I believe books can serve many purposes in a person's life. They can show us new things. They can entertain us. They can transform us. And my personal favorite, they can help us through rough times. On Wednesday I talked a little about my plans for 2016 and how I am going to work on personal growth within my self and appreciating the little things. Finding gratitude. I am doing this by trying new things, falling in love with old passions, and reading lots of books.

Some of the books I have added to my reading shelf this year have a lot to do with finding happiness and appreciating things around me. I was never big into self help books, but I am on my second book this year and I am enjoying learning new ways to explore my own feelings and needs.


Here is just a taste of some of the books I am planning to explore this year:

• The Happy Stepmother: Stay Sane, Empower Yourself, Thrive in Your New Family by Rachelle Katz 

• The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year of Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform your Life by Janice Kaplan

•  The Wishing Year: An Experiment in Desire by Noelle Oxenhandler

• Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life by Gretchen Rubin

• Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and be Your Own Person by Shonda Rimes

• Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin by Norah Vincent

• Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro

• The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion by Elle Luna

What are some of the books you are planning to read this year? Have you read any of these? Any suggestions?

I hope you all have a nice and relaxing weekend!
 

It's Wednesday, my nose is stuffy and I'm currently typing this on my phone from my bed with my fluff ball Grace laying on my chest. This is the sick life. I feel very grateful for this moment. There us so much peace and quiet in this moment. I feel at ease and for once that everything will be okay.

That thought reminds me that I haven't set myself any goals for the year yet. Something I was taking the month if January to figure out. As I lay here in peace it makes me want to learn how to be grateful again, even when I've had a bad day.

I've added a slew of books to my reading list this year, in hope to retrain my thoughts to stop focusing only on the negatives.  I've already checked out 5 books from the library to help get me started. I'm planning to read them in between all of my fun reads for the year.

These books put my goals into place for me. I'm going to intertwine all my monthly goals with personal growth and gratitude. On Friday I want to share the books I'm planning to read and how they are shaping out my year.

It's time to take back the positive and make it the best year yet. How are you shaping your year?

Now I'm going back to snuggling with Grace.

Happy Wednesday :)

Did you ever have such a strong connection to something, you knew you had to have it? No matter what you did you couldn't get that thing off your mind? That's how I felt last week at work.

Back in November I started a new job at my local SPCA. I am surrounded by cute and cuddly kitties and dogs all day, every day. When I took the job I got asked a lot how I was going to manage not adopting every animal that came through the door. That was a simple response; "I can't have pets at my apartment so there's no issue there." Or so I thought.

On January 8th this really cute kitten came in. She was a stray and pretty malnourished. She was pretty tiny for her estimated age and she was really really shy. I walked past her cage that day and fell in love instantly. She hadn't been named yet and was being taken out of her cage for an exam and some vaccinations. I went into the next room and could hear her little screams as she got poked and prodded. My heart ached.

I walked past her cage everyday as she went through the process of getting closer to being on the adoption floor. I stopped and talked to her any chance I got and she slowly came around to feeling at ease with me. She had even gone as far as putting her little paw outside of her cage to bat at me. I was hooked.

On Wednesday of this past week I went to talk to her and she was gone. I went into a slight panic. Where could she of gone? I didn't see her on the floor. Had something went wrong? I got scared and ran to the computer to see where she was. Instant relief. I had forgotten it was Wednesday. She was in surgery for her spay. Whew. I felt better. That also made me worry. She was getting closer to being ready for adoption.

Thursday morning I came into work and there she was. She was on the adoption floor. I nearly cried. I had such a connection to this kitty. I knew I couldn't have her, but I just couldn't accept that. I spoke to R. I was going to ask the apartment complex if they would make an exception. He said it was okay, but not to get my hopes up. I put my kitty on hold so no one else could take her home in the process.

Any interested adopter can place a 48 hour hold on an animal if they have to think about it or get further clearance to get a pet with us. This was a god send for me, but also made me nervous. I could still end up not taking this pretty girl home with me. I heard nothing on Thursday. Nothing at all.

Friday morning came and I knew if I didn't get some kind of response I would have to give her up. Everyone immediately asked if I had heard anything. Nope. I looked at my e-mail at 9am and there it was. A response. My heart started to pound. I got nervous again. Here goes nothing..

Hi Trish,
One cat would be fine..  

That's all I could see. She was mine. I was going to take her home today! Friday my life got a little happier. I brought home a 6 month old buff colored kitten with white patches on her chest and feet. She is very small for her age, but she is doing great. She has fit in perfectly and is already ruling our home. She love both R and I equally and doesn't like to take her eyes off of either of us. She bounces back and forth to both of us

Meet Grace.


Life is good today. How was your weekend?