Breakfast with Jo

Just a lady enjoying breakfast and time to herself!

[breakfastwithjo]

Grateful heart and thankful spirit

As expected I came to my moment where I had to accept that I was not going to be able to follow through 100% with my new years resolution. But! I’m still following through with posting. So here it goes! Last night I decided to go to Bryan’s house to spend some time with him because we hadn’t seen each other in a while. So my plan was to go to Dunkin Donuts and enjoy a tea before work and write my post for the day, but of course there was a thick layer of ice on my car and so I was late. But here I am! With a honey roasted turkey and provolone sandwich on whole wheat bread, some raspberries, and veggie chips for dinner. 

On my way home from work I was especially excited because there was no traffic at all and so I figured I’d be getting home early for once. And on a Friday? Yes! As soon as I started getting close to my exit though, there was traffic and I got so disappointed. There I was, so close to getting home a whole 20 minutes earlier than usual, now stuck in traffic. Now traffic makes anyone frustrated, but as soon as I realized why there was traffic I felt so guilty. 

There in the middle of the highway was a four car accident, with one car totaled, another spun out completely, and two others on the side of the highway. I immediately thought about how much stress those individuals were under, especially the one who was now having to figure out how they were getting home and how they were going to pay for a new car. I thought of their families and loved ones probably worried sick thinking about how their loved ones were in the middle of the highway cold and stressed out. Yet I was in my new car, warm, and my biggest stress was getting home 20 minutes earlier than normal.

Sometimes it takes moments like these to remember just how grateful we should be, and serve as humbling reminders of all that we have. I’m hopeful that they were okay and sending my love and light to them. And I am grateful that I got home safely even if it was later than I expected. 

Here’s to hoping tomorrow I am able to do my brunch post and post a picture of the yummy omelette I am already dreaming about! 

[breakfastwithjo]

Good morning!

After having the stomach bug I was especially looking forward to breakfast today because A. It’s my favorite meal and B. Omelettes. Funny enough the first thing I made wasn’t an omelette! Instead this morning I am having two large organic boiled eggs, some whole wheat toast and peanut butter I made, and a nice bowl of raspberries. Yum! 

I doubt this whole breakfast reflection time work is going to work out though with me hitting snooze every five minutes haha. I was just so warm in my bed this morning I couldn’t stomach the idea of getting out of it. But of course I did.

Yesterday was a really interesting day. I spent some time with my mom’s best friend and a really close family friend whose daughter has down syndrome. Growing up this was pretty much the norm for me because I had always known she had down syndrome but knew that didn’t change her. She was always the friend I was excited to see and have play dates with. Speaking with her family reminded me today just how lucky I am to have the profession that I do working with the population that I do. They told me all about what they went through as a family regarding her health and learning differences. They told me numerous stories that just broke my heart about serious health complications and health scares that could have claimed their daughter. Yet through it all they remained faithful to God and their spiritual life. Their only priority was to shower their daughter with all the love and peace they could. Here she is, graduating high school and living the life they never imagined possible without faith and resilience. It is truly incredible. 

Hearing their story reminded me how important it is to act from a place of intention in your life, as well as faith. Sometimes things get so rough for us and we forget about just how lucky we really are. At one point they shared a story about how after one of her major surgeries, they were in her hospital room while she was recovering and just feeling so tired and down about everything. They wanted to just ask God why it was all happening so much and why them? But instead, like a sign straight from heaven itself, a family walked by their hospital room with a little boy who had cancer. It was as if God was saying “You have no idea how much worse it could be”. That’s just amazing how things like that work out.

I am so known for freaking out about small things which partly comes from anxiety, but I often forget that things could be so much worse. Even now, I am sitting in my kitchen, eating breakfast, typing on my computer, and about to go get into a brand new car to head to work. A year ago?  Yeah right. I had barely enough food to feed myself, no car, and no home. But because I was raised with such faith and perseverance, I was able to overcome and focus on what my intentions were for myself and my family, and made it happen.

This conversation left me feeling so full of inspiration to continue with what I am doing rather than stopping and viewing it as just a job. I could go on forever about my work with my kids but that’s another post for another time. 

I’d like to leave myself with a question to think about and reflect on today and maybe I’ll have an answer tomorrow.

What are my intentions for the new year? What are my intentions in my relationships, my job, my education, my spiritual life, etc? 

Until tomorrow!

xo Jo

[breakfastwithjo]

Better late than never!

So I was trying so hard to find a new way of creating time for myself throughout the day to do some writing. Typically I have turned to journals for this, whether that be collage journals, doodle journals, writing journals, etc. But lately when I get home and have time to sit and journal I just don’t want to. Yet I always find time to sit on my computer aimlessly scrolling Facebook for a video of a funny animal or cute children doing something silly. Seriously, I spend hours on there! It’s a problem.

With that said, I think it is best that I use my time elsewhere and focus my creativity on something other than my scroll and click talents. For this reason, I have decided to start a breakfast blog! I have found in the past that I have much better mornings when I give myself some extra time to reflect and enjoy the morning rather than rushing out the door. So my plan is to give myself 15 minutes extra in the morning to sit and enjoy my breakfast and reflect or journal about whatever is on my heart that morning. No prompts, no gimmicks, just reflection and meditation. Simple.

Wrong! Nothing is simple with me unfortunately, and of course life always gets in the way. While I hope that this is something that I will keep up with, I have to be realistic and say that some of my posts might end up being late night ones or lunch ones on my breaks. Whatever the case may be, this is one resolution I am going to keep up because I truly believe that my writing has allowed me to process a lot of events and lead to healthier responses on my end.

With that said, here is my first post and hopefully not last! See you in the morning! 

xo jo