especially grateful for, 5th edition

As I reach that point in my pregnancy when the tasks of everyday life have become uncomfortable, I find myself whining a lot. I complain that standing is hard, sleeping is hard, eating is hard, breathing is hard... And while all of that is true, I don't want to while away these last few weeks of my first pregnancy feeling grumpy. I have so much to be grateful for, and when I remembered that I realized that the last time I wrote one of these posts (originally inspired by Whitney) was last August! So I think it's high time to write down, in no particular order, 10 things I'm especially grateful for right now...

1. The new bedding prettying up our bedroom, and making me never want to leave my bed.
2. A good friend who has helped me so much these last few weeks.
3. The fact that next week I teach my last few open level yoga classes. After that I'm down to just 2 prenatal classes a week, which means I'm basically on maternity leave!
4. A Christmas package that my mom mailed me back in October, which we assumed was lost forever, has made its way back to her in Vancouver. It's a hassle, but at least husband and I will get our Christmas/birthday presents after all!
5. The slightly cooler nighttime temperatures which mean we can now sleep with just 1 fan instead of 2.
6. Dreaming about our Canadian summer and making plans.
7. Husband's stable job. 
8. All of Ina May Gaskin's books.
9. Sweet photographer friends who share their talents with me. I'm so lucky.
10. A healthy body. A healthy baby. 

especially grateful for, 4th edition

It's been a while since I've shared one of these little lists, so here are, in no particular order, 10 things I'm especially grateful for right now...

1. The gorgeous tree in the photo above, blooming right around the corner from my home. I wonder if they'd mind if I took a few for myself...

2. The glorious weather we've been having lately. During the day, it's warm enough for sandals and t-shirts. And they call this winter??

3. Frank Ocean's new album, love it.

4. Green smoothies. I swear they are single handedly responsible for my getting in enough greens every day.

5. Cozy flannel blankets at night.

6. Emails from friends who live so very far away.

7. The beautiful and inspiring women who come to my prenatal yoga classes, week in, week out.

8. This book. I don't know why it took me so long to get to, but once I started I couldn't put it down. Sadly, I didn't like the movie at all.

9. The homemade veggie chilli I had for dinner last night. Recipe here.

10. All of you who take the time each day to read my blog, and leave me comments that make me smile!

gratitude, day 3

Today I'm grateful for fresh white dahlias. It's the little things in life, don't you think?

gratitude, day 2

First of all, thank you all so much for your kind words of support and encouragement on my last post! It means the world to me, truly.

And moving along to what I feel grateful for today...

That would be tea and cake in the morning, just cause. The cake is a delicious vegan chocolate cake made by my friend and baker extraordinaire, Katie.

Reminds me of one of my favourite French sayings: Everything in moderation, including moderation.

Amen.

a week of gratitude

You may have noticed that I've been absent from this space for a while. And the truth is that it's been a really tough week. For now, I'm still too sad and raw to write about it, but I will, and soon.

But for this week, I was thinking that I'd like to get back in the swing of blogging because this little blog does bring me a lot of pleasure, something that I could use right about now. So I thought that each day this week I could just post a photo of something I'm grateful for, and a few words. Starting today...

This photo was taken last night by my friend Anna at a yogis potluck. Today I'm grateful for friends, for the friends in the photo (I'm on the far right trying to write an 'A') who make awesome vegan food and are always so helpful and more generally for all of my friends, both near and far.

Especially grateful for, 3rd edition

In the midst of yet another fairly crappy week involving the continuing passport saga and me coming down with the flu on the hottest day of the year yet (seriously, it was 32 degrees celsius yesterday and I got the flu, wtf???), I'm really feeling the need to put a hold on the self pity and remind myself of the things I have to be grateful for. So inspired by Whitney, here are 10 things I'm feeling especially grateful for...

1. Husband, who took such good care of me yesterday and came home instead of doing what he actually wanted to do so he could make me dinner, and make sure my fever wasn't going through the roof (it is).

2. My mom who is doing everything she can on the other side of the world to get me a passport, thanks mom!

3. The air conditioning unit in our flat. I think I'd die without it.

4. Visiting yoga teachers who never cease to leave me feeling oh so inspired, both as a yoga student and a teacher.

5. Fleet Foxes. Love them.

6. The fact that another Ira Glass show was added to his Sydney line-up. I'm seriously hoping that this time I actually manage to get tickets for husband and I.

7. Skype. What would us expats do without it?

8. Coffee. I'm not a major coffee drinker but sometimes it's exactly what I need to get me through the morning :)

9. The beautiful skirt from Anthro that my mom sent me. She has the best taste!

10. Inspiring books. Right now I'm reading Women's Power to Heal: Through Inner Medicine by Maya Tiwari (a.k.a. Mother Maya). If you're interested in Ayurveda at all, this a must read!

Especially grateful for, 2nd edition

Once again inspired by Whitney, I thought I'd share a list of 10 things I'm especially grateful for right now...

1. Brown paper packages tied up with string (see above photo). Otherwise known as the 2012 Frankie calender and diary, so excited about these!
2. My new bike!
3. Husband coming to yoga with me. And liking it.
4. Sweet compliments from friends :)
5. Scoring 3 new summer dresses from Vinnie's for less than $30.
6. Funny French movies.
7. Pretty craft books (right now I'm perusing Scandinavian Stitches).
8. This song by Winter People, which you can download for free here.
9. Passionfruit and mandarins, yum.
10. A rainy Sunday, perfect excuse to be lazy all day :)

Especially grateful for

{photo taken by me a few years back in Colombia)

Inspired by Whitney at Eat Sleep Cuddle I decided to make a little list of things I'm grateful for this week.

this week I'm especially grateful for...

1. Jack Layton's last letter to Canadians. As beautiful as it is inspiring. He will be missed.
2. Medicare. When I need to go the doctor (either in Canada or Australia) I can and it's free. Thank you universal health care.
3. A husband who cleans the apartment. Enough said.
4. Bare legs... spring's a comin'!
5. New yoga teaching opportunities... keep your fingers crossed for me!
6. The lovely ladies who came to my yoga classes yesterday.
7. Clean sheets.
8. Friends who are also neighbours. For the first time since I moved to Sydney I have a good friend who lives a couple of blocks from me, it's the best.
9. A flexible job.
10. Bicycle shopping with the husband! It's time for me to get a bike (and hope that my legs are strong enough to actually carry me somewhere, they're not).

5 things

In no particular order, here are 5 things I'm grateful for today:

1. An overcast day, perfect for working from home and drinking copious amounts of tea.

2. Bright nails that make me smile.

3. A new poster for my room. Thank you Frankie.

4. Legs up the wall, or viparita karani in Sanskrit. Does wonders when you're stressed.

Source: naturallynina.com via Gabriela on Pinterest

5. Awesome girlfriends who make me laugh. Also does wonders when you're stressed. (These are not my girlfriends, obviously. But I think the laughter is about the same.)

Source: itsdelovely.tumblr.com via Bety on Pinterest