“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. See my original post here.

I came in to the kitchen after the bedtime marathon, preparing myself for a late night kitchen clean-up, and stumbled upon a crime scene in my fridge. At first I was perplexed by the scene but soon discovered the victim – a precious jar of last summer’s cherries cracked by some mysterious refrigerator happenings. The fridge was a mess of syrupy red liquid. And joy oh joy, it had poured into the crisper drawer.

But I’m thankful for a clean fridge, full of food, and cherry season sneaking up on us again. Thankful that in a world with so much pain that my pain last night was cleaning out my fridge. That’s a first world problem right there.

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If you’d like to join in with a reality check of your own, please add a link or note in the comments!

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. See my original post here.

These are busy times in our home…make that busy times in our homes. There have been plenty of trips back and forth, Dan has spent long hours installing lighting and painting ceilings at the new house, I’ve spent long hours dealing with solo dinners and bedtimes at the old house. Working, packing, cleaning, planning. It’s been a lot.

I don’t really notice I’m stressed until I break down in tears, or as it happened in the fall, with a case of shingles. It’s been an emotional time for me. Add to that a few non-moving related issues and I was wearing thin. Feeling tender and raw about everything.

My sister and parents heard the stress in my words. Probably made note of my more-than-usual calls home via phone and Skype. My parents and sister were all ready to hop on a plane, but only my sister was available thanks to her boss offering her some time off (thanks, Dad). She offered to fly across the country to help. I said I was okay. Apparently I was unconvincing because I woke up to a text saying she’d found a seat-sale that was quickly selling and bought a ticket while I was sleeping.

To say I was relieved would be an understatement. It’s meant so much to all of us to have her here. She was painting those ceilings with Dan on her first day, jet-lag be darned. She’s been washing dishes, packing boxes, fetching snacks and crawling babies. And to have someone to watch some kids while Dan and I pop up to the house to make a decision or shop for baseboards: Amazing!

She’s awesome*. We love her.

I’m so thankful to have her here. Grateful she sacrificed time and money to come slog away for us. Feeling more sane (mostly) and less stressed (mostly) thanks to her help. Thankful that Dan’s parents arrive in a week to lend their helping hands as well. Thankful that we have this loving family and community of friends who have offered such support, excitement, and help over this move of ours.

*Also, her tattoo. Peace in the branches, love in the roots – she designed it herself. I told her I want the t-shirt version.

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If you’d like to join in with a reality check of your own, please add a link or note in the comments!

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. See my original post here.

Our much loved van is a mess. Full-blown, cracker crumbed, finger-printed mess. We seem to have gathered a collection of pinecones; there is cheesy wax melted into far too many crevices and smeared across the back windows; someone got ahold of a marker in the back seat. We’re taking bets on the unidentified odour.

While we work hard to keep our home clean this space is under our radar.

Every time we rush out of our home for a real estate showing, leaving it is clean as we can manage, scented faintly of lemons and cloves; every time we pile into our van, the land of dropped crackers and lost dinky cars, haunted by the unusual scent of….something; every time, I’m thankful our Honda Odyssey is not part of the tour.

And while I’m at it, I’m also so thankful she’s got that eighth seat we never thought we’d need.

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If you’d like to join in with a reality check of your own, please add a link or note in the comments!

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. See my original post here.

Sometimes I’m a doofus. Sometimes it’s more often than sometimes. Usually I can laugh about it. See that paper where the piece of cake is missing? Well I baked those two round cakes dutifully on parchment paper. I painstakingly sliced off the top of the bottom cake with my fun little tool. I made a buttercream border and filled it with last summer’s raspberry jam. I plopped on the second cake and iced it with the requested yellow tinted buttercream. Not until I started serving it, after the song was sung and the candles extinguished (with the reminder that sparklers make a nice mess of the top of a cake), did I realize. I hadn’t removed the second round of parchment. Geez.

The adults laughed and laughed. The kids wondered. Then I somewhat tore that cake apart pulling out the paper….

And here is a terribly unflattering photo of me as we laughed it up.

Oh, I’m thankful for laughter. And good friends to laugh with. And my sweet husband who finds my silly antics endearing.

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If you’d like to join in with a reality check of your own, please add a link or note in the comments!

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. See my original post here.

Runny noses happen.

A spring cold has been making a visit in our home.

And we’ve been singing the praises of our bone broths and Thieves oil but in the end we depend on a grace beyond our own. And a wise eight-year-old, with a spring cough reminds us that maybe we were doing too much on our own. Reminds us we need to lean more on those everlasting arms. From the mouths of babes.

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If you’d like to join in with a reality check of your own, please add a link or note in the comments!