thoughts

If you are like me, you know what it's like to be so very thankful for all the blessings in your life yet still, sometimes, have a yearning for something more that you just can't quite put your finger on. I do my best each and every day to practice gratitude, to be in the moment, to cherish the "ordinary"......yet it is my nature to seek, to search, to strive, to dream, to plan. I heard something recently that really resonated with me (and I can not remember for the life of me where I heard it):

"Be in the moment, but plan ahead and take lots of pictures!!"

So simple, but it really sums up my life's mantra :)

I was also reading in my new Artful Blogging magazine yesterday and came across this partial blog post that really spoke to me:

Sometimes I sit and dream.

I think of all the things I'd like to do.

I put off the stuff that needs to be done

trading that time for daydreams.

Thinking of conversations I'd like to have,

with old friends,

current friends and

with friends I've not yet made.

Wondering where the other people like me are.

How do I find them?

How do I connect?

I long to sit and laugh,

sip coffee, or hot cocoa, or tea,

while making a mess with art supplies,

or just chatting about nothing in particular,

or the meaning of life itself.

Deep conversations,

light conversations,

no conversation,

just being.

I don't want to be a dreamer,

I want to be a doer.

I want to paint.

I want to write.

I want to take pictures.

I want to talk.

I want to listen.

I want to have a tribe of my own,

and be a part of the tribe of others.

That is only part of what the author wrote, and the rest is just as powerful!! I don't know the women who wrote this, but when I read her words, it was like looking in the mirror......amazing how words can do that!!

Yet, with all the dreaming, reaching, planning, striving, hoping......

I am so very thankful for: hot chocolate in the winter, snuggling with my family, roasting marshmallows on our back porch, getting cards in the mail, reconnecting with old friends, inspirational blogs, a good book, a worn quilt, singing in church, squeaky clean kiddos in fresh pajamas, wonderful people who help me navigate this world, cozy sweaters, new lipstick, a fire in the fireplace, a wonderful preschool with wonderful teachers, taking photos of the people I love, the color yellow, song lyrics ("Love is alive and at a breakfast table every day of the week."), candy, cheese pizza, Starbucks, chocolate donuts, a quiet bath, a clean house, an empty sink, music, laughter, cheesy Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel, scrapbooking, cupcakes, collections, red barns, and those three wonderful people that I share this life with.

love is in the details

I have been in a little bit of a funk lately....not feeling like myself, and definitely not feeling "in the spirit" of the upcoming holiday season. So yesterday, I started making a list of the things that bring me joy, the little things that are guaranteed to get me out of this rut.

1. Reading a good, holiday-themed book: I recently picked up "Knit for the Season" at Target, and it was just what I needed (it's part of the "Friday Night Knitting Club" series)

2. Giving kindness: I started thinking yesterday about a project we could do as a family that would force us to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. I decided to initiate The Gussio Family Operation Christmas Kindness. Starting the day after Thanksgiving, we are going to look for little ways every day to be kind to others, to bring a smile to someone's face, to brighten someone's day. Every night at dinner, we will go around the table and talk about what we did for someone else that day. I can't wait!!

3. Singing in the car: I finally purchased a little cable that allows me to listen to my iphone or ipod in the car. I plugged it in yesterday and rocked out to Dave Matthews in my car....I hadn't done that in a very long time, and it felt great :)

4. Little People Nativity Set: I found one of these left on the shelves yesterday, and I had to have it...so cute and such a great way to talk about the story of Christmas with the kiddos

5. Ghiradelli chocolate: I have no idea if I spelled that correctly, but the milk chocolate squares with caramel in the middle are TO DIE FOR!!!

6. Picking up a big stack of photos from the developer to scrapbook or put in albums

7. Colder weather: Something about the cooler weather just puts me in a better mood....makes me get excited about the Christmas season

8. Starting a collection for my kiddos: This is my project for the next few weeks...coming up with something fun & meaningful

9. Watching Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters: these are the only shows I watch these days (other than an occasional Oprah), and I really do enjoy just sitting on the couch with my husband and watching some tv

10. Taking a bath at night: on most nights, I try to sneak away for at least 2o minutes once my husband gets home and dinner is over to soak in the tub and read some of my book in peace and quiet

kids say the darndest things

So we were driving home from school yesterday, and she says to me from the backseat..........

Sienna: "Mommy, can we please, please, please get a kitty cat? Bailey (our dog) isn't allergic. he told me that."

Me: "I don't think so, honey. Bailey doesn't really do well with cats, and remember, Gaga's allergic."

Sienna: "Please, please, mommy, I really want one!!!!"

Me: "Sienna, remember what mommy said? I think we have all we can handle right now with Bailey."

Sienna: "OK, fine, can we just get a lamb then?"

Me (laughing hysterically): "I don't think the home owner's association will let us have a lamb in our yards. Lambs live on farms."

Sienna: "Fine then, I want a wolf!!!" 

Then, last night, we ordered pizza (we do this at least once a week) and when it arrived, I went out to the garage fridge and brought back 2 beers for my hubby and I. I should note that I rarely drink, and my children have probably only seen me with an alcoholic beverage in my hand like twice......but for some reason, I had a hankerin' for a beer with my pizza last night :)

When I walked back in the kitchen, Sienna turns to me and says, "Mommy, why do you have 2 of those, there aren't two mens here???"

Not "men", but "mens".....cracked me up!!! 

confessions

(1) My husband and I went on a date night a few weeks ago, and I almost cried at the table when the waiter guessed my age to be "37 or 38?"......I am 33!!

(2) I stopped eating red meat 2 weeks ago. I didn't eat red meat for several years, but started again when I was pregnant with my first child.....I don't even really like it, so I stopped...again.

(3) After looking on the Starbucks website and finding out that my daily grande, soy, no-water, extra hot, chi-tea latte is like 300 plus calories, I have decided to only allow myself that "treat" once a week, and I am getting a tall rather than a grande!

(4) I am in love with Michelle Obama's style and wish I could dress like her every day!!

(5) Sometimes I wish we could just pack up the kids and move somewhere completely different...I like the idea of living near the ocean or somewhere with beautiful mountains...sometimes I get sick of just looking at concrete with a few trees here and there (and did I mention, no bookstore in sight).

(6) I am feeling a little self-centered lately. I feel like I have been consumed with all the things I need to get done in a day, and I haven't been a very good friend to others, to my family, to my friends, to strangers, to our earth. This month, I vow to see how much I can do to make life just a little sweeter for the people in my life.

(7) It's been weeks since I read a book!! I know things are a little off-kilter with me when I go weeks without picking up a book.....it's time to start finding the joy in the "little" things again.

(8) The photos in this post have absolutely nothing to do with my confessions, but I thought they were cute :)

and just like that

it's November!! Whew......the whirlwind of Halloween parties, costumes, pumpkin carving and candy has come and gone, and now we are on to the month of gratitude. For me, that means taking a little extra time each day to really stop and think about all the blessings in my life, and to document those blessings in some small way. Today, I am grateful for fun, creative friends who love to scrapbook as much as I do, and I am especially grateful that my little boy was well enough to enjoy trick-or-treating this year. Sienna had an absolute BLAST...she actually got the concept this year, and she was totally into it!! She ran to every house, loved saying "trick-or-treat," and was even happier when we got home so she could hand out candy to all the kids (she even asked mommy and daddy to step inside so she could do it by herself!!)!