Tag Archives: matter

05.06.13

Make Monday Matter....eighteen

Posted by Christina // 8 Replies

Those margaritas were sure tasty going down yesterday. However, the ache in my head tells me I regret them. Even though I feel like my head is in a vice grip, I’m going to keep a smile on my face today.

Smiling leads to happiness and I am trying to spread happiness all over. Just call me Johnny HappySeed, or not, I can’t tell you what to do. But I do think you should smile today…. a lot. People won’t expect it on a Monday, trust me. Did you know that children laugh about 400 times a day. Take a guess what that number is for adults. Go on guess, I will tell you a little later. Let a number settle in your brain.

People who smile are judged to be more pleasant, attractive, sincere, sociable, and competent. Those are all things that I want to be. It seems so simple, the more you smile the more people like you. Unless you are creepy, then your smile just makes you creepier Gary Busey.

Smiling is contagious and besides it keeps you from getting sick, or so I am told.

You know something else, no matter where you go or who you meet a smile can never be misconstrued as a gang sign. In India it is offensive if you shake with your left hand because that is the hand you use in the restroom if you catch my drift. These are the things I remember from college.

Have you guessed how many times a day the average adult laughs, did you guess four? If you did you are way off and need to smile more. The actual number is fifteen. The average adult laughs only fifteen times a day. That means kids laugh twenty-five times more than we do. Let’s make an effort to change that, at least for today.

Are you a smiley person?
Know any weird cultural customs?
Think Gary Busey is awesome?

04.29.13

Make Monday Matter....seventeen

Posted by Christina // 4 Replies

Hi ho, hi ho…that weekend went by too fast, no?

We had a completely exhausting weekend full of trying to sell all our junk.
Who forgot to tell me how exhausting garage sales are? It was fun, but it didn’t leave room for any crafty projects or bathroom remodeling time.

Now that all our leftovers are packed up in donation boxes, I have been thinking about more major donations. Every day eighteen people die while waiting on a transplant. That’s almost the whole Duggar family, insert sad face right here. There are over 97,000 people in need of one or more organs right now and 300 new transplant candidates are added to that list every month.

When I was growing up I had a really close friend whose mom was in need of kidneys, we collected soda tabs to raise money and I said a prayer for her every night. I often sit and imagine all those families and all those prayers that could be answered just by signing up to donate organs.

I have had the organ donor box checked on my license since I was sixteen, thanks in part to watching everything my friend had to go through. There is no age limit on who can donate, and I always figure that there is no reason for two lives to be lost. In fact your organs could save multiple lives…if that isn’t giving you a warm fuzzy feeling I don’t know what would.

Sometimes it is not enough to just check that box though, you should let your family know that you wish to donate your organs too. Then there is no doubt should anything happen.

Are you an organ donor?
Know anyone that has received an organ donation?
How do you feel about those Duggars?

04.22.13

Make Monday Matter....sixteen

Posted by Christina // 2 Replies

I hope you all had weather as pretty as we did here in Missouri.

Tim & I worked until every muscle in our bodies gave out to take advantage of the sunny skies and cool breezes.

I am sore y’all. I can’t even lift my hand without all my muscles protesting their very existence. I am going to start working out….tomorrow. For today I will just bust out the Icy Hot and make our Monday mission an easy one. Did you know that a burglary occurs every fifteen seconds? That means in the time it takes you to read all this jibberish, there will have been about 10 robberies. Over half of those robberies happen during the day. Don’t mind me I am just sitting at work right now worrying about those statistics.

I personally tend to be a worrier, so doors are locked and alarms are set and dogs are on guard. So this came as a surprise to yours truly, a whopping 32 percent of robbers just walk in to burglarize you. Yes, they just jump in your open window or stroll right through that front door you ol’ trusty Rusty.

I know there are a lot of wonderfully fantastic people out there, but there are also plenty of people with their eyes on your flat screen mmmkay. Just lock up my friends, that’s all I am sayin.

Wait, I lied that’s not all I’m sayin. Keep yourself safe first, but keep an eye out for your neighbors too. Look for suspicious activity, maybe even join Neighborhood Watch and put one of those nifty signs in your window. Talk to your neighbors, bake them cookies, and let them know when you’ll be out-of-town so they can keep their eyes peeled.

Tim & I have been working hard at getting friendly with our neighbors and attempting to bring back that sense of community that we remember from our flashlight tag days of yesteryear. Although there have been no cookies baked yet.

Have you ever been robbed? I have…twice!
Have a great sense of community?
Any tips on how to be a better neighbor?

04.08.13

Make Monday Matter....fourteen

Posted by Christina // 2 Replies

Man oh man…what a weekend.

We went bowling, had a bonfire, and worked in the yard all weekend long. I even got a little sunburn on my nose. I guess I forgot to go all lifeguard with the zinc-blue nose. Did you do anything fun?

This should be an easy one for everyone…in case your weekend wore you out. Even those of you that went out riding mechanical bulls can handle this. We all have those books that are just lying around collecting dust. If you like to read like us then you probably have tons and tons of them. You may choose to dress them up, or put them in a gorgeous library, or you may want to clear up some shelf space for your new adventures. I don’t think this Monday needs much convincing, but just in case. Can you even imagine a life without books? It is so sad that this is such a reality for so many little ones. Let’s help them out shall we.

Speaking of books, got anything amazing you’ve been reading?
What was your favorite book as a child?
Have you seen the “book instead of card” trend catching on for showers?

Inspired by the book “Every Monday Matters“

03.18.13

Make Monday Matter....eleven

Posted by Christina // 10 Replies

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My ears are still clogged….can you believe it?

I thought this Monday’s task would be impossible, but since I am still under the weather I am now thinking it might not be so bad. You ready for this… I know, I know…it’ll be hard. If you’re like me then your phone is attached to your hand at all times. When I forgot my phone at home a couple months ago my whole day seemed off kilter. I was all “the world needs to see this perfect frozen custard…the girls who are dieting will be so jealous ohhh wait”. I get it.

But really think about how often our phones are glued to our hands, and how much we are missing. I wonder about all the beautiful sights that pass me by while I am checking Facebook. I mean what if P. Diddy is throwing white party invites out and I just walk on by staring at my little screen packed with gossip. I could be hanging out with the Beibs instead of stalking who Selena is snuggling up to nowadays.

Can you think back to when we were tots and roamed the streets with no way of contacting anyone, those were the days. Aliens could have abducted us and no one would know until we made it back home for dinner. Now you can check-in on the spaceship, and show breaking photos, and get their digits while you’re at it. Holler for the little green guys.

So today, and only today because I may go through severe withdrawals (sad, but true) I am leaving my phone home. I have plenty of gasoline, and if I do break down I feel like at least one car will have a cell phone that I can borrow after promising I don’t have bird flu. I wonder how much Tim is going to miss me blowing up his phone with dreams of goldendoodle puppies.

Are you addicted to your cellular?
Can you go a whole day without it? A whole week?
Will Facebook file a missing persons for me tomorrow?

02.25.13

Make Monday Matter.....eight

Posted by Christina // 10 Replies

Have you ever been really, really hungry?

This weekend I told Tim that I was withering away because it was 3 p.m. and I hadn’t eaten. I was hangry….beyond hangry.

Thankfully I have never known true hunger. My mom worked in a grocery store growing up so we were always “the house with the full pantry”. I never had to worry if I wouldn’t have dinner, and most nights I actually complained about what we were eating. What a brat.

Cut to college, a much poorer-and skinnier-version of myself. You could find me scavenging for home cooked meals.

“Oh you live in town?”
“Does your mom make meatloaf?”
“Does she love meeting your friends?”

Although I was far from starving, I finally understood what hungry meant.

So it is not easy for me to relate to those starving kids in Africa, instead my heart just breaks. What hurts even more is that there are millions of kids just like them here in America. Going to bed hungry every night.

This week, I want to help. I can’t believe some of those numbers.

Especially since I always overeat because I don’t want to be wasteful. I know I am not the only one, I mean we are the fattest country in the world right?

When I was growing up, I was so affected by the starving kids commercials that I wanted to set up a “send to hungry bin” next to our recycle bin where you put all of your uneaten food to send to those kiddos. My dad wasn’t down, something about it rotting. But how great would that be, if we could just send the rest of our fries to someone hungry.

I decided that today I am going to take the money I have saved by not eating out for lunch every day and give it to our local food pantry. I love when donations stay local, you never know who you are helping. It could be your neighbor…and one day it could be you. If we are being honest, it pains me to see homeless people in my hometown…but I almost never give them money. I have a much easier time giving them a little bag of Doritos, and it’s an incredible feeling when you see the gratitude in their eyes. I always try to have snacks in my car, just in case.

Do you all have any ideas to help the hungry?
I’m listening.