6.30.10

1. i am grateful for simplicity.

2. i am grateful for movement.

3. i am grateful for long weekends.

4. i am grateful for healing and time.

5. i am grateful for my family. my little family is perfect. all three of us and the furbabies.

6. i am NOT grateful for my headache today. boooooo.

6.29.10

1. i am grateful that we have a three day weekend coming up.

2. i am grateful Patty retired so we can get some help now when my girl is sick.

3. i am grateful for being able to breathe and stay calm.

4. i am grateful for always questioning everything.

5. I AM GRATEFUL FOR ANSWERS.

6. i am grateful for my awesome husband who surprised me with a new ring that i've been wanting. i am grateful for being loved and appreciated.

7. i am NOT grateful that I haven't gotten my fitbit yet. come on!

creatures

6.28.10

1. i am grateful that my mother in law can come watch my little sickie girl while i go to the followup mri doctor appointment. i really want to focus and pay attention and discuss options. not say no every two seconds because she's touching medical equipment. which would definitely happen.

2. i am grateful for rainy sundays with naps.

3. i am grateful for being able to admit i'm scared. sometimes just saying it and acknowledging it makes it less frightening. i'm just nervous to see what the mri will show. i'm so done with this phase of my life. i'm hoping that it will forever be known as the year that really sucked but it's history now.

4. i am grateful for being home today even though i have a little sickie and i don't want her to be sick. i just didn't want to go to work at all today so it's really the perfect excuse.

5. i am grateful for distractions. it's just best for me right now.

sunday

finally! i got my awesomely yummy eggplant at the farmer's market yesterday. i've been craving it and they had a ton of it so i stocked up.

i just had to eat some today so i made eggplant, yellow and orange bell peppers and purple onion on a whole wheat roll with some swiss cheese. put it with some garden of eatin' clean chips and organic salsa. best. lunch. ever.

this morning was beautiful but afternoon thunderstorms rolled in and this is how i found my yoda during all of the thunder and lightening. such a tough pit isn't he?

i also finally decided to document this...it's the first year that we've seen all of these flies getting stuck and dying in the pool fence.

flies must be pretty dumb. or really daring, one of the two. but they don't fit and we have a whole fence full of these.

you'd think they would go over it seeing as how they an fly...

saturday

first order of business this morning was ezekial bread with natural peanut butter and organic natural fruit jam. my favorite.

then the day started off with a trip to the ybor farmer's market.

we had such a fun, relaxing time.

there was live music, dogs (oh how i wanted to adopt another one!) fresh cheese, bread, pasta, fruits and veggies, arts and crafts, food. delish.

my girl just loved every second of it and she was just enjoying the zen. and zen it was.

sitting under the palm trees while the warm air blows, listening to live classic rock and eating and drinking fresh, natural food.

it just doesn't get better than that.

meghan insisted on having a cuban sandwich and ate the whole thing. a tampa girl she is.

she danced and gathered quite the audience before deciding she was done.

then it was to ikea where we found a new cabinet to use for a pantry in the kitchen. i'm so tired of everything sitting on my counter i could scream.

didn't find any good bathroom stuff though. bummer.

but we hit another milestone - my girl is now tall enough to go into the child care room at ikea and she loved it so much. i had to drag her out of there.

tonight, nona is going to watch meghan and marley while us four grown ups dine at the toasted pheasant. awesome french bistro food with fresh, sustainable ingredients. no fake stuff here!

then it's off to their house, where i shall kick everyone's hiney at trivial pursuit.

a good day it is.

6.25.10

feeling kind of blah today - no power last night, up too late at friend's house, too many beers...blah

1. i am grateful for coffee. i realize i say it a lot, but that's because i'm extra grateful for it this morning.

2. i am grateful for my girl having fun with her friend. until she scares the shit out of her telling her friend there are ghosts in her room. super. my girl loves spooky things.

3. i am grateful for it being friday. i can't wait for the farmer's market tomorrow to find some healthy treasures. on my mind this week: eggplant. must have eggplant.

4. i am grateful for the power being back on in my house. maybe a squirrel bit the dust in a transformer or something. sorry squirrel.

5. i am grateful for such a smart, gorgeous girl. i love her singing to her alphabet show. *swoon*

6. i am NOT grateful for the scale being up today. i don't know why i own a scale when it's full of lies. for shame.

7. i am NOT grateful that i haven't gotten my books i ordered or my fitbit yet. i want my stuff.

8. ooh, but i'm super grateful for finding cool new websites and today i found LOOOVVEEE (particularly the apartment section): www.modcloth.com. i heart their stuff and want to buy all of it.

how fabulously inappropriate

6.24.10

1. i am grateful for good dreams. i want to go back to sleep.

2. i am grateful for dinner out with my lovies yesterday. too bad my girl was being a monster.

3. i am grateful for my strong husband. he bottled beer all day yesterday and then got dirty at Lowes with drywall. hot.

4. i am grateful for stretching because it feels sooooooooo good.

5. i am grateful for reality tv. how i love thee.

6.23.10

1. i am grateful for wedding showers with yummy, long lunches.

2. i am grateful for getting things done. i can cross two more things off my list.

3. i am grateful for liking my outfit today. i actually look put together.

4. i am grateful for my dermatologist appointment today. we'll see how grateful i am afterwards.

5. i am grateful for feeling that i'm coming into my own. i keep saying that i want to be the person i was before i hurt my back. but that's not me anymore. i'm not that person. and i'm trying to be okay with that. my back doesn't define me. i have my good days, and i have my bad days. but the bad days are not an indication of me or my life. and hopefully now that i've had an mri and the doctor can know for absolute certain what's going on, maybe they can help me and it can be managed. i have hope, and that's more than i've had in a long time. this past year since i first hurt my back has been a big learning process for me. it's forced me to look inside and find strength when i thought i couldn't be strong. it's taught me to lean on my husband when i need to. it's taught me that being a good mom isn't defined by how much you can lift or carry around your child. i can give hugs sitting down. i can lay with my girl and give her kisses. i can watch her learn and take everything in, and for that i'm grateful.

i know this is sort of rambling and that's okay. stream of conciousness for sure, but at some point, it's all bound to come out.

i don't want to be defined by the pain i feel. it's not who i am.

i am not a victim.

i am a mother. a wife.

a student of life.

a student of yoga.

an athlete who refuses to lay down and die.

an intelligent woman with a lot of strength.

a creative, old soul.

a clean eater, who refuses to be poisoned by processed food.

a hippie who loves to garden and compost and recycle.

a free spirit who would live naked if you let her.

a good cook who loves to feed her boys.

a food network and reality cake show junkie.

a person who is kind but can kill you with her words in a split second if betrayed.

a giver who wants to save the world but doesn't have enough money to do so.

this is who i am.

not a person in pain. the pain is not me, it's a result of an injury. i can manage it, i can live with it if i have to. but it will not be who i am.

inspire

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie-burner. I believe in kissing; kissing a lot. I believe in staying strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day &, most importantly, I believe in miracles"

-Audrey Hepburn

6.22.10

1. i am so grateful for yoga. it feels like coming home. oh, the peace and tranquility.

2. i am grateful for wild mushroom ravioli. hits the spot.

3. i am grateful for my girl telling me this morning that she just needs her momma and some cuddles. so, i climbed back into bed with her and stroked her hair and pretty face while we watched cartoons. little does she know that i just need my girl.

4. i am grateful for being busy. keeps me from obsessing and that's a good thing.

5. i am grateful for this body. i hate it and i love it, but it gave me my girl and no matter how bad it feels, i know it could always be worse. so many in this world would love to have sports related injuries instead of debilitating diseases. i must remember that.

6.21.10

finding it hard to be grateful about anything this morning which means i need to be extra grateful.

1. i am grateful for coffee. always.

2. i am grateful for good reviews.

3. i am grateful for photography and the creativity it lets me have.

4. i am grateful for being alive and healthy.

5. i am so grateful for my girl. i just want to cuddle with her in bed this morning and watch spongebob. i have an unnatural affinity for that spongebob. so does she.

the girls