Life is Beautiful...

-on a bike ride down a country road, with deer grazing (do deer graze?) in a nearby field.

-watching Mary Tyler Moore episodes with my mom and a bowl of freshly-popped popcorn (in my Stir Crazy popper from a garage sale!).

-little moments with A. when her work shift was called off: baking and cooking and mopping and even cleaning out the garage.

-around a campfire on the lake with three treasured girlfriends, making s’mores and Smart Dogs (*ahem* they are much healthier. Do you know what real hot dogs have in them??)

-when others share from the abundance of their gardens and our countertop protests under piles of cucumber, yellow squash, and tomatoes.

-reading a fun Christian fiction book in bed, snuggled under polka-dot cotton sheets.

-chubby little nephew-arms reaching for a hug or a hold, and his adorable scrunched-up grin and giggle.

-taking advantage of a rare full-hour lunch break at work and gathering with the Cardiology girls at a Mexican restaurant next door.

-standing at the window watching an incredible lightning show in the night sky before a storm (God's fireworks! SO neat...just don't tell my mom, who always taught us to stay away from windows when there was lightning!)

-fishing with girlfriends and giggling as we tried to get the fish off the hooks (it takes a village three girls to get a hook out of a perch’s mouth).

-phone calls with my marmee when I’m in need of her wisdom and understanding and listening ear.

-dancing through the house because a hummingbird landed on my new feeder (it doesn’t take much to make me happy!)

-meeting new people, sharing in conversation, laughing with a stranger.

-a motorcycle ride with my dad, loving the freedom and sunshine and daddy-daughter time.

-during a calm, peaceful evening out on the deck, praying my rosary and star-gazing, drinking in the beauty of the night…until I saw a black-and-white creature waddle up to the deck—you’ve never seen such a sneaky, lightning-fast getaway as mine. (he was a cute little guy, but I wasn’t about to risk smelling like a skunk just so I could enjoy my evening outdoors!)

Life is beautiful. What a gift.

And for the cherries on top of these colorful sprinkles, two quotes:

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” — Robert Brault

“I believe we would be happier to have a personal revolution in our individual lives and go back to simpler living and more direct thinking. It is the simple things of life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature.” — Laura Ingalls Wilder