10 things I can’t live without, that I’m so grateful for
Maybe I’m not exaggerating when I say that the things I can’t live without, are part of who I am. I thought it would be interesting to share it with you. So here we go!
My Family
My Parents, Girls, brothers, and cousins are such a huge part of me. You see, my family consists of 45 members. Up until I was 3 years old, I lived in a family house with lots of my cousins on my father’s side.. I can’t tell you enough about how much fun we used to have.
I always considered my brothers and cousins from both sides of my parents to be not only my family and my support system but also my best friends. Furthermore, when my cousins got married, their husbands and wives also became my best friends.
Let’s just say I was really lucky in that area. and really if everything in my life fails; my family, my husband, and my friends are just enough for me.
My Husband
I didn’t mention my husband as part of the family for a very special reason, and that is because he is something more.
He is my soulmate, my love, and my support system.
It’s so awkward that someone who one day was a stranger to you can now become everything to you.
We definitely don’t have a perfect marriage but I believe we have something better. Although we fight just like any other couple, we both give our marriage the utmost importance. We learned to communicate and solve our problems with care and respect.
We know what triggers us and we give each other so much space. That’s why for me he is everything.
Prayers
Hope is everything, don’t you agree. Whenever we look at life with hope everything turns out to be just fine, and my prayers are my shield of hope. Whenever I’m sad or frustrated or just feel down. Prayers are the thing that brings me up and whenever I’m happy and grateful. Prayer is the thing that makes me show this gratefulness.
It’s my spiritual relief. and that’s why when a day passes without prayer I feel like I was out of focus and out of connection with my self.
Pizza with extra cheese
Well, what can I say about that? Pizza is my weakness. It’s my Kryptonite. If I’m trying to lose weight and people bring Pizza then it’s “bye, bye Diet, Hello Pizza”
But to tell you the truth I believe in comfort food. as much as I love healthy eating and we mainly focus on healthy eating at home. But we eat comfort food always on Fridays. First of all; we’re all dead tired from work, schools, and all the other activities and obligations. second, it’s our movie night.
I’ve always enjoyed watching Gilmore girls and one of the things I really loved about the show when I was a teenager was the day when they’d watch a movie together and eat so much junk food.
Of course, we are not that extreme we mainly eat Pizza or sandwiches and we follow it with popcorn and ice cream. That’s why Pizza is one of the things I can’t live without.
My Journal and my planner
I’ve talked about my Journal in my October favorites. but the thing is I’ve always loved to write and draw and making Lists is one of the things I can’t seem to stop doing. as a matter of fact, I’m actually writing a list in my planner as I’m sitting and writing this post right now.
I share the love of stationery with my dad. When I was young my dad used to take me to a stationary store and my mum would be furiously bored because we’d spend up to two hours there.
One of my Bucket list things to do is actually design my own stationery, Journals, and Planners. but for now, I’m just using a planner from the dollar store that I thought was adorable and it does the trick because with the new move to Germany and all. I just need something easy and practical. and something that I don’t feel guilty ruining.
My Bio-Oil
What can I say about that?! I’m pretty simple when it comes to my beauty routine. so I love things that are multipurpose. My best friend recommended this to me and I’ve never looked back ever since.
Bio-oil has so many benefits:
- It helps reduce stretch marks, uneven skin tone, and scars
- It helps with preventing wrinkles from showing up early and it helps smooth and tone aging skin
- It’s a great hydration oil for all skin types
- and I even use it as a hair serum for my hair
Laughing
They say laughter is the best medicine right? well for us it is. It draws people together and makes great memories. and it’s scientifically proven that laughter boosts the immune system by decreasing the stress levels.
Laughing is so essential to us in our home. We try to always laugh at our problems which makes them seem so small and trivial. We like to have a good laugh with our friends and family. and the best part of it is when we tickle our kids until they lose breath from laughing.
My Friends
I have lots of acquaintances but I was lucky to have really great 8 best friends. I’ve known 5 of them since I was 4 so we really know everything about each other and that brings us so much comfort when we are together. We don’t need to pretend or hide anything from each other.
I consider great friendships to be like therapy. A great friend will always understand you and give you excuses when you need it.
I swear sometimes we go for 3 months without seeing each other because we all are so busy being grownups. but when we see each other’s or talk to each other, it’s as if we were together all the time. Such friendships are hard to find but we are lucky even if we have only one friend who is like that.
Learning
I always try to learn and improve as a person. My mind works that way. Every day before I sleep I go through the whole day and I try to learn from my mistakes or from the people I’ve met.
I’m always reading and I’m always learning some new skills. I believe learning can keep you young in the heart. It keeps your curiosity alive and thus keeping you connected to the child in you. because learning can take us on so many adventures and it opens up so many paths and opportunities in life.
Netflix
Here is my guilty pleasure. I really enjoy watching TV series, shows, and films. It became part of my winding down routine. You see we only have one TV in our apartment and that is something I and my husband have decided a long time ago because we believe watching television should always be a group activity (If you can call that an activity!).
We have no TV’s in the bedrooms, and yes not even in ours. Our only TV is in the living room.
Friday is our family movie night, where we mostly watch a classic. because we really believe that there are films from the ’80s and ’90s that have shaped our childhood and we love sharing it with them. of course, we sometimes watch new movies but then we have to watch that alone before we show it to the kids so that we are sure it’s appropriate.
I and Ahmed always watch an episode of a series every day before we go to sleep. It became one of our nighttime routines.
and Netflix really has so much variety, it’s fast and it’s relatively cheap.
A tip: don’t rely on the age recommendations of the movies sometimes it’s totally wrong. The best thing to do is always show your kids movies that you have seen before and you are sure are appropriate.
Those are a few of my favorite things. A list of things I can’t live without. What are yours?
With love, Ola
