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Tag: gratitude sunday (Page 7 of 15)

Gratitude Sunday * March 4, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

– Finishing my mittens! That felt great. Doesn’t it feel great to accomplish stuff that’s been lingering around?

– Gettin’ stuff DONE this week! But man, the week went fast…

– My Honey, F, and how much he makes me laugh!

– Meeting him for lunch one day this week — that was so nice and we both loved it! And, it’s often really hard for me to find something to eat at a restaurant that my stomach will tolerate, and a lot of times it’s more torture than fun to be at a restaurant when I want all that stuff but can’t eat it… but this time there was something just right on the menu — a very small cup of delicious beans n’ rice. Yum!

– The comfort of piping hot tea with milk.

– The wonderful little woodcarving set my dad gave me today!! He didn’t know it, but I’ve really been wanting wood carving tools for at least a year now. I would keep thinking “Yeah, I’ll have to manifest that” which is my way of saying “I’d like to do that but don’t wanna devote the time/energy/money/whatever to pursuing it right now”  — and look what shows up in my life! To boot, it’s an extra special set because it’s one that his parents bought for him many, many years ago and he only used once or twice. I’m so excited!! And just the other day, I sawed up our Christmas tree on the kitchen floor (why, doesn’t everyone?), stripped the bark, and saved a couple sections of the main trunk for “making something.” And voila, along come the tools to help me with that… love it!

Sawin' up the Christmas tree

– Living close to my mom and dad so that I can easily spend time with them. I am so, so grateful for this.

– An impromptu walk and visit with my mom one afternoon this week. Sweet.

– All the many, many, MANY things I want to do/figure out/learn about — and gaining more and more energy to actually do them!

– Starting and finishing The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball this week. I loved it. And I loved reading a book not to gain knowledge, but simply for enjoyment and entertainment.

– Braised leeks, my new obsession.

Gazpacho with avocado pieces instead of olive oil… my continuing obsession!

– A pay check through the mail… yes those are so nice!

– Beautiful weather today and garden work begun.

– Gardening by moonlight tonight.

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What gratitudes have graced your week?

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Gratitude Sunday * February 26, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

– So many delicious fresh vegetables in our fridge right now, like the asparagus above. I just love vegetables.

– A fantastic back rub from my hubby!

– Having a great week. Feeling so normal and non-sick!!!

– Getting my first round of seeds started in the flat on the heating mat.

– Planting some things outside.

– Mixing a batch of Russian Caravan tea at the sunny table this morning; that felt really homey.

– The warm wind yesterday that melted all the snow off my garden beds in record time, allowing me to pull back all the mulch so that the soil can start warming up. I didn’t think that task would be able to happen for a while yet… so, yay!

– Feeling excited for Spring.

– A wonderful day yesterday; I loved it.

– Eating a favorite snack — chopped mushrooms braised in a little soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar… and then topped with homemade raw sauerkraut and Dijon mustard.

– Watching snowfall with a mug of steaming tea in my hands.

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What gratitudes have graced your week?

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Gratitude Sunday * February 19, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

– Audio books, so that I can multi-task!

– A really nice Valentine’s day, spent at my parents’ place since F. was out of town. My mom always does such a nice job of making holidays special and different from all the other ordinary days of the year. I love that. She decorated & bought a big balloon, and my dad came home with flowers, pizza, and some incredibly decadent chocolate-covered strawberries!! We played Dean Martin’s Love Songs CD. It was really fun~

– Going to Colorado’s new IKEA with my mom — having lunch at their cafe and then shopping!!! SO FUN! I’ve always gone to IKEA when on vacation in other states, so naturally I felt like I was on a mini vacation that day!

– At IKEA, finding exactly what I’ve been looking for — a small, portable desk/table that I can transport around the apartment according to where the sun is! I LOVE it. It’s a one-person desk, but then it also has a fold-up leaf that slides into place to make it a two-person table! So I can do my art & moneymaking work at it anywhere in the house, but F. and I can also sit at it together! Currently it’s right next to the kitchen window, and I seem to be spending all my time at it right now! I’ve wanted a kitchen table by the window for so long, and I am absolutely loving this thing! The simple things, ya know…

– The beautiful miniature living rose bush that F bought for Valentine’s Day! It has soft peach-colored blossoms; you can see it there on the table. ♥♥♥ That was so sweet. I love having a blooming plant here…

– Getting so many errands accomplished this week! That feels wonderful.

– Getting my garden planned! That’s always a big project that I don’t really enjoy very much. It really helped that I was already at my parents’ house while doing the planning, so that I had access to all my seeds, and I could just walk out the back door and count up how many pots there are to work with. Plus just seeing the raised beds in person helps me envision the plant spacing better. (To read how I go about planning my garden, click here.)

Planning the garden!

– Having my cat take a nap with me, which is an unusual thing for her to do. She kept pressing herself closer and closer into my face that I had to keep moving her fur aside so I could breathe! She is such a little sweet one…

– F. getting home from being out of town and walking through the door, safe and sound!!

– Rearranging our living room… again! It’s even better now than before. I love newly rearranged rooms.

– Chipping away at projects that have been languishing unfinished for a very long time.

– Ideas for new ways to do some things in the garden this year — that breathes some excitement into my plans!

– Cutting up our beloved (but worn) lobster-print bed sheets into strips of fabric that will be used to tie up plants in the garden this year. I love re-purposing things like that partly because it makes my life much simpler since the solution to a problem is right there in front of me and I don’t have to go out and hunt something down at a store. And instead of throwing away our Lobsters, which would be way sad, they get to begin a whole new life by helping me out in my garden.

– Drinking tea, sitting at the sunny kitchen table today, doing a long-overdue project, with soft music playing on the stereo next to me. I think I’ve got a very nice little set-up here now with window-table-sun-stereo! Yay!

– Pu-erh tea with milk! My tummy still isn’t really wanting regular black tea, but pu-erh is the thing I really go for right now — interesting — could it be because it’s fermented and not as harsh? I have no idea. But I do love it.

– Speaking of tea, the eucalyptus that I put into my nettles tea just now… oh it adds such a nice element, and unearths sweet memories of being in Australia and surrounded by the scent and majesty of so many eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains. What an incredible & special place that is… I’d go back in an absolute heartbeat.

– Artichokes! I’ve been on an artichoke kick; I’ve eaten four of them in the past couple days. They are so good!

– Reading my Mother Earth News magazine next to the space heater.

– Taking a nap on F’s back. It felt so nice, and kept us both warm.

*****

What gratitudes have graced your week?

*****

Gratitude Sunday * February 12, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

– A restful weekend after a hectic week.

– Working on my felted wool mittens on Monday and enjoying that day so much; it was cloudy outside and cozy inside, and while I worked I listened to some old stuff I haven’t heard in many years including Experiments in Truth by Ram Dass. Those tapes really helped me while I was grieving Sonja’s death, but it’s thought-provoking listening during any challenging situation, really. It felt good to hear them again.

– Having my favorite documentary, Alone in the Wilderness, appear on PBS! What a treat!

– Homemade sourdough flapjacks, re-heated in the toaster till the outside is just a little bit crispy, with a bit of pasture butter and lots of homemade wild grape jam!

– Finally moving the stereo to a new location near the kitchen where it’s getting so much more use. What a pleasure to have Billy Holiday playing softly, with the lights down low, while I prepare black beans and flapjack batter to soak overnight.

– A heavenly massage.

– Napping on my parents’ couch after my massage, with my cat sleeping on my chest.

– Interlibrary Loan — one of the best things ever!

– Salt. How salt has escaped a place on all previous Gratitude Sunday posts, I do not know.

– Hot showers for when the body needs warmth immediately!

– Coming home to my Honey. I love love love that 🙂

– Being able to ride my bike again to get from place to place, after the big snow storm where I needed to rely on the buses instead. The bike is so much more free and spontaneous. I love getting around by bike, even in winter. To me, it’s the least stressful of all transportation modes!

– Making black bean hummus using my regular hummus recipe with black beans instead of garbanzos + a little extra olive oil. So yummy spread on a piece of lettuce, with tomato slices, black olives, Dijon mustard, salt + pepper, and eaten like a taco!

– My day planner, a gift from my Hubby’s sweet mom — I’ve never had one before, but am loving it! It’s so helpful and I have a feeling it will be a new staple in my life from now on.

– Staying in bed yesterday for as long as my body wanted to (till noon!). Ohhh my that felt good.

– Having moneymaking work, ’cause it means money coming in which is always a very good feeling.

– Cozy warm house when it’s 5° outside, as it was last night.

– Feeling my body heal. Slowly, but surely. Oh hallelujah!!!

*****

What gratitudes have graced your week?

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*****

Gratitude Sunday * February 5, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

– Receiving over a foot of snow!

– Accomplishing a few things that had been weighing on me more than I realized, and once I did them I felt so much lighter.

– Watching some Seinfeld episodes. I need to do that more often — they always make me laugh!

– Eating lunch of soup & bread with my mom at their sunny kitchen table one weekday this week. Simple pleasures.

– Bad days ending well.

– Hugging my Honey tightly after we both had a really bad day; how comforting just to hold each other.

– Taking a brisk walk in the deep snow.

– Watching our hilarious neighbor squirrels straining to crawl through the deep, deep snow on the roof outside our kitchen window! CUTE!

– Seeing a couple of inspiring shows this week on TV, especially one about Joan Baez.

– Talking with my neighbor Darlene this week both in person and on the phone. She is such a loving, accepting, forgiving, heartful, enlightening soul. In the majority of our interactions with other people in this world, we are not seen for who we really are, and what we say is not honored. Depending on the situation, this can wound us very deeply. And so to actually, truly, be seen and honored by someone feels like salve to your soul. Darlene is one of those people who sees you and honors you, 100%, no matter what.

– Rearranging our apartment! I love how doing that breathes new energy into a space.

– Bit by bit, slowly getting things more in order around our house.

– Getting some significant things accomplished this week & crossed off the to-do list.

– The way our living room feels like a tropical conservatory today with the warmth and all the green plants and the little table fountain bubbling away, while there was a mountain of snow just outside the window!

*****

What gratitudes have graced your week?

*****

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