I have read and listened to many a reflection on the power of gratitude in a person's life. I have believed, on a for-everyone-else level, that gratitude can reset your perspective, giving you energy and rest in the midst of challenges. I have longed to believe in and accept the restorative power of a grateful heart in my own life, but have never quite been able to grasp it.
Until now. I am finally settling into a new life that I embarked on 2 years ago: marriage, graduate school transition, apartment living. As my new job feels more comfortable and invigorating than scary, and as I enjoy having evenings to recreate and enjoy time with my husband, my mindset is changing. The quiet, still voice that can identify and praise blessings has found it's backbone again. I find my default thought patterns shifting from downtrodden, exhausted frustration to rose-colored hope and thankfulness.
I don't know if it's the financial security associated with a 2nd income, the ability to enjoy activities with friends with newfound funds and time, the end of the constant evaluation of graduate school, or the warm welcome of the coworkers in my new job-- but something about the past few weeks has wiped away the grime from my viewpoint and given me a fresh, hopeful outlook.
In addition to the many little things I find I am grateful for in the quiet moments of every day-- I am most grateful for the deeper paradigm shift that has allowed me to live from a place of gratitude.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
May 2012 Adventures: 3 of 3
Adventure 3 of 3: Namakagon Get Away
As a celebration of graduate school completion and my 29th birthday, we escaped to the north woods for some R&R on Lake Namakagon.
The weather was comfortably cool in the evening- giving us a great excuse to get a cozy fire going in the wood stove.
An ice-free view of the point...
and Warm sunlight at dusk illuminating fresh greens on the forest floor.
Swimming right underneath the deck I was laying on...
A noisy fox whose hiccup-like yelps made tracking him much easier.
As a celebration of graduate school completion and my 29th birthday, we escaped to the north woods for some R&R on Lake Namakagon.
The weather was comfortably cool in the evening- giving us a great excuse to get a cozy fire going in the wood stove.
By day, we were able to enjoy temps warm enough to warrant lazy reading on the dock. It was nice that the boat wasn't in yet as we were able to catch the action in the weeds off the other side of the dock.
There was plenty of nature awakening to spring, including a still-fuzzy fiddle head fern...
Purple-tinted trillium, a sure sign of spring...
We enjoyed some great animal sightings including plenty of baby ducks...
A coyote enjoying a stroll through our peninsula on the lake while being cautiously chased by...
May 2012 Adventures: 2 of 3
Adventure 2 of 3: Escape-artist Sourdough Starter
Okay, so this is a rather lame adventure. But it was a frequent occurrence throughout the month of May as Jake received new sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour as a birthday gift the month before. I think the growing heat and humidity in our apartment helped the starter grow faster than it did over the cooler winter months.
Below is the starter, which began by filling an old glass applesauce jar about halfway to the top. Here it has completely overfilled the glass jar, cascaded down to fill the pyrex glass bowl the jar sat in, and is in the process of spilling over to the plate. Pretty nuts!
And also pretty delicious. Here's a shot of the end result of the starter used for a sourdough circle loaf. Love the circle lines on top!
Okay, so this is a rather lame adventure. But it was a frequent occurrence throughout the month of May as Jake received new sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour as a birthday gift the month before. I think the growing heat and humidity in our apartment helped the starter grow faster than it did over the cooler winter months.
Below is the starter, which began by filling an old glass applesauce jar about halfway to the top. Here it has completely overfilled the glass jar, cascaded down to fill the pyrex glass bowl the jar sat in, and is in the process of spilling over to the plate. Pretty nuts!
And also pretty delicious. Here's a shot of the end result of the starter used for a sourdough circle loaf. Love the circle lines on top!
May 2012 Adventures: 1 of 3
Adventure 1 of 3: Wood Duck Housing
As a Father's Day gift, we put a wood duck house up on one of the ponds in my parents backyard. Unsure of the likelihood that it would be used in it's inaugural summer, we waited to check on its occupancy status until a month later.
May 5th Jake and I walked down to the house, talking loudly on our approach and then gently tapping the house and makeshift metal squirrel deterrent on the post. When there was no response from the house, we figured it was unoccupied and pointed a small camera in the hole to see if it'd had any visitors.
We visited again on May 13th. This time "scaring" the mother enough from a distance to give her plenty of time to poke her head out of the house and fly away. Counted at least 9 eggs!
We approached again on May 22nd, and discovered that the mom was out. It's likely that she had left for her breakfast run. We were having such a warm spring/summer, I'm guessing her down cover was plenty of insulation to keep the little eggs comfy.
May 30th-- the last visit that had eggs still. We figured the eggs would be hatching in the next few weeks and wanted to be sure that mom felt safe enough to lead the ducklings out-- so we stopped approaching the house. (We did check again at the end of June and found just 1 unhatched egg with bits of shell around the down. It looks like a successful stay! We'll empty out the down and clean the house later this fall.)
As a Father's Day gift, we put a wood duck house up on one of the ponds in my parents backyard. Unsure of the likelihood that it would be used in it's inaugural summer, we waited to check on its occupancy status until a month later.
May 5th Jake and I walked down to the house, talking loudly on our approach and then gently tapping the house and makeshift metal squirrel deterrent on the post. When there was no response from the house, we figured it was unoccupied and pointed a small camera in the hole to see if it'd had any visitors.
We visited again on May 13th. This time "scaring" the mother enough from a distance to give her plenty of time to poke her head out of the house and fly away. Counted at least 9 eggs!
We approached again on May 22nd, and discovered that the mom was out. It's likely that she had left for her breakfast run. We were having such a warm spring/summer, I'm guessing her down cover was plenty of insulation to keep the little eggs comfy.
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