Happy Mother's Day

My Biggest Gifts...

Well, it's been a year since I started my journey of 1000 Gifts.  Last year my mom gifted us with the photography companion to One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp.  I took the challenge and ended up buying the full book.  I was hoping to hit at least one "gift" a day for the year.  I got to #339, not too bad.  I went through those days of listing several and then there were those I didn't list any.  It's not anywhere near as easy as I had thought.  I don't even want to know how many "repeats" there are in there, I'll chalk it up to being especially grateful for those.

I will be reading through these gifts today as a reminder of just how blessed I am.  I have drifted away to a point and I need to recenter and focus on the beauty of the life we have.  Somewhere in all the shuffles of daily life, I have allowed myself to forget the most important part of my days...gratitude.  Gratitude, reflection, recharging...they are all the part of my day I should bring to the forefront.  It's in these moments I can really understand just how happy I truly am.

Here's to another year of Gifts.

~Ash


And here's one more gift, like I could skip him...pssshhhaaaa

My Partner in Crime All Things!

Good Morning Monday

It's Monday, Yay!  I LOVE Mondays!

No sarcasm, I really do have a soft spot for Monday.  It gets a bad wrap.  Too many people look at it as "I have to go back to work" day.  How about we look at it as "I'm thankful for a job" day.  Does that make any sense?  I am grateful for my back to work day.  It gives me a chance to get myself ready for the week and put my house back in order.  Mondays give me a fresh start.  No matter what the previous week held for me, I get to start anew.

In our house, Mondays mean clean sheets on the bed.  It's fresh towels in the bathroom.  It's getting all of the weekend-ness out of the house.  I love weekends.  I just don't always like how things seem to get thrown to the wayside.  I like my home to be dusted, vacuumed...fresh.  Don't get me wrong, it's a household of six right now.  It's most definitely lived in.  I don't have the "magazine ready" house.  I don't really want it.  I have a home where people aren't afraid to come in, sit down, put their feet up and relax.  It makes our weekends so fun.  We enjoy having our friends/family out.

All of that being said, it's time to get off my tookus and get moving.  It doesn't magically happen, contrary to what the children may think.  As a "gift" to you, I am posting a picture in the hopes it brightens your day a bit.  It's one of my favorites.  I sometimes need reminding of why I love it here, esp when it's so darn cold!

A Montana Sunrise

May you have a peaceful Monday.

~Ash