Thankful Thursday: 4th of July Edition

I am thankful for every minute of the sun soaked days on a flat as glass lake spent with the best of friends.

I am doubly thankful that said friends welcome us (and our doggy) into their family-filled holiday weekend with open arms and room on the boat and the biggest platter of chicken salad I’ve ever seen.

I am thankful that after 200 failed attempts at wakeboarding, I didn’t give up, I stood up and finally experienced the thrill of *boop* going over the wake.

And with regards to that, I am thankful that Craig starts the boat slow enough that I actually *can* stand up.

I am thankful for the experience of watching Donna and Matt make their first attempt at wakeboarding, and specifically the smile that erupted across Donna’s face when she got it.  (On like the 3rd time.  Jerk.)

I am thankful for SPF 50.

And on this holiday, I am thankful for the freedom that living in this country bestows upon me: the right to pray to my God, to speak my mind, to choose my spouse and to get an education.  To name a few basics.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th.  What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday: In Pictures

I was cleaning pictures off my cell phone and noticed that most of the pictures I took were things that made me happy in the moment I took them.  So what better way to “save” these pictures than a Thankful Thursday, picture edition?

Today, I am thankful for….

• Patio furniture, warm nights, dinner on the deck looking out into a huge backyard…. and thankful that no one has bought the lot behind us yet.
• My wonderful Hubby, seen here in his Ninja scrubs, who has worked countless days in a row and is getting closer and closer to his well-earned vacation in May!

• Buddy, seen here as a burrito.  He is one hot mess of a dog, but he has most definitely found a permanent spot in our hearts.

• Annnnnd, on our bed.

• Meepcakes.  (Well, cupcakes of all varieties, I have a thing for cupcakes.)  These are my Twitter-friend Allison’s cupcakes that she sells at the Krankie’s Farmers Market.  They’re GF, but they’re also stinkin delicious.

• Smooshy faces.

• Two doglets, one car.  Way better than I ancipated.

• Boats, lakes, dogs.  (This may as well be TT, Dog Edition.)

• Little kid umbrellas.  Barely covered my head but SO cute.

• Jammin in the car.  Probably one of my favorite hobbies of all time.

• Libraries.  They make me feel 12.  (I snuck into the YA section.  I think I’ve read every book there.)  (This is an old pic.  I did not break my Reading Resolution and check more out!)

• My baby, my sweet, my lovely, my precious.  My sweet beautiful Rebel.

• Orla Kiely.  Specifically, Orla Kiely at Target.

• Wegmans.  Best darn grocery store in the WORLD.

• The beach, where I will be spending my birthday in just 3 short weeks!

• Lazy Sunday afternoons.  My two favorite guys.

• My gorgeous bed that my Hubby built.

• Friday morning routine: chai tea latte + perfect oatmeal.  {Although slightly worried that I was greeted by name last week.}

• Online grocery shopping.  Not an exaggeration to say it has changed my life.

• Seeing my old car in traffic in Winston, at least once a month.

• My sister.  Who is, in fact, reading in a sports bar here while we watched a WFU football game.

Happy Weekend!  What are you thankful for?

Equinox

Today is, officially, the first day of spring. Thankfully, Mother Nature happily obliged. The sun is shining, the grass is green, the sky is blue and the construction hammers in my neighborhood are going double-time. I feel like doing something crazy to welcome spring. Maybe I’ll pack up my turtlenecks!

Yesterday I was walking through Wake Forest’s quad to take something to the post office. It’s a weird thing, to walk around my old campus. I still expectantly look around, as if at any minute I might see a familiar face – a roommate, a sorority sister, a classmate. The people are strangers to me now (and look absurdly young, I might mention) but the scene was exactly the same as any First Sunny Friday I could recall: people spilling out of the balconies in Poteat, Frisbees being tossed on the quad, girls in big sunglasses, jean skirts and sorority jerseys laying on blankets with the false premise of trying to do some reading. For a moment it made me nostalgic – I longed to go back to a place and time when most all of my favorite people lived within a 1-mile radius and our worries centered around crafting the perfect Away Message, but as I headed on to my lovely home, my eager puppy dog and my handsome hubby my sense of contentment with this time and place returned, and all that remained was a grateful feeling for the experiences and where they have taken me.

We had some friends over last night for the first official cookout of the warm weather season. I love so many things about this time of year, but one of my favorites is group cookouts. We had our friends Anne + Locke and Kate + Charlie over, after Matt and Locke finished up an afternoon on the nearby links. It felt so luxurious to be able to sit outside on the deck with just a light cardigan on, enjoying good food, wine and company. I will refrain from discussing the ensuing Catchphrase games, but suffice it to say, the girls will redeem themselves next time.

Speaking of gratitude, I didn’t get my Thankful Thursday posts up two weeks in a row… and it’s not because I’m not thankful! I called my sister, the English teacher, to ask her if she could come up with any synonyms for thankful that started with S so I could do a spin-off for Saturday. Nothing we came up with seemed to have the right ring to it.

Here’s what we had come up with: Satisfied Saturday. Serene Saturday. Sincere Saturday. Sagacious Saturday. Surreptitious Saturday. (Which does not mean thankful by any stretch of the imagination, but I liked the way it rolled off my tongue and I tried to convince her that Saturday was usurping Thursday’s role, and therefore the name fit.) Serendipitous Saturday. Seriously So Blessed Saturday. (I really lobbied hard for that one, but since Katie didn’t get the reference, I figured most others wouldn’t either.)

We couldn’t come up with anything. Anyone have a good suggestion? (Suggestive Saturday? Hmmm.)

Regardless, I am thankful, it is Saturday and here is a list. Enjoy.

• The sun, the warm weather, the just-in-time arrival of Spring.
• The arrival into this world of sweet Madelyn Jane, and the health of her momma Katie
• Finalized plans for Winocation – my trip to Wine Country with my college girlfriends. Less than 2 weeks til departure!
• Waking up to no alarm today
• My hard-working hubby, who not only had to wake up to an alarm, but had to go to work after said alarm went off. Boo.
• My Aunt Jennifer, who is celebrating a birthday today. She deserves to have a day as beautiful and lovely as she is.
• The opportunity to do a public speaking gig this week to a phenomenal group of people
• Heather and her HTML capabilities and her excitement and willingness to try and figure out my blog-puzzle
• Running. I have missed it, and it feels good to be back doing something I love.
• And on that note, health. 3 months now. Countdown restarted, and I intend to break my 3 year record this time.
• OH and on that note, my doctor. He called me to follow up on a question I had left his nurse, and took a good ten minutes to talk to me about some questions I had, and even sent me some abstracts that have yet to be published. Anyone who thinks the health care system is broken should remember that a system can be broken, but the people within the system can do a pretty good job at holding the pieces together. (I include my hubby in this – I think going to work in an emergency room every day is the epitome of seeing the broken system, but he just puts his head down and works hard to do what he’s there to do.)
• And on the note of the research abstracts… Jess! I am so thankful for her great experiences in her career, her recently published journal article that I totally did not understand the topic of but I am proud of anyways, passing her comp exams AND her plans for post-doc stuff. Watch out world, this girl is going to be doing big stuff in cancer research. Go Nurse Jessie K!
• My Aunt B’s new blog which is about 75% food/organics/health and 25% musings and observations, and makes me adore her even more than I already do. Go ahead and read it: http://www.swymathecove.com/
• Randomly catching “Only Want to Be With You” (by Hootie) on the radio on my way home from work yesterday. That song instantly transports me back to dating Matt, to one of my favorite dates – a Hootie/BTE concert in Raleigh, and to our wedding day. It’s the song that always reminds me of what an awesome and wonderful thing it is to love and be loved.
• Target’s wine selection. Surprised to find it is pretty darn good.
• A coaching session I had on Friday – it never fails that anytime I coach this one woman (which is about once a month), I learn from her more than I think she learns from me. Or at the very least, it’s mutual. I swear the things that come out of my mouth when I’m coaching her are exactly the things I need to be remembering or paying attention to myself. God’s timing is perfect, ya’ll.
• Blueberry crumb bars from Smitten Kitchen. Butter, sugar, berries. Yum. (Thanks, Heath!)
• My mom and her always available, never bored of me, listening ears.
• My Buddy boy. He had a good week. Won’t say more or I’ll jinx it.
• That I could probably keep on typing this list the rest of the afternoon, but a homemade frappe and some book editing on the book porch await me instead.

And I will leave you with this, my usual gratuitous doggy pic, and the hopes that Spring has found you where ever you may be reading this from.

Pitiful is the new cute.

Thankful Thursday

This list threatens to be long.  I’m in one of the moods where the birds chirping and the grass being green and the right song coming on the radio at just the right time are enough to make me go, “Sigh.  All is right in the world.”  With that said, I’ll attempt to pare myself down of a baker’s dozen of thankfuls.  Without further ado, I am thankful for…

• My sister and her boyfriend, Dylan, getting engaged!  I could not be more pleased to welcome Dylan into our family (and he’s had ample warning to determine if that’s in his best interest) and to help my baby sis plan her big day. 
• Riley Jayne, 7 ounces of cuteness, who announced her intention to join our world just yesterday morning.  Can’t wait to meet you, Miss Riley.
• My Grandpa S, who just celebrated his 89th year of life. 
• Pink High Heels.
• Birds chirping this morning, and golf clubs in use this afternoon.  Hoping that’s a sign that Spring is on it’s way.  Ignore the snow that is still on the sidewalks the sun doesn’t hit.
• 5 am.  I’m thankful for 5 am because right now, while Matt is working the 6p-2a shift, that’s the time of day I am most likely to get to hang out with him.  And even if it’s just for 10 minutes, it’s nice to see his face.  Even better, I’m thankful for his day off falling on a Friday this week.  It’ll be a well-deserved day off for my hubby and I can’t wait to hang out with him.
• Brewnerd’s Salty Caramel Latte.  Oh. My. Heavens.  Is it wrong to salt your coffee?  Let’s never speak of this again.
• Mark 11:24
• My Christmas gift arriving from my sister – “Keep Calm and Carry On.”  Ever since I saw this poster hanging up in another blogger’s living room, I became intent on acquiring it.  Thank you, little sis, for making that happen!  Can’t wait to hang it in my office with all my other green stuff. 
• Health, and not just in-remission-health, but really, truly happy-with-my-wellbeing health.
• Goat cheese.  I can’t get enough.
• Heather, for reasons too numerous to list, but succinctly for her uncanny knack for the perfect words for every moment. 
• Following up on a gut feeling to call someone I hadn’t seen in awhile and finding out it was a much needed call.  God’s timing is perfect, ya’ll. 
• Ipod, mascara and my Joe Jeans.  The 3 material items I think I’d take to my deserted island. 
• A pile of felt scraps given to me by a client… waiting for me to do the project that’s in my head.  (Don’t give up on me, felt scraps!  I’m coming!) 
• Mi familia (the one I was born into and the one I was sworn into)
• Faith in a very kind God
• If all else fails, Thursday is always followed by Friday.

What’s on your list?

Thankful Thursday

My sister, the English teacher, told me today that she had her 10th grade students make Thankful Thursday lists in class today. I love it. Gratitude is contagious!

I needed this exercise today. I was super grumpy this morning as a hangover from an experience the day before that I still hadn’t shook off, and I was experiencing a bit of cabin fever from all the snow/ice we’ve had this week. Taking the time to pause on my happy list, combined with my new beginner’s yoga class and a glass of wine with some girlfriends, was the perfect antidote to my frumpy mood.

Thankful (this week) for:

• My mom, who has been superwoman taking care of my Grandpa.
• My hubby. I love being married to this man. And I love that he is making baby back ribs tonight. ‘Nuff said.
• Doggy Daycare. Especially when pupdog is suffering from cabin fever/frumpy face. And even better, picking Buddy up from doggy daycare. The look on Buddy’s face when he sees me – OMG YOU CAME BACK – cracks me up every time.
• Yoga! I actually like it. Taking a beginners (realllly beginners) class was key. And taking it with 2 friends (accountability?) has been key.
• That the yoga studio is right near 6th & Vine. Double Win.
• My sis. Who is hopefully visiting tomorrow, who makes me laugh every day, who keeps me honest to commitments (even blogging commitments) and who thinks to send my mom flowers when she’s having a bad day.
• That despite the snow being a bit annoying, it has completely shut down the South. It’s been kind of a vacation-at-home/catch up week, enforced by Mother Nature.
• Health insurance.
• Having all my tax forms ready to go. Before April. That’s a first.
• My friend Heather’s uncanny ability to always know exactly what to say to make me laugh or get inspired.
• My grandparents-in-law (Nanta and Pa) who just celebrated SIXTY-FIVE years of marriage. Amazing!!
• Having time to write this week, and beginning to see my book take shape somewhere besides my imagination.
• The cheerleaders of said book, who tell me I can do it and keep my mind off the slush pile.
• The safety of everyone I know on the roads this week. The South is not exactly known for it’s road-clearing-prowess.
• Getting back to an exercise routine – after “outing” myself on my coaching blog, I’ve had 2 consistent weeks and I feel a zillion times better, and double thanks to Matt who keeps taking me on dates to the Y. I think I exhausted all his guest passes this week.
• New clients!
• Winos. Who I am hopefully seeing tomorrow, weather permitted, and planning for our WINE COUNTRY trip. Woop.
• Jess, who gets her own special line, for listening to my academic woe-is-me rant this week and assuring me that it’s okay that I couldn’t remember what logistical regression was.
• The entrance into our world of 3 new sweet little ones: Georgia Mae, Hailey Jordana and Spencer Chase, and the health of their mommas.
• Friends who brave snowstorms for parties and show up with delicious goodies like lime-buttercream-coconut cupcakes. (Jme, plz repeat as often as possible.)
• A lunch date with a new friend.
• Cheap champagne.
• Delving into the world of bloggers who take pictures of food. Reassurance that the compulsive need to photog my food doesn’t make me crazy.
• Waking up early to find that it’s a snow day, and going back to sleep… just like being a little kid.

So, what’s on YOUR list?

Thankful Thursday

Oh how I missed doing this… obviously, vacation/traveling made blog updating difficult, but I’ve been mentally writing my lists nonetheless. A few months of regularly doing a gratitude journal have made my brain almost act like a radar detector for good things. I’ll be plodding through my day, checking off the to do list (my other favorite list to make) when all of a sudden this little voice pops up and goes “Oh! I like this! I’m happy!” and I mentally add it to my grateful list. I’ve been blathering about this gratitude journal thing for awhile now, and it’s been really neat to hear from a few people who started doing one too and have seen the positive effects. So without further ado, I bring you this week’s Thankful Thursday.

• My Grandpa making it through a week of a health scare and successfully coming through surgery. He’s a tough cookie, even for an 89 year old.
• My mom, on that note, for her patience, compassion and caregiving. And for just being her. I like her.
• My husband, for numerous reasons, this week. First, he’s been a great advocate and resource for my mom with all his knowledge and help. Second, I mentioned once that I was stressed about getting everything done this week before we left for Utah and came home the next day to a clean house, 2 loads of a laundry and empty dishwasher and I think he even refilled the Crystal Light pitcher. Listen, men, housework trumps jewelery, flowers and Build-A-Bears any day. (And really, the Build-A-Bears are creepy.)
• VACATION. Nothing like having working for 2 weeks and taking another week off right? But the snowy peaks of Park City call to us, and off we go. I’m also grateful for a week with the 4-C’s. And Cafe Rio.
• Dreaming in Spanish. I know this sounds weird, but it made me happy that my subconscious reminded me I still could still speak and comprehend Spanish, since I don’t have a chance to use it “in real life.” I also dreamt about being back in Sevilla, and that’s a wish list for a whole other day.
• Learning. I went to a talk given by a MD/MPH from Hopkins on a weight loss trial they just finished up and I remembered how much I love learning/being in a class. Not that “back to school” is on my list… but perhaps more conferences in 2010?
• The hint of warmer weather around the corner. (Which we are of course leaving behind.)
• The hint of progression from the Budster… baby steps. It’s been a really good week for him. (And for us, consequently.)
• A new potential client I am super-excited about. She is adorable.
• My sister
• The puffiness of my prednisone-face has finally subsided. I look in the mirror and see *me* again and I’m grateful for that. Even though, at the time, I was also grateful for prednisone.
• Getting to see Jen + Ryan at Christmas. Seattle is too far. Come home, guys.
• Letting go of a completely arbitrary expectation I set for myself, and the relief that followed.
• Mastering risotto. Finally.
• Passion for my job. It feels good to like what you do each day.
• Library books
• Learning how to make homemade sushi
• Going to bed early
• My new food processor, Christmas gift from my hubby
• Heather, my meditation cheerleader. I tell her I fell asleep, she tells me there’s no such thing as bad meditation.
• The samples that come with a Sephora order (really – it’s the little things.)
• 1 month of health. (Ok, and also, the big things.)

Good to be back. So, friends, what’s on your list?

Thankful Sunday

Ok, it doesn’t have quite the same appeal as the usual alliteration, but better late than never, right?

Happy Things, Today: (This Week/etc):

• Safety. That the only consequence of Tuesday’s car wreck is the inconvenience of having to get my car repaired. I’m fine, the guy who hit me is fine, Buddy’s fine (he was wearing his seatbelt!), my insurance company has been a peach (Traveler’s, FYI) and his insurance company hasn’t given me any hassle for repairs. I keep breathing sighs of relief/gratitude that it wasn’t any worse than that.
• My hard-working hubby, who is in fact, at the hospital this very moment. In fact, I don’t know what to do without NFL as the backdrop to my usual Sunday routine. Weird.
• Lovefeast
• Being almost done with Christmas shopping. Anyone have a good idea for my dad?
• Coffee date with Heather on Wednesday. I need this weekly. (Move to Winston?)
• One of my clients on the *brink* of a break-through this week. Excited for what’s around the corner for her.
• Health, health, health. Last week of prednisone!!! (Good-bye, puffy cheeks!!!)
• Black velvet starry winter skies on early morning walks
• Receiving my FITBIT! After a year of waiting! Yesterday, according to my Fitbit, I was very active for 4 minutes. Oye. Good timing, I need some motivation.
• Something very good going on in my sister-in-law’s life. Tickled for her.
• My camera and signing up for another photog class at Sawtooth starting in Jan.
• Seeing photos of my middle-school best friend’s 14 month old on Facebook. He looks like her, she looks happy and both of those things bring me joy.
• Winos – honesty, loyalty, support, truthfulness, forgiveness, love.
• My intern from 5 years ago (then a HS junior, now a college senior) just messaged me. As we finished up she said “don’t you wish you were still in college?” Answer: nope. I loved college – and I wouldn’t mind having all my favorite people in a 5-minute-walk radius again – but I love where I am right now in life.
• Coconut Chai Tea from YogicChai
• Ingrid Michaelson, A Fine Frenzy. They have been my soundtrack this week.
• Having four healthy, loving, and supportive parents.
• A job I love that is rewarding, flexible, creative and has health benefits.
• Faith
• A dinner date on Friday with two of my favorite couples, the Forseys and the Johnsons (we missed you, J-boo) at one of my favorite restaurants (Xia’s.) Yay and yum.
• One more work week until 2 weeks of vacation starts.
• Libraries
• My intern, who might be the sole reason my December newsletter gets done on time.
• That the rain has stopped right at the exact moment I am finishing this and my little doglet is ready for his walk! Perfect timing.

Thankful that this is pretty much just a major inconvenience in my life, and nothing more.

Thankful for the beauty that is Christmas.

Thankful for this little face.

Thankful Thursday

How appropriate that I finished my November newsletter, which was all about gratitude, just in time to send it out this morning… a Thursday! Researching and writing that newsletter has had me in total-gratitude-overdrive this month, and it has been so. very. good. I highly recommend dabbling in some gratitude work. As far as things that will rock your world, it’s a close second to a luscious glass of Pinot Grigio.

I’m just going to go ahead and warn you: the list got outrageously long this week. I usually jot things down in my phone’s notepad section all week when I think of things and with my brain turned towards THANKFUL, it seemed like I just kept adding and adding things. (And all these explanations… I am just rambling tonight, yall.) But there doesn’t seem to be anything I can edit it out…. so you’ve been warned.

Then again, do I ever write anything with brevity?

Onwards, to the list! Happy Things, Today/This Week:

• The most delicious post-rain fall air today. Would have been perfect running weather, if I was doing that kind of thing these days. As it was, it was pretty good walking to the car weather.
• MEETING RECRUITMENT GOALS! We started recruiting for our research study in October 2006. Our goal was to get 450 people by, roughly the end of November 2009. Today, we hit 454. We are DONE recruiting. You have no idea how incredible that feels.
• Four hours after celebrating our recruitment goal, the proposal for a new pilot study slid across my desk. It’s a research study on weight management. I might have wet my pants with excitement. I may or may not have printed off about 15 different journal PDFs to begin reading. It was a good day in my job-world.
• Health. I’m eating everything now, from oatmeal to salads to coffee. Believe me, it’s been fun.
• My hubby. I can’t even believe that he just worked something like 40 straight hours. He didn’t even complain or whine or become unbearably annoying, as his better half most certainly would have. All he did was request a Mellow Mushroom pizza, of which I was happy to oblige.
• Family: I am really excited to spend time with all my wonderful families – Clines, Crowells, Claffeys – next week. I am so very thankful to have families who I love so much, and who I genuinely enjoy spending time with. The more I coach people who bring up family issues, the more I realize this isn’t always the case. I’m lucky to have been born into an incredible family, but I’m even more blessed to have married into one too.
• Homemade pear honey, molasses, candy corn and 6 pounds of shelled black walnuts. Not a new MegEats recipe, just the random and wonderful things that clients and participants have given me this week. (Related: does anyone own a nutcracker?)
• Time with girlfriends, both old and new. We had RSA Happy Hour this week at 6th + Vine, and I was equally thankful to meet some new lovely girls and for the time spent catching up with two of my favorite girls, Jamie + Donna.
• That quiet moment at night when I turn off the lights in the house and the Christmas lights over the fireplace and loft twinkle softly. (Yes we have them up already.) There is just so much peace in that one little moment.
• Heather. Those friendship where you each nudge each other to be a tiny bit better? We got one. Excited for her visit tomorrow and NEW MOON. (And I’m thankful for Edward, THERE I SAID IT.)
• My dad. I heard Pet Shop Boys on the radio the other day and it actually made me homesick. Way to pass on the absolute worst musical tastes ever, Daddy.
• Winos…. and the actual, OMG we’re really doing this planning that occurred this week in re: to our Wine Country Trip that we’ve been talking about for, oh, hmm, five years.
• Emails from my seester. They make me laugh/smile/miss her outrageously. Please consider a relocation back to Winston.
• Coaching. I am amazed and thankful that this dream I had seven years ago (gah! really?!) is becoming a reality.
• How beautiful WFU’s campus is. And that I’m still a part of the place I love so much. (My love would grow infinitely if we could do something about the Lake Ontario size puddle that forms outside my office door every time it rains. Which has been, ohhh, the entire month of November.)
• Rain. I’m gonna go ahead and say it: I like this rain, because we just seeded our lawn. Also, I am hopeful that rainy fall means snowy winter. And if you live in the South, you understand why I might hope for snow. Snow = life on hold. The mere mention of snow = life on hold. I. Love. Snow. Days.
• A coffee date with two “graduates” on Tuesday, and a lunch date with two “grads” today. (By the way, ya’ll don’t have to order salads just because you go out to lunch with me. I eat fries, too.)
• This moment right now: I am sitting on the couch writing this, my freshly bathed dog sleeps curled up in a noodle. My best bud sits next to me, charting. Jazz is on our xm station and the Christmas lights are twinkling. Our life is so very good.
• Buddy. An entire good week in the crate! Good boy! Biscuit!
• Keena (my intern.) Didn’t realize when I signed up to have an intern I was going to learn so much from her. (Philosophy major? Always has some cool thoughts.)
• A compliment I received twice this week from two different people that I am tossing over and over in my head like a kid with a new baseball. One from a lovely friend and one from a complete stranger, but the same message: “you should write.” (I am writing, but I understood what they meant, and I want to. Bless you both for adding some fuel to that dream too.)
• My mom. I could never, ever, ever, ever, ever grow tired of talking to my mom. I sure hope she feels the same way about me.
• Verizon In-Calling Minutes. See above.
• Passionate people. I’m really passionate about my things – weight loss/health, law of attraction, food – and I love reading other people’s blogs or talking to other people who get really jazzed about their thing.
• Krankie’s Market. I love what they are doing. Direct farmer to consumer, all local.
• The health of all my family members and friends. (Keep it that way, guys, mk?)
• Driving in the wee hours of the morning today, I look over at the stop light next to me. An old man in a tweed cap, looking straight ahead, his hand absent mindedly stroking the head of a happy looking Bassett on the passenger seat next to him. The absolute picture of contentment, both of them.

Your turn. What tops your grateful list?

A windy path in Moses Cone Park; Blowing Rock, NC

Thankful Thursday: Mountain Weekend Edition

This. Is. Happy.

Happy Things, All Weekend Long:

• This quiet morning with a nothing to do but write whatever comes into my mind, sip coffee (after 2 days of trying to figure out how to work an electrical kettle) and watch the rising and falling of my doggy’s little chest as he slumbers contentedly on the floor in front of me
• The way the sunlight streams through the leaves as it rises behind the house on early morning walks
• Writing
• The heft of the camera in my hand
• Film camera
• Having a sister who is a best friend too
• Friends who have known you for almost a decade
• Cooking and eating around a large table with a lazy susan
• Pinot grigio
• Crab bisque soup
• Not having internet for 3 days
• Sitting in a house that someone you know built with their own hands
• A surprisingly warm November weekend
• That it only takes 2 hours of driving to feel very far away from everything
• Laughing so hard with friends (and family) that you feel like you might pull a muscle
• Using vacation days
• Small mountain towns

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday Things:

• My hubby. Sharing a life with you is delightful.
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on audiobook on my ipod.
• Finding my ipod after 4 weeks.
• Eating my first salad in a month. Delicious greeny-ness.
• Buddy, laying down in crate, not barking. Small victories.
• My baby sister, who is turning 25 this weekend.
• Feeling about a zillion percent healthier this week.
• Food Gawker. I <3>Libraries.
• Having a mom who is one of my best friends.
• Seeing the world through a camera lens.
• A peaceful mind.
• Health insurance.
• My super ambitious intern. I can’t keep up with her.
• Feeling loved.
• Having wonderful in-laws.
• Coaching four non-regular clients of mine this week for a project, getting to coach brand-new people excites me all over again about what I do.
• Catching up with an old friend from grad school.
• Making sleep a priority.
• The safety of a friend who was in a really bad wreck this week. I’m still shuddering.
• Online grocery shopping.
• Orange and yellow leaves along Rt. 52.
• My job.
• The feeling of a hot beverage in a to-go cup cradled in your hands.
• A bag of organic bibb lettuce and an eggplant grown + given to me by a participant.
• Homemade salad dressing.
• Matt starting vacation in 2 days.
• Checking things off a to do list.
• New books from the library.
• Feeling well-rested and healthy.