Motivation for Your Monday

Happy Monday! Today is a bit chilly and quite wet in Florida and it is this weather that I absolutely love. We do not get many days where all you want to do is cuttle up on a patio with a good book and a warm mug of coffee, but this is one of them. Hopefully, that will be a bit of my future today! I also need to get to wrapping and order the last few gifts for under our tree and, of course, actual work as well ;) How is your Christmas going so far?

Today, I decided to do something a bit different but oh-so important for the MFYM- talk about gratitude. This was yesterday's task in Elf 4 Health and it was wonderful. Seeing all the things that everyone was thankful for and making a list of my own had an amazing way of relieving so much stress. This and making a list of the next day's to-do's might become a nightly activity for me.

Today's motivation may take a bit longer than the usual reading of a quote, but I highly suggest you do it. It really does have an incredible ability to calm our mind and put the focus on what we have instead of what we need to do, the time we have wasted, the errands and meetings that must be checked off the list, those bills, and everything else that can so easily come in and change our perspective of the day. Here are the twenty things I am grateful for:

1. My husband- he is everything I need.
2. Our cats- they make me so happy and remind me about the important things in life. Chuu is on my lap cuddling and purring right now. Is there anything better? I think not ;)
3. My parents- they are kindness and support.
4. My in-laws- I am so thankful to have in-laws that I look up to and sincerely love.
5. My family- I am so thankful for a close, loving family.
6. God
7. Our friends- They are incredible.
8. My home- it is peaceful and perfect for us right now. It makes me happy.
9. Forgiveness
10. Love
11. Grace
12. People who help others- Especially those who help ones with no way of giving back.
13. Kindness
14. Our business- I know of no other business that encourages the good in people, positive change and growth, and rewards you for helping others. I am reminded of this every day. Here's to people following what they love instead of a cubicle.
15. Freedom- My goodness, how could I not be so thankful to live in a place and time where we are free.
16. The health of my family
17. The ability to grow and change
18. The ability to travel
19. The internet- it is magic that makes no sense but boy, do I love it!
20. Having enough food and water daily, without worry.

What are your twenty things?

Thanksgiving Workout

Well, we are officially running off for the holidays! I am so excited about Thanksgiving FINALLY being here, I simply cannot wait. This year, my Mom will be staying with us and her room is just about ready for her. We had the guest bedroom all finished, but then, around 1:00 AM on Monday evening I decided to completely redesign it and move all the furniture around. Two days later and we have some really cute mirrors, floating shelfs, a new nightstand, new bedding, a simple and gorgeous pendant light the hubs installed (my hero), and we are down a dresser that there really was not enough room for anyway. I also found this awesome bed from Target and am waiting for Black Friday/Cyber Monday to order it. For now, Mom will make due on the bed she has :) 

Oh, and pictures will be on the blog when it is all done, promise!

Aaand, back to Thanksgiving, the rest of our family will be arriving today as well, but we will probably not see them until tomorrow. As for what we are cooking, I am doing this vegetarian stuffing, a quick and easy bread bowl of artichoke dip, Brussels sprouts, and a breakfast crustless quiche for our house in the morning! Ahh, it will be so fun! 

Of course, with all this massive, massive eating comes a workout or two. Yesterday I did a 1.5-mile uphill run-a-thon followed by a bum workout and today I am thinking P90X Plyometrics. The little workout guide above was on the Elf 4 Health Facebook page and I thought you would enjoy it as much as I did. Goodness, we could make a pretty fantastic workout with just following what we eat. Mine would include about 30 push-ups, 150 jumping jacks, a whole ton of squats (maybe mix in some Sumo and jumping ones), and more burpees and mountain climbers than I can comprehend. And that is just the first set. Seconds and thirds would be a sure thing. 

Happy Thanksgiving! What would your Thanksgiving workout look like?