The Howell Blessings

Americans have this ritual of making New Year’s resolutions and 3 weeks later ditching them for what is comfortable and familiar. If you want proof, visit a Fitness Club the first three weeks in January and you will barely be able to move. But if you visit in February; you’ll have all the room you need. Have you put any thought into a New Year’s resolution, or do you forgo this ritual knowing you won’t be able to keep those resolutions? For me, resolutions are like diets. We go on them and we “fall off the wagon” so to speak, and then quit. If you’re one of the fortunate ones who actually stick to a diet and make your goal, then what? Most of us stop dieting and go back to a “normal” way of eating and start gaining back the weight we lost. Resolutions, like diets, need to have a makeover. I learned a long time ago that diets don’t work. What does work is learning to eat a new way. When we fall off that wagon, instead of quitting a diet, we choose to do better the next day (or wee...

I enjoy creating tablescapes. Whether it is for a holiday or just a special meal with family or friends, I like making the table "special". Tablescaping is another way to express my creativity. I will see a dish or piece of art (Pier 1 is my favorite place to be inspired) and just have to buy it! I can almost see a table done with one inspiration piece. My honey gave up on me a long time ago with telling me "no more dishes" or "you don't need that" and just goes with the flow now, although I still get the occasional lifted eyebrow. I've had a few friends ask me what a tablescape is and although there is no true definition, it simply means making your table special by using props, decor and coodinated place settings to create a mood or atmosphere. If you google tablescape you'll find all sorts of wonderfully inspiring pictures from some extremely creative people who do this for fun as well as those professionals who are lucky enough to make a li...

Cleveland is pretty notorious for having a lot of snow. Sometimes as early as October, but for sure by November. This year we have heard of other states getting snow that typically don't get much if any during the winter let alone in November. Washington state has gotten a few good snow falls already. Even Nashville has had ground cover! But we have not had anything more than a flake or two floating in the air. That is until this week. I can hear it now... "I am so sorry for being late with the snow this year...here let me make it up to you!" In a course of 2 days we got a reported 19 inches! and over the last couple of days we've gotten more. We've gotten a few breaks with some actual sunshine peaking through the clouds. When that happens, it creates all sorts of excitement in the house. I'll yell "Oh! Sunshine!" and we (typically just me) will run to the patio door to look at it like it is a meteorite that shows itself only once every 10 years. I...

Wow, today is the last day of the 30 days of Gratitude. I am thankful that I have been writing my gratitudes every day. Writing them down have made me very aware of my many blessings. Blessings are, in a way, like breathing, we don't think about breathing, we just do it. It isn't until we can't breathe anymore that we realize how important taking a breath is. We all have so many blessings that we take advantage of, like breathing, we just assume we'll always have them. Things could so easily be different. If you are reading this blog, you are blessed to have access to a computer and all the technology it brings with it. Below are a few other things I am thankful for. There are the homeless, I have a home. There are the starving, I have plenty. There are the sick, I have my health. There are the poor, I have wealth. There are the lonely, I have family and friends There are the persecuted, I have my freedoms There are the tormented, I have peace of mind There are those w...

Young love.. ahh, how thrilling, how exciting! I love the butterflies that I got when I was young. The first kiss, the cute boy, the attention. After marriage I loved being in love. The expectation of seeing each other after a day at work, the fun of spending our weekends doing whatever it was we wanted to do, the excitement of having children. Then the romance wore off, reality set in. Bills needed paid when we didn't have the money, we wanted different things in life and all I wanted was for Calgon to take me away. That's when I went to my knees. This situation was beyond me, beyond what I could fix. I needed God to intervene. I didn't want to live the rest of my life in misery and I didn't want a failed marriage. And guess what? God stepped in once I stepped aside. When I got to the end of me, and I allowed Him to be my everything, He changed me, changed us. It didn't happen overnight, and it wasn't without drawbacks, but God intervened. Today, after years o...

As I begin to wrap up these 30 days of gratitude, I think about all the good and bad things that have happened in my life. Of course I am grateful for the good things, but I am also grateful for the bad things. Even though those times weren't pleasant to experience, it is those times that have made me stronger. I have had to stand up for what I believe in against all odds, which have made my convictions stronger. I have had to endure fear and pain that I thought I could never endure and realized that I am tougher than even I thought I was. I have had to fight for my marriage, which makes what we have now even sweeter. I have lost those I love which makes me appreciate those still living even more. The saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is so true. None of us want to go through those hard times, but look at what we become because of them. I am thankful for the tough things in our lives that make us stronger for having gone through them.

Have you ever noticed how the majority of the population is happy this time of year? I can't help wondering if a big part of that happiness is the fact that we are all focusing our attention on others rather than ourselves. The saying "It's better to give than receive" rings so true when you see the joy in others when they are shopping for a loved one. I am thankful for this time of year that focuses our attention on others instead of ourselves.