The above square image has an off-white background. A wide border of painted roses in shades of pink, peach, yellow and white covers the left side of the image. A quote is printed in six rows of black text on the remaining off-white space and says "My life isn't perfect, but I'm thankful for everything I have." The image source is unknown.*
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I really like the above quote! If we wait for our lives to be happy or content... or grateful... it will never happen. Gratitude is an attitude, and I'm holding tight to mine. And I have happy things to share today!
Biggest and best news... my daughter signed the closing papers on her house in Nashville on Friday, and yesterday afternoon she and her husband finished packing the moving van and headed out for Texas with him driving the truck and her following in her car with her kitties beside her in their big carrier. It's an eleven hour trip from Nashville to North Dallas, so they stopped enroute to rest last night and got back on the road this morning. They have just crossed the border into Texas, and all is going well, furkids snuggled in and napping when they aren't watching out the window. :-) They have helpers to unload the furniture tomorrow morning, thankfully their beautiful third floor apartment has elevator access! The last couple months have been so stressful for her, and worrisome for her mother, but they are on the home stretch now, and a new chapter of her life is beginning! <3 I am happy that we will get to go see them on a weekend early in October.
Saturday, 9/23, Papa Bear and I celebrated our 9th Wedding Anniversary, the years really do seem to fly by! Saturday afternoon we decided on the spur of the moment to drive to San Angelo (about 2 hrs away) for an overnight, and had such a wonderful time. It's a small, pretty city of about 100,000 people, wide streets, and lots and lots of trees, thanks to the Concho River which winds through the town. They have lovely parks and roads all along the river, everything trimmed and mowed and it was just so refreshing to see green stuff! We ate at fun places, window shopped at a big general store full of gift items (buying only fudge... had to have that!), drove through historical Fort Concho on the edge of town, and attended the annual Lilyfest which had huge above ground ponds of all kinds of water lilies that one man has been responsible for over the years. Truly beautiful... Papa Bear's photos on my personal Facebook page if you are interested. We also loved the hundreds of tiny bees happily visiting all those lilies!
I have done more than one post about Papa Bear's wonderful attributes, and have mentioned him "a time or two" in other TToT posts, but I can't help but say once again what a blessing he is in my life. If I was to make a list of attributes for the idea partner, he would check off all the boxes! He is so fun, and patient, and kind, along with being responsible and taking care of things and me. He also takes pleasure in the little things like I do and is interested in what I am doing, what things I choose to wear and buy for the house, etc. In short, he's the very best kind of friend, and I hope God blesses us with many more years to share. I am so thankful that he had last week off to relax and rest up. While we didn't get a whole lot accomplished, it was just nice to stay up late, sleep in, and have the days to spend together.
One more quick thankful before I call it a wrap for this week.... I am so thankful for beautiful cool fall mornings like today! Our weather forecast calls for rain all week long. The past couple mornings, and again today, the sky has been overcast and it's been so nice to sit out on the deck visiting with the feral furkids and thinking on my thankfuls! I know we will still have some higher temperatures in the coming weeks, but the further we move into October the nicer days become here, and I am even willing to relinquish a little of the daylight hours to be able to spend time outside! While I may not have a perfect life, I have a very blessed one, and for that I am truly thankful! <3
The above photo is a click-button to the TToT link-up. It is photo of one of our beautiful Texas sunsets with blue still peeking through the clouds; yellow, orange and pink bands around the remaining sliver of bright sun, and a wide band of black earth below it on which I've written Ten Things of Thankful.*
Biggest and best news... my daughter signed the closing papers on her house in Nashville on Friday, and yesterday afternoon she and her husband finished packing the moving van and headed out for Texas with him driving the truck and her following in her car with her kitties beside her in their big carrier. It's an eleven hour trip from Nashville to North Dallas, so they stopped enroute to rest last night and got back on the road this morning. They have just crossed the border into Texas, and all is going well, furkids snuggled in and napping when they aren't watching out the window. :-) They have helpers to unload the furniture tomorrow morning, thankfully their beautiful third floor apartment has elevator access! The last couple months have been so stressful for her, and worrisome for her mother, but they are on the home stretch now, and a new chapter of her life is beginning! <3 I am happy that we will get to go see them on a weekend early in October.
Saturday, 9/23, Papa Bear and I celebrated our 9th Wedding Anniversary, the years really do seem to fly by! Saturday afternoon we decided on the spur of the moment to drive to San Angelo (about 2 hrs away) for an overnight, and had such a wonderful time. It's a small, pretty city of about 100,000 people, wide streets, and lots and lots of trees, thanks to the Concho River which winds through the town. They have lovely parks and roads all along the river, everything trimmed and mowed and it was just so refreshing to see green stuff! We ate at fun places, window shopped at a big general store full of gift items (buying only fudge... had to have that!), drove through historical Fort Concho on the edge of town, and attended the annual Lilyfest which had huge above ground ponds of all kinds of water lilies that one man has been responsible for over the years. Truly beautiful... Papa Bear's photos on my personal Facebook page if you are interested. We also loved the hundreds of tiny bees happily visiting all those lilies!
I have done more than one post about Papa Bear's wonderful attributes, and have mentioned him "a time or two" in other TToT posts, but I can't help but say once again what a blessing he is in my life. If I was to make a list of attributes for the idea partner, he would check off all the boxes! He is so fun, and patient, and kind, along with being responsible and taking care of things and me. He also takes pleasure in the little things like I do and is interested in what I am doing, what things I choose to wear and buy for the house, etc. In short, he's the very best kind of friend, and I hope God blesses us with many more years to share. I am so thankful that he had last week off to relax and rest up. While we didn't get a whole lot accomplished, it was just nice to stay up late, sleep in, and have the days to spend together.
One more quick thankful before I call it a wrap for this week.... I am so thankful for beautiful cool fall mornings like today! Our weather forecast calls for rain all week long. The past couple mornings, and again today, the sky has been overcast and it's been so nice to sit out on the deck visiting with the feral furkids and thinking on my thankfuls! I know we will still have some higher temperatures in the coming weeks, but the further we move into October the nicer days become here, and I am even willing to relinquish a little of the daylight hours to be able to spend time outside! While I may not have a perfect life, I have a very blessed one, and for that I am truly thankful! <3
Blessings to you in the days and weeks ahead... Look for reasons to be thankful in your life, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!
* Descriptions of the included photos are being provided for those who may be unable to view the illustrations.
That's wonderful news about your daughter! She has been through a lot with this move, i'm glad she and her husband can now settle in.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! May you have twice as many years and more together!
It has been a long drawn out, stressful process, Mimi, and I am also very grateful that step is now over and she can begin to move forward.
DeleteThank you for the Anniversary wishes, I hope we do too! :-)
Congrats on the anniversary! (Love the idea of a spur-of-the-moment trip away from home.)
ReplyDeleteAlso good news that the house closing is done, it's hardly ever no a little stressful to have it done and behind them must be an excellent feeling.
(Saw the weather forecast on your FB the other day... it's warmer up here in the New England than down there! How strange has the weather become.)
Thanks, Clark! Sometimes spur-of-the-moment ideas turn out to be the most fun!
DeleteI am very relieved for my daughter that her home sale closed, she is finally moved, and ready to begin the next chapter of her life. That was a rough one!
I am relishing in this very cool sixty degree day here, unusual for this time of year here. It is funny when our weather trades places! We have had far more rain this year than we have in many others, which is good for us, but still unsettling.
I'm happy your daughter closed escrow--and that gives me hope that maybe we'll have ours close here soon, too. It's nerve-wracking to try to coordinate all the pieces in selling/buying a home.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary! A good marriage makes life better, and I'm happy you and Papa Bear have such good times together.
You are so right that the home selling/relocating process is nerve-racking, Kristi. It is a tremendous relief to her to have it successfully finished and we will be celebrating with you when yours closes too!
DeletePapa Bear is the greatest blessing God has given me, in addition to my children. The hard times are easier together, and the happy times are wonderful!
Happy Anniversary to you and Papa Bear. Your daughter will be closer to you and I am sure this next chapter in her life will be a positive change. I saw Papa Bear's lovely photos on Facebook. Incredible. I am a flower/plant lover as you know. I'm sure the show was spectacular. It is nice to take some little time away from everyday life with your husband to spend time together in an inspiring venue. I wasn't too inspired by the duck and decoy show, but I think Tim could maybe find a retirement hobby painting shorebirds and ducks. How cold does it get in West Texas in the winter?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Val! I am so happy about my daughter living close enough to spend a little time together now and then!
DeleteThe Lilyfest flower show was so pretty! The large aboveground "ponds" were spectacular and the maintenance requires to keep the lilies thriving is quite an undertaking. To see so many different and unique lilies of all colors, and so many very happy bees gathering from them, was really fun, something different! Papa Bear love to take pictures for me to share, and he does an awesome job!
I can imagine that the duck and decoy show was probably about as inspiring as a knife and gun show is to me, but I can appreciate the craftsmanship and that would be a fun hobby for Tim to undertake, if you ever get him talked into retirement! :-)
We do get some cold weather in the winter here, usually some icy roads and one or two snowfalls a year, but they don't last... that's the best part. We think it's cold if it gets below freezing, and are fussing if it's under 40, LOL. My family in the Midwest has it much harder and sub-zero temps are what I grew up with. I don't miss that!
Congratulations on your anniversary! And that is wonderful news about your daughter too. I will start posting thankfuls next week, sorry to miss 2 weeks, but losing Phoebe has been tough. XO
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellen. I can surely understand why you are taking a break from posting for a bit. The loss of such a beloved member of your family is very hard, and it takes time to come to terms with it. My heart is so sad for your loss. (((Hugs)))
DeleteWonderful news about your daughter and son-in-law. Happy anniversary! How nice to have a little get away to celebrate. You are right about attitude. Our attitude does determine how we view life, the good and the not so good. We decide whether or not we are happy or not.
ReplyDeleteI have been off the computer for a week! So, I am more behind than ever but have decided that's okay and I will just take it day by day or week by week. Silly to stress about blogging. :)
Thank You Patricia! Definitely, the way we choose to view life makes it so much better... or so much harder.
DeleteI haven't been around to read blogs in a couple months, I really needed a break from it all and time to focus on other things. I will be back more regularly soon, but like you it will be on my own terms with no stress or apologies needed. Blogging is for fun, and that's when we most enjoy it! :-)