[ Today I *Heart* ]

Making people around me feel good about themselves

Making a healthy menu

Making.....so many different things

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Smelling a freshly brewed cup of coffee

Smelling the air just after it has finished raining

Smelling my grans perfume on her letters

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Taking time out for me

Taking a walk in the park

Taking a different route home

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Watching the sun rise

Watching ArmyWives

Watching dogs run and play in the park

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Finding money in my jeans pocket

Finding some cool mail on my doorstep when i get home

Finding those "everyday" blessings in my life
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[ A Great Tip ]

I thought i would share a tip. You might already know this and it is probably old news but just in case you are as behind the times as i am, i thought i would share.

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Last night i was doing a page in my art journal. Its ones of those pages that seem to come together all on its own. The inspiration hit me while i was crying along with ArmyWives, so i found a scrap piece of paper, wrote it down, dried my eyes and finished watching.

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When i started working on my page i decided to use one of my pens and do my journaling directly onto my photo. I didn't even give it a second thought that the pen that i was using might not actually be any good to write on a photo with. I picked up my photo to stick to my page and my finger smudged my thoughts.

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I was totally freaking out because this was my only photo that i had and i cant get another one (a lesson to be learnt here - i know) and now i had ruined it with my smudged finger print. How was i going to fix this one?

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I sat back and took a few deep breaths. Then it dawned on me - I remember hearing somewhere that to stop glitter from falling off of art items you can use hairspray to keep it on. So i picked up my photo, held my breath and began to spray my photo. Ten minutes later the hairspray had dried and *ta da* my journaling no longer smudged off.

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I don't know what the effects are from an archival point of view but for my art journal it seems to have worked perfectly!

[ So Grateful ]

I am so grateful for so much in my life at the moment:

Fond memories of a happy past

A hopeful and blessed future

My family

Friends - near and far, old and new

Mom's family muffin recipe

Feebie

Shoes that fit well and don't give me blisters

My ittle sewing machine

My "arty farty nature" - thanks Dad for the term

Those old songs that send you back in time to both happy and not so happy times

Dreams

For learning to loving those things about me that make me Me

To my Heavenly Father for the relationship that we share and that we are building on

For the promise of Spring and all that it brings along with it

For Life

[ Glimpses of the real me ]

Words or actions, that is the choice we each face in many aspects of our lives each day. We talk about eating right, about exercising, about getting organized, about spending more time on those important things, about cleaning the car, about doing something nice for our loved ones. We talk about a lot of things. On January 1, we talk about our New Year's resolutions. By February 1, many are ancient history.

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Actions vs simply talking has been sitting on my heart for a while now. Its something i think that we are all guilty of at some time or another but i had let it get to a point where all the talking that i had done and all the lack of actually carrying these things out had started to make me feel like a failure. I don't want to be one of those people who never do what they say. My word means something to me and i don't want to lose that.

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A couple of weeks ago i came across this book that a friend of mine had recommended a while back. I found a copy on eBay and it arrived just in time for the Easter Break.

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What a great book. It is easy to read, truthful, hard hitting and so relevant for where i am right now. I didn't want to write in my book so every page that has something meaningful for me i have bookmarked. So much good stuff! So much to think about and apply!

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From the title of this book it probably isnt what you think it is about....but then again perhaps it is. This book is about living your life now, being in this moment of your life, about realising that more often than not there is more going on emotionally than what we think. There is so much more i can say about this book but for now i will leave it here.

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This is a journey for me. I don't know if it is going to take months or years for me to feel like i am where i want to be in this area but i do know that this is something that i am working on and will have to work on daily. Loving myself, truly loving myself is something that i am learning to do. It sounds simple. It sounds like this is something that you should be doing automatically but its not - at least not for me.

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Over the next few weeks and months i will be sharing more of my journey on my blog. The good times and the bad times. Things that i have learnt and things that i am battling to get a grip on. These are not just words - These are actions.

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And what better way to experience and really feel my journey than to art it. This is my Best Me art journal. Many more pages to come, many more pages to share.