Vegas Trip

Vacations are among my top ten favorite things to do. This past week my mom had a 5-day work conference in Las Vegas. My sister and I decided to tag along as a vacation. While five days in Vegas is a lot, we made the most of it and had a blast.

We stayed at Bally's right in the middle of the strip. While I loved being right next to Paris and in the middle of the strip I would not recommend this hotel at all! I hated the hotel itself! First of all, the food options in this hotel were minimal, they didn't even have any sort of cafe for a sit down meal, it was ridiculous. Second, the room was dirty. The carpet had gross stains, the bedspread had a hole in it, and we even had a moth in our room! YUCK! Finally, the pool was nine miles away. In order to get to the pool you had to walk a mile through the shops and food court area. Who wants to do that in a bathing suit?? Not I! 

The saving grace regarding the hotel was that it was attached to the Paris hotel. Yay!! We spent most of our time over there. The food options were much better with a cafe, bakery, and a delicious buffet. It was also a fun hotel to simply walk through. You felt like you were taking a stroll on the cobblestone streets of Paris! I also enjoyed playing in the casino there much better. The slots options were a lot more fun. They had a set of slots with fun wilds. Tara sat down one day and won a quick $50 playing Wild Pixies. It was fun to watch. They also had a Wizard of Oz slot that was a lot of fun to watch other people play. I played it but didn't win too much. 

My mom's conference went from 7-5 every day, so Tara and I were on our own regarding entertainment during the day. The first day we spent time just exploring the Paris hotel. I am obsessed with Paris so it was fun to walk through the different shops. We also went through a lot of the shops at our hotel and stopped for some frozen yogurt. That night we went over to Treasure Island and had dinner at Kahunaville! They have a pina coloda chicken that is to die for! Seriously the best meal in Vegas!! Afterward we stopped into Senor' Frogs. They were having karaoke night and Tara wanted to dance. It wasn't long before a group of girls adopted her and had her on stage singing with them. She had a blast. Tara did a lot of dancing during this trip, and every time she did she ended up with a group of people surrounding her. I think next time we go we should take a boom box and let her dance on the street for money! We'd be rich!! 

Day two of the trip was the best! We walked down to the Mirage and spent the day at Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden Habitat. They have three pools with a total of ten dolphins. The trainers do dolphin interaction shows every 45 minutes. There is also an underwater viewing area for a different perspective of the dolphins. Tara and I found a lovely spot where we could sit in some comfortable chairs under an umbrella and watch the dolphins swim and play in one of the pools. It was perfect! I could have sat there all day! It was beautiful. The habitat is also the home to some white tigers, leopards, and lions. The spotted leopard was strikingly beautiful as were the white tigers. 

The highlight of the day was when we participated in a meet and greet with the dolphin. The first thing we had to do was take off our shoes and roll our shorts up as high as we could. Then they made us step in this black liquid stuff. The liquid was to remove any impurities from the bottom of our feet, so we didn't transfer it into the dolphin pool. Once we'd stepped in the black stuff we were free to walk around on the dolphin side of the pool. The trainer signaled to have one of the dolphins slide up onto the "shore". The dolphin we were able to meet was named Lightning. He is a 40-year-old

dolphin and the father of the twin 3-year-old dolphins also playing in the pool. Once the trainer had

Lightning up on the "shore" we got to walk over and pet him, hug him, have a photo taken with him, etc. It was SO much fun!! I have also wanted to meet a dolphin. My ultimate goal is to swim with the dolphins, but I couldn't afford that this trip so this was the next best thing. When Tara's turn to meet the dolphin was over she walked back to the wall of the pool and shouted, "I can't believe I just did that!" All the trainers started to laugh. It was definitely an experience to remember for both of us. 

To finish off the day we decided to do the Eiffel Tower Experience. We waited until my mom was out of her conference so she could do it with us, and so we could do it in the dark. We rode the elevator inside the Eiffel Tower all the way up to the top. It is 460 feet in the air and once you are up there the observation deck gives you a 360 degree view of the Las Vegas lights. It was pretty awesome! The best part was being able to see the Bellagio water show from that height. It gave you a whole new perspective of the show! It was breathtaking! 

After walking almost 20,000 steps we decided to take it a bit easier the next day. We spent most of day three resting and playing in the casino. My mom brought us bagels from her conference for breakfast and Tara and I hung out in the room putting together a puzzle. Then we went over to Planet Hollywood walked through the shops, and played a bit in the casino. My mom had an earlier day and once she was done with her conference she and Tara decided to take a nap. I wasn't feeling sleepy so I decided to take $20 and go play while they slept. I walked over to Planet Hollywood and sat down at the Willy Wonka machine. I had watched people play this while I was over there earlier that day, and it looked fun. I put in my $20 and started to bet the minimum amount because I wanted to be able to play on my $20 for as long as I could and not lose it right off the bat. This particular machine has lots of bonus features, one of which is that randomly the Oompa Loompa's will come up and sing their little song while pushing a wild down and making a reel wild. Well, on my second hit they popped up on my screen. They started singing and pushed down a wild, and another wild, and another...they just kept going! They ended up giving me 4 reels wild!! Then on top of that they gave me a 5x multiplier!! I couldn't believe it!! The lady sitting next to me couldn't believe it either! We both started freaking out as the win amount kept getting higher and higher! I ended up walking away from that machine with $280!! It was such a rush!! Once I cashed out I quickly made my way back to the room where my mom and Tara were just waking up. My mom about died when I told her how much I had won! It was so fun, the only thing that would have made it more fun was if they had been there to watch! I did start to think about how cool it would have been if I had been betting more than the minimum, but then decided that was selfish thinking and was happy with what I had. I took $200 for the trip and ended up coming home with $240! I'd say that's pretty good for five days in Vegas!! 

Day four, Tara and I walked over to Caesar's Palace. We did some window shopping and spent time looking at the fish in the aquarium, as well as watching the ten minute show they have on the fall of Atlantis. Tara really enjoyed it. That night we went to a mentalist show. Oh mylanta, it was amazing!! The guy's name was Frederic Da Silva. He started off the show by throwing out four frisbee's. We had VIP seats and were right on the front row so I caught one easily and was called up on stage. He did a few things with me but the one that got to me the most was he asked me to think of a person I knew well, someone I knew details of their life. Then he walked away and did something with another person on stage. A few minutes later he came back to me, got down on one knee, and stared at me. Then he said he was getting that it was a young person. I said yes, it was. He stood and kept staring at me then he said..."eight". I was floored and said yes. He grabbed a white board and marker and then said he was getting an "S" I again confirmed he was correct. He stared at me a moment longer and then said, "This is a long name". Flabbergasted, I confirmed he was once again correct. He then turned and wrote something down. He put the white board down and did something with someone else on stage, then he came back to me and handed me the microphone. He asked me to say the name of the person I was thinking of, I said, "Savannah". He then turned over his white board to reveal he had written down the name Savannah! It was crazy!! My mom started crying she was so in awe that he had correctly read my mind. It was trippy! I have no idea how he was able to do that! He did two other things involving me and then later in the show my mom was called up on stage and I am in complete shock as to how, but he was able to use another audience member to correctly state my mom's birthday. It was mind blowing!! If you are ever in Vegas I highly recommend going to see his show!! 

Finally, our time in Vegas came to an end, but we weren't ready to come home just yet. We drove to St. George and stayed the night with our good friends Rob and Sherry. It had been years since we had seen them and it was great to reconnect. A wonderful way to end the vacation. 

As much as I love vacations 6 nights away from home is a long time. I am glad to be home and sleeping in my own bed again! 

Luvs & Hugs, 

Tiff

Never Give Up!

When I first moved to North Ogden in 2008 I didn't have enough money to pay for internet or television service. This left me with very little to do in order to entertain myself. I started looking for something that would keep up my interests as well as fill my time. While browsing around Walmart one day I found a puzzle that was a picture made up of a million other little pictures. It looked like something that would definitely take up a lot of time, so I made the purchase.

At home I cleared off my table and dumped out the box of puzzle pieces. My first thought..."This is going to be harder than I expected." Piece by piece I started putting the puzzle together. I got excited when I started to see sections of it coming together. I gained a new sense of accomplishment with each completed section. However, it did turn out to be harder than I thought and several times along the way I considered packing it all back in the box and calling it quits. The puzzle took up my entire kitchen table and I was getting sick of eating off the floor. I was also frustrated that I had pieces that I was sure were from an entirely different puzzle. Day by day I kept going back to my puzzle. Some days I would just sit and stare at it never finding a piece to put together, other days I'd only place one puzzle piece, and some days I'd luck out and find several pieces that fit together. One by one the pieces came together to create a beautiful puzzle.

I was thrilled the day I placed the final piece of the puzzle in it's correct spot. I had worked so hard on this puzzle that I didn't want to take it apart. I bought some puzzle glue and permanently sealed the pieces together. I told myself I was going to frame it and hang it up so that I always have the physical reminder that I can do hard things.

Six years later I was gearing up to move back home and I found my puzzle tucked behind the bookshelf still unframed. I worked so hard to finish the puzzle, but then gave up when I struggled to find the perfect frame to fit it in. I hid it away and forgot about it. Upon finding the puzzle a renewed sense of determination came over me and I decided it didn't matter if I couldn't find a frame to fit it perfectly. It was more important to simply have it framed than to have it framed perfectly. It took me six years, but I finally added the final

"puzzle" piece and hung up my masterpiece.

Do you have anything in your life that you've started and are struggling to finish? Are you frustrated because the puzzle pieces of your life don't seem to fit together? Is there something you felt was too hard to accomplish so you hid it away and forgot about it?

Just like my experience with this puzzle. Life needs to be handled day by day, piece by piece. We all get frustrated when things don't go the way we planned or come together when we want them to, but eventually things always work out and we find that the puzzle comes together in the end, the trick is to never give up. No matter what your puzzle looks like or how difficult it seems to finish, keep picking up the pieces and doing your best every single day. It may take a week, six years, or a lifetime to fully finish your puzzle, but I promise someday it will come together and you'll realize it was worth every frustrating minute along the way.

Project 365 Update

Even though I have been away from my blog for a while I have still been taking my pictures for Project 365. However, I am getting to a point where finding something new to take a picture of every day is hard! I'm sticking to it though and will be interested to see how it all turns out at the end of the year.

Here are some of the pics from the last month or so just to keep you updated on what's been going on in my life. 

 Family karaoke night for Tyson and Ashley's birthday!

 Packing, Packing, Sleeping...wait what? Tara's sleeping on the job! 

 Oh the fun things you find when you are packing up everything you own! 

 Painting Day!

 Isaac's birthday party!

 Surgery day for Mom

 Attending the funeral of my amazing Uncle Owen! 

Happy 4th of July! 

As you can see life has been a bit of rollercoaster with being busy, happy, and sad. Yet, it has been life. If life weren't a bit like a rollercoaster it might get pretty dull. It is the up's and down's of life that keep us on our toes and looking forward to tomorrow, because you never know what tomorrow will bring. The trick is to enjoy the ride no matter where it takes you. 

Luvs & Hugs! 

Add Art

I am not a very artistic person. I can't draw, paint, or do crafts. However, I love the act of creating something. It is very invigorating and at the same time relaxing to my mind.

I love to color. I know that sounds like a little kid thing to say, but I love it. When I was a kid my mom and I used to have coloring contests. She would color one page, I would color another. In the end we would have my dad judge the two pictures and declare a winner. I won a lot and thought I was seriously the best coloring person in the whole neighborhood. As I grew older I realized I probably only won because I was three and my parents were trying to build my self-confidence. It worked though to this day I enjoy coloring and think I'm pretty awesome at it....just don't put me in a coloring contest with a 3-year-old because I will lose every time!

No matter what level of artist we are I believe that we all need to spend time adding art to our life. Art is good for the soul. Unleashing our creativity whether by painting the Mona Lisa or coloring a Dora the Explorer coloring book opens up something within us and lifts us up emotionally.

When I have a lot of my mind, coloring helps me to process it all. When I'm upset or stressed about drama going on in my life, coloring relaxes me. When I'm bored, coloring adds simple joy to my day.

Art can also bless the lives of others. When I'm done coloring I take those images and turn them into handmade cards. I send the cards to friends and family and watch how touched they are by upon receiving it. Their joy doesn't come because the artwork is a masterpiece of perfection, but because it was made with love. No matter your skill level you can bless someone with your artful creations.

Today I want you to go find something to create. Go add some art to your day somehow. I promise you'll enjoy it.

Are You A Dragon Warrior?

How many of you have seen Kung Fu Panda? I love this movie!

In the beginning we have Po; he is a fat, lovable, panda working in a noodle shop with his dad. His dad has dreams that Po will one day take over the family noodle business and carry on the family tradition of selling noodles to the village. Po on the other hand isn't a huge fan of noodles. He is, however, obsessed with the Furious Five...the kung fu warriors that protect the village.

One day Po is helping his dad serve noodles when he learns that Master Oogway is going to choose the Dragon Warrior. Po is thrilled. He can't wait to get to that ceremony. He wants be right there on the front row catching all the action up close. Unfortunately, Po doesn't get to the ceremony in time and is locked out. Determined he straps himself to a chair with fireworks tied to it and launches himself over the walls and into the arena. His entrance causes quite a scene and he lands in the middle of the arena just as Master Oogway points to him and announces he is the Dragon Warrior.

Po is as shocked as everyone else. He tries to back away so the Master can point to someone else. He tries to convince the Master that he is a nobody and that he should pick one of the Furious Five to be the Dragon Warrior, they are much stronger and warrior-like than he is. However, Master Oogway will not change his mind. Po reluctantly follows the Five up to the warrior training camp. He decides to give it a shot and start training. He tries to copy the moves of the Tiger warrior, He tries to fight like the snake...all with no success. He is classified at a level zero in his training. Po does not give up, he keeps training. He stops hanging around the Five and spends all his days training with Master Shifu. He finds what motivates him...food! He discovers his own strengths and starts to believe in himself as the Dragon Warrior. In the end he is able to use the power of the Dragon Warrior to defeat the bad guy and save the day.

Now, nothing magical happened to Po along the way. From the moment where he was a level zero to the time he was the Dragon Warrior saving the day there was no secret ingredient no magic scroll that gave him power. He was the Dragon Warrior the whole movie! In the beginning when he was making noodles with dad, he was the Dragon Warrior. However, it wasn't until he stopped comparing himself to others and started to believe in himself that he was able to use that power for good.

You my friend are a Dragon Warrior. You are a Son or Daughter of God! You have been a Child of God your entire life. You will be a Child of God forever. However, we all have the weakness of comparing ourselves to others. We compare ourselves to family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and celebrities...always seeing the grass as greener on the other side. We try do the things they do, but with no success. However, once we stop comparing ourselves to others, spend all of our time with the Master of the Universe, and recognize the divine qualities He has given to each of us individually we will be able to unlock the power of divinity within us. We will then be able to bless the lives of others and overcome anything Satan throws our way.

I was reading in D&C section 5 the other night and came across verse 4. In this verse the Lord is speaking to Joseph Smith and tells him that he has been given the gift to translate. He then says something that really popped out at me. He said, "I have commanded that you should pretend to no other gift". I love this! God has given us all our own special gifts and we need to stop pretending to have a gift other than the ones he has given us. Don't compare your gift to Sally's and try then pretend you can do it as well as her. That is not your gift. If you don't know what your divine gifts are then spend some time with the Master. He will teach you. Be proud of your gifts and use them to be your own kind of Dragon Warrior!

Special Surprises

You wake up expecting the day to go just like any other. You go through your daily routines expecting nothing out of the ordinary. Then all of a sudden someone shows up at your doorstep with a bouquet of flowers just because they are thinking of you. Your seemingly ordinary day is transformed into something special just like that.

You're sitting on the couch watching TV after a long day and all of a sudden you get a text from a friend you haven't talked to in a while. 

You put on your coat for the first time in the winter season and find money in the pocket. 

Your cleaning house and find that last item that you thought you'd never find. 

These are the kind of surprises that I love! Little things that happen unexpectedly and brighten up your whole day. 

In the past few weeks I've had two of these wonderful surprises happen to me. 

One day I was getting ready to go to a viewing and in the middle of doing my hair I got a text from a friend asking if I was home. I replied that I was and a few minutes later there was a knock at my door. There stood my friend with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She said that she just wanted to let me know she was thinking of me. Totally made my day!!

The other special surprise I got came from a candle. A few weeks ago I bought something called a Diamond Candle. They are great smelling candles and hidden in every candle is a ring valued anywhere from $10 to $5,000. In order to get the ring you just have to burn the candle and as it melts down you'll ring will appear. It could be near the top of the candle or it could be buried at the very bottom...who knows. You also have no idea what the ring is going to look like as each one is very different. I have been burning my candle and enjoying it's sweet honeysuckle fragrance for a week or so when I suddenly noticed something shiny floating in the wax. I got so excited! I scooped it out and unrolled the foil to reveal a very pretty ring! I loved it. It was such a fun surprise to brighten up my day. 

I'm so grateful for simple unexpected things that can change the course of my entire day! Life should always be filled with special surprises! 

Are You Paying Attention to Your Life?

It's time to share a few more pictures from my Project 365 photo a day. I don't post every one of them here in the blog, but if you'd like to see more of them you can follow me on Instagram. I post quite a few of them there.

Day 20: I have been super sick which means I spend most of my days just lying around in my pj's trying to feel better. Well, on day 20 I actually got dressed for the first time in 20 days! It felt good! I had missed wearing jeans. I love wearing comfy clothes, however, you don't realize how much you appreciate good clothing until you've gone so long without it. I am so grateful for clothes to wear both on days when I'm sick and lying around in my pj's and for days when I want to get out of the house and dress up a bit. It's little things like this that make me realize how much I take for granted.

Day 30: I love discovering new things, especially when they are right in my backyard! I was at my Mom's house when my Uncle called and said, "Do you want the best hot dog in Utah?". Recently the local news station ran an article about the top 4 hot dog joints in Utah, and the number one place is right around the corner from my mom's house! I had never heard of the place, had absolutely no idea it was there. The name of the joint is simply "That Hot Dog Place". When we got there the worker was giving someone their to go order. He then turned to us and asked what he could get for us. As all seven of us placed our orders he explained that it would take a minute for him to get it all together because he was on his own tonight. 

We got talking to him and found out he was the owner and had sent his other employee home because someone in her family was in the hospital. He was very kind and actually worked quite fast, it seemed like our order was ready in no time. My mom loves polish dogs, but she is very specific on how she likes them. She told this guy exactly how to make her polish dog. He had never made one that way before, but said he would do his best. Afterwards my mom commented that it was the best polish dog she's ever had, he had made it perfectly! The rest of us loved our dogs as well. While we were finishing up eating I glanced up and noticed the owner was looking towards us and counting how many of us there were. I thought it was a bit odd so I kept watching him...he walked over to the corner and started doing something on a machine, and that is when I realized he was getting ice cream. He came over and gave each of us a small container of vanilla ice cream since it was our first time in the place. It was so nice; the kids loved it! All in all we were very pleased with the place. The buns on the hot dogs were the best part...so delish! This cool little place has been right around the corner from my mom's house for two years and I never even knew it existed. It makes me wonder what else is out there that I'm missing out on because I'm not paying enough attention.

Day 32: Sometimes you just have to force yourself to do something even if you don't really feel like it. I wasn't feeling well again this day and would have really liked to stay in bed and rest. I'd done a lot the previous two days with doctor visits and such and it was wearing on me. However, today was the day of the Tarzan musical at Weber High. I bought tickets for this show back in December and gave them to Tara and Savannah for Christmas. Becca Shaffer was also in the show and I've attended most of her plays since she was in junior high....I didn't want to miss this one. We had tickets to the matinee performance it included what they called, Feast with the Beast, which meant that you got a boxed brunch and while you ate the apes from the show ran around the room and interacted with everyone. There was also a professional photographer who would take your picture with Tarzan and Jane. When she first saw them Sav was a little
afraid of the apes, but once we explained they were just people in costumes she opened up to them and loved every second of it. They would come and take pictures with her, play with her hair, and one even sat on the table playing with her stuffed animal she brought with her. All of the excitement from the brunch got Sav even more excited for the play. The cast did a great job, as they always do, and the show was fantastic. Savannah spent the rest of the day pretending she was an ape! I went home and literally crashed, I think I fell asleep that night about 6:30 pm! Attending everything had really worn me out, but I'm glad that I forced myself to do it. I had a blast watching Tara and Savannah have so much fun, watching Becca be a silly ape, and watching a wonderful play. Sometimes you just have to force yourself to do something even if you don't feel like it, because in the end you'll regret it if you don't!

Day 28: Technology

I am a very visual person. I love looking at pictures and remembering people, experiences, and moments. I remember the first time I started scrapbooking, I was in love! I got to take those pictures I loved so much and put them on a super cute page in a super cute book that I could look at over and over again, much easier than flipping through photo albums with no journaling or extra cuteness to enhance the memory re-living experience. After a while, I got totally bored with scrapbooking! I am not, I repeat not, a crafty person. I loved the end result, but got so bored cutting out shapes, finding the right type of glue to use, and having to clean up all the mess left behind. I did what every non-crafty scrabbooker did and I quit! I stopped with a half finished scrapbook and said, maybe I'll try again someday and I shoved all the scrapbooking supplies in the corner. I was absolutely delighted when I learned they had computer programs that would take all the fuss out of scrapbooking and still leave me with a beautiful page filled with memories.

One little piece of technology out there is called the QR Code. I have to admit that I am quickly becoming more and more obsessed with these codes! If you don't know what a QR Code is I'll do my best to explain it. It is a little square that looks a bit like a barcode. You download a free app onto your phone called a QR Code Reader and then use it to scan the codes where ever you see them, when you do it will open up something on your phone leading you to whatever is programmed onto that code. I have been using them lately in my scrapbooking and love it! It is a way for me to not only scrapbook pictures, but also video. For example, I made a scrapbook page of my brothers wedding and next to the picture of the part of the ceremony where he sang to her I put in a QR code. Now, when I'm looking at that scrapbook page and I see the code I pull out my phone and scan it, immediately it brings up the video I recorded of my brother singing at the wedding! The scrapbook page of the day I took my sister to the zoo now has a video of the polar bear swimming! It brings these pages to life and I love it! I have even started using these codes as a way to help my young women do their personal progress. I give them a page with QR codes on them that pull up mormon messages videos, conference talks, and spiritual songs for them to listen to while they write in their journals. I admit it...I am addicted to these codes!

I am so grateful for the technology we have in our day. I rely so much on technology as I go about my day. I use my cell phone frequently to immediately get in touch with family and friends. I use my laptop for a million different things all day long. I use it to keep in touch with friends, spread the word about awesome programs like Ivy Girl Academy, as entertainment when I'm bored out of my mind, I use it to keep my journal, and do my scrapbooking..I could go on forever on all the ways my computer blesses my life. Yet, I use each of these devices every day without a second thought at how lucky I am to have them at my fingertips. Technology is awesome and deserves to be recognized! :0)

Everyday Blessings

This year has started out pretty bumpy for me. I have been battling some health issues and have been stuck in the house most of the time. Unless I’m headed to a doctor appointment I spend most of my days doing the exact same thing…lying on the couch either reading or watching tv. This scenario does not make it easy to find something meaningful to take a picture of every day. Many days I sit on the couch, camera in hand, looking around the room wondering why I started this goal because my life is way too boring to take a picture of every day! The longer I sit there pondering over my day and what could possibly be picture worthy I start to see things differently. Instead of seeing the same TV I look at every day I see a source of joy during an otherwise miserable time. Instead of seeing a sink full of dirty dishes I see that I didn’t go hungry like so many in this world do.

Here are a few of my pictures over the past 24 days:

I am so grateful to have a bed!! I love crawling into bed after a long day and curling up in my covers. It is a daily comfort that I know I take advantage of. One of the best feelings in the world is to be sleeping in your own bed. As I’ve been sick over the past few weeks it’s been difficult to get much sleep, however, I still love lying in bed, burying my head in the pillow and pulling the covers close to my face. It’s not only brings me a feeling of comfort, but a feeling of peace. It is a blessing to know that no matter what troubles are waiting for me once I get up I can always come back to bed at the end of it all and feel of that peace again.

The world is full of good people! I have been so blessed by the kindness of the others the past few weeks. I've had people bringing me in wonderful meals, texting me to make sure I’m doing okay, grocery shopping for me, and so on. As days go by I tend to get wrapped up in myself. I get so focused on what I am doing in my life that I forget to stop and think about those around me. I am surrounded by some amazing people! It makes such a difference in my day to get a phone call from a neighbor telling me she just bought a Subway sandwich and wants to know If I want half, or to wake up after a difficult night to see a loving text from a caring friend just checking in. We all have times in life when we get lonely, but knowing that someone out there is thinking of you and praying for you can make brighten up even the darkest of days.

No matter what we are going through in life there isn't a day that goes by without something to be thankful for. Life is full of up’s and down’s we all have days where feel like we’re on top of the world and life is blue skies and sunshine guaranteed! On the other hand we also have days where life is tough, we spend our time worrying, crying, and praying it will pass quickly so we can find the sunshine again. Even on our darkest days it is important to count our blessings. It may take a lot of thought to find something to be thankful for, but if we look hard enough we will find there’s always something. Every night before I go to bed I take a piece of paper and write at least one thing I am thankful for that day and I put it in this jar. It is a reminder to me that we are blessed with more than we realize and God is always sending us tender mercies to help us along the way.

Project Life

For some time now I have had a feeling that I needed to be more aware of my life. I have a deep desire to recognize the blessings all around me, particularly the ones we take advantage of every day. I have started two different projects that I want to continue throughout the year to help me document my life and recognize life’s daily treasures in my life.

Project 365: This project is simply me taking a photo every day for a year. I want to take pictures of everything from the mundane to the special. I’ve been working on this for 23 days now and have discovered that finding something to take a picture of every day is not very easy. However, it is helping me to really think about my life and the world around me. Hopefully it will get easier as the year goes on and I grow more accustomed to looking/thinking outside the box.

Project Life: This project goes into a little more detail of documenting life. I plan on focusing on this one on a week by week basis. As part of project life I will be writing down my thoughts on who I am, things I enjoy, what I’m grateful for, and many other topics related to documenting my life. My hope with this is that it will help me take a deeper look into myself and really get to know me better on a much deeper level.

I decided to create this blog for me to post about my experiences. This journey is mine but it can also be yours. I hope that along the way you will start to take a deeper look at your own life and recognize some of life’s daily treasures that you are passing by. I believe that in doing this we can train our minds to see the good in every situation no matter what it is. We will come to love ourselves more and appreciate all we have in life. So, come join me on this journey and let’s uncover Life’s Daily Treasures!