5 Star Challenge: Part III

More of the challenge, the question for this one is 5 things I'm grateful for.  (I'm taking this as "grateful" in the sense of "happy that I have".  As I searched through for pics, I thought of many more, but I said I was keeping this casual, so here goes.)


My family.  They're an everyday reminder of my top values and I love both my husband and son with such overwhelming joy.

Have I mentioned my love of snuggling?

Friends.  My best bud far away and all my mom, Objectivist blogger friends(JKLABKHY) and all my NWO friends and my neighborhood friends too.  I'm not a big socializer, but I do gain such pleasure from sharing with and learning from this nurturing group.

Cruising Alaska with a best-bud is highly recommended!

Horses.  Even though my husband is now allergic so we're no longer riding across New Zealand (nor at home), I love that these creatures exist and that they're so beautiful and so elegant to watch (that is when they're not being goofy and flipping out over a scary gum wrapper on the ground).  I still find watching them move so beautifully to be deeply soothing.

Morgans are not the best dressage horses, but we had fun.

Sea Ranch.  More generally, I love the ocean and I find it nourishes my sense of peace and happiness to relish the full sensory experience of visiting the coast.  This spot in particular is my favorite.  If I visit a coastal spot that lacks the cliffs or the cedars or the tide pools or the grandeur, I miss it.

My parents.  Yes, there are things we disagree about, but they have always loved me and nurtured me and clearly done the best that they possible could.  They have been honest and supportive and trusting and they fundamentally helped establish my sense of the world as a safe place with good people.  I certainly didn't do anything to achieve such parents, but I am happy to have them and sincerely appreciate their goodness.  

My marvelous mom when I surprised her for Mother's Day (and when she knew the next Mother's Day I'd be a mom too.  (There's something special about that first Mother's Day when you're pregnant and anticipating... it was extra special to share it with my mom who had no clue that I would be snuggling with her and not calling from 800 miles away.)

My dear dad who has loved me whole heartedly since the 70s!

Here's to cherishing that which we're grateful for.