17+1=Day 18

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 18: I love Trader Joe’s for many reasons, but one of the primary reasons are the $3.99 bouquets of fresh flowers I buy every other week. I adore having fresh flowers in my home (amidst my plants) but also recognize that they are somewhat of a luxury. Thanks to good ‘ol TJ’s, I can keep beautiful flowers in my home without adding any spending guilt. I only wish you could smell them. The fragrance of the lilies is lovely and I have never experienced such bliss while doing the dishes as I have while breathing in a whiff of these flowers.

{trans}forminggratitude Day 18: I am thankful for my grandma. I happened to be out by her shop today and she gave me a mani/pedi and treated me to dinner. She also showed me how she is learning to use facebook on her new iPad mini and suggested that if I want to get married I should organize a singles dance through my local church 🙂 It was a sweet ending to a lovely day.

13+4=Day 17

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

One thing I am learning about myself through this project is that I am really bad at doing the same thing everyday for 30 days in a row. Except for the dishes, I hate having a sink full of dirty dishes so no matter what I always get the dishes done everyday. What can I say, I like variety and I don’t like standing at the sink scrubbing off two-day old food that has encrusted itself to my plates.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 17: While my friends were in town visiting this weekend we happened to drive by this remnant of a church building just a few blocks from my house. The beauty of it is its ruin. I imagine that in its glory this church had beautiful stained glass windows and lovely wooden pews. That has long given way to creeping ivy and crumbling stone. But, it does make me think of our lives and the beauty that can come in the midst of ruin, whether real or perceived.

{trans}forminggratitude Day 17: I am thankful for my dog, Buddy. I adopted him on Mother’s Day and while no one in my life would categorize me as an avid animal lover (albeit I am a vegetarian so I do think good treatment of animals is important) I do like this guy. This summer I have struggled on and off with feeling the blues as I continue to find my place here in St. Louis. The greatest benefit – at least in my perspective – of having a dog is that it requires me to have to take think of someone other than myself on days when I am feeling selfish, lonely and just want to lay in my bed and watch Netflix. He needs me to get him food and water, he needs a good brush everyday so my entire house isn’t coated in fur, and he loves to go on long walks. So, this guy is good for my health in so many ways and I am thankful for him.

12+1=Day 13

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

With the polar vortex hitting St. Louis this week the by-product has been unusually cool summer days. Since my body is no longer accustomed to the hot, humid, and hazy summer days St. Louis typically offers, I receive this rare gift with the most sincere gratitude. Sometimes it is so much easier to see beauty on a gorgeous, sunny day of summer vacation 🙂

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 13: This morning I completed my weekly chore of cutting my grass. However, I should clarify that while I love owning a little piece of land in the city, my land grows a sparse amount of grass and a tremendous amount of weeds. Hopefully, over time, this will change but for now I am glad that at least one of the weeds that grows on my land produces these lovely little purple flowers. Even though I cut them down every week I am always reminded that even amongst those things in our lives that are a nuisance that continually need to be reigned in, there is always something beautiful to be seen in its midst.

{trans}forminggratitude Day 13: I bought a washer and dryer! I am thankful for 4th of July sales, free delivery, 12 months with 0% interest, my dad (the installation man) and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, the ability to do laundry in my own house! Once you have lived without a washer and dryer, you will never take them for granted ever again.

10+1+1=Day 12

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

Last night I fell asleep before posting. Some days just end that way. Tonight I am posting the same thing for both beauty and gratitude and it is worth two days of posts.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 12: Love. There is nothing sweeter or greater on this earth that being loved and being known. Just over five months ago I left a life and people I loved to return to my midwestern homeland of St. Louis. I left some of the sweetest friendships I have ever know and while I saw the beauty in these friendship then, the beauty is even more apparent to me now in their physical absence.

{trans}forminggratitude Day 12: Again, it all come back to love. I am so grateful to have known and to know the love of friends and family. Love that is present with you at your worst and celebrates with you at your best. Truly, there is nothing greater and earth that I could be more grateful to give or receive.

9+1=Day 10

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

I am 1/3 of the way through my 30 day project to develop a greater sense of beauty and gratitude in my life. It’s amazing how much there is to see and discover when you take time to look for it.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 10: A good story – especially in the form of a great book – is absolutely beautiful to me. I am currently reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and I have been chewing on this quote (and the book) for most of today:

“How come it [the peacock] can’t fly no better than a chicken?” Milkman asked.
“Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can’t nobody fly with all that shit. Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”

Sometimes we have to give up the things that are binding us in order to be free – even if those things are beautiful, practical and even – at times – what we perceive as the greatest part of ourselves. Sometimes sacrificing a lesser beauty reveals a greater beauty than we could have ever imagined.

{trans}forminggratitude Day 10: I am thankful for lazy Sunday afternoons intermingled with reading and naps. As I head into my last two weeks of summer vacation, I am savoring every moment like this that I can get.

7-1+3=Day 9

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

Obviously, I didn’t post anything yesterday. I felt bad for about a minute and then quickly realized that despite the best of intentions sometimes we have days where things just don’t go as planned.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 9: This morning my mom and two aunts came over to my house for breakfast. I prepared a beautiful meal and enjoyed several hours of chatting and banter with them at my kitchen table. It would have been nice to include a picture for this but I was running behind when they arrived so I didn’t have time to take one beforehand and there are some moments that are worth just being with the people you are with and putting the phones and cameras away. Maybe next time I’ll get a picture but since I didn’t, why don’t you take a moment to remember your own experience of eating and chatting around someone’s kitchen table with friends and family. Savor the beauty of that moment in your life and if you haven’t invited anyone over for dinner (or breakfast or lunch) in a while…get to texting and start inviting!

{trans}forminggratitude Day 9: I am thankful for grace. Grace that covered my lapse in posting yesterday and grace that covers my many failures, mix-ups, mistakes and shortcomings. Grace that speaks a better word than shame. Grace that tells me the truth of where I went wrong but that reminds me that I was loved all along.

6+1=Day 7

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

Here’ a little trivia for today. It has been one week since I started recording daily bits of beauty and gratitude. It has also been one week since I ate dairy. Surprisingly, I haven’t missed it much.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 7: I spent the day with one of my almost life-long friends and her two fun kids. We went to the City Garden and everything about it was beautiful – my friends, the kids, the weather, the park, and all of the other folks who were there enjoying the day, too. If you live in or near St. Louis and haven’t been there, you should definitely stop by for a visit!

http://www.citygardenstl.org/

{trans}forminggratitude Day 7: I hate paying for parking but am thankful for how advanced parking meters have become. Not only can you pay with debit card, but you can even get a text message sent to you when a meter is about to expire and can add more time just by texting back how many minutes you want to add. For those of you who know how many parking tickets I have procured over the last 7 years, you know that this is like a dream come true. The only thing that would be better would be free parking!

5+1=Day 6

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 6:
This house is on the corner of my block. When I bought my house it seemed as though they were just beginning the rehab process. I love to see old homes restored but I took one look at this house and thought to myself “This one is too far gone.” Apparently, the owners saw something I didn’t. Sometimes, to see the beauty around us we have to see it through someone else’s eyes. I can’t wait to see it when it is complete!

{trans}forminggratitude Day 6:
I am thankful for my Community Group from North Church. While these relationships are still forming, it is a blessing to have a group of people who are willing to share life with one another and with me. They are definitely a blessing to my life.

 

4+1=Day 5

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

A restful night’s sleep can do wonders for the body and soul! I woke up in a much better state than yesterday…and I am sure everyone in my life is thankful for that.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 5:
These little white wild flowers that look like trumpets grow in the vacant lot that I walk my dog by everyday. The thing that strikes me as beautiful about them is their shape…it is almost as if they were designed to sing some lovely little song to those who pass by. Sometimes, in the quiet morning before the City wakes up, I try to listen to see if I can hear their song.

{trans}forminggratitude Day 5:
I am so thankful for mercy and mornings.

3+1=Day 4

To read the background on this 30 day project, click here.

I have put off writing this post all day. I woke up this morning feeling everything other than gratitude and unable to discover beauty in anything. I was in PA last week visiting my friends [who are like family] and my time with them was so, so sweet. However, it has also made me feel lonelier than I have in 5 months. The first three months of my relocation back to St. Louis were filled with excitement and exhaustion, but there was so much activity swirling around me I hardly had a moment to breathe, much less feel. Now that I am in the three to six month period of transition things are no longer new but I am not rooted. My roots here in St. Louis are sprouting and I have made some intentional steps to nurture them and encourage their growth, but this is a process that simply takes time and can hardly be rushed.

Days like today are a good reason to make commitments, and to share those commitments with someone outside of yourself. It is commitments like this 30 project that help keep us connected and faithful when we would rather throw in the towel. Despite what I feel, I am glad to have to choose to see beyond my circumstances in this moment and not allow this day to define the whole of my life.

{extra}ordinarybeauty Day 4:
My friends. They are some of the most beautiful people I know.

{trans}forminggratitude Day 4:
The setting of the sun, signaling that whatever this day held, it is ending and a new day will soon arrive.

Until tomorrow…