gratitude

It’s not very often we post about our personal lives on L&L however
I came home to Arizona over the weekend for Thanksgiving and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the life I’ve been given. When I’m around my family I can’t help but feel grateful for the love and strength they give me and my children. I honestly don’t know how people go through the ups and downs of life without a strong support system in place. I was blessed with that, not only in my family but within my group of girlfriends. Since we moved from Arizona my appreciation for my friends and family has grown, a lot. I’ve always known how incredible they are but then choosing to move somewhere where I only knew a handful of people has reminded me even more so. I am still grateful for my decision to move to California and know it’s where we belong.
Being a mom in general is as tough as it is rewarding. Being a single mom can be really tough. It’s 3 against 1 all the time and I have to be honest, it’s kicking my butt! There are nights I go to bed wondering if my kids even know how loved and valued they are because all I can remember from the day is the amount of fighting and yelling that occurred. On the flip side, being a single parent has also brought my kids and I closer. I am their constant, their number one, go-to, only option parent and because of that we rely on each other. 
For everything. 
As much as I hope to marry again, I know that I’ll always look back on these years with gratitude for what they’ve taught me. 
By nature I am someone who craves stability, yet my life has been in limbo the past 7 years. It’s taught me that I don’t need everything to line up perfectly or know the answers and how things will play out. I have learned a great deal of patience these past few years and for that I have been humbled.
I’m grateful for the lessons of life. 
The good and the bad. 

“ You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. This is something you have charge of.”
{Jim Rohn}

“ You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
{Eleanor Roosevelt}

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.”
{Maya Angelou}

XXO