I Want to be Different

by brandyellen // January 2, 2013 // Comments off

Over this past week of school vacation my daughter has been wearing quite the “interesting” choice of clothing. She has worn such things as pants that are way too short for her, stripes with plaid, and other such mis-matched type choices or clothing selections that she has clearly grown out of. One day I finally called her out on her outfit choices, wondering why anyone would want to wear pants that are too short for them baffled me.

Positive Girl Aurthors - Mom and Daughter

The answer my daughter gave me regarding her outfit choices was;

I don’t care what other people say, I don’t care what other people think. You taught me to not worry about what others think of me and I want to be different. I don’t want to look or be like anyone else.

If I say tears of pride didn’t enter my eyes at that moment, I would be lying. My little girl who struggled for a bit with lower self esteem and issues on standing up for her own self is now showing signs of a high self esteem and confidence like no other. All of our positive quotes shared, positive stories read {and written/published}, all of that time I spent showing her that I didn’t care what others thought about me … is finally starting to shine through and as much as those high water pants drive me crazy, I just smile because she is my girl and I couldn’t be more proud of her!

Communication is Extremely Difficult Sometimes

by brandyellen // January 24, 2012 // Comments off

I always had a way with words, written down on paper, yet to speak to another human being as if they are a human being with feelings has not always been my strong point when I am upset or annoyed. It is all too easy at times to throw the blame at someone else, specifically your partner in life, when something has not been done or maybe wasn’t done to your liking. One of the promises I made to myself for this New Year is to start being more open about my feelings, both negative and positive alike.

Working on communicating, truly speaking with someone back and forth in a real conversation about a topic that is important, is extremely difficult for me with a specific person. I find it’s easier for me to keep reminding myself of how it used to be, of things that have happened before, essentially I resort to the non-trust mode and therefore shut down completely. Shutting down isn’t going to solve any problems nor is it going to resolve the problem at hand. I realize my fault with the difficulty in communication and have resolved to work harder at letting go of the negative things I do during a conversation.

For instance, I have decided to truly let go of things people have done to hurt me in the past. I found out I was putting someone on a higher level than my own self and expecting them to live up to it. Why I was doing this, I have no clue, because I often feel I have been held to higher standards within some of my family members minds and it’s hurtful to me. I can’t believe I was doing the same thing to another person.

From now on when a problem arises or something doesn’t get done, I no longer lay blame and I no longer lash out in words or write some long email or letter to the person. I am certain to take time to cool off and once my thoughts have been collected, sit down and discuss my feelings in the best way I know how. I also take time to apologize for maybe not using the right words or the right tone in how I am speaking. I calmly address my concern, issue, problem with the other person and we attempt to have a discussion about it.

This communication gig is a work in progress but it has certainly started to make me feel more relaxed and positive about life in general and relationships. I believe everyone should take the time to communicate effectively, efficiently and politely whenever an issue comes to light. Remember, practice makes perfect or close to it

Sprout Kindness Counts

by brandyellen // August 19, 2011 // Comments off

I want my children to have empathy and compassion towards others, I want them to know what kindness does not only for others but for their own happiness. I am a Mom who has shown my children that making others smile is so worth more than any amount of money in the world.

Today I am excited to share with you a new multiplatform pro-social initiative that the 24 hour Sprout channel is offering for children of a preschool age to encourage the development of empathy. Sprout Kindness Counts is a great way to start young with discouraging bullying. I know that my daughter is already starting to experience the occasional bullying from peers and peer pressure is really difficult for a child to deal with.

I know as a mom it’s hard for me to explain bullying and how it isn’t okay. I get upset that parents haven’t taught their children to be kinder to others. I know my daughter already donates every year canned goods around the holiday time and she wants to set up her own website to collect donations for victims of disasters around the world. I have been raising my children to have compassion, this isn’t to say my children will never be a bully, but I am taking the steps every parent should in educating children on feelings and treating people right.

This month Sprout invites you to Add Your Kind Act to the Count and share with your child what being kind to others can accomplish!

What Makes You Feel Accomplished?

by brandyellen // May 19, 2011 // Comments off

In order to be fully living life at your happiest you need to know what it is that makes you happy. I firmly believe that if you have all that you need to feel accomplished and an individual person that you will lead a happy life regardless of relationship or financial status!

What Makes Me Feel Accomplished?

Ability to write & work from 8 or 9pm until I am tired.
Ability to write daily to get thoughts out of my mind.
Quiet time in the evening hours.
Making some form of income on my own.
Financial independence from any other person.

You see what makes me feel accomplished is making my own money, having the free time in the evening hours, well late night hours, to write or work whatever I feel like doing. Usually writing is my work as I do get paid to write on various places as well as my own blogs.

If I am not getting my night time hours, at least 3-4 hours a night to do what makes me feel accomplished I start to get low self esteem, a feeling of no worth, unhappy and eventually miserable.

I refuse to be miserable. I refuse to live life unhappy. I refuse to let life run too fast for me. I refuse to lose who I am deep inside. I will be me, I will find my happy again. I will get my sons sleeping through the night on a regular basis so that I can get my happy again!

So … what makes you feel happiest?

Where Am I Going & What Do I Want

by brandyellen // April 16, 2011 // Comments off

The thought crosses my mind often and recently a blog friend Cindi wrote a post of interest to me & many others. It’s funny that the only reason I caught wind of this blog post Slip-Slidin’ Away was because she sent me a message on Facebook, even though I am an email subscriber to her blog … I missed this blog post. So first, thank you Cindi for that message on Facebook!

I have thought for a long time about what direction I wanted my blog to go, what I wanted to gain or share from this blog. Why did I start the blog in the first place? Now HappilyBlended.com was originally WritingsofaWAHM.com and it was to be a blog to share all of my various ways I was making income from home in direct sales. I was a top notch sales person and team leader with just about every company I joined & sold products with. The problem was … as I started to “meet” other bloggers and read other blogs I realized blogging was about community, parenting stories, personal stories and so much more.

I also started to think more positive and had started some changes in my life and no longer could deal with trying to sell items to everyone. I wanted to be more, I could be more, so what was more?

I started this blogging venture in December 2008, along with a Twitter account @brandyellen and just moved forward. Whatever I put my mind to, I do 110% … always. The issue to me is that once you start blogging and you start getting out there that PR gets ahold of you, you start seeing that you can work with all of these great brands and you can test their products and make your family have material items they may need or want but you couldn’t afford to get on your own. Maybe it’s a new product you had never heard of and without your blog you wouldn’t have heard of it until it hit market. The experiences alone are awesome! However, you can still work with brands and keep to your personal tone or original mission for why you started blogging without “selling out” so to speak. I understand sometimes it’s simply just hard to say no after you have said yes.

For me, I have found that although I love product reviews and love hosting giveaways, this wasn’t my main purpose of starting a blog. I don’t want to be known as a review blogger or a giveaway blogger, I want to be known as someone who made a difference in one person, in one family and after that? A difference in the world! I know that I have what it takes to spread happiness and positive thinking skills all over the world. I know I have what it takes because I have been so far down, depressed, shy, low self esteem, barely able to love myself, I have been YOU and now I am ME.

If I could go from the painfully shy and anxious young adult (as well as child) to the person I am today after ALL I have been through, and yes I have been through more than you realize, then I say YOU CAN TOO. All it takes is a mind switch, a motivation for change and a personal decision to be more positive.

I can help you and I will help you! I will be doing some “house cleaning” on this blog and getting back to my mission in life, love and parenting while sharing my journey with you as well as tips. I will still be sharing blogging support and work at home support because after all being financially stable helps us stay positive, right?

I am not saying no to product reviews & giveaways, I am simply making a conscious choice to be more selective in the process of picking which campaigns I work on so as to not fill this site with all reviews & giveaways and little useful information, advice & tips. I have a lot to offer and I can’t wait to offer more of it!