My Happy Jar and Gratitude Journal

"I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself.  For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance, but by our disposition" Martha Washington

Last December was a difficult month for our family; we learned that my father-in-law had brain cancer.  Shortly thereafter, he had brain surgery and was due to begin radiation and chemotherapy in January.  This shocking turn of events caused me to count my blessings, more than ever before.  I felt thankful for every single day and all the little things; things that we all too often take for granted.

When 2013 arrived, I wanted to start the new year on a positive note.  I remembered seeing an online post about starting a memory jar at the beginning of each new year.   You drop in a note every time something good or special happens.  You are supposed to keep adding to it, the whole year long, and at the end of the year, empty it out to see how very blessed and fortunate you have been. I thought this was a great idea and set out to make my own jar.

I looked for a pretty glass jar.  You can make one too!  You can decorate it any way you like.  You can keep it simple or make it fancy, it's all up to you!  This is how mine looks...

I call it my Happy Jar!  Anyone in our family can add to it...Nuno, the girls, and myself.

It's nice and big so we can fill it with many happy things throughout the year.  I keep it on a shelf in the kitchen where we can see it at all times.

I bought the glass jar at Michael's and decorated it with things I already had at home.  The label and ribbon were gifts from friends, which made it even more special!  

My jar is filled with happy notes, receipts from special dates, a champagne cork, hearts, among other things.  It will be fun to empty it out at the end of this year to see what we all wrote.  Isn't it a wonderful idea?


I also started a gratitude journal in mid-January.  My first entry was on January 17th.  At the top of the page, I write the date and the words, "Today, I am thankful for..." or "I am grateful because...".  I take a few minutes every evening before I go to bed or early in the morning before I start my day to write down what I am most thankful for that day.

I've been doing this daily for over one month now and I can't tell you how much I enjoy doing it.  It is so rewarding to flip through the pages and recall all the blessings each day brings.  My girls wanted to start their own gratitude journals.  They, too, own one, and write down things they are thankful for.  Neither of them write in it daily like I do, but it's nice to see them pick up their journals once in a while to count their blessings.  

I bought an inexpensive little journal at the dollar store with blank pages and a ribbon .  You can buy a special journal too, and write in it with your favorite pen.  My pen has flowers all over it.  It was a gift from a sweet friend.  

My happy jar and gratitude journal have been a positive addition to the start of 2013 and to my life.  They serve to remind me how much happiness and blessings fill my daily life, even in the midst of life's most challenging times.  I have never been more thankful for my life, my family, my friends, and the simple little things - which in the end, matter the most of all!  

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 
thank-you, that would suffice" - Meister Eckhart

My blog brings me so much joy.  I am thankful to all of you who take the time to read it.  I really appreciate your comments and feedback. It lets me know that someone out there is actually reading this!  Wishing you all a happy, gratifying week!  xoxo

A Blessed & Thankful Weekend

It is the day after Thanksgiving holiday (for those of us who live in Canada).  Nearly one month has passed since my last post and of course, so much has happened since then!  The fleeting fall season is upon us and the autumnal trees are boasting their magnificent hues.  The girls have been in school for over one month now and our family has settled back into the daily routines and orderly schedules of the school year. 

 

On a less pleasant note, our little Annabel broke her arm over a week ago.  I can't tell you how awful it was for me the first couple of days.  But because Annabel is so strong and brave, she keeps me focusing on the positive.  With all the extra love and attention she's getting; fingers crossed, by Halloween, her cast will come off, and she will be good as new again! 

 

Aside from that bit of sad news, everything else is great!  We had such a glorious holiday weekend; filled with so many good things, I just can't wait to share it with all of you!

 

On Saturday, we went on our annual fall drive to see the changing leaves at their peak.  A mere thirty minute drive from our home, in the city of Orillia, we saw this spectacular scenery!

 

 

 

Autumn is my favourite season and these photos are proof of it.  Can you see the vibrant red, orange and yellow leaves?  It is breathtaking to see the trees on a sunny fall day; they radiate such a soft, warm glow this time of year.  It is M-A-G-I-C! 

The girls and I picked pretty fallen leaves and stuffed them in a book to take home and dry. 

 

We stopped for lunch and then went for afternoon tea at this quaint and cozy tea house in Orillia.

Click on the photo for a link to the website!

 

 

At the White Lions Tea House we enjoyed freshly brewed tea and scones!  If you are ever in the area, you must stop in and visit.  Laurie, the owner, is so warm and welcoming, and her freshly baked scones are delicious! 

 

Here is Laurie's selection of loose-leaf tea.  I love how she stores them in clear glass jars.  Even the drawers are smiling!

On Sunday afternoon, I made pumpkin pie to take to my parents' home for Thanksgiving the next day.

Here is the pie dough.  It's the first time I ever made this type of pie edge.  I notice that the more pies I make, the better I become at playing with the dough. 

I also made half a dozen mini pies, to be on the safe side.  Our house is full of pumpkin pie lovers and it would be very dangerous to have a whole pie out on the counter, for all to see. We wouldn't want anything happening to the Thanksgiving pie, now would we?


And finally, the much anticipated day arrived - Thanksgiving day - at my parents' house.

Here is the famous 24 pound turkey, after five hours roasting in the oven.
 For some reason, the turkey keeps getting tastier and tastier as the years go by!

Thanksgiving is about tradition.  Here are a few of ours:

My mom always makes the turkey, stuffing and potatoes
We always celebrate at my parents' house
I always bake the pumpkin pie
My dad always sets the table
Nuno (my husband) always carves and serves the turkey
We always eat too much!

I love this picture!  I was taking a photo of Nuno carving the turkey, when I noticed Anita unaware and staring at the turkey, licking her lips.  Simply priceless!

My plate - turkey breast, stuffing, potatoes and gravy - YUM!

And lastly, our dessert...

a slice of homemade pumpkin pie! 

This year we added something new to our Thanksgiving celebration.  Annabel and I wrote a Thanksgiving prayer together.  Annabel read it at the table yesterday before we carved the turkey.  From now on, the prayer will be read every year at our Thanksgiving dinner. 

I hope that my fellow Canadian friends enjoyed yesterday's Thanksgiving holiday. I hope it was filled with lots of love and gratitude.  I am thankful every day, but particularly on Thanksgiving day, for my wonderful family, my dear friends, my loving husband, and precious daughters. 

I am glad that a holiday like Thanksgiving exists; reminding us to take time out from our busy lives to fully appreciate all of our blessings.  Because no matter where we are in this life, no matter what the circumstances, there is always something to be thankful for.

Many blessing to you all!  Have a wonderful week and continue to enjoy the autumn leaves, while they're still here!  xo



A Most A-moose-ing Day!

Last Friday, Nuno, the girls and I took advantage of the Good Friday holiday by day-tripping to beautiful Algonquin Park, Ontario's oldest provincial park. The last time we visited was in the Fall, to see the gorgeous fall foliage.

The reason that brought us there this time was something very different.  This time we were looking to get a peek at moose in their natural habitat.  Algonquin Park is probably the best place for seeing Moose in Ontario, and possibly in all of North America!  It is also home to many other species of animals including deer, beavers, black bears and wolves.

Since neither one of us had ever seen a real, live moose in its natural habitat, we took the two-plus hour drive in the early Friday morning hours, before sunrise.  We set the alarm clock for 5 am because we know the best time to see moose is in the early morning hours, when everything is still relatively calm and there isn't a lot of traffic on the roads.

The reward for waking up so early is watching this glorious sunrise!

"There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope." - Bern Williams

We knew we were close to our destination when we saw this sign!

 After a smooth, quiet ride and some hot morning coffee, we finally arrived!

It only took a couple minutes driving through the park to encounter our first moose!

Here he is, drinking "salt" water right by the edge of the highway.  After winter's snow melts away, the salt-deficient moose come to drink the water in the ditches that are filled with sodium-rich road salt.  Hence, the perfect opportunity for us to spot them! 

Here he is, posing pretty for the camera.  We were all in the car pulled up right beside him and he let me take as many photos as I wanted.  I was beside myself with joy! 

As you can tell from the photo, Winter has not been kind to him.  Much of his fur is missing and he looks pretty haggard, the poor thing. 

I zoomed in on his face, where he looks the prettiest.  Isn't he gorgeous?!

 He doesn't have his antlers because they shed off before Winter and only grow back in the Spring (approximately one inch per day!)   

As we continued to drive along highway 60, through Algonquin Park, we came across this female turkey (hen) walking across the road and chasing behind our car, probably looking for food. 

This is a photo of another moose we saw further along the edge of the highway.  One man actually got out of his car to take photos of the moose - up close and personal.  Doesn't he know that if a moose feels threatened, he will attack?  The man was close enough to take photos from the car, but he felt the need to go out there and put his life in danger. 

We saw one more moose along the way, but I couldn't get a good shot of him.   All in all, we were pretty lucky to see three moose on our first attempt!

  As you can see from the photo, we couldn't have picked a more beautiful Spring day- the sky was so blue and the sun was shining warm and bright.

We saw several beaver dams on the surrounding lakes, but not a glimpse of any beavers.

I was so hoping to see them.  Maybe next time, we'll get lucky and see one!

We drove through Algonquin Park's Highway 60 Corridor, from the West Gate to the East Gate, totaling 56 km.  We took the same route back, hoping to find more wildlife along the way.  The drive back was much less active.  The only animals we saw were small birds flying amongst the trees.  This only confirmed what we already knew - the best time to see the animals at their most active is at daybreak.  We will definitely be returning again, maybe later this Spring.  I would love to see a mature moose with large antlers and maybe a bear or two, who knows?

On our drive back home, we stopped in the town of Orillia for lunch (30 minutes from home).  We drove past this pretty home.  I told Nuno, "Stop the car!  I NEED to take a picture of this!".  I can't tell you how beautiful this was in person.  The photo doesn't do it justice, but it gives you an idea.  Most of the front lawn was covered in these tiny, bluish-purplish flowers.  I don't know what they're called.  Do any of you know? 

Here is a close-up of the flowers.

I think this photo exudes all the beauty of Spring.  The tree branches are bare and yet there is so much life and colour surrounding them.  It's the promise and hope of Spring!

We arrived back home before mid afternoon and enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing and doing nothing in particular.  It was pretty close to perfect as a day could get! 

There is beauty everywhere we look and we don't have to roam very far to see it.   I love road trips, discovering and experiencing new things.  For me, in the end, the most precious of those things are the ones we take most for granted - the sunrise and sunset; the cloudless blue sky; the pretty little flowers growing right under our feet.  I am thankful for these things every day!  It was a GOOD FRIDAY! 

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

I hope that every single day you appreciate the little things.  It is so easy to take them for granted.  I always try to remind myself!  Sending love and hugs and wishes for a wonderful rest of the week!



Celebrating Parents

My fellow blogger friend, Emily, from the wonderful Keeping Time blog, is celebrating parents on her blog today.  She wants us to take a break from all the worries and anxieties involved in raising our children and to take a moment to celebrate the good things and share what makes us proud of ourselves, as parents.  I want to celebrate with her! 

What I am most proud of, is that I have raised my two girls to be grateful and express thankfulness.  I am always telling them how I grateful I am for everything in my life.  I don't want them to take anything for granted - the sun shining on a Monday morning; the sight of a big, beautiful full moon on a starry night; the gathering of our family around the table for a yummy weeknight dinner.  After all, it truly is the simple things in this world, that make life worth living. 


Here is a note that my eldest daughter, Anita (10) wrote for me a few months ago, in her exact words.

"Hi Mommy,

Thank you for everything.  Thank you for making my lunches and baking cookies and helping me with my work and thank you for buying me things I need.  THANK YOU! 

Anita

Oct. 2011"


This was written on a school night, for no reason at all, but to express her gratitude to me.  If I succeed at nothing in this world, I have succeeded in raising my girls to appreciate the little things, to be thankful for everything, and for that I am grateful! 

Thank you, Emily, for inviting parents to your celebration.  You are a wonderful mother to your two girls!  Congratulations!  I celebrate you and all the other parents doing their best to raise their children to be the best they can be.