giving thanks.

today is my favorite day of the entire year. it's a day filled with laughter, tears, love, friends, family, cooking, food, wine and memories. it's not about gifts, it's not about giving, it's about recognizing how blessed we are regardless of our circumstances. i have so many things to be thankful for it's hard to even start.

i have two healthy parents that have been in love for over 45 years. they have taught me more lessons than i can imagine. they support me unconditionally even if it means picking up and moving my life 1000 miles away chasing my dreams.

i have a sister that is my best friend regardless of growing pains. she and my brothers have brought me a gaggle of nieces and nephews that although at times make me want to pull out my hair, life would never be the same without. 

i have two cats that stick with me through thick and thin (mainly because i feed them). they lick my salty tears, they curl up in the crook of my knees at night when it's cold, and they teach me lessons in patience everyday. 

i have amazing friends that stick with me through all of my crazies. they keep me grounded like a kite, allowing me to soar in the wind and fly away, yet tethering me to the them regardless of how far i fly. 

5 months ago i picked up my life and i moved, scared and alone i found myself in an amazing community that instantly felt like home. i have met amazing people, that have made me part of their own. i have had the opportunity to sell my crafts, i have been encouraged and inspired to think bigger, i have been given the tools to do all of this. i love my life, i love my family, i love my friends. 

this is the first holiday in my 31 years that i have spent without my "family" and although tears are shed, i know that my afternoon that is to be filled with friends, laughter, and wine,  awaits me with open arms. 

i'm not sure who even reads this but i just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. this is me. all me. and your silent support is more important to me than you will ever know. 

the picture i am posting today is sort of odd for today yet incredibly appropriate in it's own way. there's a bit of sadness to it, yet, something about it makes me incredibly happy.

have a happy thanksgiving everyone! may your day be filled with love, laughter, and grace.

xoxo.

finding gems in webs.

i feel like a broken record. constantly talking about the beauty i find in the rain. i just can't help it though, here in portland it is literally everywhere. just the other day while walking out of my front door i was once again confronted with stunning visual imagery. now although the rain droplets on the  web aren't an original image, meaning it's been taken before, i still absolutely love the effect that it creates. like pearls dangling from a web. this is an image that i will take over and over as i wasn't able to fully capture it the way it was scene in my minds eye but this is just the beginning.

 

 attached to the web above was this fallen leaf. it was waving in the gentle breeze so being able to take a picture was a lot harder than it appears, the leaf being a moving target and all.... i was however delighted by the images i was able to capture. my favorite being the reflection in the droplet. 

xoxo.

 

falling in love...

so i know i keep saying this BUT what an amazing life altering experience this has been leaving everything i know and moving somewhere completely different. it's not just about learning to readjust your life, learning to weave your ways into the lives of others, learning to be completely open and vulnerable to everything around you. there is so much "new" happening that it's hard to forget that what's new to you isn't new to everyone around you. and although i like to think that my enthusiasm is catching and contagious, the truth is, it's not for everyone. just like weather isn't for everyone. of course, we will have this conversation again in a couple of months as everyone keeps drilling into my head that the doom of the gloom of the winters of the pacific northwest is coming and that it is surely to pierce through my positiveness. but screw that, why look ahead to what awful is to come? why not just experience and enjoy the now??? it's like riding a bicycle up a hill, never look up, just down. see whats directly underfoot, not the giant hill that is gonna cause muscle spasms and heart palpitations. so that's exactly what i'm gonna do. enjoy and experience what is happening around me now, and then just wait to see what fun comes "then". ironically of course, unlike the hill, i am gonna look up. because although one persons leaves falling signifies the cold and dark to come, to me, it's simply the beauty of mother nature in all of her glory. and hot damn she's beautiful.

xoxo.