Two exciting things to talk about today! Let’s start with the winner of the Quickie Chick book giveaway…
Congratulations to Laurel. Please contact me to collect your new cheat sheet to life!
Of course if you didn’t win I REALLY encourage you to go out and purchase this quickie work of art. This book is one for the bedside table for sure. QuickieChick’s Cheat Sheet to Life, Love, Food, Fitness, Fashion, and Finance—on a Less-Than-Fabulous Budget hits shelves today and can be purchased at a bargain price.
In other exciting news…Saturday was my 1-year wedding anniversary! I truly can’t believe how quickly time goes and how much has happened since that amazing day.
A year ago I was here:
And here we are now living our newlywed life in NYC:
Please note that there is not a cloud in the sky on our 1-year anniversary as we took a boat from the city to none other than the BEACH. Talk about a weather change, right?
David and I made our 1-year anniversary super special (boat ride, beach day, dinner out….oh, and finishing Breaking Bad season 4 while cuddling on the couch! Such a FANTASTIC show!) and it got me thinking about celebrating milestones, whether big or small.
When was the last time you celebrated a milestone? We are so caught up in living a dizzingly busy lifestyle that we often forget to stop, breath and reflect on our accomplishments.
So how can you start celebrating on more than just holidays and birthdays?
Be on the Lookout for 5 Yays: Everyday make a mental note of 5 “yay” moments. This can be eating a perfectly portioned meal, doing an extra rep at the gym, catching up with a friend, completing a big project at work. All accomplishments in and outside of the workplace should be acknowledged with a “yay.” This is your opportunity to pamper yourself and brag about your daily accomplishments to the person who cares the most…you!
Make a Monthly Accomplishment List: Making a list of big and small accomplishments will help you realize how much you complete and achieve day-to-day. Write everything down whether it is work, fitness, personal, kid, family, blog related. Carry a small notebook around with you that will be home to this list so you are constantly reminded to add to it. At the end of every month review your milestone list…trust me, you will be in awe of all that you have done in just 30 days.
Actually Celebrate your Milestones: This sounds like a “duh” thing to say, but we breeze pass these celebratory moments and only sometimes give focus to ourselves on birthdays or other holidays. Celebrating your accomplishments doesn’t need to be a big to-do with a hoopla of friends and family around. It can be just you patting yourself on the back (literally…do it!), buying a book, a spa day, a day trip, cooking your favorite meal or it can be shared with those you love. Celebrate the way you know how and appreciate whatever milestone YOU accomplished. Pick one (or many) things to celebrate from your accomplishment list. Celebrating should be second nature!
Celebrations remind you to cherish those moments of fun and accomplishment. And, more importantly, these mini-brations reinforce achievement no matter how small. Marking your milestones should be a regular practice to boost confidence, see results and bring you joy.
Celebrate more…and please, invite me to the party!
How about you? Do you take time to acknowledge your milestones? Let us know!
Feature photo via
Ohhh I love this post! I so agree that physically rejoicing in the small and big things in life can make such a difference–and going back to them can be such a joy too! And happy late 1 year anniversary girl!!! i LOVE that you got unexpected snow in that pic. 😀
ps: I haven’t done this in a lil while now, but I def. should start b/c I was thinking about it yesterday and now you reminded me of it! I usually like to write down prayers for my life, other people, etc., and then when they’ve been answered, I’ll go back and check them off as a reminder to rejoice! 😀
Ellie, I love your prayer list idea. That is so awesome. A great idea that surely shows where your treasures are. Thanks for the share!
Thanks! The snow was unexpected, but made for some great pics at my “spring” wedding:)
I love your prayer list and more importantly how you make note of when changes are made. What a wonderful idea. Thanks Ellie!
Such a great post!! I love it!
I do celebrate and treasure the special moments of each day and year.
Beautiful wedding pictures, by the way.. I can’t beilieve it snowed in May but it sure made for some incredible shots! Congrats and here is to many more! I have been married 17 years and it still seems like yesterday (except for doc’s mullet!)
I love it that you are treasuring each and every wonderful moment. I like that you celebrate those moments daily.
Sometimes in our hectic lives it is hard to remember to look at those great “Yay” moments in every day. Yet, everyday does truly have them. They are a treasure. Life is too short not to celebrate them. Thanks for the great reminders to do so.
I am so glad to hear that Jana! Hope you have some “yay” moments today:)
And thanks for the wedding pic compliments. The pics did turn out amazing and it definitely was an event that will never be forgotten. I will share more later!
I would really love to see them! I really should renew my vows just so I can have another wedding. Soooooo fun!
Oh man, I love this. I must confess I like to look for any reason I can to celebrate. Even if I’m just having coffee with a friend I like to toast to whatever interesting thing is going on. Or if things aren’t going well I have a friend who always toasts to the dark before the dawn with me…
Ha! So true Ellen, so true! Daily gratitude lists are my check-in on what’s truly celebratory in my life – but I love this reminder to really allow myself to CELEBRATE (woot woot!) those milestones. I tend to hide behind the face of “humility” when in reality it would be more joyful to embrace those happy moments when they come!
So from me to all of you – HOOTY HOO!
That’s great! Maybe I should start doing that even if it is just dinner at home!
A belated Happy first Wedding Anniversary! It’s got to be the most special of them all!
My hubby and I took a second honeymoon that year; I couldn’t have champagne though, as I was newly pregnant with our first child!
Your post today is fantastic! I’m always encouraging my clients to ‘celebrate the little victories’, but somehow, I never seem to do it myself. That’s got to stop.
I already have a notebook that houses everything I need to do; I think I’ll start a section at the back that celebrates everything I’ve managed to get done!
Sometimes it is hardest to apply your own words of advice to yourself…but I agree that has to change! It was such a special celebratory day/weekend. I want to do it all again! Thanks for your kind words and wisdom:)
Celebrating with you! Today is my 19th anniversary. We usually have the wedding photo album out during May and watch the wedding video.
It would do us all good to find 5 Yays~I will definitely start that! So fun to see your snowy wedding pix, thanks for sharing.
Happy Anniversary to you Amy! We got a picture book with our photography package and looked through it on our anniversary. It is so fun to relive those memories.
Hope you find lots of “yays” now that you are on the look out for them.
Im late.
Im celebrating anyway.
EACH DAY.
the mere fact I rise back up again 🙂
xo
Congratulations on your wedding anniversary! I wish you a long and happy marriage. I try to celebrate things through expressions of gratitude. Even if it is small things, like spending the weekend with family, I try to reflect on how lucky I am that everyone is healthy and that I got the time to hang out with them. I did some traveling this year and saw people living in difficult situations, which made me even more grateful for what I had–a healthy family, clean air, a home. So, I try to celebrate these things, which are simple but so important to my happiness! Have a great day!
Thank you! I think it is awesome that you bring that perceptive into your day-to-day…that is something we should all strive to do! Sometimes the simplest things bring a huge amount of importance.
This is something I am really trying to do. Focus on day to day stuff…rejoice and appreciate that small things. One day you will look back and realize all those small things were really big things!! : ) Great post!!
I think this is such an important topic since we all tend to breeze through our days. Get those 5 yays going! Thanks for stopping by Jessica!