Lucky number 7

Last week I was given the honor of the Kreative Blogger award. This is the second time I have received this great honor, and it is the second time I have taken too long to share my gratitude. I have felt entirely too guilty about not passing it on sooner - however, I have no excuse, really. I glow for days after receiving an award. Yet have ignored posting about it, thinking every day will be the day.... so here it goes.

Julie from Moments of Perfect Clarity and Alicia at Boylerpf both bestowed this honor on me (has it really been a month Alicia?) Julie had to list 7 things she loved. Being a Monday and feeling the pains of 1) being a weekend yard work warrior and 2) having started exercising again last week... I will opt for an assignment. So
Seven things I love:

1) My children being healthy. I am currently listening to them playing outside. They are arguing and throwing quite the fit at each other in one instant and onto a new game in the next (like siblings do). As much as I want to step in right now and ring necks, I am reminding myself that as long as they are fighting and acting a fright they are healthy and not bed ridden with sickness.

2) Flowers - I think they are natures gift to us.

3) Books - Words can take you into another world. It is amazing that 26 letters can come together to leave you wondering what characters and towns are doing right now - as you are driving to the grocery. I love that people in books freeze in time while we go about our life, and they are on the beach or sitting in a hut where we left them when we closed the book.

4) Movies - For similar reasons as book - but mostly that for 2 hours your eyes focus on a screen and block all other things out. I especially love when movies have you still piecing it together as you drive away.

5) Blogging - I can not believe how this outlet has helped me. It has kept my mind active, helped me to connect with people all over the world, it has served as an outlet for creativity, and has helped me in many other ways. But, the thing that has surprised me about blogging is the appreciation for the small things in my life. I have been able to focus in on small pictures of beauty. I will drive past the ditch with the sun shining on the ice and think - that is beautiful... or how the sun slants in at 4:30 through the back door...I wonder what that would look like on the blog?
6) Following that - a new blog adventure. Julie from Moments of Perfect Clarity and myself have connected our two 8 year old daughters across continents and an ocean. We have launched the Trans Atlantic Learning Adventure. It started out with me talking my daughter into it, and it has now ended up with her and the whole family gathering around the computer to see what is going on in Denmark... my oldest son said this morning, out of the blue- "I sure wish Sabin could come here, then we could meet her." It is so amazing to have this experience for the whole family to share - especially for two girls who have a scary amount in common ... it is a life shaping moment.

7) I love Memory - this may seem odd to you. But, here is the deal. Our family took us by surprised and it grew quickly. Since we have had children our life has changed drastically. We are mom and dad now and our responsibilities are huge. To add to that we have a part time business that has grown into a second full time job. We are busy. There is lots of work to do, and not much down time. Nor, is there much extra money. Dearest and I were bonded by our desire to be adventurous. We were able to enjoy quite a few wonderful adventures when we were dating and when we lived in Colorado, but have found ourselves pretty anchored since our family started a decade ago. But, I remember...

Me in Utah (scanned pic)

I remember those times and I still look forward to doing things again. We are priming our kids slowly - biking, small hikes, even rock climbing last summer...we will get there...

8)I love that I have my health - no one should ever take theirs for granted.

9) I love that I am truly grateful for the simple things in life - a house, clothes bursting out of the drawers, vehicles that are in good service, right down to the fact that we have hot running water, food in the cupboard and that the heater just kicked in. These too are not always guaranteed. I don't want to get to a point where I assume they are.

10) I just realized, I only needed to come up with 7 things I love. So, I will finish off #10 by saying that I love that I could come up with more then seven things :)
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~
I had to come back after I published this because I forgot to pass this on! I will pass on this award to a sweet sweet friend - Kelly the Chic Geek not only does her blog deserve it, but she leaves the sweetest comments :)