Roads

I am grateful for roads... wet roads, bare roads, dry roads, rocky roads.  I am grateful for literal roads and symbolic roads.  I am grateful for roads that lead me home and roads that take me away.  I am grateful for roads that lead nowhere because these are the roads that help me discover where I really want to be and what I really want to be seeing in my life.  I am also grateful for roads that lead me to my destination. These roads keep me committed and determined. And I am grateful for roads that exist in my imagination. These are roads just for me.

Gizoogled... Doh.

Today I am grateful for humor... for those peeps who wish to make those around them laugh.  

This GIZOOGLE take on some Disney songs had me laughing and feeling a little bit better (I've been battling a cold for 2 days now.).  I hope it brings a chuckle or two out of you as well.

Warm

(image found here)

Today as I stood in the shower I was grateful for indoor plumbing, warm water, clean water, a house, hair to wash, a body... and so much more.

Second Chances

Do you ever have those mornings that start out pretty great and then slowly something starts eating away at all that contentment?  Yeah, me too. Today I got sucked into that negative darkness.  It took a few hours and some fresh air to get me out of my funk.  So, today I am truly grateful for second chances.  

Also, I'm grateful for musicians who don't hold back when they sing.  When I listen to Bon Iver I feel as if he's telling me his deepest secrets. 

This today

I'm feeling ever so grateful for my hubby and our talks.  We can be open and honest and talk about "scary" things like what is reality, does happy exist, falsehoods, ugly truths, beautiful truths, and so much more.  He continually makes me see things slightly different.  We dive deep and he holds my hand all the way down and back up again.

Grateful that I met you

And you accepted me

That I was good enough

And you loved me

That my work is honorable

And you see it

That my efforts are strong

And you know it

That I couldn't do more

And you believe

That I wouldn't do less

And you trust

My two cents

Are your two cents

And you love me

And I am grateful

- A.M.

Practicing Gratitude

I thought I was a pretty grateful person. I took moments to reflect upon the things that brought me joy. I said Thank You and meant it. I tried to do little things for people to show them I was grateful to have them in my life. But, something was off. My moments of grateful reflection became quick and easily forgotten when people said or did something I didn't like. My Thank Yous waned. I began to harbor resentment for the little things I did because I felt the act wasn't being reciprocated... well, it was more like I felt people were expecting these little things and therefore didn't see them as something done especially for them. And then BAM. The ugly truth of my gratefulness hit me. 

Some of this time I wasn't really being grateful. Some of this time I was hoping my being grateful would make the people around me more grateful too which in turn would mean they would do things for me. My grateful mindset became twisted. Being grateful means being grateful and that's it. Thank you, hands, for helping me type up this post. That's grateful. Thank you, hands, for helping me type up this post and when you can't type tomorrow then you are faulty and bad. That's not grateful. I'm hoping a weekly gratitude practice will get me back on track... back on track to being grateful and truly appreciating the things in my life as they are. 

The Grateful List
1. The sun shining and making my outside adventures warm and bright 

2. My legs(although spider veiny and chubby-kneed) allowing me to walk here,     there, and almost everywhere

3. My hubby's goodbye-I'm-off-to-work kiss in the morning because to me it         means he loves me(and that we are having a non-argument day so far)

4. Yummy cheesy,tortellini leftovers in the fridge 

5. Not dwelling in what I'm doing wrong, but instead attempting to do               something different

Feelin' the love

Pic is not mine. I found it on Google (source unknown) I'm feeling pretty grateful for so many things, but today the one thing sticking out is LOVE. I am grateful to have so many to love and have them love me back.

A lot to be thankful for

1. Drinks like the one above that nourish the body
RED, RED JUICE (juiced in my blender)
1 medium beet
2 medium carrots
1 medium apple
about 1 cup of water (give or take)

2. a puppy who is slowly healing from some surgery

3. the make-up kisses and hugs after a quarrel

4. kids who "simplify" their rooms without being asked (they got rid of a lot of stuff they don't need anymore)

5. smiles that make the eyes sparkle

6. learning that frustration comes more from your own bad behavior

7. deep breaths

8. sunshine when you think it's supposed to be another day of rain

9. warm, wooly socks that keep my feet cozy

10. this song that makes me happy and reminds me it's okay that i'm a "rainbow"

This pretty much sums it up

Found here.

Yup. I can't complain. Some highlights were:

homemade candy cane ice cream
a late start at school today
the kids helping out with chores
snuggle time with the hubby
friendly folks at the market

Back on track

Saturday morning came and the hubby asked what I wanted to do this weekend. Sometimes I think I need to come up with something cool or exciting to make my life seem interesting, but really all I wanted to do was stay around the house and hang out with the fam. So, that's what we did.

It felt good to not be anywhere, not to expect anything and to just really be in the moment. I'm sure you can do that out and about too, but for some reason I felt a strong urge just to be grounded at home. We watched the Lunar Eclipse. I took a long, steamy bath. I read. I crafted with the kids. We played Munchkin (a totally FUN game, but we get kinda competitive). We watched the hubby play Uncharted 3 (which is pretty friggin' awesome because it feels like watching a movie but you are able to be an active part of the storyline). I knitted. We ate homemade food. We ate homemade desserts. I reflected on this thing we call life. We laughed. We watched silly movies. And we hung out in silence... a lot.

An early morning icy trail


And today I feel unhurried even though I have a few errands to run. After I dropped off the kids at school I took a walk with the pup, Zoe. We got to explore some new trails that are now being exposed in the backyard. I can see some clear, new paths now that all the leaves have fallen off the trees and the blackberry bushes have become somewhat dormant. It was neat to explore these new paths. And I felt a wonderfully grateful heart when I would look up from some of these paths and see home. It felt exactly where I was supposed to be.

Back from vacation and it was a blast, but...

Image from Curly Girl Designs (totally fun and wonderful artist)

Vacation details and photos will hopefully follow soon.

A habit of giving

It seems that when you give you always receive something as well.. it can be smile when you give someone a hearty hello, it can be a warm tummy when you give someone a surprise gift or it can be a simple "thank you" after you've given a teary eyed friend a hug. Sometimes you can give to someone who is way out of your reach. And what you receive is still close at heart.

For a little over a year now I've subscribed to a wonderful magazine named KIWI. It is a magazine from which I draw a lot of inspiration. It is a magazine about families and growing those families "the natural and organic way." The magazine continually offers awesome ways to be a part of the world and to help make it a better place to live. KIWI recently asked for support of earthquake victims in China. If you donate $15 or more to Half the Sky, you get much needed supplies to children in China and you get a subscription to KIWI. These are children who have lost family members in the earthquake. If you are interested in donating, check out Global Giving who has teamed up with KIWI to spread the word about China's need for help.

The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give.
-Walt Witman

Note to self while doing Friday house chores:

Appreciate everything especially the mundane routine, the ordinary events of day to day family life. For, when you appreciate the ordinary you click into the joy.
-Judy Ford

Forreals, yo.

Pretty Friggin' Happy

The sun is shining. The flowers are blooming. Lovely thoughts are dancing in my head. It's a good day indeed. And that's no (April Fool's) joke.

My daughter, however, has planned a little April foolin' on her teacher. She gathered her thugs yesterday at recess for a plan to get Mrs. D screaming today. Some talk about scorpions and walls. We'll see how that goes...