Leslie's Litter

 Over the years since I have started this blog I have gone from posting daily, weekly, randomly, and sometimes not at all.  I have always had the hope that I would be able to turn my blog into an income stream that would not necessarily support me and my family, but at least support my passion - traveling.  However, with my lack of consistency I have lost out on opportunities over the years, but it has all been at my own hands. I would like to say that 2021 is going to be THEE year.  The year that I focus on my blog. The year that I put my own wants first.  The year that I find consistency.  The year that I earn any kind of income from all of my writing.  However, in actuality, how do any of us know anything?  Who knows what 2021 will bring.  Who knows what TOMORROW will bring?   We can only control our attitude and our effort.  So, yes, I am going to go into 2021 with a positive attitude.  And yes, I am going to put forth...

  We all seem to have something that we find enjoyable or peaceful, that others think is strange, or just don't understand. Mine is surveys and product reviews.  I love doing this, and have done it for years!  It is calming, and a form of self-care.  I also love the benefits that I get from taking the surveys, and offering product reviews.  Yes, it can be time consuming, and sometimes I go weeks or months without logging into my accounts, but they are always there when I want to pick them back up. Just this year I have earned over $1,000 in gift cards to Target, Amazon, Macy's, Paypal and more.  I have also had the excitement of trying out new products including shampoo, conditioner, face lotion, and most recently an electric toothbrush. My husband used to make fun of me because I would sit up at night and do my surveys while we watched TV, or while he was out of town with work and I would be up all hours of the night.  Now, he enjoys the perks, and we...

In 2017 my team was tasked with exciting job of catering to the LPGA Marathon Classic for their week long golf tournament here in town.  We had less then 4 months to prepare, and we had never done anything on such a large scale before.  It was both exhilarating and terrifying, especially for an Enneagram 6 like me.  We are loyal and committed, but our biggest needs are security, and we fear not having the support and guidance needed.  What a way to walk into a task like this.   I was suddenly tasked with finding organizations to fill close to 200 shifts for concession stands, as well as around 75 employees to help me make this event a reality.  It took a lot of time, planning, questions, stress, and a roller coaster of emotions, but we did it!  It was amazing the feeling that you have after you accomplish something like that. Since then we have continued to receive this job each July, and each year has gotten a little easier.  We have ha...

I continuously make a commitment to myself to work on this blog... and I continuously fail to follow through.  Does anyone else have problems keeping promises to themselves? Now, here I sit at 11 p.m., on August 1st, writing a post.  Earlier this week I told myself (yet again) that I need to make my blog, and myself a priority, and yet I never took the time to sit down and write until I was ready to crawl into bed.  I forced myself to turn my computer back on and KEEP MY PROMISE TO MYSELF! So, here we are.  The beginning of another month.  Another opportunity for each of us to create our goals, organize our thoughts, and get back on track.  I find that every month on the First, I get to re-group, and realize where I stopped, and think about which parts of life I actually want to start up again. This month, I am going to remember to make time for myself.   It has been quite the year so far, for everyone, and so why not just take some time for yours...

This will be another fun holiday to celebrate, in quarantine. Luckily, things are starting to loosen up around our area so we are able to spend quality time with some of the family that we normally celebrate with, I was gifted a beautiful cart that we have had for close to 10 years sitting in our backyard.  My husband refurnished and repurposed it into a garden area for me so that I can enjoy my plants, without rabbits eating them, and without having to bend over to weed them and take care of them.  I also get the bonus of it having wheels, so when it decides that it is going to snow in the middle of May, I can just wheel it into the garage! This afternoon B decided to decorate the side of it with chalk, telling me how much she loves me, and that I am the best Mommy.  I planted tomatoes, mint, rosemary, kale and cucumbers.  Let's see how much of a green thumb I actually have! I was also given some lavender plants, as I have fell in love with lavender ove...

As you can see from previous posts... this blog is about nothing, and everything, all wrapped up into one website.   This started as a place to discuss the actions that my husband and I were taking to r educe our spending,  pay off debt, and try to retire at an early age.  At this time we had 3 cats, and a mountain of debt; home, cars, timeshare, student loans, and lots and lots of credit cards. Since then we have become parents to an amazing little girl, that deserves the world, and knows it.  She wants it all...and she wants it NOW!  (and yes, we listen to lots of Queen songs, I mean, who doesn't!??) We have been lucky enough to have steady jobs, and lots of opportunities over the years to work sides jobs for some additional income.  We followed Dave Ramsey for inspiration by listening to his radio show, reading the books, and listening to podcasts.  With all of this information we were able to pay off all of our debt, including our home,...

How has COVID-19 been treating your family?  Have you been cherishing the moments together as a family, laughing, snuggling, and playing more?  Or have you been scared, yelling, frustrated, and just trying to get through each day so that you can go to bed for as long as possible before starting all over?  Maybe you are having a mixture of these days.  Maybe the good outweighs the bad.  Or maybe for your family the bad is taking over with just a few days of happiness mixed in to keep you going. Either way, KEEP GOING.  We are all going through something, but it is not the same as anyone else.  I read this quote the other day, "We are all in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat." It resonated so much in life right now, and I am thinking that it is the same for so many of us. We are facing the same "COVID STORM" but everyone of us has a different set of circumstances. Have you lost your job?  Are you working from home, or do you...

Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo yesterday?  If so, awesome!  We did too!   If not, WHY NOT?!?! I don't drink anymore, but I can still celebrate. We didn't get to go anywhere, but we can still celebrate. Take every chance that you get right now to celebrate.  When life is a little "off" and things aren't as easy as they used to be, then we need to look for joy.  We need to find these reasons to celebrate, and as often as we can. Last night we ate Fajitas - chicken and beef - with guacamole, salsa, and all the toppings.  We drew our best verision of a Mariachi singer, and we sat together as a family.   Nothing over the top, nothing miraculous, but we laughed.  We smiled. We celebrated. What is something that you can celebrate today. The sunshine?  Getting a workout in?  Getting 10 workouts in a row done?  Not yelling at your child?  Even better.... your child doing their homework without you having to yell at...

Any one with children in school right now knows that this is a time period like no other.  Every school district is different in what it is asking of their children.  Some have given them a few pages to do at their leisure over the course of a week.  Others have a full days curriculum for each and every day, plus bonus activities.  Some have weekly meet-ups, some have no contact at all, and others have full daily classes that the students are asked to show up for.   As an adult I have always known that I was not meant to be a teacher.  I have some all kinds of personality tests throughout the years, as well as spiritual guides, and real-life experience through being a leader at my company, and each and every time teaching is at the bottom of my skill set.  I do not have it in me.  I am not patient, or understanding when it comes to learning and teaching.  I do not know how to explain why 2 plus 2 equals 4.  IT JUST DOES! ...

Prior to "Stay at Home" Life my mornings were rushed, to say the least.  I do not like to wake up in the morning, but love to get a lot of things off my to-do list before I walk out the door... a catch 22 of sorts. I would force myself out of bed as close to 7:15 a.m. as I could, rush to work out, shower, get myself dressed and then yell for B to get moving because we were going to be late.  She needed to wake up, get dressed, and eat breakfast while I packed her snack, lunch, and water bottle for school.  We would run around, and often leave the house grumpy because I yelled at her, or she didn't get what she wanted for breakfast because there wasn't enough time to make pancakes or eggs that day. Some days I would sleep in, not workout, and then still run around yelling because neither of us woke up until 8 a.m., and we had to walk out the door by 8:18 a.m. or we would be late to school...again. I was in the process of making a change at the beginning of March....

Gratitude.  Something that you hear about so much, and yet so few people actually practice. Gratitude is " the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness" Do you recognize this in your daily life?  Do you take the time to be thankful for everything that you are given?  Do you even realize all that you have to be thankful for?  Just because something bad  happens, does not mean that the whole day...week...month...year....will be bad.  Just that moment was bad.  It wasn't what you wanted or hoped for, but there are plenty more things that you can be on the lookout for to turn your attitude. If you look for things to be thankful for, you will find them surrounding you.  If you woke up today and started looking for blessings - a hot cup of tea, time to read, a smile and wave from a neighbor, being lucky enough to have your health, etc.  then you will continue to keep searching for blessings....

Over the past couple of weeks I have been very interested in Bicycles. Not the ones you ride, even though I have been going on more bike rides then usual as well, but the  decorative bicycles.  I have picked out some that I like for decoration on my porch, I have found note cards that have cute bicycles on them, and then yesterday for my birthday I received a card with an adorable bicycle filled with flowers, followed by an online picture that I was tagged in that read "Life is a Beautiful Ride" I kept thinking about how interesting it was that this kept coming up in my life, and so this morning I googled what a bicycle symbolizes.   According to  We Know Your Dreams  " Seeing a bicycle is a hint that you will reach somewhere."  It is a symbols of moving, going forward, and heading towards your future.  To me this means that I should start planning for my future, and deciding what I want my next step to be.  I have been thinking abo...

Today is my 35th birthday.   There is so much to celebrate, and so much to question at the same time.   We have been home with the "Stay at Home Order" since March 13th.  Seven weeks, going on 8 starting tomorrow.  This time has been such a blessing, but also a terrifying time for so many.  Sadly, the company I work for was shut down immediately on March 13th, and we still have no idea when we will be able to open our doors again.  We are in "Phase 3" and there has been no timeline given for when that will even begin.   I am choosing to look at the bright side of this venture, and realize that we can find something to learn in everything that happens.  If we just let things happen and just wallow in them, then what are we going to come out with on the other side.  We have to take the time to learn, and be willing to open our eyes to know there is more then just pain and suffering in this time.   Yes - People ar...