There is a little blog I love to follow called Bonzai Aphrodite. It is written by this incredibly genuine, intelligent vegan woman named Sayward, who writes all about the vegan lifestyle, gardening, and raising her beautiful little boy. It makes me feel inspired every time I read it, and you should definitely check it out. One of the things Sayward does every Friday is post something she calls, "Le Love List." It is a compilation of all the wonderful things she is loving in her life at the moment--a kind of thankfulness list that lets her remember she has a lot to be grateful for, and encourages others to share what they are grateful for too. I think it is a great practice, so I thought I would take a minute to share some of the things I am loving in my life at this moment as well. So here is a short list of things I'm in love with this week:
1. My Garden
I am not a huge fan of summer, but one thing I love is being able to grow fresh vegetables and herbs. The hubs is a huge gardening buff, so he keeps our house well landscaped and full of flowering goodness, which I love. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting on the patio amid climbing vines and vibrant blooms, listening to the wind chimes and thinking about the homemade pesto you will make later. I love it.
2. Iced Coffee
One other good thing about warmer weather is iced caffeinated beverages. Something about cold coffee is just so refreshing and satisfying and wonderful. I personally usually use Pioneer Woman's iced coffee recipe to brew it cold and keep a huge pitcher of it in my fridge, but instead of adding condensed milk the way she does (which is delicious, by the way) I use liquid Sugar in the Raw, and tell myself I'm being healthier. Don't spoil it for me. If you have never tried iced coffee, I must insist that you do so immediately. If you aren't into caffeine, go decaf! It's better than lemonade on a warm spring day, trust me.
3. My Family
Mother's Day just happened, and obviously I was thrilled to let the mothers in my life know how important they are. It was kind of wonderful and weird to be receiving calls as well as making them this Mother's Day. But I am so thankful for my whole family. My husband, my daughter, my mom, my sister, my dad, my grandma--everyone. The older I get the more I realize how disgustingly functional we all really are, and it makes me so happy that I have this safety net, and a group of people that I am actually thrilled to be a part of.
4. Goal Completion
Something huge happened to me last week. I took the very last final of my Master's degree. After three years of working full time, going to school at night, and even giving birth during midterms, I have finally completed my Master's in English! Not only am I so grateful that I have accomplished what I set out to do, and that I will finally have a little bit of free time to do things like clean the house and review more books for the blog, but I am so utterly grateful to the staff, faculty, and overall English program at UCO. After spending the last three years there, I can say that this is possibly one of the most underrated universities in the state. I learned so much from the professors, all of whom are passionate, intelligent, and great at what they do. This is a program that really has the student in mind, and it was very refreshing. I could not be happier that I chose to do my first graduate degree there.
5. Goal Making
Now that I have a big accomplishment under my belt (I'm not trying to be a braggart, I promise. I'm just pumped.) it's time to make more goals. Among these new goals ranks getting a new job, working on getting more special training for my career, and actually sitting down and writing a short story. I'm really grateful that I have these ambitions, because sometimes I get really frustrated with the state of the world, and the slow progress of my professional life, and it's very discouraging. Knowing that there are still things I want to accomplish keeps me focused and motivated, and I love that.
Now it's your turn! What things are you loving right now? What inspires you? What are you thankful for? How was your mother's day? Share it with the world!
 | |
| We planted: tomatoes, zucchini, rosemary, basil, oregano, lettuce, and lemon verbena. |
I am not a huge fan of summer, but one thing I love is being able to grow fresh vegetables and herbs. The hubs is a huge gardening buff, so he keeps our house well landscaped and full of flowering goodness, which I love. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting on the patio amid climbing vines and vibrant blooms, listening to the wind chimes and thinking about the homemade pesto you will make later. I love it.
2. Iced Coffee
One other good thing about warmer weather is iced caffeinated beverages. Something about cold coffee is just so refreshing and satisfying and wonderful. I personally usually use Pioneer Woman's iced coffee recipe to brew it cold and keep a huge pitcher of it in my fridge, but instead of adding condensed milk the way she does (which is delicious, by the way) I use liquid Sugar in the Raw, and tell myself I'm being healthier. Don't spoil it for me. If you have never tried iced coffee, I must insist that you do so immediately. If you aren't into caffeine, go decaf! It's better than lemonade on a warm spring day, trust me.
3. My Family
 |
| Not pictured: my dad, who works more behind the scenes. |
4. Goal Completion
Something huge happened to me last week. I took the very last final of my Master's degree. After three years of working full time, going to school at night, and even giving birth during midterms, I have finally completed my Master's in English! Not only am I so grateful that I have accomplished what I set out to do, and that I will finally have a little bit of free time to do things like clean the house and review more books for the blog, but I am so utterly grateful to the staff, faculty, and overall English program at UCO. After spending the last three years there, I can say that this is possibly one of the most underrated universities in the state. I learned so much from the professors, all of whom are passionate, intelligent, and great at what they do. This is a program that really has the student in mind, and it was very refreshing. I could not be happier that I chose to do my first graduate degree there.
5. Goal Making
Now that I have a big accomplishment under my belt (I'm not trying to be a braggart, I promise. I'm just pumped.) it's time to make more goals. Among these new goals ranks getting a new job, working on getting more special training for my career, and actually sitting down and writing a short story. I'm really grateful that I have these ambitions, because sometimes I get really frustrated with the state of the world, and the slow progress of my professional life, and it's very discouraging. Knowing that there are still things I want to accomplish keeps me focused and motivated, and I love that.
Now it's your turn! What things are you loving right now? What inspires you? What are you thankful for? How was your mother's day? Share it with the world!
You were in grad-school for three years?? I definitely didn't seem like that long (says the guy not taking classes).
ReplyDeleteI'm going to refrain from making a list of "things I am loving right now" because I couldn't do it without feeling really cheesy. (no offense) I'll just leave it by saying that I'm trying to take time to be more intentionally grateful for the good things in life. (good friends and iced coffee among them.)
I love coming out every day and seeing how much the garden has grown. To remove weeds, prune branches, and mold it all into what I want it to be. Nature doesn't tame, but I can will it to do what I want - as long as I keep paying attention. It's so interesting to see that a few days neglect and the whole thing has already begun to forget the plan I laid out for it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love my wife, now more professionally qualified and less stressed out than before :)