Small Talk

Mishmash of thoughts today-

What would the world look like with no opinions, unless asked?

Better yet, what would the world look like if we listened more then we spoke. What if our focus was more-so on keeping quiet and blessing others.

How would this effect people’s mental state.

So many people have self doubt on the daily.

They question everything. It seems as if everyone needs approval in order to get through a day. Yes, I do blame social media for this. Which is why I will never, ever go back to it. (Insert opinion) 😉

Recently, I had someone staying with me at my house that kept asking me if such and such was my favorite.

Ex. If I wore black two days in a row or used the same coffee mug, they would ask me if it was my favorite.

I kept saying no. And I was being honest.

Truth is, I don’t really put much thought into things that I do on the daily.

I’ve become more of a grab and go type of person.

But being asked so many times if something was my favorite and then feeling the need to explain why it wasn’t, was exhausting.

This got me thinking of what a world might look like if we agreed with everything.

If asked if such and such was my favorite, I could have simply said yes.

If someone asks if I like such and such.. say yes! (This would have put an end to many a debate in the past.)

These are small things, mind you. I’m not talking about world events, religion, or any thing heavy.

Just small chat, where by agreeing with the other person, you are actually performing a selfless act of making that other person feel good.

I know we all have opinions. And that’s normal. But on the other side of the token, it does, and has, caused so much division among family and friends.

So I’m going to challenge myself starting tomorrow.

In fact, I technically already started.

I was at Walmart tonight and while looking at the Christmas decor, a lady next to me held up some gaudy looking garland and looked at me with a smile, and said…”Sure is beautiful huh?”

Did I think it was beautiful? No. I thought it was gaudy. But what good would have came if I would have told her that. Instead,

I agreed with her. She smiled and then picked up a couple more packs and off she went.

I also stopped to help an older woman choose a tree and ornaments. She didn’t ask, but she looked like she needed a helping hand. In doing so.. she shared bits about her life with me.

As I’m getting older, (today was my birthday,btw) I’m realizing that I never want to be too busy to help a stranger.

I don’t want to be so caught up with myself that I can’t smile back at someone, or help them put there groceries in there car if they are struggling.

I don’t want to loose sight and become blinded by what’s happening around me. I don’t want to be self absorbed 24/7.

As cliche’ as it sounds, true happiness & contentment really does have more to do with helping others..

Everything always seems to just work itself out organically when you know who’s driving your steering wheel in life.

The Lord is my Sheppard, and has never once led me astray.

I want to bless others and become as selfless as I can.

I want to make people smile again. ❤️

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Santa came early

Santa came early for my teen son. He’s been wanting a gaming keyboard/mouse/ monitor set up all year.

His 20″ monitor will arrive next week, but his keyboard and mouse arrived today and he was the one who got the mail, so I let him open it.

He was so excited. My mommy heart skipped a beat!

I also ordered my 13 year old daughter this lovely necklace to represent her trying everything her heart desires to try…

never listening to the “It will never happen” or the the “what if I fails?”

The necklace says, “Oh but what if it does”

Meaning your dreams coming true. ❤️

All my Christmas shopping is finally done. I finished yesterday online.

Also, my new tree came in and is all set up. I love it so much!

Almost touches the ceiling.

And these below are some hand crocheted ornaments they my daughter whipped up last night while we were watching a Hallmark Christmas movie. ❤️

Fitbit charge 2

If anyone has a Fitbit and wants to be added to my friend list. 😁

I’m really into tracking my miles and sleep each night and comparing and cheering others on. This is my sleep study from last night.

After about a month of trying different things, I’m getting exactly the right amount of R.E.M. And Deep sleep that my body needs. And it feels so good!

National Geographic

While waiting in the doctors office the other day I decided to put my phone down and do something out of the ordinary.

You know; read a magazine, like they did back in the days…

This particularly copy of National Geography caught my eye.

I’m still confused by the cover chosen. I guess National Geographic magazine has changed a lot since I was a kid.

But when I opened to see a layout of bathroom

Selfies, I was even more confused.🤔

<<
y! Life keeps changing…and I'm having an awful hard time keeping up. 😐

Black Friday Shopping

We ended up going to the Burlington Coat factory today.

I’ve never been before. But I have a cousin visiting me who loves it, so we were going for her.

I found it to be very similar to Gabes.

Nothing too spectacular. And despite what I bought, which was quite a bit. I probably wouldn’t go back. I prefer TJ Max or Marshall’s. Also similar.

It was super busy.

And whole store was in shambles.

But then again, we went after the Black Friday morning rush. So I probably shouldn’t judge the store so harshly.

Up until today, I thought it was solely a coat store.😁

So what did I buy today..

I bought three pairs of Calvin Klein slides to resell.

They were reduced to $7.99 each

Two Fancy Bath Soaps $8

(No picture, I opened them up and put them in each of the bathrooms before I snapped these pics.)

BeBe lipgloss set $6 (Already opened and swatched them all. Very cheap feeling with no pigmentation.)

A new makeup brush set that I e been wanting to try out. $10

Green Tea (Tried some and it tastes very medicinal.) $3

Radio Active Coffee $5 (I will be trying is in the morning!)

Clippers (No picture because they are a gift.) $5

A new mug ❤️ $3

Then we went to Mega Thrift because they were having a 75% off sale. So I put in a hour of work.

Here is what I bought there:

1. A vintage two piece kinky fleece pajama set.

2. A life is good sweatshirt

3. A Talbots pink cardigan

4. Vintage hiking pants

5. Three pairs of shoes

Total cost: $19.89

And there you have it. Very simple day.

It ended with Cracker Barrel, which is always a treat.

JC Penny’s line

She is obviously thrilled to be in my picture. 😁

<<
en there was this dude who kept complaining he was cold… umm, perhaps you should pull your jeans up buddy. 🤣

We were getting cold!

Opps, bye-bye yellow tape!

Last minute decisions were made and several people l were putting things back, randomly, on this mattress set.

My daughter taking a break. She had the wrong shoes on today. But said she had a blast and is ready for more shopping tomorrow.

We were the 13th people outside in line at the mall today. We ended up with six $10 gift cards that they were giving away to the first people in line. The lady in front of us got a $100 gift certificate, and a man in the back of us got one of the $500 ones. We always seem to get the $10 ones though. Still a lot when we group them all together.I bought a professional clothes steamer, a pink velvet duster, a pair of leather boots, slipper, gloves, and some socks. Regular price of steamer was $119Door price: $29.99 After $10 gift card: $19.99Velvet duster was $69On Sale for $27Reduced 50% of lowest sticker: $13.50After $10 gift card- $3.50Two pair of gloves were $5 each Free after gift card.Boots were $79Door Price: $19.99$10 gift card made them cost only $10Two tops were $37 eachDoor prices were $10 eachWith $10 gift card the were $10 for both. 😃

I also went to Sephora and bought a bunch of stocking stuffers. They were $35 each, The door prices were $10 each. We were in line to pay for the usual amount of time. 2 hours.

We are hitting the Burlington Coat Factory tomorrow. Possibly Belks, and Best Bye. We will see! Now it’s time to eat my homemade Pumpkin roll and watch Hallmark movies. I hope everyone had a fun, and Safe Thanksgiving Day. ❤️
gt;

Thanksgiving Day Shopping

I’m pretty excited about tomorrow. I don’t have any extended family near me, and my husbands family does their own thing. Neither of us comes from a traditional background. So we have always kind of made up our own traditions.

Regarding Thanksgiving, we have made it a family tradition to do all of our Christmas shopping on Thanksgiving.

We plan to be in line by noon. Doors open at 2pm.

We look forward to it every year!

The excitement and adrenaline rush is real! 😁

It’s so nice not having to wait till Friday. And I’m not much of a morning person, so this always works out great.

Then the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I make us a big Turkey dinner and we play board games, decorate the tree, and watch Christmas movies.

I love how we have made our own Holiday traditions.

I hear a lot of people enjoying their Thanksgiving Day out shopping. You really get to know people while waiting in lines. Much like a concert. Everyone has their own stories..

Not everyone comes from large families, or wants to stick with tradition. And I’m a’okay with that. ❤️

Starbucks controversial cups

I woke up this morning, and stopped at Starbucks, before heading to an early morning doctors appointment.

While drinking my latte’ I scanned through what’s trending, and of course, Starbucks coffee cups were being discussed..

Apparently, there is a lesbian couple holding hands on their new Holiday cup. A faceless couple, actually.

I first caught wind of this new cup design last month when it launched. I thought it was cute, that they could be colored, as adult coloring is still very much on the rise.

I still color with my kids, but I cant say I break out the crayons while out and about. But I realize that coloring is a lot of people’s Happy Place. It’s said to help with anxiety, much like therapy pets. So be it! Both are harmless.

I thought the cup was pretty cool when I first saw it. Very trendy! Hip! Cool to look at. Much like the adult coloring books. L

But as always, nothing can be that simple…because everything has an agenda in today’s world. *sigh*

I haven’t seen the Starbucks commercial that is being discussed, regarding this new cup, but apparently it starts off with two women and ends with them walking away, and as you can guess…. Holding Hands…

Why can’t we just enjoy a coffee or latte’?!

Why?!

Of course this also touches in with how Children’s friendships differ then adults. (And I’m only mentioning this because I just blogged about friendships yesterday.)

I remember as a young girl holding hands with my friends.. All the time. I still see it today.

I drop my ten year old daughter off at her friends house and her friend runs up to greet her, grabbing her hand, and running off to play.

But you see, as an adult, that would seem odd to see.

Now I do have my friends greet me with a hug, but if they grabbed my hand while we ran off to a shopping center, I would find that, well, odd.

But that’s another story for another time.

Whether it’s Starbucks, or your local coffee shop. Why not just leave it alone and let people drink their coffees without having any hidden agendas. I understand peoples frustrations. 😔

Of course there was that one year where Starbucks had those plain red cups, but there was even controversy over them..

And if you look back, this always turns into a liberal/conservative thing.

Christian’s calling out Starbucks for taking Christ out of Christmas.

Being a Christian myself, I find it dumb. Yes. Dumb.

You see, Starbucks is NOT a Christian organization. Nor has it ever claimed to be.

And if we, as Christian’s, choose not to support any non-Christian organizations, then we better stop with the hipporacy, live in a glass bubble and not support any company’s other then Hobby Lobby and Chick fil’ lay. And some say they are both questionable. 😐

This goes for liberals getting upset when the local bakery chooses not to make that ‘special cake’ for their wedding too.

Sure, it would be nice if company’s would just provide a service.

To everyone! But that is not the world we live in.

We live in a world of division. And people just need to deal with it..

It’s dumb to loose sleep and let these petty things steal your joy.

Friendships

I was watching a YouTube video the other day of a women who is married to a billionaire. She does YouTube videos for fun.

I came across her channel because it was one of those suggested videos, that I generally just bypass.

The women was so beautiful in the screenshot for her video, it made me click on it to see what nationality she was. I know that sounds odd. But I guessed right. 😉

Her video was a hour long. It was on friendships. I actually allowed myself the whole hour to listen to it while I was taking pictures for this weeks eBay listings. (Another Ebay blog coming up next)

I’ve listened to many vlogs about friendships in the past. I’ve always found it fascinating how friendships change every decade or so. Mainly because people move, or switch jobs, churches, etc.

And don’t get me started about how childhood friendships differ, from adult ones.

I still chuckle, while recalling my childhood best friends mother telling me how important childhood friendships are because they pave the way and teach us how to be good friends as adults.

I was twelve at the time of her telling me this.

Well Mrs. Bower, I have to disagree. Childhood friendships are the polar opposite of adult ones.

I had tons on childhood friendships. Too many best friends to even count. And none of them taught me about friendship.

Adult friendships are completely different then grade school friendships. But I suppose that would have been a Debbie downer to tell me that as a kid.

Getting back to the beautiful YouTube blogger. And I’m pretty sure she’s the prettiest women I have ever seen. Of course I’m

not a man, so what I consider beautiful may very well differ…;)

One thing she said stood out to me in neon.

So much so, that I shared it with a couple random people today that struck up conversations about friends.

What was it, you ask?

She said that in her forty-two years of living.. and having many, many friendships, she’s learned that if you have ever had a friend turn enemy, then that so called friend, was never your friend to begin with. In fact, the day that she, or he, met you… they were an enemy. A devil in disguise, sorta speak.

She went on to share what the definition of an enemy was.

She wasn’t talking about a friend you once had.. and just casually parted ways with.. due to you outgrowing the friendship, or moving on with life.

No, an enemy is someone viscous who seeks out to gossip behind your back and ruin your reputation. Perhaps get you fired from a job. Spreads lies about you. Is jealous, Someone who once claimed to be a trusted friend. But had a motive from day one.

I had to think on these words for a moment. I paused and thought about all my past adult friendships. And I think I have only had two enemies in my life.

I thought her definition was ever so interesting.

Then she shared what true friendship was.

Someone that you may not talk with on the daily, but when you do catch up, it’s right where you left off.

There are no hidden agendas or motives.

You don’t expect anything from that person, or have to constantly hold their hand.

You may agree to disagree on matters, but they are a genuine friend who excepts you the way you are.

They are authentic.

I currently have a couple of friends that are in this category. One I’ve known for four years, and one I’ve known for twelve years.

I think as an adult, you have many acquaintances, but very few friendships. And that is okay.

It’s not a popularity contest anymore, as you age and mature.

And it certainly does not matter how many Instagram followers you have or how many likes on Facebook your posts get.

What matters is being the best version of yourself and being authentic.

I think as an adult, you have many acquaintances, but very few friendships. And that is okay. It’s not a popularity contest as you age and mature. And it certainly does not matter how many Instagram followers you have or how many likes on Facebook your posts get.

What matters is bring the best version of yourself and being authentic.

How does that old Dr. Seuss quote go again?

Christmas Tree

I just ordered a new Christmas tree from Michael’s.

Upgraded to a 7.5ft tree.

Regular price was $299

Sale price was $99

$106 with tax.

Should arrive next week. I will take a picture when it arrives. I think the sale is good until Saturday, if anyone needs a new tree.

Here is the link. 😉

7.5 ft tree

Michael’s Craft Store

Has anyone already decorated?

I still have all the Harvest decor out. We usually start after Thanksgiving with the Christmas things. 🎄