52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge - The City You Live In

Happy Sunday Everyone!

This weeks challenge is about the city I live in. I live in the Sunshine City in the Sunshine State,   

St. Petersburg, FL. I love living here. 

Most people know my hometown as a vacation place, with great beaches. And that's so true, the beaches here are AMAZING and I love the fact that I am 20 minutes from the beach. I honestly feel sorry for people who have never been to the beach. There is something so therapeutic about the ocean (But that's a whole other topic.)

Sunset, no filter added. Yes, this is what I get to see almost every night!

But what you may not know about St. Petersburg, commonly referred to as the 'burg by us locals, is that there is so much culture here and it's continuing to grow all the time. We are becoming home to many great restaurants and local craft beer breweries. St. Petersburg is also home to the Salvador Dali Museum, which has the largest collection of Salvador Dali's works in the world AND the building is also an amazing piece of artwork as well! The Chihuly Collection is also here, displaying Dale Chihuly's works of art and they are INCREDIBLE! There are so many other museums here, it would take forever to talk about them all. There are just my favorite two.

The Salvador Dali Museum

The Chihuly Collection

But, despite the amazing sunsets and beach and versatile culture, my favorite part about the city I live in is the fact that it is MY home. I love the fact that I know so much about the history of this area, I love the fact that I know where everything is and I love that I know so many people here. We moved here when I was 4 years old, so we've lived here a long time. Even though I'm not a native, I consider myself a Floridian. I would never want to live anywhere else. Anyway, so growing up, my parents were not privy to all the 'local secrets' like all the great restaurants or different events. Most of the stuff we knew about were touristy. As time went on, and they met more people, they started to learn about all the neat places that people who grew up here have known about forever. As a parent now myself, I'm glad that I know so much about the place my son is growing up, I feel we are rooted here. And I love it!

Tell me about the place you live! What do you like about it?

52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge - Something Someone Gave You

Happy Sunday and Happy February!

I cannot believe it's already February! It seems like 2015 is going so quickly, I feel like I've hardly had time to stop and take a breath. Which makes this post that much better, as it's giving me the time to stop and think. I really get a lot of of stopping and thinking about what I'm grateful for in my life. 

This  weeks challenge is something someone gave me. This really made me think, as I normally don't get too many gifts from people. I'm more the kind of person, that if I want something, I go buy it. Also, my son is still young, and does not like arts and crafts, so he hasn't made me too much. I'm sure once he starts actually making gifts for me, I will cherish those!

So, on to the 'something someone gave me.' Last year for my birthday, my two closest friends went in together and bought me a Pandora bracelet with two very special charms.

One is a best friend charm, the other a baseball. They actually gave me the gift on Opening Day last year right before we went into the TB Rays home opener, which was the day after my birthday. We kind of had a theme for that day 'Best Friends and Baseball.'

The reason this gift meant so much to me was the thought that went into it. It meant so much me that they would do something so special for me!

What special gift have you received from someone? Please let me know below.

52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge - A Family Member

This week I will be writing about a family member that I am most grateful for.

Hands down, the family member that I am most grateful for is my mother. She is my best friend, biggest supporter and cheerleader. She is the shoulder I cry on, my go-to for any advice. I could go on and on about how valuable she is in my life.

As a teenager and young adult, it's true that I may not have valued her sacrifices as much as I should have. At times I was dismissive of what she had done for my sister and me. I thought she wasn't 'cool' because she didn't always seem to care about looking good or buy herself nice things. But the reality of it was that she was more focused on making sure she put my sister and me first. We had what we needed and what we wanted.

I'm a mother now and see things from her perspective. This has given me an incredible amount of respect for her. I now understand the internal dilemma's she dealt with, especially in regards to my father. (They divorced when I was 11.)

I only hope that I can be the kind of mother she is, the kind that is supportive and loving throughout my son's life.

If you have a particular family member that you are especially grateful for, please tell me about it!

Hope you have having a great Sunday!

52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge - Family

Welcome to week 3 of 52 Weeks of Gratitude! Week three focuses on FAMILY. 

My family consists of my son, two biological parents, a step-mother, sister, niece, nephew and a slew of other people that are not related to me by blood or marriage, but that I love just the same. And I also have a ton of friends that are like family to me, but that's a whole other topic!

I have an amazing family! I just want to put that out first and foremost. We do have the normal family arguments, I do fight with my parents and my sister. But at the end of the day, we love each other and would be there for each other, no questions asked. 

My mother is the most amazing person I know. She has sacrificed (and still does) for her daughters and grandchildren. As I've grown up and become a mother myself, she has become one of my best friends. I feel so blessed to have her as a mother and consider her one of my best friends.

My sister and I have a very odd relationship. We aren't very close and yet we are. We get very mad at each other and may say some harsh things, yet we are very quick to defend each other when someone else tries to talk badly. It's like 'I can call my sister a bitch, but I'll kick your ass if you do!' True, there are times I wish she was my best friend. I am jealous of women who can say their sister is their best friend. Who better to be your closest friend in life than the person who's been through all of it with you? I am praying and hoping that one day we can close those gaps and obtain that friendship. Most importantly, she loves my son. And that to me is the most important thing. 

I have a good relationship with my father and step-mother. My parents divorced when I was in fifth grade and my father married my step-mother a few years after, so she's been a part of my life a long time and has been part of my 'growing up.'

There are so many people that I consider 'family' that are not related to me by blood or marriage, like I said before. I am very close to the family of my son's father. My ex and I don't always get along, but I love his family and think they are wonderful people who love my son SO much. I am also close to the family of my niece and nephew's father. They are also very good to my son and treat him like he is part of the family. I feel blessed that I have such a large network of people that I can turn to anytime I am in need. I actually had someone say to me the other day that I've had it so good that I don't appreciate what I have. That's completely untrue. I know I am blessed to have such an AMAZING group of people around me. 

Leave a comment below about your family and why you are so grateful for them. 

Please join me each Sunday for another post of my Gratitude Challenge!

52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge - Spouse/Significant Other

Happy Sunday!

This week was a little bit difficult. Not only do I not have a spouse, but I recently became single. So I don't have a spouse currently to gloat about.

However, I am grateful for my son's father. My relationship with him spanned the most time, and was the most seriously relationship I've had to date. AND he is the father of my amazing boy! 

I'm not going to lie, we have a horrendous relationship currently. A lot of hurt and anger between us. But I did learn a lot from being with him, and not just 'what I don't want in a man.' I learned a lot about myself, especially recently. I learned that in order for a relationship to be successful, you must both be in love with each other. I know that sounds obvious, but I don't think we were. I loved him very much, I still do, but that feeling of being 'in love' faded and I don't know why. 

I can admit that I made mistakes and I can say, with complete honesty, I will never repeat those mistakes. I will not let my relationship get to the point that I just don't care enough to do the stupid things I have done. 

And most of all, I am grateful for the amazing gift he gave me, our son. I love that little guy more than life itself. I may not like my son's father most of the time, but I do love him for helping me create the most perfect human being. (in my opinion.)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!