February 17th: I Love.....

...birthdays.

It doesn't matter whose.  

Anybody's birthday is cause for celebration in my book.

Today happens to be my birthday.  

41.  

I'm officially...in my 40s.

I had fun plans in store.
Really fun.

But, as life would have it...

those plans have changed.

Obligations have come up.

I was pretty bummed about it.

Honestly?  I still am.

I bought myself some tulips in an 

attempt to lift my spirits.

They worked a little.

And music from
Jason Mraz always makes me
so happy.
Lately I can't get enough of his songs.

Bottom line?

I'm super-blessed.  

And anything I spend doing on my birthday

is to be treasured.

I'll be repeating that to myself today.

Thank you, God, for giving me 

another year to celebrate.

And for giving me the 

hope and courage

to stretch my wings a bit 

as my 41st year takes flight.

Change is definitely in the air.

And it feels good.

February 14th: I Love....

...my Valentines.  

My heart swells with love for them.  

And I'm joining Brene and others as we strive to be
extra-generous...
extra-kind...
extra-loving
this Valentine's week.

 

Who knows?  Maybe it'll be habit-forming.
World-changing.
At least in someone's world.

February 10th: I Love....

...powerful quotes.   

Like this one I stumbled upon the other day.

"Courage doesn't always roar.  

Sometimes courage is the little voice 

at the end of the day that says 

I'll try again tomorrow." 

~Mary Anne Radmacher

February 5th: I Love....

.....Texas.

This video says it all.  

My fellow Texans will totally get it.

Think you might see this if you
watch the Superbowl
(which is in Dallas, TEXAS) tomorrow.

Yee Haw.

February 4th: I Love.....

....snow!

I can say that I love snow since I'm not knee deep in it.

I can say that I love snow since I don't have to shovel it
on a regular basis.

I can say that I love snow since I'm not stuck at home 

with the kids after consecutive snow days in a row...

pulling my hair out and going stir-crazy.

Last night brought us only a light dusting...

pretty much what you would expect as far as 

snowfall in South Texas.

But it was just enough.

The pups loved it.

 

So did the kids.






Here is an example of what can happen

when you let your sister dress you.

An attempt at throwing a snowball.

Deven's goggle mark.  

 

Which morphed into a happy snow face.

After awhile...we had had enough fun for the time being.  

It was time to go inside and thaw out...

which is only possible with hot chocolate, I'm told.

Apparently this light dusting of snow covered 

significant ice patches on the rode...

hence, our SNOW DAY---staying home from school.

So far I've had to break up 4 fights 

and put 1 kid in a time-out.  

It's only 10am.

Think it might be a long day.

Thankfully, we're thawing out tomorrow.  Sunny and 65.

Unpredictable, ever-changing Texas weather at its best.

February 3rd: I Love....

...mornings.

And I think I always have.  Just ask my family and peeps...I'm a self-proclaimed "annoyingly cheerful morning person." 

Call me crazy (and I have plenty of friends out there who will), but I love waking up.  I love that first cup of coffee.  I love how excited the puppies are when I greet them and scoop them up out of their kennel.  I love putting the pups on the kids' beds...watching their little tongues kiss the children to a full state of wakefulness.  I love breakfast foods. 

Now there are some in my family (Animesh & Priya to be specific) who do not feel as I do about mornings.  In fact, where those two are concerned, the word grumpy comes to mind.  And they freely admit that so I can blog this without guilt.

But the boys and I are early-birds.  Catching the proverbial worm at sunrise.

Just don't expect me to answer the phone past 9:00pm.  I'll be asleep by then.

February 1st: I Love...

...this quote on Brene's blog.  

Thanks, Brene, for sharing this.   

How powerfully this captures what it means to

love deeply and completely....

and vulnerably.

Last February I was inspired by a friend to 

share month-long blog posts 

capturing people & places & things that I love.

This February I'm hoping 

to do the same.

And I'm also hoping that you'll be back to visit...

and also to share some of those people & places & things 

that you love.