30 Days of Gratitude Photo Challenge - Day 30

Self Portrait

 Aren't photo challenges lovely?

You shoot the photos of the things that you are grateful for,

you post on your blog about what you are grateful for,

and then you get to the last day and you are

challenged to post about yourself.

Hmmm ...

I thought about cheating and having Nate take a picture of me,

or skipping the post,

but aside from a few posts that had no pictures,

I feel like I did pretty darn good through 

this challenge, so I wanted to end it on a good note.

Sometimes when I see pictures of myself, I look at

the girl in the picture with critical eyes. How does my smile look,

is my hair all right, is my make up smudged?

I have all those thoughts, and now I wonder why?

I think that I am my harshest critic, and while I'm 

grateful to feel so loved, I hate that I am so self critical.

I am naturally a happy person. I'm friendly, I'm funny,

I'm compassionate and I'm quirky -

those things are what makes me who I am,

and I'm grateful to know those things about myself

so that on those days when I'm my harshest critic,

I can look at myself in a different way and pick out

the things that are best about me!

Photos, gratitude, challenges - my November was

interesting and definitely more meaningful as I

viewed my life from a different angle through 

this project!!

30 Days of Gratitude Photo Challlenge - Day 29

* L I G H T *

I'm cheating with today's post -

I don't have a photo (gasp!)

But really, I am so grateful for light!

Since the time change, it starts getting dark here at about 4:30!

It is crazy!

As soon as I wake up in the morning

I open up the blinds, even on the rainiest of days,

just to soak up any light that might come in

(and for Rascal - I don't want her going stir crazy)!

I can usually get away with doing my work

by natural lighting when I open up all of the blinds,

and for some reason, I just love doing that!

I am grateful for light and for the

time of day that lets me open up my windows

and soak it all up!!

30 Days of Gratitude Photo Challenge - Day 28

Nighttime

Ahhh nighttime ...

the time of day when work is over,

when Nate is home,

when the couch and a blanket call our name ...

Nighttime is a wonderful part of the day -

to me, it means that we had a day well spent

(most days, some days we like to be lazy)

and it means that it's time to refresh, unwind and relax -

and I am always grateful for the time to refresh, unwind and relax!!

30 Days of Gratitude Photo Challenge - Day 27

 DAILY ROUTINE

Have I mentioned how much I am loving my life right now?

Thinking about my daily routine has made me reminisce about my college life -

especially my very last Semester when routine was thrown

OUT the window and my schedule took over my life.

I hope that I have been able to convey just how much

I am loving my life right now, at this stage, here in Oregon!

I love that even though Nate's work schedule is varied,

our routine is pretty set!!

Our alarm clock (a.k.a. Rascal) goes off at

about 7:00 every morning. Some days we're up before then,

some days we're cursing the day we thought pets were good ideas,

but without fail - between 7 and 7:30 she wakes us up

so that we can feed her and give her her morning dose of medication!

 We have it worked out so that I take the 'morning shift' and

Nate takes the 'evening shift' (yes, we do this twice a day).

After Rascal is fed, I usually jump on the computer for some

'non' work time - you know - Facebook, e-mail,

blogging, pinterest ...(the really important stuff ;)

 During this time, if Nate hasn't gone to work yet or if he works a later shift,

he'll make his way down the stairs,

and we'll commence in our daily oil pulling.

(I'll talk more about that in a later post - we're not crazy, I promise!)

We get ready for the day, get some breakfast, and

then we usually get to work! 

 I try to keep my work hours within Nate's work hours

so that when he is home, I can be 'home' with him,

and we manage pretty well that way!

Some days I have errands to run or a house to clean,

but most days, it works out pretty darn good!

Somewhere in our days we manage to run our errands

in the very, very rainy weather (which we LOVE)!

  

Our end of the day routine includes dinner, snuggling on the

couch through an episode or two of something on Netflix,

giving Rascal her nightly dose of food and medication,

and then calling it a night!!

As you can see, my life is pretty simple right now!

On Nate's days off we'll go for a drive and explore the town

a little more, or we'll grab some lunch at a restaurant that

we have yet to try, or we'll make a candlelight dinner ...

we try to make his days off special somehow!

I am grateful for my simple, quiet life!

I know that in a few months when my job at the law office is up

my routine will change into a new one, that I'll hopefully love just as much!

30 Days of Gratitude Photo Challenge - Day 26

T R A N S P O R T A T I O N

Today's topic is something that I am definitely grateful for

because since have moved here, I am hyper-aware of it!

We only have one car - which seems to work out well for us,

but it has become my best friend since moving here!

The days that I take Nate to work mean that

I have plans to get out of the house, and I'm 

definitely grateful for getting out of the house!

I'm also grateful for transportation because it has allowed 

me to see the world! I've been on trains, planes,

buses, shuttles, subways 

and I have seen some A M A Z I N G things!

Without transportation, those opportunities would not have

been possible for me or for anyone,

and I think that it is amazing that people have developed

those amazing tools to help us learn and be grateful for 

the beautiful earth that we enjoy!

30 Days of Gratitude Photo Challenge - Day 25

A r t w o r k

 

 This is another one of those prompts

that got me thinking more about the little things in my life!

I LUHV art!

I love photography (what? you didn't know? shame on you ;)

I love music!

I love crayon drawings from my nephews and nieces!

I love books!

I love painting!

I love crocheting and sewing!

I love sculptures!

I love good designs!

Art is such an amazing way for people to express themselves -

perhaps that is why I LOVE things like the Summerfest and Art Along the Rogue -

people put themselves out there to be admired, judged, critiqued

and appreciated by others who have the desire to express themselves as well.

 

Art is subjective, it is personal, it is theraputic,

it is beautiful, it is thoughtful, it is fun ...

I am grateful for the things that inspire my art,

for people who step outside of the box to produce their art,

and for the ability of the art that is produced by myself and

others to inspire me and my life!