Some Friday Inspiration

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Just needed this today... maybe you did too.

Blessings,

Nikki

a blessed Saturday

Pure Happiness

Today Hope received her final birthday present from me... yes, I do realize it is April 6th and the girl turned 4 back in January!  See, I gave Hope a gift certificate on her birthday for Build-A-Bear Workshop, and had every intention of taking her there right away so she could create her gift.  Only... well, intention just doesn't always cut it.  We just never made it over to the nearby town that has the nearest Build-A-Bear store... until today.

So, maybe I'm out of the running for 'Mother of the Year.'  Oh well.  Not in Hope's eyes!  This girl had fun, and it never occurred to her to wonder why it had taken Mommy so long to bring her to make her present.  It was a perfect 'Girl's Day!'  We started at Build-A-Bear, then went out to lunch (where Hope showed off fabulous 'restaurant manners,' a very pleasant lunch companion indeed!), and shopping for bedding for her new big bed!  (Yes, Hope graduated from her toddler bed to a twin bed this week!  Exciting times!)

Anyway, back to Build-A-Bear...  Since this blog is, in fact, mine, I have creative license to now do the shameless Mommy thing and post a bunch of photos of my beautiful daughter having a lovely time making her bear.  What you'll see in the photos is a happy girl, but what you can't see in the photos is just how incredibly polite and well behaved Hope was at the store.  I was so proud of how she acted with the salesperson who was helping her, and especially proud that she required no reminders from me whatsoever.

On to the shameless Mommy's pictures...

Bringing the unstuffed bear over to get stuffed...of course, Hope's choice was a pink princess bear!

The stuffing machine was fascinating...

...and working the foot pedal was so much fun!

The first hug!

Picking a heart to place inside her bear

Here Hope had been instructed to make her biggest wish on the heart that she was getting ready to place inside of her bear, who she named "Punky Bear."

Giving Punky Bear her 'bath'

And, of course, shopping for clothes for Punky Bear.

This time with Hope was just precious to me.  She is a wonderful young girl, and I am completely blessed that I get to call her mine!

knowing

There is an aspect of my personality that is relentless.  (Yes, to those of you know me in person I realize that statement came as no surprise to you!)  I believe relentlessness is a good quality, and possessing relentlessness has in large part brought me right where I am today.  In recent years, my life has been almost completely changed because of relentlessness.  

This relentlessness creates in me an acute sense of knowing.  Let me explain what I mean.  Once I have knowledge about something, I am unable to pretend I don't know that particular thing.  In other words, I am incapable of unknowing.  

Recently, my relentlessness has been expanding to removing any and all sources of unhealthiness from my life.  See, I started reading (knowing) more and more about issues related to nutrition, chemicals in products we consume/use, and ways to ensure that everything entering my body (not just food!) is not harmful.  And, as I already stated, now that I know what I know, I cannot unknow it!  

In the last three months, I have completely stopped drinking pop, I have eliminated the processed foods in my home and replaced them with organic and/or non-GMO foods, I have switched all (and I do mean all!) of my skin and hair care products to those that are organic and/or truly natural, and I have begun to learn how to use natural remedies and essential oils to treat common ailments, rather than relying on medications.  All of what I am learning is changing me, and I like it!  I invite you over to Pinterest to sample any of the articles I've collected there on my "All Things Healthy" board.  You do not have to have a Pinterest account to visit my board.  If you see a description that interests you, just click on the image to expand it, then click the image again to visit the original source.

I love being a work in progress, and I intend to never stop learning and expanding on all those things I cannot unknow.