practicing gratitude.

I've had the gratitude journal that you see above for several years (it was a gift from my lovely friend Lauren). I'd really like to be the person who writes a gratitude list faithfully each day, filling pages with thoughtful entries. The reality? I forget about the journal, and often fall back on "I am grateful for coffee" when I can't think of anything else (although I am truly grateful for coffee). I'm trying to be more mindful about gratitude these days, and making the effort to write things down. A few things on my gratitude list from this weekend…

• Sleeping in on Saturday – after a rough back pain day on Friday, the rest was needed
• Graduation celebrations with friends
• The ability to bake (well) – I made rosemary skillet bread on Friday, and vanilla cupcakes with pistachio buttercream on Saturday
• Movie date (The Fault in Our Stars) with Hermine
• Two days of glorious sunshine
• A spontaneous lunch/walk/talk date with Lori after seeing her at Wal*Mart
• Ripe strawberries from a local farmstand
• A well-stocked library
• Coffee (no, really!)
• Another house showing 
• A chat with my Mom & Dad
• Beautiful flowers from Trader Joes

What are you grateful for today?