Hi Shenanigan Enthusiasts!

Happy 2023!!! May the new year bring new possibilities and of course a lot of love and shenanigans!

Here at the funny farm we are off to a great start with plenty love and as always, shenanigans! Chip has been spending the days down at the barn yard and coming back up to the house in the evenings for easier evening and early morning feedings and Lucy love. Lucy thinks she is his mom. Her protective sweetness is adorable, though slightly over the top! No doubt they will be best buddies for life. Rowdy and the rest of the gang are still sizing Chip up, sometimes sweet, and sometimes ornery. Rowdy is definitely showing Chip who is boss. The goats want nothing to do with him, Betty is more interested in finding yummy for her tummy, Merle loves to love so he is great, Buddy is unsure, Rasta gives the stink eye and “Mama”June always seems to look out for him and give a little love.

Every morning as I walk him down there it feels like taking the kids to school when they were little and still unsure about it all. I have to give him a little push through the gate but then he does just fine. Lucy is in the barnyard any chance she gets. When she can’t be in there she is down at the fence by him or pouting in the house until he comes back up for the night. We have been keeping the door between the garage and mudroom open most of the time when Chip is up at the house so he and Lucy tootle in and out. He has learned to navigate the steps but he wants nothing to do with the wood floors in the kitchen after slipping and sliding his way on them a few times!!! It’s a perfect little boundary. It’s a good thing Chip is a cute little sh*t because well he sh*ts! For the most part does his business in the bedding we have spread out in the garage for him but he has found a favorite little spot, in the corner where we take off our boots in the mudroom when he happens to go in there. Yesterday morning while I was getting his bottle ready he found his spot and as though he aimed perfectly, he dropped the cutest little sh*t right into Jeff’s boot!! Fortunately or unfortunately(that sh*t would have been funny) I caught it and cleaned it out before Jeff went to pull on his boots. Sh*tty Shenanigans!!!

CHANCES

 I love the saying 365 Days, 365 new chances. It’s a great perspective to begin the new year with. There is something exciting about the clean slate of a new year. So much possibility. Each day offers us a new chance to keep doing what is working, change what isn’t, take a leap, or just a step in the direction of our dreams and goals. Some days we will fall, but each sunrise brings with it a new CHANCE to embrace all that is possible in the CRAZY, TRAGIC, SOMETIMES ALMOST MAGIC, AWFUL, BEAUTIFUL LIFE. I know, I did it again but these lyrics just too perfectly sum up life. Click HERE to listen the one of my favorite tunes.

It’s day 6 of my 365 new chances and I have already fallen, and wasted a chance or two to get out of my own way. I could dwell on what I didn’t do, the chance I didn’t take, and honestly I did, but I chose not to allow one chance wasted to rob me of ceasing the chance that came with the next sunrise. Have you ever allowed one chance wasted to rob you of the next one?

CHOICES 

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

- Victor Frankl

 I have heard this quote before and it always resonates with me. I happened upon it again this morning, a little miracle to pay attention to. Victor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who lost his wife, father, mother and brother in the concentration camps of WWII. He later became a psychotherapist, authoring the book Man’s search for meaning. Find a copy HERE. In a nutshell he advocated for the POWER of seeking meaning, purpose and acting with free will to ensure living one’s BEST LIFE even in a situation as horrific as WWII concentration camps. It’s a powerful reminder that we always have a choice. The meaning we assign a circumstance and how we CHOOSE to respond is always where our power lies. And so with this beautiful reminder I will choose to continue to find magic in the messy of life and love. I will choose not to let one chance lost be the reason I throw another away. So WHAT, Now WHAT? This simple but not always easy perspective makes what is possible in the year ahead exciting and relatively limitless.

POSSIBILITIES

 If anything was possible, what would you do? Where would you go? What do you want to experience? What would it look like to go to bed satisfied? Who/what would you impact? How would that feel? Take a moment or more and reflect on these things. Really see it. Really feel it. And believe it all starts with the CHOICE to take a CHANCE each day.

 For me, some days going bed satisfied will simply be pairing the socks in the sock basket I always leave ‘til later and later rarely comes. Other days it’s something like taking the leap to start a funny farm not having a clue what I am doing but believing EVERYTHING IS FIGUREOUTABLE! By the way, Everything is Figureoutable is one of my favorite books! Get your copy HERE for a fun inspiring read to start the year. Each day the chances will vary from leaps, to just one step forward, to climbing mountains and more. No matter how big or small I will take a chance! I hope you will too. And on the days, we falter, I hope we will give ourselves GRACE, and take another chance when then sun comes up tomorrow.

Possibilities by Darius Rucker (click here for a little inspiration in a tune)

 I've been keepin' all my dreams inside

And I've been sayin' all my prayers at night

Waitin' on the sun to shine a light

On the possibilities

 Cause I ain't done living the life I meant to lead

And I ain't done lovin' the ones who care for me

 The hope and the strength and the love

And the smiles and the laughter

Of friends and family

Add it up, you'll find no limit

ONE STEP AWAY

 One of the chances I took in 2022 and I am excited to continue in 2023 was starting the Victim-Survivor-Thriver Podcast. A new episode is out this week! I am so grateful for the conversation I shared with Janet Anderson this week. She shares about awakening through the perfect storm she created in her life. Her vulnerable and honesty will surely offer insight and hope. We are always one step away from what is possible. Check it out HERE.

SHENANIGAN ENTHUSIASTS...

Until we connect again, may you laugh ‘til you snort, take the bull by the horns, give yourself and others some GRACE, live a good story, climb your mountain, dream, do hard things, live like someone left the gate open, make it a good one, strive to thrive, love like crazy, enjoy the little things, always look for the miracles to celebrate, be grateful, embrace the messy, turn it into your magic, dance, keep learning, growing, getting better, crossing things off your bucket list, spreading a little love around, chasing your hearts desires, walking through the raindrops, do what sets your soul on fire and choose to take the CHANCE. Cheers to a new year and new possibilities!!!

LOVE & SHENANIGANS INSPIRATIONS FROM THE FUNNY FARM 

Let’s CELEBRATE the New Year! Use code CELEBRATE for 15% off your order at our Funny Farm inspired Love & Shenanigans store!!! Make someone smile with a little love and shenanigans!!!

Click HERE to explore all things Love & Shenanigans

Much Gratitude, 

Zanna

SHENENIGAN ENTHUSIAST

p.s. I will dance in the kitchen every time you share the LOVE!!! Every time you share a post from Love & Shenanigans or the V-S-T PODCAST on social media or anywhere I can feel the love, you will be entered to win a goodie from the store!  Share away, tag us, and we will let you know if you are the lucky winner! xoxo

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