifted.  By removing the pain; hopefully, with a little bit of good communication, you and your loved one will eventually be able to learn and grow in stead.  


On a completely different line of thought... I am co-sponsoring a pretty cool giveaway at Eat.Enjoy.Live... hop over and enter!

Meditation Monday

Welcome to a new week and a happy Monday!

This week I have a few lines from the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi to mediate on.  Even if you are not religious, the message is still one of hope and comfort.

 

52 Weeks of Kindness - Week 4

Happy Friday Dear Friends!  This has been a long week for me of back pain and grumpiness.  I am so happy to welcome the weekend and look forward to hearing all the actions done in kindness! 

This week I focused on making sure to thank the people in my life who inspire me.  It is so easy to forget to pass on what you are feeling or to assume that the person already knows.  Even if they do know how much they help and inspire you, it still never hurts to tell them.  Everyone likes to hear it out loud every once in a while!  So I sent emails and left messages making sure friends and family all knew how much they mean to me.

I also shared the love with my readers by posting a Valentine's Day printable.  =)

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

Gaiam TV - Get 2nd Month Free

Have you heard of GaiamTV?  I don't know about you, but I have a very short attention span when it comes to exercising.  I tend to get bored after about a month and start to look for something else to do.  

This is why I love GaiamTV!  For $10 a month, I have a wealth of streaming videos to choose from.  The variety alone is worth it.  Rather than spending $20 on a DVD and not knowing if you are going to like it, or how long you will stay interested... you can sample over 400 yoga titles and another 400 plus fitness titles.  The diversity is amazing.


Plus most of the work outs are divided into chapters, basically giving you the flexibility to pick and choose any work out you want.  Do 15 minutes of yoga, a 20 minute dance workout, finished off with a 10 minuter mediation session... it is completely customizable and easy to use! 

GaiamTV also has a host of other inspirational films and documentaries.  I really only use the fitness aspect, so I cannot comment on this side of the site.  

With unlimited online access to yoga, fitness, wellness videos plus inspirational films, you can find great videos to nourish mind, body and soul. Sign up now for my friends-only deal and get your second month FREE!  Simply click on the link below for this great offer.

Holly's Friends Second Month FREE Offer

Please note, that when a friend signs up, I also get a month free.  I am gaining when a friend signs up, but I am not getting paid for this post.  All the words and thoughts are mine and honestly how I feel.

If you are not sure this is right for you, they are also offering a free 10 day trial.  You really have nothing to lose!