Gratitude Project: Complete!

Today is August 19, which means I am 30 years old, and it has been 30 days since I started my daily gratitude project!  I actually can't believe I was able to keep up with it because there really aren't too many things I am successful at doing consistently now that I have a baby in the home. But, this was important and I wanted to do something intentional as I closed one decade of my life and entered a new one.

One thing that I really liked about this little project was that it helped me focus more on the positive things in my life during the day. Since I spend a lot of time in the car each day, I really enjoyed thinking about who I would write about in my gratitude blog that day. Some days it was easy, because of something that happened, but other days it was hard to choose just one person. The other thing this made me think about was that there is something I am grateful for about pretty much everyone I know. In this project I got to write about people that I love, old friends and new, co-workers, those who have passed away and people that I don't even know. There are people that play major and minor roles in our lives, but all are significant.

So, bottom line is that I am so grateful for this life I have and that is because of all the awesome people in it! THANKS to everyone who has helped make these last 30 years wonderful!
~Carly

and here is the link to the video that inspired me to express my gratitude in this way...

Soul Pancake- Science of Happiness

Angela

Today is the last day of my twenties, and I am spending it mostly in bed and on the couch. Everyone in my home is sick and it forced us to cancel our birthday plans for this weekend. I am thinking that I won't be better tomorrow, either. Oh how I hate to call in sick...and on a Monday...and on your birthday. Ugh!  As I have laid here all weekend hoping and trying to make myself think that I will be well on Monday, I realize that viruses do not operate on a work-week schedule. I will have to be out sick, but I am really grateful that I have such a supportive and understanding boss.

Angela has been my supervisor for almost 5 years and I feel so grateful to have her. She is understanding, fair, easy to approach, and just a really good person. She has helped me grow into a confident professional and has set a really good example of how a leader should treat her subordinates. To work in an environment where you feel respected and valued is something that I know is rare. I appreciate the fact that she works hard to make work-life the best it can be for us. Last week I was selected to take out one of the surveyors who came to audit our agency. Afterward, Angela gave me a thank-you card for doing a good job and said how much she appreciated me. I thought that was pretty cool--not every worker gets a thank-you card for just doing their job from their boss.

As a new mom working full-time, it was hard to know what to expect when I came back to work. There have been days (and weeks) that have been challenging, but I always feel like I can ask for help when I need it and that I can be my true self at the office. She has really made my transition back to work a positive one and without the support, I don't know how I would have done it. 

Brandi

Brandi is another sweet friend I met through work. Although we were at UT at the same time for undergrad, we didn't meet until a couple years ago. I remember the day that I took her to train in the hospitals and I knew that immediately that she was going to such a great hospice social worker. She has a calm and compassionate demeanor and I am always inspired by her work ethic and the way that she goes above and beyond for the people that she serves.

Brandi is someone I can always rely on for support, and just to listen. She has become a good friend and I feel really blessed to know her.

Megan

Megan is another awesome friend that I met through work. I first met her when we were co-counselors at Camp Braveheart and instantly liked her. Megan is kind, generous, down-to-Earth, and has a very warm spirit. It wasn't until the last couple years that I was able to work more closely with her in the office, that we became closer outside of work.

I mentioned her generosity. She is the type that is always willing to help someone in need. There have been a couple occasions when my spirits have been down, and Megan took me out for dinner or brunch because she knew that would help, and it did. Her kindness extends to others all around her. She is perfect for her job, part of which entails running a program that helps hospice patients who have pets that they need help with- either with food, respite care, re-homing, etc...

One of the coolest things about Megan I think is her tattoo of her pet guinea pig, Eleanor. It may sound a bit strange, but if you know her, and the circumstances surrounding how she came to adopt Eleanor, it makes perfect sense. Basically she adopted and fell in love with a young patient's pet and has given it a life that is probably one of the best any guinea pig will ever have! And he (it's a boy) will be immortalized in ink on her forearm.

Megan makes me laugh and is so fun to be around. She is another that I am grateful to call friend!

Lauren

Everyone I have ever met from North Carolina, I really like. Lauren(who is a NC native)is someone that I met when I started my first job out of collge in 2004. She started the job just a few weeks before me and we became instant friends. When I look back on that period of my life, I am SO grateful she was there to help me through it. We had a lot of fun during the 7 months that we worked there together (it felt so much longer than that)and when I lived in Dallas.

 Lauren is one of those people who is genunie and kind, but real and fun. Her friendship is one that I miss the most from those days. Lauren is the type of person that you wish you lived next door to so you could just visit with often. I still e-mail her every so often for parenting advice and tipds. She is resourceful and full of good ideas. Even though Lauren and her husband have since moved a couple of times and have a growing family, I hope that our paths will cross again one day. You never know! I actually did have the pleasure of seeing them when they were in Michigan for a summer and I was there, too. That was really fun.

Daycare workers

Yesterday my sister watched Ruby for the day. When I picked her up, she remarked at just how much work it was to watch one baby, let alone 10+ like the daycare caregivers do. I personally cannot imagine doing that work every day, but I am grateful there are people who do work in that capacity. Lately I find that as soon as I drop off my daughter in the mornings, I have some sense of relief and can shift my focus toward my 9-5 work, without worrying too much about my daughter. Sometimes I try to imagine what it would be like to come to the daycare as my job. I would not last long. I know that daycares often get a bad wrap, and I too complain about how expensive they are, but the people there do work really hard and are really un-sung heroes. These pepole make it possible for me to exist in this world doing the two things that I care about the most: work in a field that gives me purpose and care for my family, which also gives me purpose. I wish I had the resources to pay these people what they actually deserve, and give them benefits that they should have such as sick time, but I can't. They show up every day with the charge of caring for my most precious possession (if you will) and keep her safe, fed, clean, and for the most part, happy. Oh, and they really do love her. I am thankful for all the caregivers who love my child and other children who are not theirs, and who work hard so that parents can also work hard outside the home.

Ryan D.

Ryan and I met during orientation of graduate school. She came up to me and said that I looked familiar to her, but it seemed as though we had never met before. Ryan and I ended up being in the same class for our practicum and then we also ended up being at the same site for our internship...in Temple. Turns out we were also at the same unit and interned together there during that first semester. We carpooled to Temple twice a week and spent many hours, early hours, discussing everything under the sun.

When I look back upon that time in my life, I see Ryan there navigating it together. There were a lot of challenges and angst we both faced that year, but I would say both of us grew and created better paths for ourselves. It is always nice to have a person to share an experience with and I won't ever forget our time together. Whenever I drive up to Dallas, and pass through Temple, I think if Ryan and me. I remember her telling me that the reason I could never remember the exit to get off at was a sign that I really did not want to be there. Ha!

Ryan got married just a couple months before Nick and I did, and she had her first daughter 6 weeks before Ruby was born. I am grateful for her support during the early days of navigating motherhood. She is someone I know can relate to the joys and challenges that this phase of life brings.