One Thousand Gifts

It's been creeping into my thoughts for awhile now. "There's got to be more then this. There should be more joy, more happiness." Less anger, less emptiness. Less of the going to be each night and waking up each morning to the "same old same old".

And then I was blessed by the internet. Because it was on the internet that I kept seeing pictures & blog post with the book One Thousand Gifts in them. For some reason that I don't know I resisted buying it. Not enough money; not enough time to read; it won't be worth it.

But was I so wrong. I finally ordered it then stalked my front door for 3 days waiting for it to arrive. And arrive it did. And I placed it on the table and didn't open for a few MORE days. I opened it last night and didn't close it. Until I got a pen and a journal (that I had bought awhile ago just for this purpose) and began counting my 1000 gifts.
10 gifts to start but what a start it is! How happy it made me to write them down and name them. The "small" blessings and gifts that God bestows on me each day.
I went to bed feeling lighter then I have in a long time. Just by writing down 10 gifts! I can only imagine the feeling as I go on, each day becoming more aware of all the beauty that God has placed in my life.
To live a life of Thanksgiving in order to have Joy. How simple it sounds this act of giving thanks & praise in EVERYTHING. It forces my eyes to be open to THIS moment and that is the biggest blessing I can be given at the time. To live fully present now; not to worry about the future or fret over the past. How blessed I've been by Ann Voscamp and I've only "known" her for a few days. I'm excited to see where this journey will lead me. But I can wait. Right now I want to live in the now to see the joy that is available to me in each "present" of my life.
1. Sweet baby hugs

2. Rainbows of flowers

3. Sharp colored pencils

4. days spent with my love

5. blankets to curl up in

6. the love of my parents

7. words on a page

8. red tulips

9. the Love of God

10. New life

Project 64::Catch up day!

I'm so glad the ladies over at Project 64 decided to host a "make-up day" for those of us who found this awesome project a little late.

I've had so much fun these past few weeks finding out the new color and then looking for it in my everyday life all week. Some colors have been easier to find then others, but I'm pretty pleased with what I've come up with so far.

I broke down the other day and bought a box of 64 crayons. Mainly just because I'd thought it'd be fun to have them all with me! But also some of the colors I haven't been 100% sure of the exact shade sooo here we go! There's nothing better then a brand new box of crayons either! I can't remember the last time I had a new box.

I love how this project has gotten me to be more aware of the colors in my world. It came at the perfect time too....the dark gray of winter when I can always use some color therapy!
There's all 8 weeks of my Project 64. Some colors match better then others. I only missed the first two weeks but had no trouble at all finding them around here. I can't wait until the weather gets nicer to go outside and find more colors in nature!

Project 64::Lavender

This week's color for Project 64 was a little difficult for me. Lavender is a beautiful color and I love it! I just couldn't find it in too many places.

Then today we went to a local flower & garden show. Whoohoo I thought! I'd find tons there. Well not quite. This is the picture I came home with and decided would have to do for this week's submission!

It's not the best picture and it did look A LOT more lavender in person! More pictures from the flower show early this week!

{Dream}

I love Amanda Soule's blog Soule Mama. I get so much inspiration from reading her words and seeing her beautiful pictures each day.

I've got both her books, The Creative Family and Handmade Home. For the longest time all I could do was look through them both and wait for the day when I'd be able to put her ideas into use in our home.

We moved at the beginning of December and my sewing machine FINALLY came out of storage just a few weeks ago. This was the first project I made. The "word banner" from Handmade Home. The best part: I had ALL the materials on hand. I love when that happens. I had such a good time picking out the fabrics and piecing this together all the while thinking of it hanging on my daughter's wall.
It's now on the wall across from her crib. I choose the same word Amanda did not so much as to "copy" her but because this is what I want for my baby girl. To dream her dreams while she sleeps and to remember to follow them as she gets older. We all can use that reminder from time to time: don't forget our dreams and go out and attain them.

Slice of Life Tuesday {the depths of Winter}

When the theme for this week's Slice of Life Tuesday was posted last week I was kind of depressed about it. "The depths of winter". Ugh. I've spent many hours the past few months looking out my window's watching the beauty of the snow fall. At all times of the day. Early morning as the snow quickly piles up. Late afternoon in twilight when the snow is softly falling admist what looks like a blue background. In the middle of the night as the snow falls quietly when no one is awake. I've taken many pictures of the birds at the feeder; the huge snowbanks; the baby enjoying a sled ride.

But now I'm tired of it. So I couldn't bring myself to go outside and take yet another picture of the big snowbank that is our front yard. But last week we had the joy of an almost 60 degree day. So out we went for a small walk around our property. And what did we find? The promise that while we are still in the depths of winter spring IS coming and will be here before we know it.

For nestled up against the foundation of the house were these hardly little flowers just beginning to grow.

And they gave me the hope to get through the rest of the winter. So much so that when we heard another snow storm was coming our way today I didn't despair. And was even more happy that the 2-4 inches we were supposed to get was only a dusting. Just enough to make the dirty snow banks look pretty once again.

Late February day book

FOR TODAY: February 21, 2011

Outside my window... snow showers making all the dirty snow look pretty again!

I am thinking... Of all the many projects I need to finish & the ones I want to begin

I am thankful for... my sweet baby girl

From the kitchen... lots of left overs this week and cleaning out of the freezer

I am wearing... sweat pants & sweat shirt

I am creating... some decorations for my baby's room. Will be posting more on that later in the week!

I am going... to spend this President's Day Holiday with my younger sister having a "Gilmore Girl's" Marathon day

I am reading... "Theophilos" I am not too far into it but enjoying it so far

I am hoping... to get lots of cleaning done this week! But all those creative projects are calling my name!

I am hearing... the tv abandoned on some talk show

Around the house... bathrooms need to be cleaned, toys need to be picked up, laundry needs to be washed & put away

One of my favorite things... a freshly bathed, pajama'd baby

Picture thought... Roses from Valentine's Day

Project 64::Indigo

Indigo was the color to be on the lookout for this week. And wow. It was a little difficult! Until I opened the fridge the other day & saw the baby's yogurt!

Is indigo purple? Or blue? It's a mixture I think. I thought that the purple/blue of the package of yogurt met the qualifications for the color pretty well. At least as well as I could find throughout the week!

I hope to be able to visit more people's submissions this week. I hardly had any time to check out last week's apricot!

This Moment {Touch of Spring!}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Joining Amanda again this week!

From the kitchen

Besides our usual meals I've been baking up a storm the past few weeks! From breads to cookies I've been feeding out sweet tooth like crazy! It's a good thing spring is coming soon to get outside and get moving!

The only thing I didn't make was the top one. That deliciousness was made by my mom!

Weekly Yarn Along!

Once again I'm joining Ginny & the other ladies in the yarn along again this week!

I haven't got anything on the needles yet. I finished up a pair of fingerless mitts and haven't had a chance to cast on for my next project. But it's going to be knitting up some of this sugar n' cream yarn I have that is left over from the many dish clothes I've made. (After I took this picture I found 2 more balls of yarn....the little one had grabbed them and put them in her toy box!)

These will be knit up into baby hats to donate to our Church's "baby shower" they have in April. All the baby things collected go to local woman's shelters.

A couple of those balls could probably be made up into another dish cloth. I want to make a few of Meredith's pattern Ripples in the Sand.

As for reading....I'm not in the middle of anything yet. I can't seem to find a good book lately. Could be because I haven't really been in the mood for reading, which is odd for me!

For me

I love Heather's beautiful blog Beauty that Moves. It was one of the first blogs I began reading. She is so very creative with many things. I especially love the prints that she draws and colors.A few weeks ago (maybe a few months ago now!) she made available a print she drew as a coloring page.
With this dark & dreary weather we've been having for so long I was starting to get color deprived. So last week I printed off the coloring page bought some colored pencils and got to work.
I leave the page & pencils on the dining room table throughout the day and every so often stop by to color in a flower or two. It gives me the color and beauty I need when the grayness of outside the windows gets to be too much. And the simple saying of "Everything will be okay" speaks to my heart.

Project 64::Apricot

This color was VERY difficult! I've been carrying around my camera all week hoping I'd run into it somewhere. But I couldn't find it! I was just getting ready to run to the grocery store to buy an actual apricot when I came across this:

My daughter's toy table. I figured a few of those orangy color's kind of look like apricot ;-) (I was just too lazy to go to the store!)

I can't wait to see what everyone else came up with for this week's color over at the Project 64 blog!

This Moment {Car Ride}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Joining Amanda again this week!

Valentine Wreath

At the end of last week I came across a tutorial for a Valentine's Day Yo-Yo Wreath at Shivaya Naturals. And I wanted one.

So I did the easy part: asked my husband to please cut me out a heart shape from cardboard. He did that quickly. The second easy part: pick out what fabrics to use from my fabric stash (which is a lot smaller than I had thought. I need to work on that ;-)

The third part: learn to make yo-yo's. I'd never made one before. Let me tell you: they are ADDICTING. Once I figured out how to make them it took no time at all to crank those babies out! Yesterday afternoon I hot glued them all to the cardboard heart and voila! A pretty Valentine's Day decoration that cost no money as I had all the stuff to make them on hand!

I see a Shamrock one of these in the near future!

Yarn Along!

Again I'm joining Ginny and all the other ladies for this week's Yarn Along. I enjoy looking at everyone's entries and queuing up new patterns (and adding books to my reading list!!)

I am almost finished with the legwarmies. Only the ribbing left and then it's finished. I would have been way finished by now except that I began another project (not yarn related) that I wanted to finish before Valentine's Day. I finished it so now the legwarmies will be next! (The Valentine's project will be shown tomorrow so please come on back! :-)

The two books I've been browsing through are More Last Minute Knitted Gifts and Sock Yarn: One Skein Wonders. Many more projects were added to my "I need to knit this!" list!!

Slice of Life Tuesday {Ordinary Moments}

This weeks Slice of Life Tuesday topic was "Ordinary Moments". To find the beauty in our everyday moments. Since this pretty much sums up the "My Daily Joys" topic of what this blog is supposed be, I thought it was a neat topic.

Now of course in the every day moments of my life for the past week I haven't had the camera with me! But last night as I was getting ready to clean up this little box of books and blocks for the umpteenth million time I realized: this is the beauty in my day. Each toy I clean up over and over from under my feet means that the little one LIKES to be with me and in the midst of whatever I am doing. And right now she loves this little box. I think because it has a whole bunch of little books (she LOVES books of any sort) and it's in a neat box that can be carried around.

So this is how I found it last night as I was finishing up preparing dinner. Right in the middle of the floor where she had been while I was cooking. And right where I had found it many other times throughout the day.

Birthday week Daybook

FOR TODAY: February 7, 2011

Outside my window... SUN!!!! Lots of it! And warmth!! (It's amazing how excited one gets when the temperature is 37 vs 17!

I am thinking... of birthday surprises and plans!

I am thankful for... a dry basement!

From the kitchen... my husband's birthday is tomorrow so a squash pie will be made soon! Yesterday we had all kinds of Superbowl goodies!

I am wearing... jeans, brown socks, and a brown warm comfy sweater

I am creating... Valentine's Surprises!

I am going... last minute birthday pick-up shopping in a little bit

I am reading... Taste of Home magazines. Still thinking over menu planning. I need to stop THINKING and get committing to paper!

I am hoping... this nice weather sticks around for awhile!

I am hearing... silence

Around the house... it's pretty picked up. A load of laundry needs to be folded but other then that I'm pleased with the way it's looking right now

One of my favorite things... dunkin donuts coffee!

Picture thought... we really like Coke! And when it's on sale we stock up! :-)

Project 64::Gray

I thought gray would be a really easy color to photograph this week what with all the snow and ice out there. But I got depressed thinking about how much I want COLOR in my life right now and not gray that I never went out to take pictures! I've been thinking about gray all week though and couldn't really find any in my house.

This morning though I remembered I had some gray yarns so went digging for those. And since I'm doing a sock stash knitdown through Ravelry I thought this would be good to take pictures of! And the fact that there is brilliant sunshine outside and it's in the mid to high 40's is an added bonus for today!!

This Moment {Snow day}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Joining Amanda again this week!

Project 365

I've started again! A few years ago I tried to do a project 365....take a picture a day for year. I got about a month into it and stopped. It got to be late in the day for too many days and I couldn't think of a neat picture to take. (Kind of like what happened today!)

The picture in this post is from my first day. I'd just put out the Valentine's decoration and I had a glass of wine with dinner. I thought this was a pretty picture! Rather then post each day here I've started a flickr set on my page. We'll see where it goes. And rather then get discouraged if a day goes by where I don't get a picture I'll just pick up where I left off!

Yarn Along!

Joining Ginny again! I had so much fun last week visiting everyone and seeing what they are reading and knitting.

This week I'm thinking about the meals for my family. I would like to start a weekly meal plan. That idea is slowly forming in my head. I need to set a weekend day where I sit down and WRITE IT OUT. (Kind of like how I need to sit and write out a weekly cleaning list!) But for now I'm enjoying looking through these cook books I picked up at the library the other day.

And I cast on for another pair of legwarmies. This time a pair for my niece as a Valentine's Day treat.

Beginning of the month daybook

FOR TODAY: February 1, 2011

Outside my window... SNOW. Again! But this time it's a mix of snow and sleet. We're supposed to also get a big ice storm tomorrow!

I am thinking... that I REALLY wish it were spring already! If we get much more snow I have no idea where we will put it!

I am thankful for... my husband! I don't tell him that enough. Right now he's out in this mess getting me flour because I have a list of things to bake but not enough flour. I know when he gets home he'll go right back out to shovel.

From the kitchen... nothing yet just plans in my head for: french bread rolls; chocolate chip cookies; pumpkin bread and blueberry muffins

I am wearing... sweatpants and pink sweater (same as last time!!)

I am creating... a Valentine's Day yo yo wreath. More on that in the next few days!

I am going... to get baking in a few minutes!

I am reading... nothing for "big people" at the moment just lots of board books with the "little person!"

I am hoping... that the snow stops and we don't have any water leaks!

I am hearing... the hum of the dryer and birds outside at the feeders....we can't keep enough bird feed in there for them!

Around the house... I just swept the floors; later on it'll be wash the kitchen floor and clean the bathrooms. Then laundry needs to be folded and put away. We're having an early Valentine's Tea here on Thursday morning so I want the place looking presentable!

One of my favorite things... a warm cup of tea!

Picture thought... at my mom's the other day she made a brownie. My sister wanted a "middle piece" so she cute a hole in the middle of the brownie!