Did you know?

Did you know tomorrow is World Vegetarian Day? I didn't. But, know I do! It's always fun to learn something new. Here are a few more veggie-type related links:

Eat A Rainbow Everyday
Annoying Orange
A Veggie Venture

Planting seeds of gratefulness

1. Oil pastel color crayons. I love the way color so effortlessly glides onto your paper.
2. Wind blowing through the trees because it sounds like ocean waves crashing into shore.
3. Good books that make you laugh and smile and think and mention Shakespeare about a hundreds times. Wednesday Wars does it all.
4. Surprises of the cake-y kind. Yum! Thanks, Mom!
5. Faraway friends thinking of me.
6. Chickens who get fatter and bigger every day. They are so cute.
7. Questions at dinnertime being our most favorite part of dinner. Thanks to How Does She for introducing me to this idea. My kids love it! But, now I have to come up with my own questions as we are down to the last 5 from the ones the site has posted. Doh.
8. My son using my behind as his punching bag. It's not as bad as it sounds and it reminds me how small he still is and treasuring that he hasn't gotten too "big" yet.
9. Being able to go to my daughter to help me solve game puzzles. She's that smart and I only hope she gets smarter.
10. Mindy Gledhill's voice in this song:

Wordless Wednesday: The Fall

Do you know what goes good with rain?

It's our 3rd straight day of rain here in the Pacific Northwest and nothing goes better with rain than a hot bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. It's comfort food. You don't need a recipe for grilled cheese, but may I recommend Tillamook Cheese. I am brand loyal on certain foods and I just haven't found anything better than Tillamook. It's the go-to cheese for your sandwich. And when you don't have time for homemade soup, you just have to go with Pacific Foods Organic Creamy Tomato Soup. It's super yummy. Oh, and it doesn't necessarily have to be raining to be in the mood for this combo, but it sure helps!

med·i·ta·tion n. A devotional exercise of or leading to contemplation

Luke and his friend enjoying a quiet, contemplative moment at the lake. Ommmmm.
It has been a long road of meditation for me. I'm still learning and finding new ways to meditate and make it more of a habit. Recently, I participated in The Chopra Center's 21 Day Meditation Challenge-Summer. It was an awesome experience and I urge anyone who enjoys meditation or wants to commit to a practice to give these types of challenges a try. If you allow them to, they will have you tap into a part of yourself that you don't get to hang out with very ofen. It's that soft voice inside of you that you sometimes gets ignored because the world around it is too loud.

I have to admit that I have a hard time meditating on my own. I am one of those that need a guided meditation to keep me going and focused. I told you I was still learning.

So, in my search for more guided meditations I found another free meditation site named OnlineMeditation.org. On this site you have a chance to take 12 meditation classes. You begin by learning the basics of Sahaja Meditation. I really like the way the classes are broken up into 4 sections with one section being a guided meditation. I intend to open myself up to a new teaching and give myself some time with that soft voice inside.

Because Friday really means Funday

My husband and kids love this site that merges faces together. It's called Morphthing. It's a fun way to waste some time... if you have time to waste. If you are in the Doctor's office you may get some stares when you start laughing to yourself. Some of the images you can create are hilarious. Most are interesting. This one of two classic actresses is pretty cool. See if you can guess which two I morphed (scroll down for the answer).











Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe

Grateful Thoughts

1. All the new colors that are peeking up everywhere.
2. The tree-lined street where I live.
3. Motivation finding me this morning so I could take a nice run.
4. Recommendations for new books to read... Sarah's Key.
Have you read it?
5. The happy way the sun shines on the green grass.
6. Sweet smells of lavender wafting through the dryer vent.
7. Cool, refreshing, clean water to drink.
8. Finding a moisturizer that doesn't cause a terrible reaction to my skin.
9. Crunching on cucumbers
10. A neat video to remind me about what's important:

Wordless Wednesday: Happy International Day of Peace!!

"Chai"

A cup of tea does wonders on a cool, foggy morning. It warms you up from the inside out. Here is a tasty recipe for "chai":

1 cup of Almond Milk
1 tbs. Agave Syrup or Honey or even some Raw Sugar (whatever floats your boat)
a sprinkling of Allspice (add as little or as much as your tastebuds like)

Mix all in a saucepan and warm to your liking over medium heat. Sit down, put your feet up and enjoy.

Sprinkle Kindness throughout your day

image found on Practice Random Acts of Kindness

I'm no Mother Theresa, but I do try to be kind daily. I think the world is full of kind people and when you've been touched with an act of kindness you just can't help pass it on. Kindness can be a habit you don't want to break. Spreading kindness can even be just a thought... a pure thought sent out to the unsuspecting. Check out some creative, fun, kind ideas here:

Spread Kindness
Operation Nice
Random Acts of Kindness