Day 31

One month down, eleven to go! This morning I got to go to breakfast with my Dad (aka Daddy) and Will, and tonight I am thankful that I was able to spend some time this weekend in the mountains with my Dad. Right now lots of things are changing for my family, and I have been much busier in life lately, as a result I have been feeling like I have not been able to spend much time, or as much time as I would like, up in the mountains which I love with my Dad whom I love (even more than the mountains!). When times are uncertain and change is present I think it is important to stay connected to family, to the ones you have and will always have an undeniable connection with. Have things ever been uncertain or uncomfortable in your family? I think this is a place form which we will all grow. I hope. Somehow I feel compelled to strengthen the bonds I have with my family, not that I can reconstruct it or pull it back together, but that I can strengthen and value all the bonds, and specifically the bond between father and daughter that was ingrained when I was born. I'm thankful I was able to spend some time back in my childhood home, that I was able to see Daddy and validate/value the connection that is there. Hopefully a trend that will repeat with grater frequency!

Day 30

Sometimes there are just those days that as they come to an end, you are very grateful that you can finally go to bed and end the day looking forward to the fact there is a tomorrow. Today was not a bad day by any means. I almost think though that those days that are labeled as "bad" days where shit just keeps happening and nothing is going right are really not that bad. I can usually take those days in stride and in the end find humor in the events of the day. As today comes to an end I am thankful I am feeling better and that I can soon drift into sleep and wake up to a fresh new beginning in the morning!

Day 29

Im grateful for the additional sister I acquired when I married (aka my sister in-law Meredith). That we get along quite well, and that we can hang out together without things feeling awkward of forced, like we have know each other for years, ok well we have know each other for quite a while, but still there is a certain ease and comfort. I suppose there were times I was fearful that I would not fit into the in-law family, that I would always remain an outsider and that I would be like a fifth wheel in a family of four. I was pretty intimidated at first to meet Meredith, afraid I had standards to live up to dating her baby brother, a series of tests that I had to successfully navigate before I could be accepted. Didn't help I could never remember how to spell her name the first few years! Mostly this was probably all fabricated in my head, but present in my head non the less. Now, I am very thankful to have her as my sister in-law, couldn't imagine it any other way. I feel like a part of the family and that I have found, and filled my niche. We may not be best of friends, hanging out together all the time, chatting on the phone, and that is fine. What I think is there is more of a kinship. I feel we balance each other very well, there are many things we share in common, similar traits or things in our personalities that make us very similar, and then there are times we are very different. I am thankful for this, that we have ended up together in the same family, and I am excited as our ever changing family continues to grow and develop together!

Day 28

I am very thankful that I am finding that people have such great faith in me. Not that I really felt I was lacking this support, or that I needed to hear it, but when it is unexpected and you hear reassurance that you are on the right path, doing the right thing, and that people believe you will go far, that feels. . . . Im not exactly sure, but good, and comforting come to mind. Sometimes, I feel that I am a little alone, forging out onto lands uncharted and with few around me. This was a little scary, and discomforting, but I thought that was just the way it was and I foraged on, But to hear that there are others behind you with faith in you pushing you along, and others before you pulling you forward with faith in what you bring, this is comforting, helps me feel less alone and reminds me that if I look in the right places there are others around me, many right beside me. This I am thankful for. Funny how life seams to give you exactly what you need when you need it. Maybe you need to look around for your self, if you are feeling alone alone or foraging out into uncharted land, chances are if you look really hard you will see those behind you, before you and right next to you!

Day 27

Suppose today I am celebrating the lack of any milestones in my life at the moment, today I am thankful that I am not pregnant, don't have a baby, nor am I expecting one any time soon! No, there was no pregnancy scare or anything like that. More like I am in this stage in my life where I feel like everyone around me is child consumed, either recently had one or is expecting one. Personally for myself I am thankful I am neither of the above! I feel that right now there is no way I could appropriately handle having a child! Don't get me wrong, I know that I will be a great mom, that I am very capable, possibly overly qualified, to have a baby and start a family. But, perhaps that's the thing, I know all that it takes and all that goes into it, I fully understand the responsibility and requirements, in many stages of life, that are required. And I know that I am not ready to commit to that, not right now. I am glad that some of my friends have found themselves in this wonderful, life changing experience, I am fully confident in all their abilities and know that they will all provide and do all that they can for their children. Im just thankful that at the moment I am not in the same boat, I am just not ready. I have seen first hand that people really need to be in the right place in their lives before they embark on such a journey, you need to have children for the right reasons and be properly committed, Otherwise, well, otherwise you end up truly effecting another human beings life maybe, not in the best of ways. Im thankful I can recognize this and understand that it is not my time, and that when I am ready, when Will and I are both ready, I will be able to say that I am thankful to be starting a family. But until then. . . .

Day 26

Just celebrating small milestones in my life, and things I do this year, and today I am thankful that I successfully wangled second and third graders into a successful lesson! Today they were awesome, sat attentively through my power point presentation, and then very excitedly got to work on a project they appeared to really like! All the while I felt at ease and was pretty at home. Relieving! Now let's just hope that everything goes as well as today when my college supervisor comes to observe me teach the same lesson to a different crew on Thursday! So thankful that this lesson that I have fully created on my own for these little guys is going over so well and today was a fun, fun, success!

Day 25

Sometimes I have to remind my self that from uncomfortable comes growth. I am thankful that as this point in my life I am really advancing forward and changes are happening in my life, I am becoming part of all kinds of things that are new to me and often seam big and scary. Right now I feel uncertain if I want to venture into this place of discomfort and unsureness. How did you feel today? Was the day comfortable, or where you challenged? I don't always like this feeling of uncertainty. So, I have to remind my self of what one of my greatest and most influential professors told me, about how you have to move into these places of discomfort, and awkwardness, you have to feel if, understand it accept it and then learn form it grow from it, pass through it as you become a better stronger person. I have to be thankful that I am in this place of uncertainty, fear, and discomfort knowing that form here I am advancing and moving forward to better, and greater adventures. Life can not remain the same forever, we would be so unhappy and board. Things are scary sometimes, and it is only from these places that change happens and we grow, so today I have to remind myself to be thankful that I am here, because it means that I moving forward a becoming a part of many great things. Forward exactly to where, no one knows. But no matter how scary or unsure about it I am change is good and inevitable so embrace it.

Day 24

Pretty plain and simple at the end of today. Today I am thankful for naps. Napping is something I had been cutting back on, and really just did not find myself doing much lately. But today I am very thankful for napping. It is amazing how you can wake up some days, not feel well, just feel like it may not be the best day, and some how a small slumber on the couch can completely turn the day around! Or after a day of activity and excitement, the ability of a nap to allow you to recuperate and process the events of the day can beat a cup of afternoon coffee any time! I always think it is ironic when little kids fight so hard not to take a nap and stay up as long as possible. If only they knew how some 15 or so years down the road they will be desperate to take naps and love them more than they know! Maybe that should be my new years resolution, to take more naps? Sound great to me!

Day 23

Im so very thankful for my DVR. What ever did I used to do before this addition of technology into my every day life? Shallow? Maybe. But really this latest tool in my television viewing makes my week so much easier, and my weekends or late nights more entertaining! I am thankful that now I can go about my busy week doing what ever I need to, when ever I need to, and don't have to think about stopping to watch a show I want to be entertained by. I can take care of my weekly business, and then when I have the time or need to de-stress and just zone out a little I can turn to my stash of recorded shows and and watching when ever I please. It's and advancement in technology we have made for our selves to accommodate for the increasingly busy schedules we create for ourselves. This may not be the best situation for ourselves, constantly running around with never a moment for our selves or the ones we can about the most. But let's face it, this is what is becoming of the our culture and society. We have to be conscious of this and remember to take time for ourselves, families, and loved ones. For me taking time for myself occurs in the entertainment and relaxation I enjoy when I turn to my DVR and catch up on the weeks stories.

Day 22

Im really thankful that I have a variety of friends, a mix that I can call upon to fulfill the roll they fill in my life when I need them. Granted that typically when I need them to fill what ever niche they fill I don't realize how much I need them until I am there with them, or in retrospect. Or, until I am there with a different friend and realize how thankful I am I have that person in my life, but thankful that all my friends are not the same. I recently saw a story, blip, review, what ever you call it, on the Today show of the 6 friends every woman needs to have for a good life. Well, I think I maybe had 3 or 4 of those 6. But you know I'm fine with that. Honestly, I think those labels were a little ridiculous, overrated, and based on mass generalizations not individual people. Why should we classify our friends? Why not? How many of these friends do you have?

What about your cynical friend to judge others with, your eternal optimist friend, the self esteem boosting friend, the movie going friend, the guilty pleasure TV watching friend, same diet friend, inspirational friend that makes you want to do better, creative and thought provoking friend. . . . ? Remember in middle / high school when we tried so hard to fit in and be like everyone else? So thankful I have such a variety of friends and they are not all the same!

Day 21

So, I really think that I had intended to use this thanks yesterday, but then forgot about it when I sat down to type. Generally I try and some how relate what I am thankful for that day to the actual events of that day, have so kind of authentic connection. Don't get me wrong, yesterday I was thankful for the amazing sense of humor shared between WIll and I; but, I also had been thinking about how thankful I am for those minor instances when we get away with things, when we bend the rules just a little, when you stuck it to the man. Those times when you know that you could get in trouble but you don't (and kind of know you wont)! I love getting away with those small little things every now and then, like when you know your speeding a little and then you see the police car in front of you sitting on the side of the road waiting to pull someone over; yet, some how you drive by (at speed limit) and continue down the road without any flashing lights behind you! When you get a few more than your alloted one bus pass and pass them on to those who need them, because really who's going to know? I don't think anyone has never felt this way and enjoyed it slightly. Don't lie. Maybe I delight in it a little more than others, but really who cares? Im thankful for these feelings, they give a little spice to life, thrill, excitement, make me feel like I have a little edge in life and Im not as boring as I feel day to day.

Day 20

I am very thankful for the humor that WIll and I share between one another! I suppose that here I am adding onto the notion of being part of a couple, with some one who truly gets you and acts as your other half, but adding the important element here of a shared since of humor! Im thankful that we can build off the comments of each other and in no time be cracking each other up. Not going to lie, I love when I can render him speechless because he keeps cracking up, and I love even more when I start to cry I am laughing so hard! I hope that everyone has someone in their life that can really get them giggling! I am thankful that I have someone of such a caliber next to me in my life. Definitely one of the main things that drew me to him in the first place! After his dashing good looks and the fact he was in a band! Thanks Will for making me laugh!

Day 19

I know this may sound a little contradictory, but today I am so very very thankful that my break time is over and I am finally in the last stage of everything I have been working toward the last few years! A few days ago (day 5 to be specific) I was thankful for breaks and the rejuvenating qualities they instill in us. But. . . . by the end of my actual break I was board out of my mind, unmotivated to do any thing and becoming a bit depressed. Can you handle a full on month break? If you can I fully envy you, I start to go absolutely crazy at the end of breaks. Perhaps it has something to do with the anticipation of what is ahead of me? Im not completely sure; but regardless the cause there is always a time during a break in which I am board and start to lose all motivation. Thank goodness they eventually end! Who knows what will happen to me by the time retirement comes around? Good thing I have plenty of time to work on figuring that one out! So today I very thankful to be staring student teaching, to finally be in a classroom, in a school that I absolutely love, and be out of the house, motivated and excited to be doing things again!!

Day 18

I am often amazed in the creativity of so many amazing artists out there, and I am so very thankful that these people chose to share this creativity with the rest of the world! Be it fine art, craft, film, writing, music or any other art form out there everyone should be thankful this creativity is shared with the world to fill us with beauty, love, and passion as it engages us in our own creative thinking! Our would, society and civilizations would cease to exist without creative people. Where would you be if you had never been influenced by any creative people? I personally would be somewhere probably pretty unhappy and surrounded by shades of gray and beige. But I think this result is impossible, everyone is influenced by others creativity, and creative themselves. Some may say they are not creative people, and that they are not influenced or part of that group of creative people. I think though we are all influenced by what creatives share with others, and we are all creative individuals inside. An engineer finding a solution to a problem, a doctor finding a new way to perform a procedure, a say at home mom finding a new way to deal with a child. no matter who you are or what you do we are all creative having infinite possibilities inside our selves. I am truly thankful that those who recognize that creativity and pair it with talent chose to share themselves and their products for the rest of us to enjoy!

Day 17

Im so thankful that award season, and more importantly all that goes with it, has begun! Now Im not very into watching the films that are nominated, pretending to know anything about film and having an opinion on nominations and winners. No, not at all. I love the award season for all the glamor, stardom and fashion that takes center stage. All the celebrities we get to criticize, praise, objectify and love. What girly girl doesn't love seeing all those beautifully dressed woman and handsome men striding before the cameras to be consumed by pop culture? Even better are the magazines that come after the shows and chronicle all the success's, misses, and overall beauty of the events. So here is to some good old fashion star gawking and the coming award season! Cheers!

Day 16

I am so thankful for the patience my husband has for me, that he can have the patience to listen to me, and not react when I overreact giving me time to realize mistakes I may have made. Im thankful he has the patience and understanding sometimes to deal with me, I don't know where he acquired this skill, but for it I am thankful! I admire his patience with me, and adults in general. Definitely a quality I struggle to find within myself. I can wait around all day and have the patience of the world when it comes to children, but most of the time I struggle with peers or other adults. Do you have patience for people? Big people, little people, people you don't like? Patience is definitely a virtue I see running thin for many of us these days! I am truly very thankful that Will has managed to retain this virtue within himself, and that he is patient with me! XOXO

Day 15

I am thankful to be half of something whole, someone's peanut butter to their pb&j, their milk in their milk shake, a partner in crime! My amazing partner in crime is Will. Im thankful to be in a partnership, and have friends that are there in same boat to celebrate this with. There was a time in life when WIll and I were the only ones out of any of our friends that were married and we felt very alone as a couple. While I love independence and my time alone, I think all this time is made better knowing that there is another person beside me in my life. And, to make this better I am thankful that together we have found a group of friends that are also "coupled up" and we all have a great time when we are together united by all the similar experiances we have shared. Granted we are all in different states in our relationships, married for lots of years, married just a few years, have childern, or shoertly expecting, not having kids any time soon, there is something that unites us all and we know that at some point or another we have all gone through the similar things and have found somethining uniquie and special in life! Our group of couples is particularly great in that we are all so comfortable with each other, there is an inexplicable connection that is great. Maybe it is that we are all half's of our own wholes, or maybe we are all just people who would perfectly get along reguardless? What ever the reason, Im to a point in life where Im thankful to be in a commited relationship, and Im thankful to know Will and I are not the only ones out there (because it was hard when we were the only coupled ones of our friends) and have a group of friend that share this love of coupledom (most of the tiem I imagine) and we have a wonderful time getting together sharing time and building friendships!

Day 14

Today I am thankful for the kindness, generosity, compassion and love found in humankind. Sometimes I feel we often focus on the negatives in people, highlight that which we don't like or don't agree with in them, only recognizing them for their mistakes or misfortunes. Now though, in the wake of the devastation in Haiti it is easy to see the good in people and see that we actually are abel to come together for a greater good, taking care of our fellow man and coming together. It is unfortunate that it takes such a tragedy for the greatness to shine. Yet, I am thankful that this compassion and love for others is still present in the majority of us. I am grateful that we are abel to come together and see one another as equals, as others who may be hurting, or in need of assistance, and seeing that many of us can help and share all that we have with those in need. I wonder what I can share form where I am with what I have? Is there anything that you can share with others? Across the country or in your own backyard? I think positive thoughts and universal love is one thing that we can all share for free. I am thankful that we have not yet fully digressed as a race, and that there is still an abundance in kindness, generosity, compassion and love in those we share this planet with!

Day 13

I am really thankful for happy hour! Come on who doesn't love happy hour? I think this contemporary trend in restaurant consumption is a wonderful addition to dining. Think about all the things this simple meeting time provides. Do you frequent happy hours? I know it is a huge market in the Denver / Boulder area and competition is steep, making the options all the better! Meeting at a pre-dinner time, generally between four and six, you get to eat at quite an optimal time just as your getting hungry. Plus, at that time you many have just gotten off work and get to relax after perhaps a long day. This adds to the fact that happy hour is generally a social event and you get to share bites while sipping a drink with any combination of your favorite friends. Happy hour also gives you the chance to "try on" a restaurant as you sample bits of their menu at a decent price. You get to decide if you fancy the fare at an establishment before you commit to the half chicken. Perfect! Affordable drinks are the icing on the cake, there is no way anyone should have to pay the inflated prices on menus all the time. Summer happy hours out on the patio are the best, one of my few favorite things about summer! There are so many pluses to happy hour, who isn't thankful for those hours in the early evening?

Day 12

Today I am thankful that I have my girl friends, or maybe a little more specifically that I am able make these friends! There was a time in my life I never imagined I would have such wonderful friends and have so much fun with them! You see my fear steamed from where I grew up, and the people I grew up with. As a child growing up in the mountains it seems that our friends were given to us in Kindergarten, we were put together and told, "here are your friends you will be together till you graduate High School good luck". Granted we did get to meet new people as we went into Middle School, but really we pretty much already knew every one. Some of us had met before we even knew we could when our parents were in lamaze class together! When it comes down to it I never went away to camp as a child, always lived in the same house, went to the same school, and in the end never learned how to make friends, especially a friend of the same gender. Girls my age where I grew up weren't prized with being the nicest, and I admit I had my moments of mean, but that left me scorned. I think this became aware to me the first time I set off to college and didn't have the first clue how to socialize kindly and actually become friends with the girls on my floor. I always thought I would just be the one who hung out with the guys, or finally found friends in the friends of whoever I dated. Thankfully I have had some patient, and some not so patient, girl friends who stuck with me, helped me see what it is to be a friend and helped me grow. Today I love my girl friends, I am so thankful they are in my life and that while we are all an interesting mix of amazing woman we are wonderful people who can come together in any mix and have a wonderful time! Thanks ladies!

Day 11

I am so thankful to have paid my final tuition bill today. Well, final for the near future! I am excited to head into my final semester of school, the end of about eight years of college. While in the end I will have two undergraduate degrees to show for it, I think I am done with college, and undergrad for a while! Im ready for the real world! I am really thankful to pay the final semester tuition and not have to keep coughing up money for my education. It is kind of a final marker in the marathon of school, and I think this last semester will be a relatively easy coast to the finish line! Im thankful to pay this final amount of money (not excited to have to pay it back in my loans) and be reaching yet another milestone in this year of change, development, and advancement!

Day 10

I am very grateful that my family all lives as close as we all do, while we may all be in different areas I am grateful that we are all a short drive away from each other! I love that when my sister needs to get away for the day she can easily come visit my mom and I in Denver, and vice versa, when I need a little get away all I have to do is cruz up to Boulder. And, when we really need to take a mini vaca we can just head up the hill as they say to the beautiful mountains and see my dad! I could not imagine what it would be like to not see my family for over a year at a time. I guess I am not quite the independent free spirit that some are, and I really love being able to see my family, knowing that they are just a stones throw away (a really big through, but..). How close are you to your family, do you ever wish they were closer, or maybe you with they were farther away. What if we had to move back in with our families? I don't know if we could all live together again, I think it would be pretty funny at times and then pretty awful at others! So for now, I am extremely grateful that we are all in the same relative area and that comforts me. Who knows what will happen or how Ill feel in the future but for now, grateful.

Day 9

I am very thankful specifically for my Saturday morning yoga instructor Nancy, and in the bigger picture I am thankful for yoga teachers overall. I am often amazed at the energy I see teachers giving to their yoga classes and students, and I am thankful they have found their passion in yoga and decided to pass this passion and practice on to others. For Nancy I am thankful she teachers the class I attend on Saturday mornings, I am grateful that she has chosen to teach this class, and that I have chosen to take the class. Although my attendance is anything but regular I am greatly comforted by knowing it is always there and that I can go to the class and seek comfort, motivation, solace and strength whenever I feel I need to. Is there a place you can regularly return to that supports you in just the way you need? A class, a friend, family member, or location? Sometimes I go to class and it is just like ay other class, as she talks us through our poses I focus on my breathing, keeping my figure strong, and keeping my mind quiet. Other classes I feel as if Nancy is speaking directly to my inner being, telling me exactly what I need to hear that day and guiding me to the days to come. Some how on those days everything alines and I hear what I need to hear, whether I gain motivation and insight, or am forced to acknowledge something I may have been repressing, and Nancy's words guide me throughout the personal journey for that hour as my body physically helps me process the energy I am feeling. Luckily the class is heated so as I am sweating my face off you can't really see if I occasionally shed a tear! Whether Nancy knows the effect she has on me, and likely many of her students, I am not sure. I think that gratitude for teachers of all kinds often goes unacknowledged. For her I am thankful, I am thankful for the time effort love and energy she gives to her class and her students!

Day 8

I am so very, very thankful that I have been given all the wonderful times that I have with all my family. I am thankful that at 28 I have been able to experience many important moments with my family and that to this day I have only gone through the loss of two grandparents. While I have had the unlikely narrative of losing more friends and acquaintances than I can keep count of since I was around 15, I feel extremely lucky that I have not known the feelings of losing members of my immediate family. For what ever reason, to what ever higher power I owe this, I am thankful.

Unfortunately, today I attended a memorial service for one of my friends fathers. His death came quickly and as a total surprise to all. I could not imagine being in my friend's place and losing my father; now, or ever. While I have never really considered myself a "daddy's girl" (that one would be my sister) he still is very important to me and dear to my heart and I really am not sure how I would react to losing any close members in my family. Are you close with your family? Have you ever lost a close member of your family? How old were you if you have? I think that now I am reaching the point that I have strong memories with those that are really close to me, so maybe I can say that at least I have had the times that I have with the ones I love. While there is never a right time to lose someone I wonder if it is more tragic for a young child to lose a family member or a young adult? While the child never really got to know that person and this is a tragic loss, the adult who has more memories, will they feel more loss? As you get older can you better rationalize death and loss? But can a child accept such a concept easier and move on with life faster than an adult? I don't think there is a right answer. As we get older we are abel to question death on a deeper level and internalize for our selves the idea of what happen after we die. Whether that make it easier for us or not remains unknown. If you ask me the most important thin here is to remember that we should be thankful for the time we are granted to share with the ones we love!

Day 7

Today, much to the astonishment of some of you, I am thankful for Spellcheck!! I know. If you know me at all you know Im not known for my spelling (better known for my creative spelling), and if you have been reading here at all you know I am not proficient in spellcheck. I recently received some positive feedback, aka constructive criticism, and it all regarded my spelling. Little do you know, this that you read is the ultra spellchecked version of that which I write. Ever since I have been using Word writing papers, sending e-mails, and any other way that I communicate via computer processing with the world I have been thankful for spellcheck. Believe me you should be glad I use it!

Spelling, and its best friend/twin sister reading, have never been my strong suit, I have always struggled since the beginning. Somehow I have memories of doing flash cards with my mom when I was a little girl, yet something somewhere along the line did not stick. When I was in forth grade I was tested and read like I was in second grade, so I had get pulled out of class to go to a special reading class where an old lady with really bad hair, smelly breath, and what I still believe to this day fake teeth did special reading sessions with me. Let me tell you, nothing motivates a child to read more than begin called by name out of class, and forced to spend a half hour sitting with a creepy, smelly old lady! I also got to go to see a tutor during the summer, Mrs. Lackey the teacher who lived down the street. When I went to see her I always got to have a cup of tea. I would so look forward to that cup of fruity Celestial Seasonings into which I would stir probably any where between 5 and 9 tablespoons of sugar!! No wonder I didn't mind walking up there. I wonder how much of their sugar I caused that family to go through? Once I recovered to my appropriate reading level, no less thanks to the sugar, I still found my own unique ways of spelling. Then came the infamous 8th grade. You see in the 8th grade, as we were headed into high school, language arts was a big influential class, and in language arts we were required to take a weekly spelling test. In the beginning panic would issue, I was terrified of not performing well and being forced back into reading classes and meeting with a tutor, or even maybe not making it ti High School! That was until I figured out how to cheat. Yep, I cheated, flat out, my teacher was practically asking for it. Each week we took our spelling pre-test on Monday, then came Friday and our final test. The only thing was that our teacher would read the words for our final test in the same order as the pre-test, so all I had to was make a copy of the spelling words spelled correctly in the order I already know before the pretest. Then I would pretend to take the spelling test, and when it was time to hand in the spelling test quickly switch out the correctly spelled test for the one I just took. A+ !! I think he was asking for students to cheat, it was so easy, don't you? Was this really wrong? I got into Honors English, Itruely was a smart cookie, just not a good speller! What would you have done? Does cheating make you a bad person? Oh well, what's done is done! And so the poor spelling cycle continues! Very grateful that someone created spellcheck, so that I can efficiently communicate with others, so that you can have a clue of what I am talking about.

Although, it has come to my attention that I may not be fully communicating efficiently. See there are some problems with spellcheck. And the fact that I make up words doesn't help. Like when I have spelled the word SO wrong and spellcheck can not figure out what I am trying to spell, no matter how may times I try to spell the work, Spellcheck can not figure out what I am trying to say. Thats when you either call your mom and ask her how to spell it, google it, or find a new way to basically say the same thing without the problem word! The other problem stems form spelling's sister known as reading. You see, when I notice one of those squiggly red lines I right clink on the world, and when all the correct spelling options come up I read them and then choose the one that looks like it sounds right. This can sometimes lead to incorrect selection, I guess I don't really read them I basically just pick the one that looks the best, and when I reread the sentence it's hard to read what its actually written vs. what I think is written. Minus these minor discrepancies, I am still thankful of spellcheck!

Day 6

For the past four months I have been extremely lucky as I have been able to go work once a week in the North Boulder area watching an amazing little guy named Teja. Today was the last day that I went up to Boulder to watch Teja, as we both move on in the school world as I start student teaching soon and Teja moves up and gets to start Preschool, or maybe daycare, not exactly sure what to call it. Regardless, I think both out immune systems are about to get a serious shock in the near future, but that's beside the point! I mean, have you ever seen those school settings, kids drooling all over the place, sticking who knows what in their mouth and then coming to talk to you as they sneeze in your face, and yes this covers Preschool - Grade12 believe me!! Kind of a joke, but kind of serious. But really, I am SO grateful that for the last four months I was sable to go up to Boulder and work with such a great family!

Everything about this opportunity has been awesome. Some may gripe about having to go to Boulder, but to me I loved it. I rode the bus each day, so I didn't have to stress about traffic and was able to relax and read while I cruised to the mythical and fantastical land of Boulder. I felt so metropolitan regularly taking the public bus. It is interesting how much riding the bus reminds me of taking a plane. The way people file on, lugging their personal belongings, and then they start to look for a seat. The only problem is that on the bus your seat is not pre assigned. I know that these days you can pick where you sit on planes when you check in, but on a bus you look everyone in the face all around you and then chose where you want to sit. So much more pressure! Not to mention how strategic you have to be to try and insure no one sits next to you once you have your seat if want any personal space for the ride. That and you don't even get a soda!! But any way, I am so thankful I had this opportunity to watch Teja, he is an amazing little guy. Absolutely hilarious always looking to find a way to make you laugh. At 18 months he truly has a joyous, positive, and exciting disposition toward life and I am grateful I was able to share a day each week with him as he helped me stay positive and realize joy in my own life! I got to hang out and go to the park in an amazing location. I was able to see my sister much more than usual, and she taught me all about Boulder happy hour scene! The highlight of this whole experience has really been being abel to be a minor part of such a great family with such an awesome son!

Day 5

I am very grateful for breaks, vacations, holidays, what ever you want to call them I am thankful that we are able to take pauses in our everyday routines to do what ever it is we all do while on break! I really think these breaks are very important, I wish our culture could see how important they and we were offered the same vacations as they are in Europe, but some break is definitely better than no break. As of today I have been on break for just over three weeks, and they have been filled with family events and gatherings, shopping and socializing, and plenty of free time, all the while speeding by faster than I can keep track of. Finally, today I started getting ready to head into student teaching and I felt so motivated, excited and ready to get going that the enthusiasm passed over into the mounting piles of crap I have been accumulating in my studio and all over my desk. About time I started addressing this mess! Do you ever feel like when there is nothing you have to do, you do absolutely nothing? You become board out of your mind and have watched way to many movies on TV. But, when you finally start filling the calendar you end up doing all the other things you have been putting off as long as possible? I do. That's what I do.

I think these breaks are crucial for our mind, body, and spirit; unfortunately they keep getting shorter and shorter as we are pressured to do more work, be more productive, take on more obligations, and do more for everyone but ourselves. When was the last time you truly took a day for no one but yourself? I couldn't imagine never having any breaks, I don't want to know what kind of person I would become. To me I need these breaks to help me clear my mind, refocus my thoughts and intentions, reenergize, reorganize, and remotivate as I continue on. I think that all of the world goes in cycles, ups and downs, and you need the downs to enjoy the ups, you need the break to prepare for the chaos. I need to sit on the couch and watch Jennifer Aniston movies all day feeling board out of mind in order to get remotivated and excited and once that momentum of doing things starts it becomes contagious and Im filled with energy and things start to happen! I think we all need to be sure that at some point in out schedules we are all taking some time off for ourselves, some time to recover and do a little internal mind check/decompression so we can go back out there and rock the world the best we know how! Whether it is one hour or one year it will matter. I need to remind myself that it is important to enjoy breaks, don't feel guilty about doing nothing, watch lame reruns all day feeling board out of your mind (yet entertained simultaneously), and then get excited to do something!!

Day 4

I am grateful that as people we are able to grow, change, adapt, and explore who we are and that which we want to be. I am grateful that we don't reach a certain point in our lives and have to remain that person forever. Would you be happy if you had to remain the exact person your are today for the rest of your life? We, and especially those of us here in the united states, are abel to reinvent ourselves as many times as we like in a life time, and we can continue to educate and develop ourselves till we see fit. And for this I am extremely grateful!

I think that over the past semester I learned a tremendous amount of things about myself, not just who I was as an artist so I could define it in an artist statement, but who I am in general / overall in this world. Over the last year I have explored who Im, who I can be, and who I want to be. And while I have learned a lot over this journey, I know I am no where near the end. The last four years have provided me with a roller-coster of questions about myself and pushed me to question where I am going. So whether a semester, a year, four years, or a lifetime I am grateful that I am able to explore options, question who I am, make mistakes, feel the world around me change and directions if I want to.

A few years ago my mother told me, "I'm really glad you changed" as she referenced who I was that day verses the person I was as a child and adolescent growing up with my family. While this may sound crass, so....... you didn't like the daughter I was when you were raising me, I know it was only meant as a true and pure compliment. And I know she loved/loves me very much. I took it as a mother recognizing pride in the person her daughter had become (even thought today I see myself light years from that person my mother had been talking to). Im not going to lie either, I see what she was saying, I was a bitch. I was a pretty mean and not very nice person for quite a while. Not every day, not all the time, I like to think that I was occasionally a nice friend and person. But, overall I can admit I was not the best person, and I am very grateful that I was able to change and grow as I learned about my self and advance toward the future. Have you always been the same person you are today? I imaging there are people that reach a certain point of self satisfaction and remain there, but for myself I can not remain that sedentary in personal development. Can you? Only time will tell who I am abel to become, only I can take my self there as I continue to develop my self. Better hold on and enjoy the ride!

Day 3

Today I was able to meet up with one of my greatest and longest known friends from college. Today, I am thankful for my friend Karl! I feel like people always talk about meeting their best friends in college, meeting their core group of friends during this period and forming life long bonds with roommates and friends. Honestly, I feel this is a preconscribed expectation of going to college, what if I don't meet my BFF there, did I fail? How many people actually talk to their old roommates everyday, still live next to each other, and do everything together? While I did meet many great and amazing people when I went to school at UNC I can't really say I came out with many life long friends. However, the best friends I did meet at school are truly some of my greatest friends! Basically because my two best friends from there are my awesome friend Karl, and my amazing husband Will.

I am thankful that I have remained friends with Karl over the years, and I am so glad I was I able to meet with him for coffee today. From the outside I suppose we have an interesting friendship, we briefly dated, were in a fraternity together (yep I was in a coed academic fraternity), and probably only actually talk three times a year. Yet, Ill say he is one of my best friends. He is a friend I know will always be there for me, to lend an ear when I need to talk (or in our case text), support me if I am struggling, and generally be there any time I need. Well, as good as a friend can be there for you from another state! Luckily this second time through college I have made many amazing, long lasting, wonderful, friendships. And these friends (unlike Karl) can come help me when I need to go pick up my car form the shop, or am craving a buddy and some ice cream. While I may have made only a few life long friends in college the first time, I am thankful for the friendship I found in one the of scientifically smartest people I know, and greatest friends I have, K-$!

Day 2

Today I will take the time to briefly explain the title of this page and give my thanks to my friend Michelle. Let me explain. Appropriated Heart has become the title for many things that I do. Recently, it was the title of my thesis exhibition, it is my LLC under which I sell all my jewelry, and now is the title of this page. For me it is a title that I use to front my self and expressive products like jewelry or writing. Simply stated Appropriated Heart is me and that which I create.

Now to my friend Michelle, whom I am tankful taught me the word appropriated! Simply defined to appropriate is to take exclusive possession of, to take or make use of without authority or right, or to set apart or assign to a particular purpose or use. So, to appropriate ones heart, or for someone or something to appropriate your heart, is that not love? Whether willingly given, taken, with knowledge of the even or not, to me this is love. Maybe someone has taken your heart and you love them, maybe someone has give you their heart and you have not even known. Love is everywhere and often in todays world we neglect to see it. So how is this me? Ever since I was a child I loved drawing hearts, all over my notebooks and folders, and I would write love all over the place, in big flowing cursive letters. Really, I was like any teen but to think about it makes me sound ridiculous! I think i just threw up a little in my mouth! But that was me. So now, with the information provided to me via Michelle, I am able to represent my self in a slightly more sophisticated manner while keeping some integrity, and minusing all the kitchy little harts!

Day 1.1

I suppose I am still getting the hang of this and neglected to actually say what I am thankful for today! Today I am definitely grateful that it is a new year and the start of the new decade. For some reason starting a new decade really seams to signify a big change, and I agree I feel there are going to be lots of changes in this world over the next year and next decade. The thing I wonder is where I will be in the year 2020? Where was I in the year 2000, I was a senior in high school enjoying begin a senior and getting ready to head out on a great adventure into college. I appreciate the past decade was what it was, at the same time I am grateful it is a new year, a new decade and calendrical milestone!

New Year. Day 1

It is time to start a new year, and a new decade! This year is going to be a big year, for me there will be lots of changes, Ill finally be done with school (again) and headed out in the "real world" (again). I am excited, and scared and for some reason feel inspired to share all this with the world. What does this year mean for you, anything going to change? Are you perfectly content where you are and don't want things to change? 2010 can mean a variety of things to a lot of people, I think the challenge is figuring out what it means to you!

I have decided to start this blog with a mission, a challenge of sorts. I took on the task last November to post on the ever popular social networking site Facebook things I was thankful for each day leading up to Thanksgiving. At times I thought it was fun, but more often than not I struggled to find things I was thankful for. I have been thinking that this shouldn't have really been that great of a challenge, why couldn't I see what I was thankful for in my life? So, my challenge to myself is to write, each and every day what I am thankful for for an entire year! Perhaps like Oprah's gratitude book, or other journaling techniques, I believe that by putting goodness out into the world, goodness will come to you; seeing the good in your life good will come into your life, like attracts like. And so, in this important year in my life, and the world over all, I challenge myself to find greatness, happiness, and gratitude in the year. Where do you find gratitude in your life? Find it, and cherish it no mater how hard you have to search to find it.

A minor disclaimer, I know that there may be days when I wont be able to post. I'm not going to stress myself out to make a post by midnight for each day. I am only human! But a note of thanks and gratitude will be made for each and every day this year. Some days will be good, some will not, but each day deserves recognition. Putting this out there into the world, we will see what happens with this year!