CraftyMorrison

The ending days of my 30before30 (since my last post) have been eventful, momentous, life-changing, and blessed! Starting out on this journey to 30 was initially a task full of "new things" and a brush up on the old. Now, in its end it has been a great time of reflection, evaluation, and fun. I grew more spiritually, emotionally, and became much more productive than usual. I also learned/reflected/incorporated the following into my life in the process: *Surrounding myself with good people/with good goals/for good causes *Doing the hard stuff because the hard stuff is the good stuff *Dotting my i's and crossing ALL of my t's *Going from "Meh" to "YEAH!!" *Staying sane while the world goes crazy *Being more aware and helping others, so I can help myself! *Aspiring to go from good, to better, to best in ALL things! *Taking the butt kicking that comes with the journey! *Getting Inspired! *Counting it all joy and staying...

Today is day 26 of my 30before30! Seems like an eternity from day 1, but I am still going. The past few days have been filled with relaxation and giving of my time. Yesterday, I volunteered and continue to enjoy working and helping others each week. I'm getting better with the numerous tasks of an intake volunteer, and getting to interact with the community has been fun. One of the highlights of my day yesterday was talking to a client (who was in need of food assistance) about Lucille Ball. While discussing her file, I noticed she had an "I Love Lucy" purse. Such a small thing that made me realize something even bigger. As much as we are all different and have different struggles.....WE'RE SO THE SAME! We had totally different backgrounds, circumstances, and experiences...but we both LOVE LUCY. After a while, I forgot about her struggles to feed her family, needing services, etc. We were just able to gab about Lucille Ball and how this 1950s comedy was the best thi...

This weekend was a great one, filled with projects/DIY/crafting. All the things I love most. It was nice to tap into some of the things that bring me joy, ultimately creating! I've come to learn that many of my best times, happiest times are when I am making something. Creating a vision. Executing a project. Just something about putting things together that brings about the happy in life. At least for me anyway. I remember a time when I wasn't aware at all of my own gifts. Honestly, I didn't think I had any. I knew there were things I could excel in, but couldn't ever quite pinpoint what they were. I used to experience periods of boredom, feeling as if I had nothing to do, nothing to give. Funny, how the boredom became less and less, the older I became. Now, there's plenty to do! Like work. And work. And more work. So, I went from times of boredom to feeling like everything was work. How exhausting! This 30 day journey I decided to take has brought about some inte...

Day 20 of my 30before30 and I am truly thankful!! It's been great these past 20 days reflecting, trying new things, being more conscious of areas where I need to grow, and celebrating the growth I've seen in myself. So, in lieu of day 20, I decided to make a list of 20 things for which I'm thankful.  Toya's Thankful Thursday List ( The English teacher in me loves alliteration): I'm thankful for... 1. God and my growing relationship with Him 2. Time off (Summer!) 3. Rainy days like today (brings a refreshing cool breeze) 4. All the basics necessary to live (thank God) 5. Family, friends, and love 6. Creativity 7. Quiet time 8. The Word 9. Trials that have helped me grow 10. Projects 11. New Perspectives 12. Volunteering 13. Meeting new people 14. The ability to help others 15. My Career 16. Grace and Mercy 17. Time to rest 18. Goals and the discipline to accomplish them 19. Inspiration 20. Favor that I don't deserve These were just s...

 (after the hiatus), 30before30  Today marks day 19 of my 30before30 after a 9 day hiatus. In the midst of this journey I moved! My goodness how moving can put a huge halt on your life! This is my 3rd time moving ever and it doesn't get any easier. No matter how organized I tried to be, you just never know what you'll encounter. Nonetheless, I am very blessed and thankful for the move and new space. So, this past week has been interesting due to some random pit stops and troubles: *My cable/internet had an (all of a sudden for the entire week) connection issue (hence my lapse in blogging each day). *Pulled a muscle during working out (hurt like crazy for days) *Realized while moving, that as much as I purged, I still had SO MUCH STUFF! I will be adding simplicity to this challenge, after this revelation. *The day of my move, my car battery died....of course it did. However, in the midst of some of these things I noticed that I've grown quite a bit. While th...

Woo Hoo! Day 9 of my 30before30... All in all today was a great day, and although I'm still at the beginning of this journey-it's been great thus far. Today was filled with a pretty scheduled day of To Do tasks. I'm moving this week. I planned to move months ago in my realization that I should be more aggressive about my finances. I've never been totally irresponsible with money, BUT I do have a few financial burdens I could go without. So, I made the decision to pack all my stuff and move to a slightly larger but less expensive place. Not at all a hard decision, the hard part is packing up my life in....oh about 5 days! Nonetheless, I began my day by doing the following: *Praying and spending time with God- God and I had a great conversation this morning. I read a bit of Word, read a bit of Elizabeth George's book, reflected, etc. *After a short morning nap (oh the things you can do when you're off for the summer!)...I made a list of things I needed t...

Day 9 of my 30before30... I will officially name this my "I got my butt kicked day." How so? Well, since revving up my exercise routine, I am still part of the sore club. I'm somewhere between an all out limp and an elderly woman stance. It's good pain, but I definitely missed today's workout due to my burning glutes and legs. Never fear, because I will attack my Crossfit workouts again tomorrow. I used to get discouraged when I would miss an item off my "Checklist" or "To Do" and just completely give in to failure. However, one thing I am realizing is that the journey (through anything); doesn't have to be perfect. I'm a sufferer of perfectionism, yes I said a sufferer. Knowing that no one is perfect, other than God; that makes me a sufferer. Perfection is a strain, a burden, something we all know we'll never achieve. Sounds like a downer, but it's just a truth. Things can be in order, things can be great, standards can b...

30before30: Day 7 & 8 Yesterday was definitely a reflective one. You know the type of day that doesn't necessarily begin as planned, yet you still have to keep on keeping on. I decided to take some moments, pause, and read. I'm currently reading a book, Woman After God's Own Heart, by Elizabeth George. It's a pretty dated book, one I realized I had in my collection that I had never quite taken the time to dive into. Similar to an outfit that you notice you've never worn, then you try it on and it looks great! I must scan through my books more often and pick out those forgotten treasures I didn't know were there. Anyhoo, as I poured into the first chapter I was reminded of many things. Things that were perfect for my day 7 and for each day thereafter. My Book Lessons Spending time with God - I know this and part of my journey lately has been to do even more than I thought I was doing. It's not just important so that we can face the days troub...

Today is day 6 of my 30before30....today I: Did a bit of crocheting (Yes, it's summer and I'm crocheting a blanket). I've been working on it the last 3 years or so. I am a novice to crocheting, I only know about 3 stitches, but it's a calming thing to do. I started this particular blanket when my uncle (who has since passed) was ill in the hospital. I initially started it for him, as I used to take turns sitting with him in the hospital. It kept me busy and he always had blankets, seemed like a cathartic and productive thing to do. Somewhere between then and now I fell off of it. Today, of all things I decided to start my morning with adding a bit more to it. The simplest things can sometimes be the very ones we should pick back up. So, I am not sure if I'll finish it in these 30 days, but I am definitely going to try. I also went to meet the director and check out the new place I'll be volunteering in the coming weeks. I mentioned previously that as I was...