My Gratia today is for awareness and acceptance...

I seem to have a new heightened sense of awareness and acceptance. Awareness of who I am, what I am surrounded by and where I want to go. Acceptance in who I am, what I am surrounded by and where I want to go. I am grateful to my bones for this ability we all have to feel inspired by ourselves and love ourselves and become who we need to be.

My Gratia today is for the simple experience of living... 

After spending 5 days in the back country hiking with no modern distractions, the love of my life and two of the best friends anyone could ask for my perception of life has been to be rebooted. It is simply amazing what spending time immersed in nature for days and days and having to work my ass off to reach my goal does to my soul. I feel like a new person these days. Life is great!

Paintbrush Divide, Grand Tetons National Park

My Gratia today is for nine little kids...

I recently wrapped up a great season coaching little league T-Ball. Nine five and six year old kids who for the most part were very clueless about everything baseball related. I expected that, remembering playing when I was five with my mitt on my head most games. Even though they didn't know much It was so much fun coaching them and a fantastic distraction from all of the craziness that has been our lives. I avoided the thought of being a T-ball coach but when the rec center called and said they didn't have a coach for Wren's team I told them I would do it. I stewed over that decision knowing it was out of my comfort zone but I decided to roll with it, relax, and have fun. I did and I would do it again in a heart beat!

My Gratia today is for getting back to normal...  

I scrubbed the floors of the new house yesterday. I mean on my hands and knees with a little scrub brush and bucket of water imagining I was some kind of 19th century scullery main. It felt awesome. Strange thing, I know, to enjoy but, it was the last step in my plan of getting life back to normal. I had been waiting to do this um...wet, grimy, work on your core kind of a job for three weeks now and I finally got to that point that it was the last big task to do. For some reason I needed to scrub away the previous owners and have the feeling that it is our grime and dirt that we are living in, not another families. I feel really relaxed this morning like a hurdle has been jumped over and my sore abs are a testament to all the hard work we all have put into this new home. The house is starting to feel more and more like ours everyday.

What are you thankful for today? Share what makes your life great today or just keep it in your thoughts and heart with you and see what comes of it.

Today my Gratia is for new beginnings...

When ever something big happens in our lives I think of it of a new chapter in the story that is us. Today we wrote the first lines of a new chapter. We Closed on a house that has been, what seems to me, a long time coming. We are excited and it will be really nice to start anew, so to speak. The kids and I are a bit sad to leave this old place, we have lived for the past eight years and the neighborhood and school that we have become so accustomed too. We are working on staying focused on what will be new like more space, another bathroom and a yard that will be twice the size. I keep telling the kids that life is boring if you do not have change and how can you grow as a person if you always stand in the same place. They may not understand now but I am sure they will get it sometime. Although there is sadness and even a few tears it will be a wonderful and exciting new chapter in the story of us.

Today my Gratia is for having my babes home with me...

School is OUT and although I haven't always sang this tune, I am glad for it. For some reason last year this time I was really not excited to have the kids home all the time. My thoughts have changed and I am so thankful for it. We have fun summer stuff planned, a new house to move to (on Tuesday) and lots and lots of fun in the sun. Most of all I am excited for having them close by me for a few months.

My Gratia today is for my last day with out kids at home...

Wren is or was in kindergarten that lasted only for 2 1/2 hours every day. It wasn't much time so I took the most advantage of it as I could, and I have adored my time alone. Don't get me wrong I dearly love hanging with the kiddos but as the stay-at-home parent time by yourself is precious. Today was her last day of school for summer break. I did Yoga, went for a long bike ride and sat in the tub and read for a long long time. It was a glorious morning and will be missed. I guess when fall rolls around in no time at all my time alone will seem all the more sweeter.