...and it was all Yellow

One of my goals for 2012 is to maintain a Gratitude Journal. My favourite blogger, author & photographer is Ann Voskamp. In her blog and in her book (which was yesterday held up by Kathy Lee Gifford as one of her favourite things), Ann stresses the power of living a life full of gratitude. Gratitude changes lives. Gratitude is finding joy in the now, continment in the present.

"Embrace every moment as a miracle — that it might never have been. That makes me wake to all as grace.

Contentment isn’t a state of organization, a weight on the scale, a state of better: better kids, better marriage, better health, better house. Contentment is never a matter of circumstances; contentment is always a state of communion — a daily embracing of God. A thankfulness for all the gifts – and moments and life, just as He gives it. Trying harder may only bring harder trials and contentment, it won’t be be found in the resolutions, but in the revolutions – in the turning round to God." - Ann Voskamp from 'A Holy Experience'-

While I'll be keeping my list of thanks in a good old fashioned paper journal (after all, I have to keep buying paper products to keep our local mill and father-in-law in business), I'll be posting pictures of thanks from time-to-time here.

Today, the challenge was to find grace & gratitude in 3 yellow things that strike me as fresh mercy. I grabbed my camera and skipped down to the beach this morning to catch the first glimpses of yellow sun, crashing ocean waves and all-things-yellow along the frosty January shoreline....

The Perfect Friday

Ahhhh, a sigh of relief....it's Friday....

One of my favourite things (and a sign I'm getting older) is receiving the Safeway email about the upcoming deals & AirMiles promotions starting today & into the rest of the week. Hmm, what shall I choose?

Then, after work, hopping over to Safeway to pick up those last minute items for the weekend -- basil leaves, some cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, a loaf of bread and a bouquet of tulips.

Here's to sunshine, Friday afternoons and tulips...good things! xo

Pizzelle Sundays

Making pizzelle on Sunday after church = a perfectly relaxing day! Pizzelles are currently my favourite treat (mainly because they remind of snowflakes). I recently purchased a pizzelle maker and cannot resist making these beautiful & tasty treats! Thank-you Italy!

For more info on what exactly a pizzelle is, check out www.wikipedia.org.wiki/Pizzelle. Delish!

Just A Bunch of Knuckleheads

Nothing (NOTHING!) beats a sunny Saturday venturing up the logging roads in our very own backyard. Destination: A branch cabin in the Knuckleheads. Words to no justice and even the pictures can not capture the feeling & emotion of standing on a snowy mountain top overlooking the world with the sun shining on your cheeks. God is good!

Art Daze

Outside my office, the Powell River film fest is opening and local artists have displayed their art. I've taken time to meander through the art, admiring the colour, taking time to capture the many different feelings that the paintings provoke.

The painting below by Megan Dulcie-Dill is my absolute favourite. I want to step inside that painting, skip along the road and pick a cherry blossom from the blooming tree. The best part? The painting even smells of spring & sweetness as there is honey bee wax spilled across it.

"The emotions are so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech.."

~Vincent Van Gogh~

Rainforest Picnics & Goat-cheese Sandwiches

It was a perfect weekend of relaxation...a lazy Saturday meandering Inland Lake in the tin boat (Josh fishing, me sleeping & reading), enjoying a wonderful book, and a hike into Kelly Falls along the Blackwater Trail for the best picnic EVER!

Bring on the goat cheese & grilled zucchinni sandwiches, nectarine & mint-chili zest salad and pesto pasta salad (with a fresh squeeze of lemon)! Mmmm, the perfect end to a wonderful weekend....

Good Friends

It’s such a blessing to have friends that no matter how far you live apart in distance or how many years linger between your visits, no matter all the changes you go through in life ... will always be good friends.

Elissa & I have a friendship like that. In high school we were inseparable. We worked together, played soccer together, spent weekends at each other’s places, and even vacationed together (Elissa had the ‘honour’ of coming to Europe with my family back in 1998!). We always dreamed that we’d end up living in Burlington, teaching at a Christian grade school and coaching the sports teams together.

Little did we know then that we’d end up living 20 time zones apart…Elissa on the shores of New Zealand and myself on the shores of Canada’s Sunshine Coast.

However, one thing remains: our friendship. Time zones, oceans, continents separate us, but Elissa will always be a dear dear friend.

Here’s to a wonderful visit from Sean & Elissa – to strolls down the Willingdon Beach Trail, catching fish with Papa Jimmy on the ocean, rescuing jelly fish along the white sandy shores of Savary, and just simply ‘being’ together.