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Monday, July 22, 2013

Music Video Monday!!

My sister had me listen to some India Arie tonight and I came across Heart of the Matter. How great is that song? Love it! 

I have another one I wanted to post for today though..but it has the same topic in it...forgiveness. Love this song because it reminds me how forgiveness is not really about the other person. Instead it sets YOU free.  It is hard to understand when you are going through hurt, but when it comes down to it, holding on to hurt is poison.  It makes you sick!  Let it go, let it be. 


If someone is continually hurting you, don't let them have that power over your life anymore.  I'm not saying you need to cut them out of your life forever, just reevaluate how much time you are spending trying to please them.  You can be there for them and support them with what they are going through, but you don't have to allow them to determine your mood or worth. 

"Let's shake free of this gravity of judgement and fly high on the wings of forgiveness."

Happy Monday everyone!! Make it a good week!! 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Just Listen to Me

TACO TUESDAY!!! :)

This week something I observed is the value of a silent listener.

When someone tells you something do you listen to them? I mean really listen to them?

Sometimes we may jump in to agree with what they are saying and tell a story to relate to them.
Sometimes we may ask questions.
Sometimes we may listen to some of what they say and then jump in to tell them what we think they should do.

Sometimes people just want you to listen to them.

If you have ever had a family member or friend who has sat there and let you talk and get what you need to say off your chest, no interruptions and no stopping you to tell you what they think, then you probably know the value of a silent listener. Some people pay big money to have someone just sit and listen to them.

A lot of times when people are able to talk something out and have someone there to listen, they are able to figure things out on their own. Having someone there to give you advice on what you should do is also a wonderful thing. If you are able to hear the advice from others and can do what they say you should do then that can be very helpful. There are times though when YOU know what is best and YOU need to trust yourself. Learning on your own and through your own experiences is usually the most effective way because everyone is different and have different lessons to be learned. What did not work for others may work for you and may be a critical lesson you were meant to learn.


It can be hard to be a silent listener. We want to jump in and tell others what we think they should do because of what we have learned. There is something powerful in silence though. This is why I bring this up today. This past week I had a moment where the silence spoke more to me than anything that person could say.

After I finished updating someone on how things have been going in my life and venting some about things that I was frustrated about, she simply stared at me and didn't say a word. I was finished. Why was she just staring at me? Then after a kind of awkward silence I started talking again. Unsure if she was listening I started trying to wrap up the conversation and see the bright side of what I had been venting about. It was in that moment, where I was trying to figure out something on my own and talk it out that I had an "A-HA" moment. It was suddenly so clear!

I don't even know if she knew what she did. It felt good though to figure it out on my own and realize the answer that was right in front of me.

I then tried to apply this type of listening the rest of the day and see if I could be a silent listener for others. :) If you really think about it, a lot of the social networking sites are exactly this. Many people use these as opportunities to say what they want to say and have others listen to them. No interruptions.


Silent listening was actually kind of hard to do. So instead I would do some repeating of what they said and then be silent and they would pick up from there. It actually went well. I think they liked having someone to just listen also. That or they thought I was a little nuts...

Either way it may be a reminder of how important it is to have reflection time for yourself. Some quiet time for you to reflect and get out a pen and paper to journal. Don't worry about spelling, hand writing or what anyone would think. Just write.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sweat it Out Saturday

Hey guys, hope you all had a great Saturday! We had a nice Saturday, productive and got to spend time with some family. Ready for a relaxing Sunday tomorrow.

I did not do a Friday Favorite post because today and Friday kind of go together. My Friday Favorite was my new workout shirt!

I got a new workout shirt this week from Ruffles with Love and I am in love with it! Working out is so much more fun when you have a new cute work shirt to work out in. :)

Here is my new shirt!


This was a fun little reward to myself for pushing hard for 30 days. It is good to reward yourself with something small so you have motivation to get to your next small goal. A great idea on Pinterest I saw was a tip jar. Each time you workout you give yourself a dollar. Then when you have enough, you can buy something for yourself. It is even better if what you buy is work out related.

My next goal is the Polar watch. This is more pricey than a shirt so I am REALLY going to have to push myself for this one. :) I am debating between the Polar and the Fitbit. Any suggestions??




Hope you all are having a great weekend!!

~AbbeyCarmen


Thursday, January 31, 2013

Thoughts for Thursday

Hey!

Have you ever taken the Meyers-Briggs Type indicator test? This thing is AMAZING.
Creepy amazing.

My fiance and I had to take a couple of tests for marriage prep and the Meyers-Briggs was one of them. I remember taking this test in college but I didn't give it much thought. How much could a test really tell you about your personality?

Well tonight I realized this test is more legit than I thought. It not only told me more about myself than I realized but it was amazing how perfectly it described our relationship.

If you have never taken this test I suggest you do.

You know who you are. You know what you like and what makes you happy or what makes you uncomfortable. So why take the test?

The test helped me realize a few things. One major realization was, this is who I am. I am an ENFJ. As I read through the description of an ENFJ I felt as if someone was telling me more about myself than I even knew. Why do I try to change these things about myself? This description is EXACTLY who I am and you know what, I like this description! :)

Then we went on to read our relationship description with our two personality types. Ryan and I couldn't stop laughing. It was like the lady who was reading it to us had known us forever. Better than even our friends or family.

We actually only had one letter different. We are more alike than we thought! Hearing what we need to work on and be aware of really helped us. You would think after 6 years we would have this down but it made us realize why we have certain arguments we do. We just do those things differently because of the type of people we are! Now that we are aware of this, we know how to work with it and not take things personally.

This is also a great test to take for people who are looking for a job. Once you know your personality type you can see what jobs you match up with.

Overall this test gave me a little bit more confidence in knowing who I am. It is wild how as we get older we realize who we are when we are no longer trying to conform to what everyone else thinks we should be. Once you get that feeling of not caring and you realize God made you a certain way, you become more comfortable in your own skin. You are who you are for a reason. Be aware of your strengths and your weaknesses. Be happy with who you are. You were made this way for a reason. When you are confident in who you are and how you feel, you are less likely to be distracted about what others think about you. And that is such a freeing, peaceful and wonderful feeling.

Have you taken this test? Which personality type are you? I found out that ENFJs only make up 3% of the population! Guess who else is an ENFJ? Oprah Winfrey. So cool! :)

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Today is Watch It Wednesday!

I didn't have time to make a video for today so I thought I would post one I made a couple of years ago. I made this video after going on a trip to Chicago with some friends. Going back and watching the video today brings back so many great memories we had that weekend. Photo albums are awesome to have but I am definitely into video scrap-booking. :)

A Little Warning:
This video is a couple years ago so we do get a bit silly in it and my camera control/editing is a bit rough. I also do not have rights to the music, it was just a couple of songs that were popular and that we enjoyed listening to at the time.

Video Link ----> Chicago Video

I hope you enjoyed watching! Next week I hope to have a new YouTube video post. Check out my About Me video if you have a chance!!

Thanks everyone for reading and watching. Please comment if you have an ideas on video post topics. I am kind of nervous to start doing this. :)

Abbey Carmen

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

New Theme Change

Hello everyone!

I have decided to go with a theme for future posts. Much like Music Video Monday and Friday Favorites but adding to it! Here is the post them I want to try. Let me know what you think!

Music Video Monday

  Monday will stay the same MUSIC VIDEO MONDAY. I will either be posting a song or a music video I am loving that week. 


T.A.C.O Tuesday

             Tuesday I will be doing T.A.C.O Tuesday. Not your typical taco though. :) Taco Tuesday
              is a fun theme we have in our house and I thought I would bring it to my blog. Instead
               of your typical taco though T.A.C.O stands for Things Abbey Carmen Observes. 
             One of my professors, Eileen Solomon, from Webster once told me how important it is 
              that we be observant in life. By being observant you can learn so much and so easily. 
              Think of driving down a road. You can drive down the road and not take the time to 
             look around, focusing only on where you are going and the GPS telling you what turn
             to take next. By simply being observant and looking around at what is around you, you        
            see all that is available around you. This is just an example but with technology we have 
                                            lost the ability to slow down and be observant. 

 Watch it Wednesday

                              My goal is to have a video on here for you to watch each week!
                                 The video topics will vary but it is my goal to create them all.
                              If you have any suggestions on video topics please let me know! 

Thursday Thoughts

                      Thursday I will post my thoughts on current topics or books I am reading. 

Friday Favorites

   Friday will be the same Friday Favorites! Here I will post a few of my favorite things from the week.

Sweat it Out Saturday

            Saturdays I will post fitness tips and quotes. I will also post updates on my journey with 
                                           Insanity/other Beachbody workout programs.

                                              Feed Your Soul Sunday

                   Sunday posts will be about feeding your soul. Growing deeper with God. 


                       
                       Thank you for reading and please comment on my upcoming posts!! :) 





Monday, January 28, 2013

Music Video Monday

Hello!

Can you believe this is the last Monday of January!?! I can't. Another month that FLEW by.

Today I want to post a song that I LOVE. I went for a run this morning and when it came on I had a huge smile on my face. This song makes you remember that today IS a good morning and a fresh start. MAKE it a good day. Nothing can stop you, only you can stop you from what you want to do. Dig deep and remember that anything is possible when you have God on your side. Take a deep breath and live in this moment. Celebrate today.


Hope you enjoyed the song! Have a great Monday and a great week!!!