Hi y’all!  It’s a beautiful East Tennessee Tuesday, and according to my Instagram feed, it’s also “Transformation Tuesday.”  So keeping with that theme, I would like to reflect on a few personal transformations, starting with the weather this week!

I just have to say that I have got the WORST case of spring fever you ever saw!  Thanks to this crazy, southern winter weather, in the past week we went from -1 temperatures and a snow storm last Tuesday, to a beautiful, sunny 70 degree day by Saturday.  How in the world is  a person supposed to keep up?!

As much as this weather has changed, it has certainly got me ready for beautiful spring days, and got me in the mood to transform this house from winter to spring. Since fall I have kept the “leaves” scented Bath and Body Works wallflowers plugged in throughout the house, but I’m thinking as soon as they run out I’m going to have to switch over to something a little more fresh.  I also reflected my mood with my flower choice this week.  I threw out the beautiful blood red roses Mitch surprised me with last week and replaced them with big pink lilies.  (Side note: I try to keep as many fresh flowers and live plants as possible in my house.  The more life and beauty you surround yourself with the more beautiful your life will be.  Also, live plants add multiple benefits to your living space which you can read more about here.)

I also feel that right now is the best time to address the transformation I’ve noticed in my dogs over the past few weeks.  I think they’re also being affected by the weather and are starting to act out from being stuck in the house so much!  My little chihuahua babies don’t do especially well in really cold weather, so over the past few weeks with temperatures dropping down to single digits and snow covering the ground, they haven’t been as active as they would like and it’s driving them stir crazy! They have started acting out in ways I’ve not seen since they were puppies and they’re 9 now.  This week alone, I have had to call the police and a locksmith because they locked themselves in my running car while I was putting wiper fluid under my hood.  They got into a bag of deer jerky I left on the coffee table and ate the whole thing.  Then drank their entire bowl of water and peed on the couch.  Then I came home from work last night and they had gotten into a trash bag–something they haven’t done since they were babies!  So every opportunity I’ve gotten at weather above 40, I’ve walked their butts off trying to unleash some of this pent up energy!

Finally, I cannot write a transformation post without addressing my own personal transformation.  Over the past year I have changed my life drastically.  I spent 5 years in a dead end relationship with a person who was not good or right for me, worked at a job that I dreaded walking into on a daily basis and was 30 lbs overweight.  My self esteem was at rock bottom.  I felt that this life was all there was and it would never get better.  i was a severe pessimist.  A lot of this had to do with my drinking habits.  I was bored and surrounding myself with people who partied a lot so it just seemed normal to go out 6 nights a week.  I got a DUI.  I had no money.  The person I was with had no concept of love and how to express it and I had some sick attachment only because I was fixated on fixing him.  In March of 2011 I took the first steps by moving out on my own.  I wish I could say that relationship ended completely then, but it did not.  I started partying even more with my newfound freedom, and loosely seeing other people, but I continued to fall back on this person every time I was lonely or bored for the next 2 years.  Strangely enough it always felt more lonely when I was with him than when I was on my own.  After moving out, I lost the extra weight I had been carrying.  I was depressed and just didn’t eat so it wasn’t a healthy weight loss, but at least it got rid of it.  Finally, around March of 2013, I got some self esteem.  I started working out and eating right.  I had an awesome friend base.  I quit the job I hated.  I somehow had came to a point where I had weeded out all the exhausting relationships in my life but the one and it was now time to let that go too.  Once I finally unchained myself from all that negativity and learned to love myself, it was like I had opened myself up to be loved in the kind of relationship I deserved.  It was in May of 2013 that I became involved with Mitch.  He is the great love I’ve always heard about but never thought was true.  In all honestly, this man saved my life.  He truly is my better half.  I have major problems with self control and Mitch is the little angel on my shoulder that steers me in the right direction.  I can’t give him all the credit however.  If I hadn’t pulled myself from negativity and surrounded myself with light and positivity, I never would have been in a position to be loved.  As cliche as it sounds, reading “the secret” really changed my life and I would recommend it to anyone who is feeling lost and hopeless.  The things you put out  really are the things you attract.  You steer your own ship.  As devastated as I would be if something happened and Mitch and I didn’t work out, I now know how to love myself enough to be a stable, happy individual with a purpose.  The way you feel on the inside really is reflected on the outside and these photos prove that beyond a doubt.  I hope this post will help someone who feels lost like I did.  Don’t look for happiness in another person–like fireflies, find the light in yourself first, and that light will attract the person with the right light to match yours.

I hope everyone has a blessed day and I will see you guys soon with a Valentine’s post, as me and the honey are celebrating this weekend.