Tamara and Carolyn

Your power

 

Hello everyone,

Hope your day has started with a bang!  A good bang of course 🙂

My day has started out with a feeling of pure gratitude, why? Because my life has given me so much.  I am not talking about things, I am talking about life’s lessons, and what they have given me.  Strength, knowledge, emotion, people and an incredibly strong desire to pay it forward.

What about you, have you ever asked yourself about your desires, passions, what is important to you?  It’s hard to see the good when your life feels like your in a hole with no way out, my thoughts on this are, you are alive, you are able to think even if they are “negative” you are feeling, again even if it is sadness, this means you have power and tools available to you.  Even when your situation does not leave much to be grateful for think of a time when you felt joy, think of how you are living the life you are and have the strength to endure it, praise yourself for the commitment you’ve given to the life you have good or bad, your in it.  Once you start giving yourself some support and praise you will create a shift and things will almost magically happen to encourage a “happier” life.

As some of you may have read a couple of my previous life blogs, I truly understand how darkness has a way of becoming ones life.  I am still human and visit the darkness from time to time, the only difference for me now is I don’t unpack.  This can be you too, heck maybe you don’t even visit anymore and for that I applaud.

So, for today I am leaving you with this quote I once read “even in the darkness a light can shine, the dark cannot turn off the light”  Your the light, always were and always will be.

ME

Tamara and Carolyn

Mondays….

Hello everyone,

Hope you all had a great weekend.

We had a good weekend too, busy but good 🙂

Anyone reading these blogs/entries have any struggles with their weight?  As a women once said to me she’s been “dieting” for 43 years I couldn’t help but laugh and totally relate!  I am however doing something about it, again….but this time I am not dieting, I am just doing a 20 min workout at home 5-6 days a week.  I have days where I start making excuses to myself about why I cant workout or get just plain lazy but in the end of this conversation with myself I say do you want to feel good? My answer to this question is always yes, and so then my next question is how bad?  And then I hit the workout!  As for my food intake I have curbed it a bit, just dropping fast foods, deep fried foods and processed foods.  I still eat desserts, bread (not white, rye and the darker the better for you), pasta but only a couple times a month, you get the drift, basically all foods in moderation and nothing processed this is key.  There are a million diets to choose from and I’ve probably tried at least half of them, all the quick fixes, no carbs, boiled egg diet etc. etc.  And with all of this experience I’ve learned that fresh foods, drinking an absolute  minimum of 1.5litres of water a day, drinking green tea with fresh lemon and fresh ginger root, (I really don’t like green tea but I make myself only once a day) eating whatever you want in moderation (excluding processed foods) and moving will get you feeling good again.  MOVEMENT is the KEY.  Nothing gets your body working better than movement.

Riding the weight  roller coaster all my life I have finally discovered why this is for me.  Whenever I have lost weight in the past it was for a reason, like I have a trip coming up and I want to look good, or I am single and have to look good, or my job was so physical that it was inevitable, my point is I never lost weight just for me, I mean I never looked at myself and said that I alone am reason enough, I am worth it. ME being proud of ME what a thought!  So now whenever I get that craving for a Big Mac I say this to myself, I cant let you eat that, I don’t want you to feel guilty and give up. These are words you would say to anyone you were hoping to help and motivate.  Your not crazy talking to yourself and taking care of yourself, the truth is the choice is always yours no matter what outward influences are.  So go ahead and support yourself, respect yourself, LOVE yourself enough to make a change for yourself no matter what your battling.

Anyways I have to go and get some more work done!

Have a fantastic day 🙂

Me

 

Tamara and Carolyn

Inspired :)

Hello everyone,

Yes I know I haven’t blogged in way too long…..

The truth for me is, a commitment like this is hard, writing about life and trying to inspire people is not as easy as one thinks.  I guess keeping myself inspired is what’s hard.  The only thing I can say in my defense is I am committed to growing The Me Store.  The Me Store is about much more than the products, don’t get me wrong they are awesome and of amazing quality (I don’t just sell them I actually use them) but its about empowering people to take care of themselves, love themselves because when we do this we are then of true service to others.  Every customer, follower, reader basically anyone who supports this store is a part of something bigger, they are a part of a fund, and this fund is what will help others to help themselves.  Examples of future plans once we’ve reached our target is to give women skills to stand on their own, education funds, we don’t just want to put people on government assistance after leaving a shelter, or coming off the street, we want them to feel proud of who they are and what they have overcome and accomplished.  We want to help women in impoverished countries by giving them skills, such as body sugaring, massage, spa related therapies which they can perform on tourists.  Also give them a share in the tea plantations, proper housing etc.  I mean having a baby in the field and continuing to work is unreal to me and yet this sort of thing still happens.  It’s truly a win win, by you looking after yourself, you are automatically looking after someone else, really, how cool is that?  Very cool in my eyes.

As some of you already know we do promotional giveaways regularly on FB and Instagram and the winner of our recent Instagram giveaway has truly inspired me to keep up with the blogging and I would like to thank her.  She was what I needed and I am soooo grateful.

We all need to be reminded every now and then how important we are and how even though we don’t always see it, the impact we make by being alive.  We are supposed to be here, we are meant to be here, and we are worthy of being here.  This is your “MeMinder” for today!

Have a great day everyone and talk again tomorrow 🙂

Me

(Tamara)

Tamara and Carolyn

I am grateful

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Hello,

So have you all been keeping up with your journaling?

We have, although we have not posted in a while, it is the very first thing we do when waking up with our morning tea!  We will be running the challenge again starting January 1st, 2018 – Can you believe it? Another year has come and gone!

I hope you have all had a wonderfully marvelous Christmas, we did, I did 🙂

I am going to take a moment to thank everyone who put “ME” products under someone’s tree (or your own :)).  We love it, and appreciate it.  Most of all we are thrilled to be a part of your lifestyle and happy to know you are taking care of yourselves and those you love.

So I will share with you my entries for today.

5 things to be grateful for:

  • my family
  • my life
  • my customers
  • the power to love
  • the power to change

5 I AM’S

  • I am thin
  • I am beautiful
  • I am a survivor
  • I am grateful
  • I am strong

 

 

Tamara and Carolyn

Me challenge Day 14

Hello,

5 things I am grateful for:

(today especially I need to remind myself that life really is a gift)

my life

my family

my friends

my home

my health

 

5 I AM’S

I am beautiful

I am Lucky

I am a survivor

I am strong

I am feeling positive

 

Ever have days where things just don’t go right?  Where it seems as though you can’t fix it?  Today is definitely one of those kinda days.  But I am going to stay positive and hopeful through it all.  Because after all it is a choice.

Tamara and Carolyn

Me Challenge Day 11,12, and 13

Hello everyone!

I haven’t logged my gratitude this past weekend but I assure you I have done it!  But today I am going to do it with you.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, maybe even got a little shopping done.  If you are anything like me you still have shopping to do. There are some things I lack ambition in and procrastination takes over.

5 things to be grateful for:

  • my life
  • my family
  • my home
  • my friends
  • my strength

5 I AM’S

  • I am beautiful
  • I am worthy
  • I am lucky
  • I am a survivor
  • I am rich

This challenge won’t make a difference if you don’t do the work!

Prove to yourself that you are worth the 5 minutes!

Have a great day!

Me

Tamara and Carolyn

Me Challenge – Day 10

Hello,

As I work the rush at our seasonal kiosk and fill the online orders which we are grateful for, I can’t help but feel for those that can’t celebrate Christmas like most of us in the western society do.  One day The Me Store is going to donate 1% of all sales and really make a difference.  We want to be the secret Santa for those in need.  Pay it forward as I know first hand how devastating it is when there is no way to celebrate.  If we could start something today we absolutely would, but we are in our baby stages of building.  1 year in business.  Our goal with your support and patronage we will have this fund in place by year 2019.  For those of you that have been reading can I ask you to send a message from the contact page of our webpages letting us know what you think should be the main focus.  Example: improving resources for abused single women and mothers, by way of an education fund so they can stand on their own without assistance.  providing care and an education/skill to women who work fields in third world countries, having babies in the fields and keep working, our Canadian native reserves, living in such horrendous conditions, or if you have any other suggestions please share.  One thing we here at The Me Store from the owners to its employees believe in empowering women to take care of themselves.  Women are the glue of their families, the nurturers, the educators, the support, and in many cases today the providers.  If the women are not looking after themselves in every way, from the inside to the outside the family suffers in one way or another.  And the cycle continues and continues.

I want to thank you in advance for reading and sharing your thoughts with us and me!

Onto the challenge! 🙂

5 things to be grateful for:

  • my warm home
  • my family and friends
  • my health
  • life’s opportunities
  • my life

5 I AM’S

  • I am generous
  • I am beautiful
  • I am grateful
  • I am worthy
  • I am lucky

Have another fabulous day 🙂

Me

 

Tamara and Carolyn

Me Challenge Day 9

Hello,

Is anyone else as excited as I am to have a white Christmas this year?  It feels like it has been a very long time since we have had one!

What are your family Christmas traditions?  Every family has their own, and I just love hearing about all the different ways to celebrate.  A girl I used to work with spends Christmas day curled up on the couch watching horror movies and does not have your typical turkey, they have fish!

The best part of Christmas for me is the FOOD!  finger foods, baking, chocolate and of course the feast Christmas day!  And yes we have turkey 🙂

For today I am just going to get right to the challenge.

5 things to be grateful for:

  • my life
  • my family
  • my home
  • my health
  • my desire to learn and grow

5 I AM’S

  • I am lucky
  • I am worthy
  • I am happy
  • I am thin
  • I am determined

Have a great day !

Me

Tamara and Carolyn

Mini bio – Me Challenge Day 8

I am not sure who is reading this but I can tell you that last night all I could think about is how I’ve really put myself out there.  I am feeling very exposed and some feelings I can’t even label.  I do not regret sharing, because I want all women to know they really are never alone, and more importantly that they can overcome.

I am going to be honest with you here I am not even sure what a blog is entirely or its real purpose ( Don’t judge me!) but I am using this blog as a platform to share personal stories, connect, and I guess, work through my own “stuff”.

Christmas is a time for me that is so magical and special, even as a child, it felt like it was the one time in the year where we all were close and like “a real family”, Mom always made it so special and Dad wanted to give us ( I have a younger brother) everything.  We were spoiled at Christmas, and I loved seeing everyone happy, it made me happy.  The traditions of my childhood I of course wanted to carry on with my family.  My girls were about 2 and 3 years old and it was the 23rd of December, not a present was bought, no baking done, no turkey, nothing that resembled the Christmas I knew and loved.  We were broke but we had one paycheck that we were going to go shopping with!  My husband will be home soon and we are going to get our Christmas on!!  About an hour before I expect him home he calls and says he stopped at the casino and won $1000!  I was ecstatic, finally some luck.  Then 2 hours later he is still not home and I called him to ask what is the delay, we need to go shopping.  He decided to go back in to the casino and not only did he lose the winnings but he lost the pay too.  I was devastated.  I can’t even describe how much of a failure I felt I was, no Christmas, not even a dinner.  What to do now?  Your probably thinking family, well his family lives 5 hours away as we were living in Northern Ontario at this time, and my family lives in Europe.   It was just us.  So I decided to delay Christmas, we had Christmas about a week late, the kids were small and didn’t have daycare so they didn’t know that it really wasn’t Christmas, but I did and I hated it and him for it.  This wasn’t the last Christmas without money either, there was another year when the kids were in school and daycare and were very aware of Christmas.  But this story has a happy ending, there really is magic at Christmas time and there really are good people in the world.  Our daycare providers mother, a women I will never forget, showed up on the last day of daycare for the holiday season and had a garbage bag FULL of toys and gifts, brand new, and gave me the whole bag for Christmas.  I had never felt such gratitude in my life and the tears were pouring out of me.  My girls will have a Christmas and Santa will come!  Only because a “Santa” actually did!

But I loathed my husband, and myself for ever even being in this situation again.

Today I am a single mother, and our Christmases are beautiful, my mother is home now and with us, which is totally awesome as she is my magic at Christmas and I think my girls too.  My life’s journey has some very bumpy paths but it also has some very smooth and beautiful paths.

Onto the challenge!

5 things to be grateful for:

  • my life
  • my girls
  • my mother
  • my health
  • my lessons

5 I AM’S

  • I am lucky
  • I am beautiful
  • I am thin
  • I am motivated
  • I am worthy

Have a Great Day and keep up with the Challenge!

Me

Tamara and Carolyn

Me Challenge – Day 7 and….

So I am just going to pick up where I left off yesterday…and then do my challenge.

I was a victim!  I was the innocent one, I was the normal one, even though I was told many times I was not normal and that something was wrong with me.  I remember a time so clearly, It was days after my second child was born, (my girls are 13 months apart) my husband wasn’t even there when she was born.  He decided to go into business with his brother, run thousands of dollars on his brother’s credit because at this point we didn’t have any, hell we didn’t have money for the rent.  Anyway, I had decided to get a tubal as soon as I became pregnant with my second, there was no way I was going to have more children when we couldn’t afford the now two we have and our lives were so unstable that it just wasn’t going to happen.  Not to mention the fact that he NEVER once fed, changed, got up with them, nothing that was all on me.  Well my decision to do this was a disastrous blow to our marriage as he wanted a boy.  I was on the operating table when the doctor came in and said my husband just called and asked me not to perform the tubal, he is threatening your marriage if you go through with this.  I then asked the doctor if my husband had any rights or if he could stop this, the doctor said no, I said then lets do it, I obviously don’t have much of a marriage anyway.  It was the first time I ever took any stand for myself and did something he did not approve of or was his idea.  ( I was on the operating table because I had C-sections for both as my body doesn’t progress into labor, after two inductions with my first we figured this out!)  So now I am at home, he is not home, I have two babies, no money, no friends or family around to help and I am talking on the phone to my husband, I don’t even remember what we ended up fighting about but I remember him yelling through the phone, and me hysterically balling, falling to the floor lifeless, the phone not even in my hand anymore, my babies crying and I was paralyzed with pain, hurt, and now guilt and shame.  How long I laid on the floor I couldn’t tell you, but when I finally picked myself up my babies weren’t crying anymore, they had cried themselves to sleep.  I didn’t sleep at all that night and swore to myself I will never let this happen again where I can’t function enough to tend to my girls.  Nothing was worth that kind of guilt.  A couple days after this he returned home, told me how I was not even a real women now that I had done this, made an appointment with the doctor to see if this could be reversed and demanded I go.  I said ok we can go and see what he says, (knowing full well this was not an option) if this is possible I said to him, things need to change between us.  Oh he promised the moon.  This is the hardest part for me to actually say and share, he wanted to have sex with me, I was less than one week out of surgery, with stitches, tired and sore and really didn’t want to but I did, crying inside, it hurt not just physically but emotionally.  As he is performing for lack of a better word he is saying I feel different and that I am not whole anymore.  Finally it was over and I loathed myself, and hated him, but I was stuck, no money, no job, no family, no friends, and two kids.  This is just one memory of many not so pleasant. The point of this memory is to show you clearly where being a victim gets you.  Google proved to me that I was a victim and so with that victim mentality I continually, progressively was a victim, more than ever. Are you starting to see a pattern?  Don’t worry if you don’t yet, keep reading and you will!  I will continue to share with you my life stories and journeys for one main reason, to inspire you, to show you how no matter what you are a survivor and can overcome anything.  Women truly are the toughest we just don’t always believe it.

5 things to be grateful for

  • my family
  • my life
  • my lessons
  • my health
  • my strength

5 I AM’S

  • I am a survivor
  • I am beautiful
  • I am thin
  • I am strong
  • I am worthy

Until tomorrow ya’ll have a great day 🙂

Me