Thankful Thursday

Do you ever feel like the time just flies by and you don't even get a second to think? Or you have a blah day which turns into a week and may go on even longer? Do you ever think that you'll be happy once this happens or you get that or *fill in the blank*? I think we've all felt like that at least once in our lives.   I used to feel like that all the time. Not so much depressed but always looking forward when I was completely ignoring the good I had around me each day.  

A few years ago a friend told me to watch the move The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I watched the movie and I wasn't totally impressed- to be honest.  But- it did get me thinking! I am an avid reader so I thought I might get more out of reading the book. So I did, I read the book.  I could barely put it down actually.  It changed my whole life. I then went on to read her second book; The Power.  Just when I thought I had a handle on this secret, The Power explained it even further.  I recommend The Power to everyone!  I have the audiobook that I play in my car when I'm driving!

The most important thing I have learned from Rhonda- who I would love to meet some day- is that I choose to be happy. I choose how I react to the events life throws at me. I control my mind to think what I want it to think. 

I decided to make Thursdays thankful because I want to share tips and stories about how anyone can change their life and be happy. I try to be thankful every chance I get. In my head I say what I love, what I'm happy about, and what I'm grateful for. I urge you to try this today.  Make an effort to try today to think happy thoughts.  Think about what you are grateful for- this can be everything and anything. I am grateful for my car, my job, my health, my family and pets, my friends and so much more. If you focus your mind on positive things your mind doesn't have time to be stressed or to worry about things. Most people don't realize that they can control what they think which will ultimately control their mood.  Even in the midst of a bad situation there is always something that you can be grateful for.  For some it can be hard to see past the bad but if you don't try you'll never know! Something as easy as thinking happy thoughts might sound silly to some people... but for me I didn't realize how many bad thoughts I had on a regular basis until I start purposely focusing only on the positive. 

Try it! I like to make a list of the things that make me happy and I add to it all the time.  Its just a big list of smiles. I read it when I need a boost of positivity. Because when you are feeling good and you are happy you attract good and happy situations. Plus, wouldn't you rather be happy than sad? Positive rather than negative? You can be! But you will never know if you don't start changing your thinking. 

Sunset out my front door 10/29/14 no filter!

Sunsets are on my happy list- the colors, the beauty- how can you not smile?

My Chow Chow, Kuttah admiring the sunset with me :)

Kicking off the first Wedding Wednesday!

As I am beginning my journey as Kathleen Hart I can finally exhale because my wedding is in the past. It's a bitter sweet feeling because I had a blast planning my wedding!  But it is a lot of work and it can be overwhelming at times. As you will soon find out I was a very hands-on bride when it came to planning. I had SO many ideas and I was determined to execute every single one as perfectly as I could.  You would think that would stress a girl out but I gave myself plenty of time to get everything done and in the end time was only side.

A lil background into my relationship, I met Jason Hart when I was a lil 21 year old and 7 years later on March 5, 2013 he got down on one knee and proposed to me! I let the engagement sink in for a few days and decided I wanted us to get married in 2015 because 15 just happened to be my lucky number.  But wait, I got married in 2014.... well shortly after we got engaged I couldn't wait to start planning.  My mom will even say: "One day I was getting married in 2 years in 2015 and the next I had my wedding date as 9/6/14 and that was it."  Which is entirely 100% true.  I think a part of me just didn't want to wait any longer. Plus, Pinterest doesn't help. You can find so many good ideas on there! And I did.

K&J June 2014

Because I am still enjoying being a newly wed I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate Wednesdays to a day of wedding tips!  I have SO many!  To kick off the first Wedding Wednesday I will start at the beginning with the WEDDING WEBSITE. This was one of the first things I did. It can be quite overwhelming when you first start because there are so many fields and pages to fill in but if you do it little by little it's not bad at all.  A lot of sites allow you to make adjustments to the site and mark it private until you're ready to make it 'Live' for others to see.  Its also a great place to document your proposal too! I don't remember the exact details of the proposal or when we went shopping for rings but if I read my wedding website its all there!

I did have to do research when I was ready to make my website- there are a lot of sites to choose from.  My biggest piece of advice is: do not pay for a wedding website! There are plenty of free customizable websites out there. I used the site mywedding.com - they have quite a few backgrounds to choose from that there's one for every wedding theme plus you can customize the pages too!  I included my wedding website on my save-our-date magnets and on my invitations. That way my guests could go online and get all the info they need as well as questions answered by me.  This allowed me to keep my invitations less bulky.

Even though my wedding is over (sad face) my website is still available to view.  Take a look!
My wedding website!

Mywedding.com also offers many other wedding planning tools on their site like setting up budgets, finding vendors, and they have a section similar to Pinterest where you can gather ideas and inspirations that you find online.   I only used the wedding website but the other functions seem to be very useful.

Harts first post!

You have reached the blog of Kathleen Hart, formerly Kolodzieski.  Thats right, up until the last hot and humid day of the year, September 6, 2014 I was a Kolodzieski. Now that I'm a Hart I have decided it is time to blog about what I'm up to.  

I live in the great state of New Jersey, I have a husband I cater to as well as 3 chow chows.  No kids - yet! I recently lost 40 lbs in preparation for my wedding. It took me 15 months but i was able to plan my elegant, black tie wedding all on my own. I absolutely love cooking! If I had it my way I would have my own cooking show on Food Network- not because I'm a culinary expert but I have such a passion for being in front of a camera cooking things I love! I am a firm believer in gratitude and love and how it can affect your life. I used to love summer the most but as I get older I have a deep appreciation for all seasons and I love the fact that New Jersey lets me experience each one.  I hate exercising but I find a way to work it into my everyday life so it doesn't feel like exercise.  I'd love to meet Theresa Caputo to see what she would say to me, then I can decide if I really believe in mediums or not.  I love Pottery Barn, everything in there is my style. It's kind of creepy how they know me so well.  I have a lot to say and tons to share!