Gratitude.

Today I am grateful.

I am grateful for the two postcards I got in the mail:

Thank you Janet from Bakersfield, California. I love the layers of patterns and stencil work. I am exploring this in my current artwork. (Hopefully pictures soon)
Thank you Izabela from Burlington, Washington. I adore this postcard for multiple elements, but especially the kids. It makes me miss all my nieces and nephews (three are adoptees from Korea).

I am grateful for some fabulous blogs I am following:

Airing My Dirty Laundry, One Sock At A Time... I never fail to laugh, out loud... I mean obnoxiously out loud, to the point my husband raises his eyebrow and asks me what the hell is going on.

alisaburke I feel so inspired with every blog she posts. AMAZING stuff. It's always stuff I would do. There are some great artists that some of their stuff I still wrinkle my nose at. Not that my stuff is better, just I have no interest in trying out the stuff they are doing. Alisa's stuff on the other hand... I want it. I want to be able to make it. I want to be able to own it. I want her blog to become my home so I can live in it! Love it. Love it. Love it.

http://www.lizbeck.net She finds all these interesting news clips and videos that are about art and art therapy. Its like having someone do all the legwork for you and just handing you nice tidy end results that are really cool, educational, fun, and inspiring. NICE (in Borat's voice).

http://www.yourcourageouslife.com/blog/ A) good writing skills... which I love. My blog, not so much as I am usually writing when I am overly exhausted. Perhaps one day though I can write with true style, prose, and grammar. (B) Motivational. Plus, she gets me to think introspectively. She asks questions... and people actually reply back with answers. (C) on facebook she reminds me to stop and breathe. Gotta love a good reminder to breathe every once in a while seeing that it is vital to living, but most people don't purposefully do it. A purposeful breath is so much better and relaxing than an automatic one.

There is more fabulous blogs I follow. Perhaps some will make an appearance another day. These are the ones that all posted something fabulous today that made me super grateful to follow them!

I am grateful for my wonderful husband. Sometimes I take him for granted - the fact that he doesn't focus on what a mess the house is when he knows my chronic illnesses are in a flare, the fact that he make me laugh EVERY day despite whatever mood I am in, the fact that we sit and talk about school, work, ups, downs, whatever. There is a lot. I am pretty lucky. I let him know regularly because I think that letting people you love know you love them even if they already know it is really important in relationships (relationships - all relationships, not just ones with significant others) but I wanted to blurt it out to all of you too.

I am grateful because it is Wednesday - so the week is half over!

I am grateful because Netflix delivered a movie... which means I get to paint my nails, snuggle up with my husband and puppies, and be totally distracted from school work for over an hour!

I am grateful because when I am paying attention to my school work, it is full of really interesting readings - I love it when I think my homework is fun!

I am also very grateful for my surroundings right now. I've been hearing a lot of family and friends complaining about their weather, their house, their jobs, etc. And I look around and realize... I love my surroundings! The weather has been cold - but on morning walks with the dogs it wakes me up better than caffeine, plus at night it makes snuggling in bed all the more enjoyable. The night skies are crystal clear and the stars are so brilliant. My house is a mess and is in need of serious spring cleaning, but there are areas like my linen closet that are impeccable and show off my OCD tendencies nicely. Even with a messy house, I can't complain since I pass at least one homeless person begging on a street corner almost every day. There is a funky little artsy mountain town just up the road that revives my soul even on days where I am exhausted (see pictures below).

I'm grateful because my heart is filled with joy. I could focus on the negatives - there are plenty of those too - but right now, I'm happy despite all of them. That is so fabulous I had to pass it on!