Every time I start a 365 I wonder if I'll see it through, get tired of it, and if people will start virtually throwing rotten tomatoes at me for clogging up their news feed with my weird 365 experiments. But here we are. Or at least I am here. 365 hashtags later. My favorite hashtag topics of the past year were the travel themed ones, the spreading sunshine to others ones, and the thought-provoking ones. I'm curious, were there any hashtag topics you liked? Hated? It's okay if you hated one, or two, or more. A couple of them I struggled with myself. Did you try to practice or celebrate any of the hashtags? I held a Sunshine Party in February for friends, did a Service Sunday project in November (I also drank some wine in November *wink*), had some tasty sweets and drinks in May, and I went meatless during July Mondays. As always happens when I pull together a 365, I learned. Even in the seemingly silly topics I still learned useful or interesting information and

How far away are you willing to drive for your #SneakAwaySunday ? My radius extends to no more than an hour away or else I am spending my sneak away on the road instead of rejuvenating. You have to decide what's right for you. Today I'm sticking close to home. In fact, I can't get any closer as my sneak away location today is my own house. Say what?! That's right, you heard me. I'm sneaking away while staying home today. Great news! You can too (as long as the family will cooperate with you). Your sneak away space in your home depends on your home! I've seen posts about people forsaking a large walk in closet for storage purposes and create it to be a sneak away space. Not everyone has that luxury. I certainly don't. I have an area in our living room that I've kind of taken over. It's got a recliner. I've set up next to it a basket that has some essentials - earbuds, some chocolate, etc. Then I've got a TV tray set up that

And SO MUCH MORE. This #ShoutOutSaturday belongs to God, the author of my story. In fact one of my favorite scriptures is, "Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it." (2 Corinthians 3:3 MSG) In Acts 17:28 Paul quotes a poet who rightly said, “In him - GOD - we live and move and have our being.” That describes my life with Christ. Even if I tried to get away from God I couldn’t. In fact my heart echoes what Peter said in John 6 (:68-69), “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.” (MSG) Amazing grace. Do you have someone who completes you? Take some time to give them a shout out today!

No matter what time of year it is I love the morning air. It's not new but it feels new and smells new. I was curious if there were any extra benefits to getting your fresh air in the mornings, and while there were no extra benefits it IS recommended by almost every source Google pulled up that we all start out mornings with a deep inhale of the fresh morning air. So if you want to start your day fresh, follow these 3 steps: 1. Just Get Up!: When the alarm goes off, try not to think of anything. Do not give the power to those negative thoughts. Just get up no matter how it feels like. You don’t have to like, you just have to do it. 2. Wake Up Your Body: When you’re out of the bedroom, do not walk straight to the coffee machine. Stretch a bit. Move your body in some way or another before you sit down for the first time. You do know that stretching improves digestion too? 3. Breathe In Fresh Air : Go out on a balcony or open the window. Or take a short walk outside. Ju

thrive THrīv/ verb grow or develop well or vigorously. prosper; flourish. Often what applies in life can apply to business and vice versa. I ran across this article that is for entrepreneurs but the majority of the points can be applied to life as well. This point, in the article, keeps popping up so it seems to me it's key for thriving rather than surviving. The point is this, focus on continual growth and development. And yes, we must do that in order to get beyond survival mode. Wondering if you are growing? Well if you are wondering then chances are good you aren't but just in case, here's some roadblocks to personal growth for you to consider . Continuing in education of ourselves is key to a thriving life and if you need any more convincing here are just some of those benefits . So on this #ThrivingThursday look at your personal growth, are you stalled out or moving forward? If you need some new-to-you ideas try one of these , number 3 really hit me squa

Our #WorkplaceWednesday topic is competition. I'm not a competitor by nature and when I feel forced into a competition I get pretty grumpy and resentful. I recognize that competition can be good and healthy but it so rarely turns out that way. So I'm thinking about competition today. And because I'm not a fan nor am I great at it I'm looking to others who might know what they are talking about. *grin* Competition At Work: Positive Or Positively Awful? 7 Ways To Be Competitive At Work Without Being A Jerk 7 Ways to Deal with Workplace Competition Four Steps to Effectively Leverage Your Strengths at Work I really like what Mary-Frances Winters says about competition: For my personality type, and preferences, that kind of "competition" is the best kind. I can get behind that. What about you? How are you when it comes to competition?

For #TravelTuesday let's look at the benefits of travel. Yes, there are actual benefits. In fact, there's research out there on the benefits of travel, here are 7 which I 100% agree with. And you don't even have to travel far or long, the majority of people (89%) report a significant drop in stress levels after just 1-2 days of traveling.       

Why keep the munchies to yourself? Share the munchies with others! Have an afternoon munchy break and invite some friends to join in or co-workers. Make it a "potluck style" munchy break - ask people to bring their favorite munchy to share with everyone else.  So what are you going to munch on today? 

How far away are you willing to drive for your #SneakAwaySunday ? My radius extends to no more than an hour away or else I am spending my sneak away on the road instead of rejuvenating. You have to decide what's right for you. I love wandering a place filled with books - library or bookstore. I love taking my time going through the aisles of some store that I rarely get to go to. Sometimes I sneak away to public places where I can still be by myself. But, for me, they have to be places that I am 99.9% sure nobody I know is going to show up or I'm going to run into. Something about being on a sneak away but surrounded by people I don't need to interact with serves the need to renew from time to time. Plus, I get creative ideas depending on the store I wander through, or I add books to my ever growing to-read list. If I'm in a bookstore or library chances are good I'll find a place to sit and I'll read for awhile. I'll treat myself to somethin

On this #ShoutOutSaturday my family takes the spotlight. My family is AMAZING. My brothers married these incredible women who add such love and depth to our family circle. They are some of my best friends. Every member of my family is fantastic and each one of them have been the anchor in my sometimes stormy life. Their love, grace, cheerleading, etc have steadied me. They have grounded me, advised me, believed in me.  So today I'm shouting out to my family - every single one of them - for their unwavering presence in my life.  Have you thought about your family lately and the role they play in your life? Give them a shout out of love and gratitude today!

When your day isn't going right take a break and get some fresh air. Apparently it helps. The most obvious assist it gives us is the fresh air can clear our heads. But it does more than that - it can revive our focus and ease our anxiety. Read about all the mental health benefits fresh air gives us by clicking here . On this #FreshAirFridays get out there and breath deep - regain your focus and get the cobwebs cleared from your mind.

thrive THrīv/ verb grow or develop well or vigorously. prosper; flourish. When we stop growing we start dying, this truth that I know but am glad to be reminded of is part of an article I read recently - 10 Key Truths to Living a Thriving Life . I recommend reading this article and considering its points. When we thrive we can change our world and tip a domino toward changing the world.

Today I'm thinking about work/life balance. There are some companies out there that are big fans of the balance between professional and personal life and then there are others that don't respect their employees and the idea of balance is a foreign concept to them. Regardless of what kind of company you work for work/life balance is important and you need to make sure you make it a priority.  Achieving work/life balance is up to you. If you establish boundaries around your availability outside of office hours but then don't keep the boundary you will get taken advantage of. You have to be diligent to protect yourself, and your family/friends, from potential burnout because you are out of balance. Forbes, in an article, gives us 8 very simple ways to establish work/life balance. You can read the article by clicking here.  Look at your work/life balance and make sure that you are setting and keeping boundaries and that you are respecting yourself

Where do you live? How much have you explored the state you live in? Travel your surroundings! I think a lot of us are guilty of living in some amazing places and yet never having actually explored them. Okay, fine - let me just speak for myself here. I am guilty of this for sure. I live in the amazing state of Colorado and there are so many places in this beautiful state - some less than an hour from me - that I've never even visited! So today, for #TravelTuesday, I'm starting to create a bucket list for my state and I want to start traveling Colorful Colorado and getting to know my state more. Do you have a bucket list for your state?  Here's the start of my list... Ouray Royal Gorge Bishop's Castle Maroon Bells Tiny Town Paint Mines Interpretive Park Sand Dunes Mesa Verde (I went there when I was a kid but didn't appreciate it like I know I would as an adult!)

When I hear the word munchy I think crunchy but that isn't always the case. Sometimes I get the munchies for soft things like some fruits or soft pretzels! Or ice cream. Oh I love ice cream. There's never a bad time for ice cream, in my opinion. Have you ever had frozen grapes? It's not that strange and if you haven't tried frozen grapes I highly recommend it. Frozen, they have a slightly different texture and they are good! Of course, I'm a lover of grapes in many forms. Anyway. Sometimes the munchy I want isn't crunchy but just as delicious as some of the louder ones. 

How far away are you willing to drive for your #SneakAwaySunday? My radius extends to no more than an hour away or else I am spending my sneak away on the road instead of rejuvenating. You have to decide what's right for you. Today I'm headed to a favorite outdoor spot. Yes, you heard me right - I have a favorite outdoor spot or two. This is a time of year where I don't mind being outdoors during the daylight hours. Now, let's not go crazy - I'm still finding shade to sit in. But today seems like a great day to hang outside for some fresh air and some soul renewal. Depending on how many other people might be around this outdoor space I go to I may or may not pop in my earbuds. If there aren't people around I'll keep them out to keep myself in tune to the nature noises that are around - especially if I go to the place that has running water. Running water is one of the best sounds, I find it incredibly soothing and peaceful.  When I get