Thankful & Grateful Moments

I am so very blessed for this life I am living.

For this sometimes stressful, sometimes frustrating, sometimes exhausting, sometimes aggravating, but 100% blessed life.

Because even when the going gets tough . . . and yep, sometimes it does get tough . . . I still know how damn great I've got it.

And this year, I am trying to do it as often as possible - trying to take those moments, the Thankful and Grateful Moments, and soak them up. Because I have many of them.

Tonight, I am sitting at my computer looking through the photo from a recent trip we took to this January to Puerto Rico. I decided to get back to good ol'fashioned scrapbooking and want to start with this vacation, and sitting here looking at these photos - I am feeling my heart swell with gratitude for this trip.

I would love to share a little bit of it with you.

Like, this view . . . right here . . .

Sometimes you see something and you think, "this can't be real" - almost like there is a great big Hollywood movie backdrop someone painted placed right in front of you. This view above - that is one of those places.

Or, catching two sisters share a moment right there . . .

Sigh. 

Or, having a Starbucks in the lobby and having a husband who would wake each morning and go to buy you one of these . . . 

Yes, I was spoiled . . . and I know it. 

Watching these three brave souls as they try out zip lining (oh, yes they did!!) was a pretty awesome experience. 

I mean, seriously . . . .

I would never, could never, and will never try it . . . but oh how proud I was of the three of them.

I am grateful for the night when the moon was so bright, it looked like a spotlight was shining down on us all . . .

. . . we sat out there for hours that night - watching the light dance on the water below, and feeling the warm breeze from the ocean go right through us. It was a picture perfect night, and one that I will never forget.

I am grateful for an adventurous boat ride (even if it was a little bumpy) that brought us to a beach . . .

. . . and hours of fun in the sand.

I am grateful for afternoons when it really doesn't matter what your hair looks like, or whether you have cover stick on (or mascara or anything), and when your smile says it all. 

. . . and grateful for my dear husband who loves me as I am . . . 

Oh, how grateful I am for him.

And I am grateful for "strangers" who cross your path (even your online art path) and quickly become the dearest of friends . . . (the wonderful artist Elizabeth Gonzalez). Any time with this lady makes my heart full of joy - and this trip was no exception for that. This was our second trip to Puerto Rico, and my second opportunity to spend time there with Elizabeth, and I just LOVED it. It reminds me of how small this great BIG world really is. 

Finally, I am grateful for the many moments like this . . .

 . . . for watching the beautiful colors in the sky, for seeing the sun go down, for listening to my daughters laugh, for no phones, no ipads, no minecraft or television. For no place to be and no time to be there . . . for the ability to practically stop time, and watch a kite fly way up in the sky one glorious afternoon.

Yes, for this very life . . . I am both Thankful and Grateful.

So very, very much.

Wishing you peace, my friends.
xoxo