Priceless Back to School Remedy

It’s that Time of Year Again…Back to school! Wishing you lots of success and achievement.

And don’t forget to have fun along the way!

I have some friends who have children going off to college this year ~ some are even off to camp for the last part of the summer as well!  And as always, I suggest my secret remedy to keeping up with your kids while they are away ~ one that is sure to make them smile and let them know how much you love them!  It’s getting that little bit of home along with a special care package that makes them smile when they check their mailboxes!

I remember being a college student (it seems like it wasn’t that long ago!) and I was overjoyed when there was a package note for me in my mailbox!  Heck, even a card or letter made me happy!  There’s nothing harder for a student away at college for the first time than seeing an empty mailbox over and over.  Sometimes it’s just a little note that can brighten their day!  Just a little ~ I am thinking of you ~ that makes all the difference!

You know what I mean don’t you?  Haven’t you ever gone to your mailbox only to find a little personal note from a friend?  You know that it’s the one you open first ~ it’s that “oh, someone thought of me today and sent me a card!” happy feeling!  There’s nothing like it as far as I”m concerned…it’s a priceless moment.

But cards are expensive and I don’t have time ~ I buy cards and then can’t find the stamps ~ who has the time to write letters anymore?  Snail mail?  Why I keep up with my kids via texts, Skype and email!  They don’t need cards ~ it’s just a waste of time and money!

Believe me, I’ve heard all of your excuses and I have a remedy for them!

What if…

• a greeting card cost you less than $2 plus postage?
• you could choose your card from a card catalog of over 17K cards without getting out of your jammies 24/7 and without setting foot in a store?
• you never had to worry about finding a stamp to send the card that you just purchased?
• you could send gift cards, brownies, books, and even presents along with your card?
• you could write in your own handwriting and sign with your own signature?
• your cards could be scheduled ~ send one today, one next week ~ up to a year in advance?
• you could create your own card, add photos and even a video?
• you would never forget a birthday because you’d have a built in reminder?

The answer is simple:  Click Here!  and send a card on me ~ to your favorite camper, college student, housebound friend/family member, to a niece, a nephew, to your mom, to your spouse ~ the possibilities are endless ~ but send one.  Take 10 minutes today and just send a card.

It’s a priceless feeling to Send Out Love!

And a priceless feeling to receive it!

Shine On!

xo

Love vs Happiness

Really knowing how to love is essential to really being happy…

In loving relationships, be it marriage, dating, friendship or familial, the essential ingredient to keeping the relationship thriving is that both people are happy.  Don’t you agree?  But when one partner, friend, spouse, person, is unhappy, the seesaw in the relationship begins to tip and thus ensues a balancing act and a scramble to either fix the seesaw so that both parties are happy or to simply get off of the seesaw and dissolve the relationship.  Does it sound easy?  Nah, you know it’s not.

But we balance that seesaw daily when we’re married or in a relationship.  We give and take because we love our partner.  Some days we give more and some days we take more, but the bottom line is that this is a relationship between 2 people and outsiders need not apply.

Now let me just stop here and tell you that I’m happily married to my husband and we are just short of celebrating our our 19th wedding anniversary.  I want to clear that up before a friend reading my blog fears the worst.  Calm down dears, nothing here but a little love lesson.

When we toss around the word love in marriage, it encompasses so much more than we realize.  Love isn’t always that passionate french kissing of our youth and first dates ~ you remember those?  The days when you could kiss for hours because everything about him/her was so new!  It was like tasting chocolate for the first time ~ you wanted more and more.

But then as time goes on, sometimes the passion fizzles a bit, we begin to disconnect with each other,  life gets in the way, work takes over, children arrive and your free time to just enjoy your other half becomes non-existent ~ there is always something that needs to be done, a child who needs attention, a house that needs to be cleaned, bills that need to be paid, work that needs attending and that connection between the two of you gets swallowed up into the abyss of a fast-paced life called family.

Has this happened to you?  I think it happens to all of us once in awhile.  The key here is to realize it and reconnect.  But the reason I chose the card above is that I wanted to remind you and myself that we are the owners of our own happiness.  It’s not our spouse/partner’s responsibility to make us happy.  That’s OUR responsibility.  Just because we’re in love (or like) doesn’t mean that we can pass the baton of happiness over to our other half and put him/her in charge of making us happy.  No matter with whom we’re partnering, we are responsible for ourselves.

Does that make sense?   Love and happiness go hand in hand like all good relationships do ~ but the key is to hang onto your happiness and not give that job away ~ this is your life, this is your happiness and this is your love.  Life begins with self-love and once you’ve got that, happiness steps up and you’ve got it made!

Shine On!

xo