A Moment of Gratefulness

This morning as Gunner and I went for a run, I was struck by how WONDERFUL life is.  Right now, in this moment, I want to take time to pause and feel grateful for the love and light that fills my days. 

First of all, I am lucky to be home on this Friday morning because my "full-time" job where I teach kids one-on-one is only four days a week...that means I ALWAYS get a three day weekend.  What a blessing in helping me balance work and home.

I am grateful for how strong and healthy my body is...a 2 mile run makes me feel satisfied and at peace with my physical body.  My skin, my wrinkles, my thighs...running helps me put the insecurities of my body into perspective.  It reminds me that I am strong and healthy, and that these are the things that really make you beautiful.

Matt and I had a long talk on the phone early this morning (he is en route to South America for work) and I am so grateful for the love and friendship of this wonderful man.  His life has been so blessed by a wonderful job that challenges and engages him, and I know that blessings in Matt's life are blessings in my life as well.  I am so lucky that I get to go through life with Matt, he is everything I need him to be.

I am so grateful that my life includes Gunner and Bailey.  Having good dogs makes you understand unconditional love.  If you have never had a dog lick your tears when you are sad, or run next to you ready to defend you, then you have missed out on one of life's greatest rewards.

I am so thankful that I live where I live!  I live in a place where I can run through fields of sweet alfalfa for two miles and never step on a paved road or see another house or person.  I live in a place where my neighbors (a mile or so away) invite me to dinner and watch out for me when Matt is away.  I live in a home that has been lovingly created through the years with handcrafted quilts, homemade curtains, and walls painted by friend's helpful hands.

I am so grateful for friendships that keep me honest and grounded!  My two best friends from high school are still the ones I turn to when life is overwhelming or when I want to scream, laugh or cry.  And even though neither of them live in my same time zone anymore, I know I can call them any time, day or night...and I do.  I am also blessed to have friends who I get to see daily and who are never too busy with kids and life for a hug or a talk.  I am also so grateful for the strong women in Matt's family who have become my family as well.  His aunts and cousins who encourage and strengthen me have helped me heal. 

My high school friend Suzette, when she visited this summer.

(Becky is coming to visit in a few weeks!)

Matt's aunts and me shopping last Thanksgiving...early.

I am also so blessed by the friendship and love of my church family.  My Lutheran church is full of good people who are wise in the ways of the Lord and who love and support Matt and I, come what may.  I am "mothered" and "sistered" by many of the amazing Lutheran women in my church and I grow and learn from their love. 

I know this is all a little sappy, but I really wanted to take a moment to recognize the good stuff.  God has blessed me over and over again and being grateful is a way to show my thanks.  Life is short, but life is good. 

The Reading Continues

I have not been keeping up with my book posting!  What does it mean when you are reading books faster than you can get them posted?  Yikes.  I guess it means that I like to read more than I like to write posts about reading.  So here are the books that I have read in the last few weeks.

Book #26 of 2010 is...

The Cross-Country Quiliters

by Jennifer Chaverini

Yes, I have read another book by this author.  Her books are really well told stories that I don't want to end!  This book was about  a group of friends who decide to work on a quilt (a square each) even though they live far apart.  But each friend has things going on in her own life that she promises her friends she will work on or figure out before she can start her quilt piece.  The book weaves the individual stories of these friends nicely and it is just a real feel good book but it has some substance and it isn't really very predictable.  I LOVE reading about quilting and friendship which is making Jennifer Chaverini my new "go-to" author for a solid good read.

Book # 27 of 2010 is...

The Runaway Quilt

by Jennifer Chiaverini

I know...another one, but they are all so different and yet just as good as the last one!  This book was about the underground railroad and a family's history of helping slaves escape to the north comes into question years later.  This book develops the idea that quilts were used to signal passangers on the underground railroad and it explores the history of one family during this monumental time in American history.  It is again beautifully written and woven from present day to the Civil War era.  A story that makes you WANT to quilt!

The Runaway Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel

Book # 28 of 2010 is...

The Art of Mending

by Elizabeth Berg

This was a book that really hit close to home.  It is about three siblings, two sisters and one brother (named Steve), who are forced to reexamine the memories of their childhood.  When one sister confronts her other two siblings with devasting allegations about their mother, the three have a difficult time reconciling their varying experiences in the same house.  When their father suddenly dies, the three siblings must face their past, their differing experiences of their mother's love, their own culpability in causing each other pain, and their common need for love, acceptance, and forgiveness with each other.  This was a book that was hard to read for obvious reasons, but it helped me to understand how children can be raised in the same home and yet be so different even in their understanding of each other.  A heavy, emotional read.

Book #29 of 2010 is...

Empire Falls

by Richard Russo

This was a book about a family and the town they live in and how the history of the town is their family's history as well.  It was an okay book with twists and turns throughout that kept my attention, but it was hard to relate to some of the characters and it was lengthy in some of the memories and descriptive moments.  It was an okay book, overall, but it's not a keeper...this one is getting donated to the library.