Back 2 Basics

The last days of summer...bittersweet.  I adore falls colors, and beauty, but saying good-bye to summer is sad. So enjoying the sunshine is top priority these days. Saturday, my love, my bike and a bottle of red hit the bike bath and headed to the river. We watched the sunset, laughed at some weirdos, and ventured home for some star gazing and a bonfire...of sorts. OK..well as much of a fire as we could get going...but all fun! Sunday it was so windy you woulda thought maybe Hurricane Earl was here in Manitoba..so we  got some stuff done around the house and watched movies. My girl came home, and then the kids got all back home too. Family supper, and off to bed! The little things are the nicest!!



I like this.

xoxo
Sara

Picking Up What I'm throwing down

You know what I'm grateful for? Let me explain.

When you're trying to explain an idea that's just come to you. The idea is so fresh, that it's like you're thinking it outloud and you just can't seem to explain it just right. Your idea is just forming into your own brain, so you haven't quite found the right words to express it.

I like new ideas, but what I'm grateful for is, that moment when the other person gets it too! It feels so triumphant!!



The kinda person who actually GET'S IT is awesome too! Some people just wouldn't understand your mumble jumble...but someone who understands. Now that's GOLD!!!

xoxo
Sara

Gettin' Outta Dodge

Family! I do believe I have the bestest, wildest, kookiest one! Went 'home' this weekend, with my new family in tow. We had our adventures getting there, but everyone had a wonderful time on the farms. I am so grateful to have such great family. It was wonderful to hug my seester who's been gone travelling for six months. We devoured my stepmom's awesome eats (homemade pizza, blueberry pancakes!! yummy!!), read, "the book of awesome' which I now own (THANKS JEN!), had a bonfire, heard wildlife upclose and scary, got some kickass ideas, saw two of my besties, attended the birthday party of the cutest 3 year old princess, ate MORE, and camped again! Rode horses, caught frogs, played ballerina, and hugged everyone lots!! The ride home was thankfully quiet!! I'm STILL recovering!

xoxo
Sara

xoxoxoxoxoxxooxoxoox

Have the flu. Been keeping a low profile. Mostly sleeping. It helps. Just thought I'd pop in, say thanks to those of you who practice gratitude, and whom read 'grat-itude'.

xoxo
Sara





A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.


-- Cicero

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

-- Albert Schweitzer







Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.

-- Oprah Winfrey

Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.

-- Author Unknown

Difficulties are opportunities to better things; they are stepping stones to greater experience. Perhaps someday you will be thankful for some temporary failure in a particular direction. When one door closes, another always opens.

-- Author Unknown







Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For on the smiles, the thanks we give, our little gestures of appreciation, our neighbors build their philosophy of life.

-- A. J. Cronin







Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

-- Melody Beattie

Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.

-- Author Unknown







Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.

-- Brian Tracy

Every time we remember to say "thank you", we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.

-- Sarah Ban Breathnach

Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.

-- Christiane Northrup







Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.

-- Eileen Caddy

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

-- Epictetus







If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.

-- Meister Eckhardt







If you can't be content with what you have received, be thankful for what you have escaped.

-- Author Unknown

If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.

-- Rabbi Harold Kushner







If you haven’t all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don’t have that you wouldn’t want.

-- Author Unknown







In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

-- Albert Schweitzer

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.

-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer







It is impossible to feel grateful and depressed in the same moment.

-- Naomi Williams

It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart.

-- Author Unknown







Just a "thank you" is a mighty powerful prayer. Says it all.

-- Rosie Cash

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

-- Marcel Proust

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

-- Buddha







Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.

-- Ralph Marston







No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.

-- Alfred North Whitehead







None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.

-- Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

People who live the most fulfilling lives are the ones who are always rejoicing at what they have.

-- Richard Carlson







So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible. So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done.

-- Marian Wright Edelman

The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best. Therefore it tends to become the best. It takes the form or character of the best, and will receive the best.

-- Wallace D. Wattles







The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.

-- William Blake







The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.

-- Henry Ward Beecher

There is a calmness to a life lived in Gratitude, a quiet joy.

-- Ralph H. Blum

There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.

-- Author Unknown







Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.

-- John Wooden

To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.

-- Albert Schweitzer







To live a life of gratitude is to open our eyes to the countless ways in which we are supported by the world around us.Such a life provides less space for our suffering because our attention is more balanced. We are more often occupiedwith noticing what we are given, thanking those who have helped us, and repaying the world in some concrete wayfor what we are receiving.

-- Gregg Krech

What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it--would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.

-- Ralph Marston







When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.

-- Willie Nelson

You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.

-- Sarah Ban Breathnach

You won't be happy with more until you're happy with what you've got.

-- Viki King

My Sweet Spot

My Favorite Moment:

Just before we roll over into sleep position, when my Love cuddles in behind me, warming my cold back. I am wrapped safely, and lovingly in his big arms. He nestles up behind my ear and softly kisses my neck, and up to my ear with a soft, whisper, "I love you." "I love you." I reply. A sweet, cool breeze flutters in the window, the curtain drifting slowly, in and out.
Sigh....

I am so thank-ful for that peaceful moment.

xoxo,
Sara

Thunderstruck

J'adore thunderstorms!  Lasts nights was a monster one too, and I stayed awake watching the lightening flicker across the sky, one after another. It was a breathtaking, awe inspiring show mother nature put on for us. A bit of rain, to break up the heat is a nice change of pace too. Tonight my love and I are gonna enjoy a last night of summer alone.  Not sure exactly what is planned...but we always have fun together so I'm not to worried. And I actually have a weekend off, so tomorrow we shall Saturday!!!!!!!!! Whoot Whoot. We haven't Saturday'd in quite some time, so I am totally jazzed! Then we will attend my Aunt and Uncle's 30th Wedding Anniversary. If my cousin Lawrence can make it, it will mark the first time all of us are together since our Granny passed several years ago. So it'll be so wonderful to see everyone, maybe have a family food fight, and just enjoy!! Today is my niece Bree's 3rd Birthday!! She is so precious, and I can't wait to shower her and her brother lil Will I Am with hugs n' kisses tomorrow!  So much to be thankful for huh??!!! Lucky moi!!!

Bull In A China Shop

As I may have mentioned I'm busy. There's always some sorta fire that needs putting out, some place I need to be, something that needs to be done. I feel sorta like a bull in a china shop running around, with things crashing everywhere! It's beginning to wear on my Love and I. There's been so little 'us' time, so little time for R & R, and well...there's no end in sight for the chaos either. So that's why I love coming here. To reflect on the little positives that keep me going. For starters, my girl is back home!!!! I have missed her immensely so I am ecstatic to have her back. She had a good time with Grandma at the ranch, but it's time she came home to her Mommy! (she'll hate that I said that!) Also we did take a small time out, and went for a bike ride. We toured up to the old Mental hospital facility that is being restored. It's so amazing. Beautiful and creepy all at the same time. took many neat pics, which is something I've always wanted to do. The bike ride felt great.  Was a bit cooler, temperature wise so it was nice to get out and about! I finally had a little sleep in this morning which was so wonderful! I needed it. Looking forward to a non-working weekend, visiting family and getting some R & R.

xoxo
Sara

MacGyver n' AC Love

I have learned to McGyver my own AC unit. Put large freezer pack in front of face. Sit in front of fan. And voila!  But, then my Juan put in the air condition unit and all is better. Thanks-you! We can actually sleep ok now. I say ok, as the blow up bed ain't got nuttin on our real bed, but one must sacrifice. It's like 40 some degrees in Manitoba with the humidex right now. I love hot weather, but I also love the outdoors and when it's this hot, you just can't do anything out there. And it obviously makes sleeping a bitch if ya have no AC! I am not normally a huge AC fan (i say this while I sit here covered up in blankies!) but right now...it's a life saver. This weekend, I got to hang with my girl Mel, and her little lady. We went to a wedding (my only one of the season! wow!) danced and it was awesome to catch up. Tonight I go to a good bye party for another friend of mine. Will surely miss her, but that's the life of a proud soldiers wife! We gonna have good eats and some good hugs! Speaking of....it's time to head there to commence hugging now!!  Be back soon my amigos!
xoxo
Sara

The rest is still unwritten

I went 'off the grid'' for last few days!!! So exhausted and busy with the move. That's been the focus of my time and energies of late. I am so glad to have THAT done. Now to get used to my new surroundings. That's taking some toll on me at the moment. There is much traffic at my new location. The drivers don't seem to understand that the Pryncezz now lives there, so it's time to be quiet whilst I sleep. I may need to put up a sign. I hear EVERY noise the house makes..until I get used to it...I'll be tired. And I miss my home. Soon enough my new house will be home, but until then I feel like I'm staying at a hotel with my stuff. But enuf of my whining...that's not gonna help. I am certainly grateful I have a roof over my head and a place to rest my weary feet. I am so happy that my love and I get to spend our days and nights together from now til forover. I'm thankful for the help and support I've received throughout the ordeal. There is much to be done, there is much to look forward to!
Cheers!