Showing gratitude and being mindful are the top priorities in my life recently. I realized the happiness and satisfaction of being grateful for whatever I have. Loving family members, own house, enough money for needs and satisfying career and business - I can't ask more from God. 

 

2023 just flying by and we are entering a new year. Since blogging has taken a backseat, I couldn't write any gratitude lists in 2023. So, here is one for the whole year!

Gratitude List for 2023

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Family

A supportive family is the biggest strength for anyone. Don't you agree? If you can vent out your frustrations without inhibition to other family members, that itself is a great deal. If you can be YOU, that is the ultimate happiness in a family. Iam grateful every day for that.

Dance

Our dance school grew a lot in this year. It is a productive year with many performances and watching students getting better day by day. I am grateful to see determined students who wanted to learn more and try to give their best in performances. I love watching my students practice at home everyday and getting better.

I have never experienced the beauty of being a teacher earlier and I am feeling proud. We have successfully performed on our Annual Recital in September. 

Travel

Why this has to be on top 3? You know me :-) If there is one part of life which keeps me motivated, it's travel. We could visit Utah and some of the wonderful national parks - Zion, Bryce and Capitol Reef. The beauty of Utah is gorgeous and there are no words to explain. 

We visited the remote parts of Oklahoma for thanksgiving and enjoyed our boat tour around bald Cypress trees at Caddo lake state park. That travelogue would be up soon on my blog!

The beauty of Bryce Canyon National park

We are planning for a trip to theme parks by the end of the year and kids are very excited. I am excited to cross a few more states in our checklist. 

Work

This year, I learned a lot and experimented with a testing tool called 'Cypress'. Java Script is not as comforting as Java in the beginning, but I am happy to getting used to it this year. I explored a lot technically and improved my skills on creating a test framework for a web application. 

There is still a lot to learn, but overall, a very productive year in my professional life. I am grateful to my mentors and leads. 

Photo by Lukas: https://www.pexels.com/photo/blue-retractable-pen-574070/

Settling in New House

It's not in the top of the list, but I am happy to settle in our nest this year. A ranch style single storied home as per my wishes :-)

 I don't want to use stairs everyday and stress my knees further (doing that already with dance, anyways - no extra burden). I am grateful for our backyard view and the colors of sky that I get to see for every Sunrise and Sunset. 

There is a lot more today at home-front, but as usual it's not on my high priority list. I wanted to buy more indoor and outdoor plants and setup a cozy corner at home with our artwork. I want this cozy corner to be our place to read books or do yoga and meditate. That's for next year.

Parents Visit

I went to India and brought my parents for their first time visit. I am grateful for them as it takes a lot to travel so many hours on flight and the journey is not that comfortable to US. 

I cherish all those moments I got with them this year - Celebrating Diwali, Visiting Big bend and White Sand dunes last year, Celebrating our housewarming this year, kids' birthdays, kids' band recital, temple visits, showing them Christmas lights and Halloween decors blah blah.. Our family made wonderful memories.

Books

I have read a lot of books this year. I have set a goal of completing 20 books which is below my capacity, so I achieved it many months ahead, I think in around August itself. Cool :-)

There are many good books I got to read like these.

Photo by Lisa Fotios: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-person-flipping-book-page-1750566/

I am grateful for the suggestions of fellow book bloggers and readers whom I follow on Instagram. I am also grateful to the local library where I can get so many books for free.

I am thankful to all the authors who send me great free books to write a review and share my opinion.

Podcasts

Podcasts are my new found interest. I enjoyed listening to many podcasts while driving to and fro to office this year. I especially liked huberman labs - A science and neuroscience research podcast.

These are a few other suggestions if you want to try podcasts.

Image by Kirill from Pixabay

So, that's about my gratitude list for 2023. What are you grateful for? Please do let me know in comments.

I wish you a happy holiday season, and best wishes!

Until next time,

5 tools that help me in my regular blogging

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When I started blogging many years ago, I was not sure how to make my content more attractive to readers. In this blogging journey of around 10 years, I have learned a lot from other bloggers and from Google as well on different techniques like below:

• Choosing a better headline or title
• Writing content in small paragraphs and with bullet points if needed
• Including relevant high-quality images to attract readers
• Including quotes and providing a takeaway in each article
• Ending the article with an action item/ a question to connect with readers
• Promoting in social media
• Publishing the post at specific times when the readers are active (mid of the week and in the evenings after 6pm)
•  Writing genuine content with a personal touch instead of some ideal scenarios
• Reading and replying to the comments regularly
• Joining link parties and participating in writing challenges regularly.

Even though my blog is on a custom domain, it is managed through the blogger platform. This made it tough for me to use the plugins because of blogger platform limitations. Since I don't earn much revenue through my blog, I cannot go for paid tools as of now. But, there are some free tools that help me to write regularly on my blog. These tools/ apps/ websites made my life easier.  

Here is a list of 5 such tools/ apps/ websites:

1. Grammarly

I write good English with fewer grammar mistakes but the punctuation mistakes irk me a lot. I have Grammarly Chrome extension enabled which helps me to write content without grammar mistakes.

 I use a free version as of now and it meets my purpose. I feel Grammar is the first thing any blogger should focus on if they want to improve their blog and reach more audiences. 

Check this link to install Grammarly:

The World's Best Grammar Checker



2. Canva

I would say this is a boon for social media promotion and to write content with attractive images and text. I use this regularly and almost every time I blog unless I am using my own images.

Canva is free and it has loads of templates and images. It is very easy to use. Just we have to pick an image, include the text we want to add, add our blog's URL, and download the final image to include in our blog post or use for social media promotion. 

Super cool and Simple!

Check this link to create an account and start creating beautiful graphics faster:






3.Image Sources

Picking attractive high-quality images is very important for any blog post. 

Good Paid stock photos are best for Pinterest Pins as they stand out and bring more traffic to me. I suggest Deposit photos for high-quality images that we can use for social media promotion..

Stock Images


The first source that helps me with this is the website www.pixabay.com. Many images are available for free. 

One more option is to search for an image in "Google images" page, select "tools 》usage rights" and filter the results by "labeled with non-commercial reuse". Those images are not copyrighted. 

Other sources are Flickr images with a creative commons license and a website www.unsplash.com. 

4. Buffer

Taking time to promote our content is as important as publishing quality content. I usually promote my content on Facebook, Twitter and Google plus. I also add my links to Indiblogger and the blog chatter reading lists. 

When I schedule my content ahead for a future date I use buffer to share the links on social media. It makes planning easier and I use a free version as of now.

5. Image editing tools

Sometimes, for travelogues, I post photos directly from my mobile. So, I use snapseed app to edit my photos. This is a free tool with lots of editing options. I use photo grid app to make collages of photos real quick from my mobile. 

What tools do you use for blogging? Did you try any of the above-mentioned tools/ apps/ websites? Please do let me know your thoughts and also suggestions on some free tools which make blogging easy.

Until next time 

This article is written as part of SuperBloggingChallenge2018 conducted by Healthwealthbridge.com,Fashionablefoodz.com, and Allaboutthewoman.com and should not be repurposed, republished or used otherwise. SuperBloggerChallenge2018 is not responsible for any kind of infringement caused. 

Also, linking this to #QuotedStories hosted by Upasna. 

My Childhood Food memories #SuperBloggerChallenge2018

I am not a foodie and I manage to eat anything if it is a veg option cooked properly with enough salt and spice. But, My mother is a great cook. She loves cooking tasty dishes, she takes time to improve the food that she cooks and presents them properly. I am just the opposite. I don't have interest in both cooking and eating.

Still, I have some good childhood memories of food. Here are some:

Gold fingers :
They are some fries with salt and spice. We used to get these packs in our school cafeteria. We used to stand in a queue to buy them during recess and share them with our friends. I used to save pocket money for this. Of course, this is junk food, but I liked it because they were spicy and crunchy.

Gold finger snacks
PC: From Google images labeled with non-commercial reuse

Evening snacks :
After coming from school, our daily routine was to freshen up, eat homemade snacks made by my mom, and rush to dance classes. My mom used to make a variety of snacks like plantain bajji (stuffed fries), wholewheat dosas, Maggie, Rava laddoo, sweet laddoo, murukku etc., My favorite was whole wheat dosa, and my mom used to make 2 versions - a simple one and a sweet one.

Wheat Dosa
PC: From Google images labeled with non-commercial reuse

Poori :
I used to hate almost all breakfast items like idli, vada, and dosa as I am allergic to them. But, Pooris are so tasty and my all-time favorite breakfast. They take some time to make, so my mom used to prepare them on weekends when we got up late. We used to enjoy Pooris with potato curry or with a gravy made with chickpea flour.

Poori
PC:www.pixabay.com

Rice items and Specific vegetables:
I almost like all rice varieties like veg pulao, tamarind rice, tomato rice, etc., I like some vegetables more like ladyfingers, potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants.

Ladyfingers/ Okra
PC:www.pixabay.com

Really, those were fantastic days when we didn't need to cook anything and just eat and enjoy a tasty meal. What were your childhood favorites and best food memories? Do share in comments.

Until next time,

This article is written as part of SuperBloggingChallenge2018 conducted by Healthwealthbridge.com,Fashionablefoodz.com, and Allaboutthewoman.com and should not be repurposed, republished or used otherwise. SuperBloggerChallenge2018 is not responsible for any kind of infringement caused. 

Linking this to #FlavoursomeTuesdays hosted by Sunita and Shilpa. 

Also, linking this to #QuotedStories hosted by Upasna.

Being Happy and feeling happy #QuotedStories

Many people are confused about what makes them happy. Some are bored with their routine lives of work, kids, planning for next day and so on. Some misunderstand that happiness is associated with luxury, power, and money. But, after getting all these also, happiness is not guaranteed. A few find happiness by helping others and making someone smile. A few find happiness in their family's happiness. Some find happiness in their hobbies and some in their passion for work.

Where do you find happiness? Did you think through what makes you happy? 

I think about it sometimes and I found following make me happy:

1. Being positive
Even though we have problems, if we can feel positivity and hope that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel and move forward, it makes us happy. Of course, this is the hardest part when we have a lot of problems and are facing many failures and are completely off the track. But, we have to try. I try to keep my positive spirit in those tough situations. Facing challenges and coming out successfully gives happiness.

2. Being grateful 
Being grateful helps me to be happy. Appreciating every little thing in my life and counting my blessings make me happy.

Ex: I am happy -

• when my toddler completes his lunch without me running behind him for hours to feed.
• If I need not cook for that day :-)
• If I get some house help from my family
• If I get time to read a good book
• If I could meet or talk to an old friend etc.,

3. Making others smile

Sometimes, even a small gesture and a kind word can bring a smile on others' face. Helping other moms to engage their kids makes me happy as I know how frustrated moms will be the whole day managing the kids without anyone's help. Striking a casual conversation after a long time with a friend will bring a smile to the friend. Indulging kids in chocolate/ ice cream once in a while and doing some naughty things along with them is more fun.

4. Activities that bring happiness
I love drawing, making crafts, meeting friends, dancing, traveling and writing. There are some activities which relax us and bring out our creativeness. What do you love to do? Explore a lot of activities, try and decide which activity you enjoy. Start practicing that activity at least once a month to start with.

5. Letting go of bad
I am not very good at forgiving people but I keep my space from negative people. I don't try to take revenge or hurt them but I want to go away from them. Forgetting past problems and remembering only the lessons the bad incidents gave us is really a boon. I am still trying to learn it. Someday, I might succeed. If we can forget negative incidents, learn from failures and forgive someone who has done bad to us, we are really in the ideal case.

In conclusion, I choose happiness and I feel, I am alone responsible for my happiness. I want to be so happy that people surrounding me feel happy too. As we know that a smile is contagious, can we make happiness also contagious?

Until next time,

Linking this to #QuotedStories hosted by Upasna.

Gratitude List for December 2017 #GratitudeCircle

Though it is late, I cannot miss counting my blessings for December.
So, quickly on to my Gratitude List.

1. Dance classes
I never thought that I would teach dance when I learned it. I always thought I would become a professional dancer and perform which I did my whole life till now. I think it is time to take the next step and pass on what I have learned to my next generation. I am very grateful to my Dance teacher Ms. Parvathi Ramachandran for training me with patience.

My Dance classes have picked up from December and I am looking forward to focussing on teaching this year as well.

2. New friends
As we grow older and matured, It is difficult to find good friends. Did you observe? In this new place and new country, I took time to make friendships (Not a hi, bye type but helping each other type). This month and the last month, I have met many people and made new friends - I would say, good friends. I am grateful for this.

3. Zentangle
I tried a new art inspired by my fellow bloggers Raji and Shilpa. This art is different from others as the sky is the only limit to creativity. No two persons can draw the same as everyone thinks differently. It is very relaxing to my mind to draw Zentangles. I might have bored my Instagram and Facebook followers with some initial drawings and I am sorry for that.  You know, it's the excitement after all when we start a new hobby :-)

My Recent Zentangle

4. Books
I got some time to read good books this month. I enjoyed reading 'Empire' by Devi Yesodharan which is an inspiring Historical fiction. 'Destined' by Rubina is a Romance with a nice concept. Mama Graciela's Secret is a Children's story with moral. Black Peppers is a thriller set in 1700 AD in Kerala. Karna's Celestial Armour is a Mythological Fiction. I am grateful for the opportunity to read many genres and different stories.

5. More time with Kids
Even though it was tough being a judge most of the time when my both sons fight for every small thing, I survived their Christmas holidays. We read some good books, did some crafts together and also did some drawings. We watched some movies too.

My elder one's school will re-open day after tomorrow and I don't want to wake up early again for his school :-( Enjoyed good sleep till 8 am in the mornings in these holidays :-)

So, that was from my side. I hope, you had a great celebration welcoming the new year. Cheer up and Enjoy the coming days :-)

Until next time,

Linking this post to #MondayMusings hosted by Corinne, #GratitudeCircle hosted by Vidya, Thankful Thursday linkup by Shirley Corder and #QuotedStories hosted by Upasna.

Write to Inspire

The treasured memories of Diwali

There are four festivals I remember enjoying in my childhood. Ugadi (Telugu new year), Sankranthi (harvest festival), Vinayaka Chavithi  and Deepavali (Festival of lights). There are many other festivals too like Dussehra, Varalakshmi vratham, Krishnashtami, Maha shivaratri, Nagula chavithi, Karthika Poornima etc., but the four festivals that I mentioned have complete family participation. We celebrated them together as a family and they were not meant for only pooja.

I have lots and lots of memories associated with Deepavali from childhood. Now, being in another country, this is the time I mostly miss my home and our country.

"We didn't realize we were making Memories, we just knew we were having fun." - Unknown

Diyas, Candles, and Light
We used to buy diyas (pramidalu) made of clay before Diwali, light them and place them on Diwali night at every corner of the house both outside and inside. 'Deepavali' (in Telugu) means an array of lights. Our houses will be glowing on Diwali nights with beauty and light. We, as kids used to help our mother in arranging these diyas and ensuring that oil is refilled at the right time for them to glow continuously.

Flower rangoli with candles

Firecrackers
We used to love firecrackers as children. Our uncle used to buy the longest sparkler so that we aren't afraid to hold it while it's burning. We used to put a bucket of water to dispose of used crackers then and there. I love flower pots and Ground chakras more than anything. I never liked the noise of 1000 walas but the beauty of the light that crackers generate is pleasing to the eyes.

Fireworks - Flower pots

Rangoli
After my marriage, I started a tradition of making a big colorful rangoli on Diwali evening to decorate it with flowers and lighted diyas. I used to spend 1 to 2 hrs on rangoli but always enjoyed that time. My kids help me now in decorating rangoli with flowers. I used to buy scented candles and floating candles to decorate for Diwali. I don't like the electric array of lights but I am crazy about different types of candles.

Rangoli made by me

Diya Painting
I started painting the clay diyas from last 4 years and I enjoy doing it with my older son (6 years).  Sometimes, we both used to paint diyas with acrylic paints and gift them to relatives and friends or just use them at our home on Diwali.

Basic Diya painting

Sweets
I am not a foodie, so I don't enjoy indulging in sweets but my mother used to prepare 'bobbatlu' for Diwali, which I love the most. Sometimes, she used to cook 'Gulab Jamun' too and tamarind rice. After my marriage, I tried Gulab jamun but couldn't prepare to my satisfaction. We used to buy dry fruits and sweets (Motichoor laddu) to gift to our friends and relatives on Diwali. I think preparing and distributing sweets is an inherent part of this festival.

juicy gulab jamun Pc:www.pixabay.com

So, that was from my treasured memories of Deepavali festival.  How do you celebrate Diwali?
I wish all my readers a very happy and safe Diwali.

Until next time,

Linking this to #MondayMusings hosted by Corinne, #HappySunday linky party hosted by Menaka, Vasantha, and Anubhuthi and Linking this to #QuotedStories hosted by Upasna and Rohank. Also, linking this to #ChattyBlogs by Shanaya.