At the end of July, I was reflecting back on the month (thanks to a two page spread "reflect on your month" page in my planner. I would aspire to do this sort of thing without the planner, but it wouldn't happen!)

One of the questions is who or what inspired you in that month. My cup runneth over from inspiration, it seems!

In no particular order:

Blue Front Doors - I first saw one on the cover of HGTV magazine, and then I saved some on pinterest and pretty soon I picked the color that I NEED to have on my own front door. I kept looking for the perfect blue, and when I found just the one, I looked at the color name and it was "calm" so I knew I had to have it. Expect a future post of my blue front door :)
Moms - I just love Moms. My own and all of you. I'm inspired each time I learn something new from what you share. I'm inspired by the Mom who cares so well for her sick child, and for the Mom who takes a minute to care for herself, and the Mom who sticks up for or encourages another Mom. One of the main reasons I chose to specialize in Busy Moms is because I am in awe of Moms. We are pretty much the coolest, most loving, dedicated, selfless, make-it-all-better people on the planet.

3. This bag - It's gorgeous, and so is the story behind Noonday, the company that sells it. They create jobs for Artisans in a variety of countries, paying them a living wage for their beautiful creations. I have two friends who are ambassadors for these products, and both have visited the artisans and come back to tell inspiring stories on women who are able to support their families because of their work. I pretty much love every item they sell!

4. Brene Brown - If you aren't familiar with her work, check out her Ted Talk, with over 35 million views. She is an expert on vulnerability and shame. She is brave and inspires me (and several million other people) to also be brave by being real and imperfect. I'm going to have to write a whole separate post on this, but she rocks - check her out if you don't already know her.

5. Camping - My college girlfriends and I took our (9!) kids on a float trip and camping. I was seriously inspired by our friendship on this trip. To have forever friends, who know the best and worst of you and love you anyway is something special. Especially when they consistently make fun of the "worst of you" parts . . . Like all the time . . . And you still laugh. Seeing our kids playing together warmed my heart in a way that's hard to describe. We've already planned next years trip. (One member is tentative but she said to ask her again in 6 months when "just like childbirth, I might forget how much camping sucks." Wish me luck.)

6. My Dad - My dad turned 70 in July. He inspires me all the time, but on his birthday I thought about it a lot. He is full of adventure and new ideas and optimism. He would do anything for me, and does! I am inspired to live my life so that my children say the same thing about me.

7. iPhone X Portrait Setting - The upside to dropping my perfectly good iPhone 7 in the lake earlier this summer is that I have a new phone that takes AMAZING pictures. I love pictures. I don't know how to take good ones! But my phone does, on portrait setting. It inspired me to take more pictures than usual, close ups of people's faces who I love dearly. I am going to frame some of these beauties.

Inspiration is everywhere! What's inspiring you today?

PS The entire time I've been working on this post I've been thinking of the quote from Love Actually where Hugh Grant says "If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around." Except replacing love with inspiration. You're welcome if that's going to be stuck in your head all day now, like it is mine!

Inspiration IS all around.

PPS Love Actually is the best movie ever.

Blue Doors and Other Random Inspiration