This week in honor of Mother’s Day, I want to do something a little different and talk about my mom.

My mom is hands down one of the most incredible women I’ve ever met. She is so incredibly inspiring to me, and I love our journey as mother-daughter. Now, we are so incredibly close. It is crazy to think that there were periods in my life when we didn’t get along! The reality is that I can now appreciate our relationship so much more because we had hit low points in our relationship.

I realized that I wouldn’t be where I am without her thanks to my self-reflection of the life lessons my mom has taught me, To me, the best way to share my appreciation of her is to share with you all what I have learned from my mom. This post breaks down the top 3 life lessons I learned from my mom.

lesson #1: save money and be frugal

I did not take her advice on this in college, and it dug me into the financial black hole that I live in right now. Never had I regretted anything as much as not taking my mom’s advice seriously on saving money and not wasting money.

My mom once told me that valuing material goods meant being dressed in the best clothes, driving the best car, but have no money and be in debt. Unfortunately, I did not take her advice much to her dismay. She was never much into fashion or beauty while I have always found so much joy in both fashion and beauty. The unfortunate part is that as a college student and a young adult, I didn’t understand the concept of being able to both enjoy fashion and beauty and save money.

I spent my money on items that didn’t last, and I didn’t bother investing in any timeless pieces that I can wear over and over. I valued quality over quantity, and that was my biggest mistake.

Finding that balance between being frugal and being stylish didn’t come until much later when I started drowning in that mountain of debt. Part of the reason why I started this blog was because I want to help others find that balance and show them that being frugal and smart with your money doesn’t mean you can’t be stylish. I also want to show that there are the key and timeless pieces that you can definitely invest your money in to make sure that you get the most out of your money.

On this life lesson… sorry I didn’t take your advice earlier, Mommy!

lesson #2: take pictures of everything

Growing up, I remember my mom took millions of photos of me. We have albums and albums full of photos of me growing up. These photo albums are as thick as a binder!

My mom documented everything, and it is so fun now to look back and reflect on old memories. My mom preferred to print out the photos and put them in an album. Now with social media and technology being at the forefront of our lives, physical photos might be a bit outdated, but the practice of taking pictures and recording all of the memories hasn’t changed.

Mikhail and I take photos of everything, and we have our own iCloud family album that we share photos on. It’s a digital version, but it works just as well! I remember looking back and seeing some old pictures of me in college and just laughing! I mean, for one thing, my brows looked horrible. I’m not sure why no one told me how horrible it looked!

My mom’s habit of documenting all of the precious moments of life had a huge impact on me. I love to document everything now, and perhaps that is part of the reason why I started my own YouTube channel. Being able to upload Vlogs of trips we take is something that I know I’m going to love, courtesy of my mom.

lesson #3: you are responsible for your actions, no matter what the circumstances are

I saved the best for last. My mom has always taught me that you can’t control what other people do. You can only control your own actions and how you react to situations.

Throughout all the arguments in 26 years of marriage and 2 children, my mom has lived y this philosophy. As a child when I was unappreciative, she lived by this philosophy. She continued to be the best mom to me. She was there to support me and love me. When my dad didn’t appreciate her hard work, she lived by this philosophy. She continued to do everything she can to support this family and make sure we were all safe and sound.

My mom loved this quote by our church leader who said “no other success can compensate for failure in the home”. She lived by this quote, and even when my dad, my sister, and I didn’t appreciate her, she powered through and continued to do everything that she can.

 what matters most in the end is that you have given it your best effort

At the end of it all, our family still has so many struggles that we’re facing. The challenges and hardships doesn’t seem to end, but if there ever comes to a point when it all falls apart, it won’t be because my mom didn’t put in the work to keep her family together. We can’t predict the future, and we don’t have the power to dictate other people’s actions. What we can do is evaluate what is important to us, fight for what is important, and never give up.

She has taught me resilience to push through adversity, and that this generation finds it too easy to just give up. My mom has never let me quit because she has taught me that I have to be responsible for my own choices. If I made a choice, then I need to push through. If it was the wrong choice, then I had to take responsibility for my actions and learn from it.

There is never any excuse to quit or give up, and that strength is the most important life lesson my mom has taught me.

That is it for today’s post. I want to hear all about what life lessons your mom has taught you, and I want to hear all about your moms and their impact on your life!

In my life, I have 2 most important people in my life, and that is Mikhail and my mom.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and I will be back next week with new content!

I love you all! XOXO,
Claire