Category Archives: Thankful

Kindness is the way of life

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We have successfully made it through the first day of the week and I hope it was a good day for y’all. I am thankful for my job and the people I work with, especially during this slow time of year. It can be easy to get discouraged in this life, but it is wonderful to have family, friends, and co-workers to make it a little easier to tolerate. Even though work has been rather slow, I try to help my co-workers because I value them and want to help them keep things on track, and so they do not feel overwhelmed. It can be exhausting when things pile up due to meetings or training, and some people have children they need to tend to. I feel like taking a little off their full plates when I can help them not get too overwhelmed and frustrated.

We never know what another person is going through in their life. Many people will put on a fake smile to hide their pain because they do not want anyone to know they are going through something complicated and mentally draining. They hide their emotional pain by acting as though their life is happy and they are not suffering silently. Others that are going through something in their personal life that is problematic and troublesome might behave negatively with an abrupt tone because they are angry and or frustrated with something personal. Even though it is not easy, we need to not take their behavior personally.

Instead of reacting negatively to someone who says something harsh or behaves rudely, we should learn to take a step back and think about what that person may be going through. If this is someone that we know and understand their personality, we should be able to figure out if something is different. It should be easy to know if their behavior is normal or out of the ordinary. There is someone that I know that can be really kind and understanding most of the time, but every once in a while her demeanor changes drastically, and not for the better. I tend to ignore the negative behavior of this person because I do know she is battling with something on a personal level. Instead of reacting in the same way she is, I do the opposite and treat her kindly.

If we react with emotions every time someone acts negatively, we would constantly be dealing with hurt feelings. Then if we speak out of hurt feelings with a negative tone and say something that makes the other person feel even worse than they did before, we will never be able to erase those hurtful words. Too many people resort to suicide when they cannot handle life anymore and we would never want our mean words to be the last words another person hears. I am not saying it will change anything, but sometimes all a person needs to hear when they are struggling are kind, supportive, compassionate, and loving words.

I think if we could all just try being nicer and more understanding of others the world might be a happier and better place to live. Maybe if we all try spreading kindness, love, compassion, and understanding, it would catch on and spread as far as and beyond negativity. I believe we can all admit that negativity can spread like wildfire, so why can kindness and love not as well? None of this should take too much energy and should be rather easy😊!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared, and my words resonated with you. Many people reading this might be battling with a medical issue, which I do understand is not easy, so it should be so easy for us to be kind to others regardless of how they behave. I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

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Almost Thanksgiving

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Twas the day before Thanksgiving and many are excited to visit with family with COVID numbers decreasing. This time last year many were isolated due to fears of COVID, which caused most to feel sad about not being able to spend a holiday with their families. Unfortunately, last year we were seeing high numbers of COVID, and no one wanted to get sick or cause their loved ones to get sick. Yes, this year the numbers have decreased, and many have been vaccinated so all we can do now is hope for the best😊! I know that I am not the only one that is tired of hearing about COVID, as we dealt with it for far too many years!

Thanksgiving is a time to remember the things that we are thankful for. Of course, we should show how thankful we are daily, but with tomorrow being Thanksgiving this post is going to be about being thankful! What are a few things you are thankful for? Unfortunately, many of us have lost loved ones and we wish they were with us to celebrate, but we can still honor those we have lost by cherishing their memory. Our lost loved ones would want us all to keep living our lives and be happy while still remembering them😊!

Years ago, my husband and I would try to spend Thanksgiving with my mother. It was a nice time to get together and catch up. This year, my mother is living in another state, and it will be a little different. I am beyond thankful that my mother has found love and happiness and is living her best life. We were talking about having her and her husband come to visit us around Christmas, but I am logical about money and thought it would be a less expensive flight to wait until after Christmas for them to come!

I am very thankful that my husband and I are safe and healthy (besides my having Multiple Sclerosis). We have a wonderful life with our three amazing cats that bring us so much joy. We do terribly miss our cat Chloe whom we had for almost 16 years, but the two little cats we adopted are wonderful and all three cats get along so well. We both find it incredible to watch the three cats interact with one another, the bond they have formed, and the unconditional love they have for each other and us.

Another thing that I am thankful for is my husband’s side of the family. They have all been so welcoming since the day he and I met, and they continue to be the best in-laws any girl could ask for. Family can be unusual and unique, but love is consistent and unconditional.

In a very strange way, I am thankful for my job and my work family. I have not met any of my co-workers in person but have built strong relationships with several of them. The few that I have made a strong connection with are my supervisor and a few of my other co-workers that share the same title as I do. One of the girls loves her cats as much as I love mine, and sadly lost two of hers back-to-back a few months ago. We spend more time at work than we do not at work, so it is nice to be able to work with good people!

Too many people in this world forget how to be thankful for what they have in their lives and then take things for granted. I think that is sad because there are so many people, especially in the United States that do not have a roof over their heads, food on the table, or love in their hearts and are unable to have compassion or understanding for anyone else. We all share the world we are living in and it does not matter the color of someone’s skin, who they love, where they are from or anything else, this world is for us to live and grow in!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed this post and I look forward to reading your comments and what you are thankful for. I was going to make beef stew for dinner tomorrow, but we are now going to order a turkey dinner to have for Thanksgiving. My husband was looking forward to turkey, so this saves me from cooking! I am still hopeful that everyone around the world can remember what love means and start being kind to everyone! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Unintentional Break

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It has been a few days since I have done a post and the reasons do not make a lot of sense. I took Friday off from work because it was my birthday. The last thing I wanted to do on my birthday was deal with frustrating and demanding people. I normally never work on my birthday because I think it should be a day to do what I want to do. Of course, I did not get to do most things I wanted to, but I did not wake up at 6:30 AM, which was nice!

Considering it was a day off during the week, I did take our older cat to the doctor on Friday only so he could continue to get his asthma medication prescribed. Even though his doctor is only about a mile and a half from our house, he HATES car rides and gets incredibly scared. It was good timing for him to go to the doctor because he seemed to not feel well. When I say this cat has many expressions and it is undeniable to not be able to read them, I mean it! It is heartbreaking when he does not feel well because I feel helpless☹. His appointment went well, and the doctor said that the issues he was experiencing were more than likely allergies which are intensified by his asthma. He has spent the last few days very lethargic, but he is finally starting to be more himself now😊!

Saturday was my 11th wedding anniversary. It is insane that we have been married for 11 years because it seems like yesterday when we were married. My husband and I had a beautiful and small wedding, which was the way we wanted it to be. I do still remember every second of the day we were married. Unfortunately, I did not have anyone to give me away, but we came up with our way to handle that and it was perfect😊. I did not want to walk down the entire aisle alone, so we met halfway, which I still think is a perfect way to start a marriage. I think a marriage should always give and take!

I am so thankful that we were married while my husband’s grandmother was still with us because she was an incredibly beautiful and loving lady, and I am honored and blessed to have known and loved her and be loved by her. My husband’s grandfather had passed away several years before our wedding, but his spirit was still felt there. A picture that was taken had a bubble that appeared to have a smiley face in it, which I still believe was his late grandfather. I did get emotional a few times that day. The first time was before I walked out the door to start walking down the aisle. I asked my maid of honor to look and see if my father was there. Unfortunately, he was not, and it broke my heart into pieces, but I had to keep it together because the wedding was about to start. I was also sad because my late grandfather was unable to be there, but I did feel his love.

Our wedding was amazing, and I am thankful for those that were able to attend. I was very happy and stress-free the day we were married, which is huge for me because I am normally a massive stress case! It has honestly taken me many years to get over the hurt I felt that day. I do understand why my late grandfather was unable to be there. As I have mentioned in previous posts, my late grandfather was a pro-golfer and there was an event for him the day I was married. Plus, he was living in Massachusetts, and I was in North Carolina. I do still struggle with the sadness, disappointment, hurt, and pain that my father did not come to see me get married. It has been 11 years and I am finally realizing, it was more his loss than mine and I am sorry for him that he missed the happiest day of my life.

I am off from work again tomorrow and we do have some fun plans made to celebrate both my birthday and our anniversary. We are going to do something I have been wanting to do for a while now but wanted to be sure I was not alone. I am finally going to be getting the daith piercing and I am extremely excited. Yes, I know it will hurt, but I deal with pain all the time anyways, so I do not think it could be any worse😊! I might also get the helix piercing as well because I think it looks cute!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you are enjoying your weekend and doing the things that make YOU happy! Weekends and life are SO short, so we need to try living life to the fullest! I look forward to reading your comments and will respond as quickly as possible. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Thoughts out of the blue

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Out of the blue and for no reason at all, I started thinking about a life-altering event I went through. This is not something I dwell on because I have very little control over it and it would be a waste of time to overthink it. It has been more than 20 years since I heard my doctor tell me that I had Multiple Sclerosis. I was still so young, very ignorant of what this meant for my life, and fears of how many challenges I would be forced to endure. Of course, I did hear the words the doctor spoke to me on the day he broke the news to me, but it took me a while to accept what he said to me. I tried my best to fight him and tell him he was wrong, but that was fighting a battle I had no chance of winning. After several months, I chose to accept it, but also to never surrender because I do believe in the power of the mind and that positive thoughts produce positive outcomes.

All those years ago, I was terrified that I would not be able to live a normal life. Nowadays, I wonder what is normal because for me it is constant pain and frustration with a disease without a cure. I feared that I would lose the ability to walk and take care of myself, which would have been extremely hard for me because I am a very independent person and never want to rely on anyone for anything. It has been approximately 20 ½ years, 7,488 days, 179,703 hours, and 10,782,180 minutes (give or take) and I am still here. I am walking and taking care of myself and my husband, and my three cats. There have been many obstacles through the years, but I have always remained determined to not allow this illness to defeat me.

Over all the years, I have learned more than I ever wanted to about Multiple Sclerosis and as crazy as this sounds, it has taught me a lot. I have learned how to discover a strength that I never imagined having. I have learned how being determined can help me to survive the most challenging situations. I now understand how powerful resilience is and the many ways it can help us to persevere, even when we feel like hope is lost. I have learned just how a positive mind can make a HUGE difference in our daily life.

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that I do not dwell on things I have little control over. I do understand that even though I have little control over Multiple Sclerosis, I can control how much I allow it to bring me down and to feel helpless. I do have control over my mind, and I can tell myself that I am stronger than this unpredictable illness. Most importantly, I can remind myself that I did nothing to cause this illness to continue to plague my life. I will continue to keep the promise I made to my late grandfather shortly after I was diagnosed to continue to fight the battle until I win the war against Multiple Sclerosis.

Unfortunately, we all have something we must live with, and we all have a choice in how we approach things. I am thankful the doctor caught the Multiple Sclerosis early because if he did not, I can only imagine how much worst things would be for me today. I will always have a special place in my heart for my first Neurologist and his Nurse Practitioner because they were an amazing team that never lost hope in me. I am thankful that I have learned to not feel any shame because of what I live with.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared today and that in some way, it resonates with you and helps you to understand your strength. I hope you are enjoying your weekend and remaining as safe as possible. I am looking forward to reading your comments and I will respond as quickly as possible. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Exciting Weekend!

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We are all simply just human beings, merely trying to survive this crazy life with some sanity. Often, we tend to be completely oblivious to how short our lives are because sometimes life feels painfully long and overwhelmingly complicated. We can be blind to understand how to accomplish our dreams as they can seem impossible for us to reach. We all have an exciting combination of small, large, and every type of dream in between, which all have remarkable meaning to us.

To some people, I know one of my “dreams” seem small and not a big deal. However, it was a dream to be in the same room with an author that I admire. This stems from my strong desire to write and have the ability to write a novel someday. On Friday evening my husband and I drove 3 hours north of where we live for a James Patterson event! This was not a meet and greet event, but it was still beyond exciting for me.

When we first walked into the event location, we received James Patterson’s newest book which was released on Monday. The book is his autobiography, and it was signed by Mr. Patterson. There were also two more of his new books available and they were also signed. My husband knows how much I love James Patterson’s books and he asked if I had read either of the books yet. Of course, I have one of them on Kindle already😊! The kind lady selling the books said she would still be there after the event, and I had time to think about it.

I wanted to get as close as we could to the stage area where James Patterson would be, so we sat about 7 rows back. The first few rows were reserved, but I still have no idea who they were reserved for. After a few minutes, my husband said he was going to go purchase the books that were available for me, so we would not have to worry they would be sold after the event. While I waited for him to return, I know I was looking around with a huge smile on my face😊 and probably looked like a crazy person! I commented to the older lady sitting behind us that I felt like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for Santa.

Of course, I already had an enormous amount of admiration for James Patterson, but what made him even better was the way he came out to the stage area. The man has a wonderful sense of humor and is extremely humble. He talked a little about his life, answered several questions from the chairman doing the interview, and then answered questions that were submitted from the audience. I never in a million years thought the last question he answered would be my question. It was so surreal and interesting to listen to him talk. His response to my question was simply put and what I thought it was going to be.

I have had BIG dreams to have a career in writing since I was a child. I understand that I am no longer a child and have to maintain a job to pay the bills, but after reading James Patterson’s autobiography, I learned with hard work, determination, and a strong will, anything is possible. Back when he had a normal 9-5 job, he would write for a few hours before work and a few more hours after work. I always thought I had a strange style with writing because I have to hand write everything before typing it. Putting my thoughts into words on paper makes me feel more connected with what I am writing and to my surprise, that is how James Patterson feels as well😊!

I think reading the autobiography made me understand James Patterson more as a writer and it shows that he is a normal person. I read that he enjoys playing golf and know he lives in the north, so all I want to ask him now is, “Did you ever play golf with James Bucky O’Brien?”. The two men did not live too far from one another and anyone that lives up north and is serious about gold “should” know James Bucky O’Brien (this is my late grandfather)! For those of you who are not sure, my grandfather was a golf pro his entire life!

The drive was a total of six hours, but I think it was worth every minute. I enjoyed hearing my favorite author talk and crack jokes. Since I learned about James Patterson and his series “The Women’s Murder Club”, I have loved every book I read and could not wait for the next one. I know that this type of event was not something my husband was interested in, but he came with me because he knows how happy it made me. This is something that can make a marriage great, when there is a give and take. Doing something you are not interested in because your significant other is. I know I have done this for him many times before and I am thankful he was there with me for this exciting event!

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site today. I hope you are having a great weekend and enjoyed what I have shared today. This is the last day of our weekend, so we need to appreciate the time that is left. I am just now starting to feel normal again. I think the several hours of driving and lack of sleep due to excitement made things worst with my pain, but it was all worth it! I would love to read your comments and I will respond as quickly as I can. I hope the last few hours of the weekend are spent well. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Tranquil Tuesday

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Hello Tuesday! I hope that making it until Tuesday means that your Monday went well and you are feeling good about the week ahead. I do not want to get ahead of myself, but the two interviews I had yesterday seemed to have gone well and I even have another interview scheduled for Friday with another company. There is no denying that the last month has been slightly upsetting and a little discouraging, but there is a lot to say when we do not give up and throw in the towel. Many things in life are unsettling and can make us feel defeated, but the only way we can fail and be completed defeated is if we give up. I cannot lie there were many times during the past week I wanted to give up and surrender, but I think I am a little too stubborn or rather determined to do so.

I want to be able to help others surpass times of struggle because we all need to be lifted during our lives. Someone I know through Shipt delivery and now consider a good friend helped me see that I do deserve more in life than the past month provided. I respect other’s privacy, so I never share names but will be sure that she sees this! I want her to know how much she has helped me and how much I appreciate her! I think it is amazing how true it is that we do not encounter people by mistake because everyone enters our life for a reason!

The quote that I am sharing with y’all today, I found encouraging and meaningful, and hope it will do the same for you. I will explain why I found this so meaningful but would love to know what you think as well. There are always going to be some issues in life that may break us, but there are just as many reasons to smile. I know the most challenging times in life can cloud seeing the reasons to smile, but I promise they are there we just have to look a little deeper!

Thank you for visiting my site today! I hope you enjoyed what I have shared with you today and I look forward to reading your comments. I will be responding to all of your comments as quickly as I can. Hopefully you are having a good week so far and your week continues to get better until we make it to Friday again. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Inspirational Wednesday

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~Our Halfway There Inspiration~

It isn’t just Wednesday y’all, it is halfway to the weekend! How has your week been? I am still hopeful that 2021 is going to be far better than 2020, but I guess we will have to wait and see. One thing I can say for sure is, the workweek is not getting any shorter. Do not get me wrong, I am thankful for my job and even more thankful I can work from home and stay safe. Although there is a vaccine for COVID, getting this vaccine is a entirely different situation. I would be nice if everyone in the world could get this virus because this would ensure the safety for everyone and actually save lives. I guess we all will all be able to get the vaccine in time.

Now we are halfway through our week and so close to the weekend, we do still need to push through a couple more days. I believe in all of us and know we can do it with a slight push in the right direction. I hope the quote that I am sharing with y’all today will provide you with some inspiration and encouragement and maybe even make you smile! Unfortunately, no one can make it through life without not achieving the goal they set out for. Yes, most people would think of this as a failure, but in my eyes, the only way for someone to fail is for them to give up and stop trying. Life is not easy and most of our goals are not easy either, but if there is something we want bad enough and are passionate about it, we can and will succeed at anything and everything!

The funny thing is, even though I love a long weekend, I am a little the holidays are over. That does not make sense to most people, but people are pushier and demanding after a long weekend. Sometimes all I want to say to people is “Calm down, it is not the end of the world, dammit!” I do catch myself though because I think that might be automatic termination. I often wonder how some people would react if I acted towards them they way they act towards me. Truth is, it would never happen because I do not have a mean bone in my body, well most of the time at least.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site today. I hope you enjoyed the quote I shared and it inspired you. I know times are challenging and stressful right now, but I think the more we can share uplifting words and show kindness we can help change this. Please never forget I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

~Tranquil Tuesday~

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~Thankfulness Week: Day 2~

We have made it through one day of the week already, so happy Tuesday y’all! How is your “short” week going? Unlike the past few days when I worked, where I worked at least 10 hours a day, yesterday I only worked 9 hours! I think that is progress to slowing down a little, what do you think? The truth is, I do not know how to go slow when I work because I am focused on getting as much done as I can.

I told y’all that everyday this week instead of doing my normal posts with quotes, I was going to tell you two more things I am thankful for and why I am thankful for them. Before I share two more things I am thankful for, I want to thank y’all for sharing what you are thankful for. All of you are amazing and strong people, and I feel honored to have you as friends!

Another thing I am thankful for is something I don’t think about often, probably because I avoid thinking about the past, but I am thankful for the amazing neurologist that caught my Multiple Sclerosis early. My first neurologist was a patient and kind man, and I miss him more than I can even explain. I was determined to prove he was wrong about my diagnosis, but he stood by me and did everything he could to find the right medication for me. Without him and his early diagnosis, who knows where I would be now. For those of you that do not know, Dr. Kaufman was my first neurologist and he retired several years ago. He is irreplaceable.

Something else I am very thankful for daily is my two amazing and loving cats. Our oldest is Chloe, who is 15 years old and still so strong. Our poor baby girl was diagnosed a few years ago with early-stage kidney disease. Even though I can see she has lost weight and sometimes shows she is not feeling well, but that is just because I know her so well and she still beats up on her younger brother! Our youngest is our 10-year-old little boy Sundance. Sundance is a loving little boy with a fun personality, who really isn’t all that little because he is about 3 times the size of Chloe. Sundance has asthma and needs medicine twice a day. These two sweet creatures show so much love for one another and, me and my husband!

I hope you are looking forward to Thanksgiving on Thursday. I know holidays this year are going to be a little different from what we are used to, but we must continue doing what we can to stay safe! My husband works on Thanksgiving, so we will of course, we safe at home with each other and our sweet furbabies, and I am thankful for the safety of our home. We are able to keep each other and those beautiful cats safe and happy!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you have a great and safe day. I am looking forward to reading two more things y’all are thankful for and promise to respond as fast as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Thankfulness Week

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~Day One For Thankfulness Week~

Happy Monday y’all! I hope you had a nice, relaxing, and safe weekend! I am going to do things a little different this week in honor of Thanksgiving. I do strongly believe we should all acknowledge what we are thankful for every day and not just the week of Thanksgiving, which I am sure we already do, but I am going to share with y’all each day of this week two things I am thankful for and hope you will join me in doing this. What my plan is to share two things I am thankful for and why, but would like to know what you are thankful for as well!

I am very thankful for the loving family that I have. Each member of my family is special in their own way and I love them for it! My family is supportive of what I do and how I live my life, which is a great feeling. Everyone knows and understands that I basically have NO immune system, so they understand the reasons why I am as terrified as I am about COVID. Lord knows, my husband is extremely protective of me and does everything he can to keep me safe!

I am also thankful for my job that allows for me to work from the safety of my home! The online training was challenging, but over the past few months I have learned so much and have become pretty darn good at this job. With the uncertainty of COVID in the entire country, I know I would not be able to earn a decent living and be safe if it were not for this job.

Now like I said, I would love to be able to read what you are thankful for! I am not pressuring you to participate, but will encourage you to play along with me this week! I think it would be interesting to read the different things you are thankful for and see what we might have in common!

Thank you for visiting my site today! I hope your week begins great and continues to get better throughout the week! It will be a short week, but the short weeks always feel so much longer! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Inspirational Wednesday!

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Inspire Those That Need It The Most, Always!

Happy Wednesday y’all! We are officially halfway through the week and I hope the week is treating you well! Today is actually my birthday and unfortunately, both myself and my husband have to work. For years we always went to the beach for my birthday being today and our anniversary is tomorrow, but unfortunately because of COVID we are not able to. I am just happy that we are together and staying safe and hope y’all are as well!

As we are halfway through the week, I think we all could use a little inspiration to get us through the rest of the week. Do you think just a splash of inspiration would be helpful? I hope you will enjoy the quote I am sharing with y’all today, I found it very inspirational and of course, had to use something to do with my favorite place in the entire world, the ocean! I am looking forward to reading your amazing comments, which I promise to respond to as quickly as I can!

So how has your week been? I still can’t believe it is almost October. It seems like this year has gone by so fast. I only hope 2021 will be a better and safer year for all of us. I guess it could be the pandemic scare that has made the year gone by fast or maybe I am just getting old. Who knows, but it sure has flown by!

Thank you for visiting my site today! I hope you are having a wonderful week and you are staying safe! It is so unfortunate that COVID has caused so many issues, but at least we can do what we can to remain safe! We do not know when, but hopefully this pandemic will end someday soon! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa