Check Out the Be Nice Box!

An awesome fellow blogger is starting a new venture - the Be Nice Box!! Check out her guest post with all the details:

hey everybody!
my name is diana.
can we be friends?!
i live in minneapolis, ride my bike, talk about harry potter a lot & really love being nice to people!

see, i run a blog called 'a year of minnesota nice.' i started it after the boston bombings in april, with a goal to complete one random act of kindness each day, for an entire year.
so far, i have completed almost 120 acts ; its been such a blast!
you can see a few of my favorite days here, here, here, here & here.

last month, i left my 13-year career in education, *knowing* i wanted to do something new with my life & time. i had no idea what that was, but i knew i was ready.


since i have started the kindness blog, there have been FOUR other women who have started their own blogs about kindness {so awesome}. you can see them here, here, here & here. i have been SO incredibly inspired by the blogs, emails & tweets that others have been sharing! its been so amazing to watch strangers come together, do good deeds & make the planet better.
i kept asking myself 'how can i use this blog & this platform and turn it into a career i will love?!'

one night, i was out walking my {super naughty} pup & the idea hit me!
and the be nice box was born!

do you want to know more?!
{say yes!!}


what is it? 
the be nice box is a monthly subscription service encouraging YOU to spread your own kindness!
there are 1, 3, 6, & 12-month & gift subscriptions available!

what do i get?
each month, the box will center around a theme & all contents will be a surprise until you open the box.
but, each month you will receive a list of 13-15 fun, awesome & affordable ideas to practice kindness in your area. along with the list, you will also find 5-7 materials, items & handmade products to help you fulfill some of those tasks. and finally, each box will contain a cool, handmade surprise for YOU!


how much does it cost?
a one-month subscription is only $12! 
you can get 3 months for $33 or 6 months for $62.
a 12-month subscription is only $120 {thats like getting two months FOR FREE!}
the best part?
$1 from EACH box sold will be donated to charity.
{each month, the theme & the charity will align. that way, we can make impact, after impact, after impact!}

also, shipping is ALWAYS FREE! there are no hidden fees or marketing tricks!
the price you see is the price you pay!

where can i sign up?
im glad you asked ;)
you can head over here to sign up!
please note : for the first few months, there will be a limited number of boxes available.
if the november boxes sell out, there will be a waiting list for the december box!

how can i stay connected?
lets be friends!
website // twitter // facebook // instagram // pinterest
i love social media & really believe that we can connect with folks we wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to meet!

other things to note : 
the boxes will ship around the 25-28th of october, so they will be on your doorstep by november 1st!
at this time, boxes will only be shipped INSIDE the US {sorry, international friends}

thanks so much for reading!
i really, really believe that if we all come together & take baby steps to be better, the world will absolutely become a better place!


if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email or connect with me on twitter!

Adventures in Professional Development - Jenn

Mike and I are both in our first jobs, and both of us are figuring out career development and what that means exactly. My company has a career development workshop that I attended a couple of weeks ago, and during it I learned more about the various career stages, what it means to be at your career best (talents, interest, and organization all aligned), how to ensure your values are represented in your career, and how to make sure you don't fall into career jail where your interest in your job is low while your abilities are high. Since I've only been in my job for six months, the biggest part of my career development plan at the moment is learn more! I'm working to build my technical skills by taking on a variety of projects and utilizing the knowledge more experienced members of my group. I'm also building my supply chain knowledge by reading resources and books given to me by my manager. I'm very lucky to have found some awesome mentors, and I discussed my career development with one of them over lunch last week. She gave me some advice she said she wished she'd been given when she was at the earliest stage of her career like I am. She suggested that I pick one skill: public speaking, communication, or networking and work to develop it now. By doing this, I can give myself an edge and uniqueness and build myself professionally. She suggested some books on networking, and I decided to start with that. Over the weekend, I went to a local used bookstore and picked up two of the books she suggested Never Eat Alone and Love is the Killer App. I also grabbed a copy of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People; I've heard many good things about this book and thought it'd be another source of tools to start developing now so that they become habits later on. Mike also wants to read this one, and I'm sure we'll both use the networking books as well. 

Oh yes, and I also picked up Mean Girls at the used bookstore because it was only $5, and Mike and I keep wanting to watch it. Who knows, maybe we'll pick up some networking and communication tips there too haha :)

Adventures in Cultivating Happiness - Part 2

Alrighty, here are happiness interventions 6-10 that we can practice to bring more joy into our lives.

6. Increase flow experiences - find activities that are challenging but not overwhelming and permit you to focus your attention; immerse yourself in that activity and develop a mastery of enjoyable activities. People are happier when they are doing rather than passively interacting i.e. we're happier when we're gardening or running than we are when watching TV. The activity has to be something interesting and engaging, something active, and something your know how to do and like to do. To pursue this as a happiness intervention, spend more time doing such an activity and do it more thoroughly. Some examples of flow experiences are cooking, yoga, mountain biking and solving problems.
7. Savor life's joys - this is more in the moment than expressing gratitude, which is after the fact. Practice relishing life's ordinary experiences and spend time each day savoring for several minutes some aspect of your experience; consider how this moment is unique and will not last. Catch and savor little moments and observation. You can also reminisce about the past by identifying happy memories and thinking about them alone or with others, one example of this is scrapbooking. One caution on reminiscing, though, don't journal about happy events as this can take the happiness out of them.
8. Commit to goals - pick a couple of significant goals that are meaningful to you and devote time and effort to pursuing them. Think of goals that are bigger than just yourself. An exercise to get started on this is to think about how you want to be remembered after you die. What do you want your obituary to say? This sounds a bit morbid, but it will give you some direction and a connection with a goal greater than yourself.
9. Take care of your body and laugh/smile more - get enough sleep (we need about 8 hours a night), begin an exercise regimen (make appointments to exercise), and be laugh ready. The speaker recommended setting an alarm for 8.5 hours before you want to wake up. When it goes off, you have 30 minutes to get ready for bed.
10. Mindfulness mediation - this is a combination of savoring life's joys with flow experience. Practice relaxing, breathing, and focusing on the present.

So there you have it, all my learnings from the happiness session. Which intervention will you use first to bring more joy into your life? What do you already do?

Mike and I share one thing we're thankful for and one thing we're looking forward to every night before we go to sleep; this is a ritual that I really enjoy! I used to practice weekly acts of kindness, but since the wedding, I haven't kept up with it. I think I will get back into it soon. I am still trying to decide which intervention I want to really focus on right now. I hope that I'll eventually be able to move through all 10 and make them all into habits.

Photo by Jenn from a hike we took with my parents during their visit.

Adventures in Cultivating Happiness - Part 1

Last week, my work offered a lunch time webinar on happiness, so of course I tuned in. I am really interested in happiness and different ways to cultivate it and bring more joy in my life. I found the talk really helpful, so I wanted to share what I learned! The talk was by a member of the staff at CompPsych, an organization that provides services to the employees of my company.

Basically, the talk outlined ten happiness interventions that you can use to increase your happiness. The speaker suggested that you try a few and work to make them habits. He also suggested picking an intervention that feels a little bit uncomfortable, something that you wouldn't normally do, to get the most 'bang for your buck'.

1. Express gratitude - you can keep a gratitude journal or share things with a friend or significant other. You should be specific and come up with different things every time you do this exercise (for example, weekly). Instead of "I'm grateful for my family," try "I'm grateful for my husband who gets up in the morning and makes breakfast." Practice thanking others and telling them that you are grateful for them.
2. Cultivate optimism - reject negative thoughts and try a best-self diary - picture yourself in 5-10 years time, what will your life be like if all of your hard work has paid off and everything has occurred in the best possible way? Write down everything that comes to mind; you have created a compelling view of your future self and created a roadmap for how to get there!
3. Avoid social comparison and dwelling on problems - to release such thoughts, try to distract yourself with another activity (the speaker recommended singing) or talk to someone or write down your thoughts. When you put your thoughts into words, it puts them in perspective and allows you to release them. In addition, once you start comparing yourself to others, whether positively or negatively, it becomes a habit. Instead, compare your current self with your previous self and you'll get less worked up about life.
4. Practice acts of kindness - money doesn't cause happiness, but giving money away does. So, schedule one day a week to do many small acts or one big act of kindness. You should try to alter your acts regularly because if you repeat the same one, you'll adapt to it and will no longer receive such a big benefit. You can also commit to ongoing social service; we don't tend to adapt to social service.
5. Nurture relationships - spend at least 5 hours a week talking one-on-one with your significant other (commute together, exercise together, find time to do activities together where you can talk), in all your relationships, increase your positive communication and decrease the negative - we have a 1:5 ratio of negative to positive communication, meaning we need 5 positive interactions with someone to overcome 1 negative interaction, so build up those positive interactions (appreciation, affection, support) and decrease the negative ones (criticism, demand). Another way to nurture relationships is to enjoy the success of others. We are very good and being there for one another when things aren't going well, but we can do better to also be there when things are going great.

Stay tuned from interventions 6-10 tomorrow!

Photo by Mike, taken during my parents' visit.

Walking Adventures

Jenn and I have always enjoyed walking. When I think about it, walking has actually been a constant in our relationship. We always went on walks when I visited her house before the wedding, we often went on walks at school, and we enjoy hiking partially because it's just like walking together. The few times she visited me down the shore we walked on the beach a lot, and one of our first dates was a long walk to look for a meteor shower (never found it - cloudy).

The walks started primarily because of Jenn. I did not grow up with a sidewalk or walking path nearby, so my form of outdoor activity at home was playing in the backyard with my sister, and later our dog as well. Jenn, though, grew up walking often with her family, since their town had an extensive trail system, essentially in her backyard. It was such a foreign concept for me, but I became used to it and have grown to enjoy just going on a walk. When I am at Jenn's house, you go on walks - simple fact.

Walks have now become an even more important part of our daily routine. With Jenn's commute, we usually get an average of three hours to hang-out in the evenings, and part of that is our evening walk. That is our chance to get a small bit of exercise or at least stretch our legs. It's our chance to actually learn what the other did that day. And most importantly, it's our chance to spend time together with nothing else on our minds. :)