365 Days of Thanks....Scrap!

For Scrapers out there, if you go to
http://www.craftyscrapschat.com/,
and look under the CREATIVE TEAM's Freebie Collections Section, you can find the
365 Days of Thanks Kits!

You will also find

365 Days of Thanks Calendars! 

The calendars will help you keep track of all the things for which you are thankful!

(You can download this image, but it is a lower resolution

than the one at http://www.craftyscrapschat.com/.)

 And I want to give a big thanks to www.digiwebstudio.com 

for the Penguin Images! They are so cute!

The calendars and kits are for Personal Use only.

You may not sell them or use them to create kits.

Changing Habits

Not sure about you, but this last week of the year, is...well, strange. I'm winding down from all the Christmas activities, and it's not quite time to begin the "New Year's" activities.... then I thought why not?

Why can't I begin working on the New Year's Resolutions now? What is it about Jan 1st? It's not a "magic" date. "If you begin your resolutions on Jan 1st you will succeed". We all know that's not true.

This year, I'm doing several things differently. One, I'm not making resolutions, I am working on creating HABITS! I want to create habits which will have a positive impact in my life. 

My chiropractor has a very unique idea. He has 6 Factors of Health, which he's divided into the year. Every 2 months, we will work on creating a new health habit to build on the one created the months before. January and February the focus is Nutrition. I'm still working on my Nutrition habit, but it will do with eating proper meals on time. (I tend to eat when I remember or not at all... rather than when my body needs nutrients.)

I'm also creating a habit to be thankful. To help me with this habit, each day I'm writing down at least one thing for which I'm thankful.

Another habit I want to create is to be more aware of and encourage others. I have to figure out exactly what I want to do, and how to make it into a habit.

It's not about a date, or creating some unobtainable goal, rather it's about what habits do I want to change, or create. I like the idea of building on habits throughout the year. The end result is to become a better person. Maybe if I do it slowly over the entire year, the habits I create will actually become part of my life. Habits don't happen all at once.. they are CREATED.

Beginning today, I will begin creating new habits.

Creating a positive day is about habits. To make creating a positive day a habit, write down something positive about each day... then increase it to several times a day.. than as many times as you need to remind yourself that there is much of which you can be positive!

Thanks to Digi Web Studio (www.digiwebstudio.com) for the penguin artwork used to create this blog post.

Am I REALLY thankful?

Two weeks out from my surgery. Had some bumps along the way...but things seem to have evened out a bit. Still know that healing isn't complete. The pain level is still higher than my "normal" pain; but bearable. Sometimes, I think God brings things into my life to increase my pain....so I'll be THANKFUL for my "normal" pain level. LOL 

I think that's true with many things in our lives. We aren't thankful for our daily living....until it changes. When our routines or traditions are interrupted, we than take notice. The old adage: "you don't know what you have until it's taken away", has a ring a truth to it. 

This has me thinking again.....what everyday routines would I miss is I couldn't do them? What has God given me that I take for granted? As Thanksgiving approaches, we often focus on "being thankful". But am I really thankful? Am I thankful for the daily gifts God gives me? Or do I assume that I 'deserve' these things? 

What routine things am I thankful for??? Wow...having milk in my refrigerator. Taking my meds is much easier with milk. Lately, I've been frustrated with my coffee maker...instead of complaining about it, I need to be thankful that I can make a cup of coffee or tea whenever I want one. So it's not the newest or the best...it works and I need to be thankful for that! Especially, when my Mom still boils water in a pan to make her instant.....Yet, she's very thankful for that!! 

I'm thankful for my sofa...so it's 15 years old and the green color is out of style now...but it's where I spend my day. I have a sofa where I can recline all day. It's has plenty of room for me to recline with my pillows. God knew when I bought it 15 years ago, that I'd be spending most of my day on it... So glad He knew which sofa would serve me the best. 

I'm thankful that I can read and for some good books to read. I have my favorites which I read everyday: the Bible, Pain Perplexity and Promotion, Psalms Now. And another book a friend gave me which I'm reading right now: Calm my Anxious Heart (Linda Dillow). 

I'm thankful for my stereo system (a gift from a friend). I can listen to the radio or CDs, and I can change it all without getting up off the sofa....it has a remote! That's important on those "can't move pain days". Guess, I have to add the remote to my thankful list too!! 

I'm thankful for Max, my parakeet. God continually teaches me using Max as an "object lesson". The main lesson God has taught me .....using Max is that God cares about the details! The smallest, tiniest, seemingly unimportant details.....yet, God is concerned and is not only aware, but takes care of those "unimportant" details. 

I think I'll continue this list....last year I kept track of my daily blessings....this year, I think I'll have 365 days of Thankfulness! Each day I'm going to write down something for which I'm thankful! Wow...what a great year it will be.....filled with thankfulness! 2010 will have 8,760 hours; that's 525,600 minutes; that's 31,536,000 seconds! How many of those hours, or minutes, or seconds will I spend thanking God?

Creating a positive day is all about your attitude. Your attitude determines your mindset. "if you think you will be", is true. That's way God says .....'whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.' (Philippians 4:8). God knows that what we think about we'll act upon. What are you thinking about today? What attitude will create your day today?

Cool site!

I just found to coolest site!  Attention all designers, teachers, marketing specialists, and creative people! You will want to check out this site! They have AMAZING designs for 3D projects. Need to add a punch to your marketing project? Check out

http://cartonus.com/

They have various layouts and designs for many projects. I'm sure you'd find something that would fit your need.
Their Shapes include:

• Attractive cartons (4)
• Base cartons (16)
• Bottle hangers (6)
• Bottle labels (1)
• CD/DVD folders (1)
• Cake cartons (2)
• Calendars (2)
• Chocolate cartons (4)
• Envelopes (5)
• Handbag cartons (1)
• Hexagonal cartons (3)
• Match cartons (3)
• New year cartons (2)
• Paper bags (9)
• Pencil cartons (5)
• Pentagonal cartons (1)
• Pocket folders (5)
• Post cards (3)
• Rectangular cartons (6)
• Shelf talkers (3)
• Tent cards (1)
• Tray and lid cartons (15)
• Triangular cartons (3)

Creating a positive day is easy when you find a great site like CARTONUS.com. Looking forward to making some great projects using the designs available at CARTONUS.com!