Weekly Gratitude

I am just going to ignore the fact that I am insanely behind and try to pick up where I left off. I hope that is alright with you.

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This week was filled with many things to be grateful for. Here are just a few.

> Beautiful days like this. Warm breeze, windows open and sunshine.

> Chinese take-out on nights when it is absolutely i m p o s s i b l e to cook.

Yes it's possible for cooking to impossible.. am I right ladies?!

> Vintage buttons from gram!

> Coming home from teaching and seeing that boyfriend has dinner almost done.

> I couldn't be happier and more relieved that my very pregnant friend/boss Jen, is home from the hospital. She went in last week with stomach pains and after an exhausting week of tests and false alarms, is on bed rest at home. No baby yet, but they are both doing very well!

> My Mom and her awesomeness. And how she buys me pumpkin iced coffee when we go out.

Have a happy weekend!

Enjoy this gorgeous weather!

There's always something to be thankful for.

And this week, it's my students.

Dance students to be exact {in case you missed that}. Tuesday was the start of the most tiring, rewarding and exciting part of year. All summer long, I look forward to September. New faces, a regular schedule, creating choreography, and watching the little brains of my three year olds tick, as they try to decide which is their right leg and which is their left. And then by November, I'm looking forward to June.

I'm teaching double {!} the number of classes that I was last year. That's twelve hour-long classes a week people. With both boys and girls from ages two to seventeen. I'm over the moon thrilled, but also preparing myself for the achy brain, stiff body and days when I want to rip my hair out -- which is bound to happen at least once. A room full of 2-5 year olds + Saturday 9:00am + only half a cup of coffee -- you get the idea.

Putting the ripping of the hair aside, I really enjoy their snotty noses and their never ending stories about princesses. They always surprise me with their energy, and there's nothing more rewarding than watching them improve over those ten months and to seeing their satisfied smiles.

I'm so fortunate be doing what I love almost every day. Which in turn, gives the world, millions of little youngins who know how to shake their cutie patooties. Oh yeah, and how to do pirouettes and stuff too. Aren't you lucky!

I have the most rewarding job in the entire world. I would change it for anything.

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{After reading this post, I realize that it sounds like I only feel this way when teaching my little munchkins. Let me just say that this applies to all my students. Frankly, I chose to talk about my little kids for entertainment purposes only.}

Enjoy your weekend!

Weekly Gratitude

 -- I am so thankful to the three talented, young ladies who came to my dance intensive. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves & maybe even learned something after the twenty five hours you spent with me.

 

-- To the man in the house. He always knows what to say. Always knows how to have a good time. And constantly reminds me that as long as we have each other, we'll survive anything.

-- Most importantly.. I'd be eternally grateful, if Irene leaves us the BLEEP! alone. Anything more than a watering for my tomato plants, will be a serious inconvenience for the entire East Coast. But so far, outlook not so good. She's headed straight for us!

Happy Hurricane Weekend Friends! Stay safe!

Weekly Gratitude

{click above to join!}

Thank you summer breezes for bringing fresh air into my house.

Thank you, thank you, thank you friends & family for coming to my Pampered Chef party yesterday! So many laughs - and so many great (free) products! And a big thanks to my cousin/P.C. consultant for putting on such a great show! 

(If you live in the Western MA area and want to have a Pampered Chef party.. I'll put you in touch with her! There are so many great benefits to being a host! Like getting $200 worth of free products!!)

Thank you sister for having a Birthday to celebrate. I just love getting together with my family and goofing around!

Thank you Amber for being our cute little munchkin.

And for beating up the DVD player with your ferocious paws.

And for giving the squirrels that hang upside down from our bird feeder, the look of death.

Thank you best friends. For being best friends.

Thank you mom.. for being awesome. Always!

Thank you PYO Fruit Farm up the street, for growing the most delicious peaches ever.. 

Even if they are kind of ridiculously expensive.

Thank you weeeeeekends for allowing boyfriend and I to spend some sort of meaningful time together.

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Happy Weekend everyone!

Be sure to link up with Love, Life, Lace for your Weekly Gratitude Posts!

Weekly Gratitude

"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out."

- John Wooden

-- Friends that come over for our very-last-minute campfire gathering.

-- Having built in best friends {mom&sister} to go shopping for swimsuits with. They'll always be honest and know what really looks best on you!

-- Where we live. Have you been here? Gosh it's beautiful. This is turning out to be a wonderful first summer in our new home.

-- Our tomato, mint, basil, thyme & chive plants for staying alive... & giving us yummy additions to dinner.

-- The #1 summer food. Burgers, burgers & more burgers. And corn on the comb. Still awesome, even after eating them for dinner three days in a row.. and for midnight snackage.

-- Summer dance classes & new students =]

-- Arbor Mist. Enough said.

-- Quality "family" time. I mean.. me, Amber and Dana passed out on the couch. Priceless.

-- Finding a new swimsuit. Falling in love. Talking the manager into giving me a 10% discount. HecktotheYes.

-- Having found this. Perfectly illustrates a very important life lesson for all men.. 

So pay attention:

*click image for link*

What did all of you do this weekend? Whatever it was, I hope it was perfect.

Share your weekly gratitude posts here.

Weekly Gratitude

With a week full of tragedy, hope, love and incredible amounts of support from our communities here in Western MA, it was difficult for me to add anything to this list that wasn't related to the tornados that came through on Wednesday. Lucky, our house and my parents house was not effect. However, towns over, buildings, homes and lives were destroyed.

This week, I am grateful for:

:: Heart to Heart conversations with boyfriend ::

:: That our little home in Deerfield survived the tornados on 6/1 here in Western MA. I can't imagine what losing a home, belongings, and loved ones must have been like ::

:: Boyfriend's insane, sometimes inappropriate sense of humor. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, I instantly feel like a million bucks when I'm with him ::

:: Quiet afternoons by myself ::

:: Crazy successful shopping trips with mom and sister ::

:: Beautiful summer weather ::

:: Motivation to make lots of wonderful things happen in my life ::

:: Friends & family that enjoy sitting by the campfire till 1:00 am as much as we do ::

:: Cheeseburgers that cure the hungry bellies in the middle of the night ::

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Happy Weekend Friends. Please visit my very best friend Alivia's, blog to read about the tornados that came through Massachusetts this past Wednesday and make donations. Thank you lovies!

Weekly Gratitude

This week I'm thankful for:

-The rest of my classes dance costumes arriving just in time for studio picture day!

-Giant cups of tea and freeze pops (somehow freeze pops always make it into my gratitude posts. Shrug.)

-Today! Finally, this afternoon, the sun made a grand entrance after about six days of non-stop rain. It was wonderful. End of story.

-Pampered Chef parties, and my cousin for being a pretty dope consultant! I'm hosting a part August 5th!

-Boyfriend for trusting me enough to let me drive his precious convertible.. did I mention it's a standard? Ohgoodlord.

-Leftovers. Thanks to the ridiculous amount of that we have, I haven't had to cook dinner for at least a week!

-The talks that boyfriend and I have in the middle of the night. I'm usually half asleep, mumbling about whoknowswhat, and barely listening, but we still try to tell each other about our day.

 

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Isn't he a cutie?! Happy weekend friends!

What are you grateful for? 

Weekly Gratitude

 My bike - birthday present from boyfriend!

Love, cards & gifts from family and friends!

 All the Lovely birthday wishes.

Yummy birthday cakes and cheesecake!

Sunny & warm afternoons.

Pretty wine glasses to drink out of.

What are you grateful for?

Happy Sunday friends!

Weekly Gratitude

Thank you friends and family for supporting me in The Eclipse Performance. It was so wonderful to see all your faces (literally) while under those lights. I'm blessed to have you all as cheerleaders!

Thank you blender and frozen fruit. You make awesome smoothies. So far my favorite is this one from Sophie!

Thank you dance teacher buddies. It's nice to bond over yummy food and song challenges (how many songs/bands can you think of that have to do with numbers?!? 3 Doors Down, 3LW, One Thing, 1999, Billionaire, Five for Fighting...) We should hang out more often.

Thank you boyfriend. For working so hard to get our place lookin' spiffy for our party! Sometimes I know, I'm a little crazy and annoying, but I know that my nagging and our hard work, will pay off.. someday. I hope..

Thank you to the World Wide Web. More specifically, those websites that help you diagnose yourself. Maybe one day, we won't even need to visit the doctors.You'll just type in your symptoms and then bada-bing bada-boom! No seriously. I was able to figure out the bizarre case of my night sweats (bizarre because I'm generally freezing cold). So you wanna know the reason?! Huh... do ya? Do ya? Our new duvet cover! Yup. Turns out certain fabrics don't "breath". We got our duvet cover about the time we moved into our new place, which conveniently was also the beginning of the most annoying and gross thing that can happen to you while your sleeping. Long story short, it probably would have taken me a lot longer to figure this out, if I hadn't searched it on the internet. Phew!

Thank you Amber. For providing hours of entertainment and millions of laughs for your Daddy and me. We love you cute little muffin'! (Even though you're strange and like to hang out in the most awkward places - see above!)

Thank you Earth Day. For reminding people to be kind to you. Now if only people treated every day like they do Earth Day.. How we celebrated:

Free rides around the yard in our four wheeler's bucket! Boyfriend is such a sweet Uncle =]

Happy Weeeeeeeeeeeeeekend!

Weekly Gratitude

Thank you to my wonderful family and friends for volunteering to help at our new home. Today was a beautiful day here in Western Mass, so we were able to spend most of it outside working on our yard. My sister and my cousin, along with their significant others, came over to give us a hand on our ginormous to-do list. We greatly appreciate it.

Thank you boyfriend. For dealing with my bad moods, for being patient, for loving me even if I always want to go to bed early and for basically dealing with the crazy person I am.

Thank you sunshine. Finally. We were able to be outside in tee shirts and it was absolutely lovely. I look forward to seeing you every day from now on!

Thank you summer vacation plans. My typical vacation is usually a day at the beach, maybe like twice over the entire summer. So the fact that it is only April and we already have one planned, is totally thrilling to me! Even though it's only for three days.. I'll take it.

Thank you dance. 

Thank you to my awesome students. You always make me laugh and you make teaching dance such a wonderful part of my life. I love you all.

Thank you "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" for being on tv when I'm not feeling well and for making me laugh. And reminding me of my friend Alivia.

Thank you weekends. For being here. For coming at the perfect time. For curing my insanely overwhelmed brain. Please stay awhile. Please!?

weheartit

Happy Weekend friends.
Eat yummy food that's bad for you and sleep in!

And read/watch/laugh at this:

"He'll keep calling me, he'll keep calling me until I come over. He'll make me feel guilty. This is uh... This is ridiculous, ok I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go. What - I'LL GO. Shit" 

Weekly Gratitude

Being a dance teacher & watching my students learn & love dance.

Our new four wheeler.. vroom vroom baby!

Family dinners.

The patience that my boyfriend has to teach me how to ride the new four wheeler.

Living in the boondocks because the trails are right across the street.

Internet & cable - living without it for a couple weeks has made me eternal grateful!

Quotes & photos that make me feel like a million bucks.

This song. And basically the entire album.

Relaxing movie nights with Chinese take-out that usually result in me falling asleep on the couch.

The yummy treats that Gram will always make for me, no matter how old I am.

 

Happy Sunday friends!

Weekly Gratitude

After a mini Weekly Gratitude vaca.. I am back! 

If you aren't familiar with Weekly Gratitude - here's how it goes:

 

At the end of every week [Saturdays for me] I post a list of things that I am grateful for. 

Can be anything & everything. Little or big. Serious or silly. Just reminds us to take a look at our lives & cross off the not-so-good-moments & place a big exclamation mark next to the ones that brought us happiness, peace & love. 

Click the link above to join us!

 ***

This week, I am super thankful for..

Coming home to dinner on the table

 Family supporting & loving one another

Warm weather & sunshine & finally putting the windows down

The amazing deals at BJs

Internet so I can blog & cable so I can watch Glee

Moms that clean our stairs by dropping an entire pack of comet down them

Naps with the kitty on our couch

All of the friends & family who have been helping us move & paint & clean to no end

Pictures that make me look forward to Spring & Summer

 Via

And I'm thankful for all of you, lovely followers!

Have a stupendous weekend!

Weekly Gratitude

The only thing I can truly be grateful for this week is

being alive

This week has been filled with many ups & downs. Today I am simply thankful to be breathing, walking & seeing for one more day. Rest in Peace JP & DS. You will be deeply missed..

Songwriters: Chesney, Kenneth A.; Dillon, Dean; Tamburino, Mark;

 Featuring: Dave Matthews Band

So damn easy to say that life's so hard
Everybody's got their share of battle scars
As for me, I'd like to thank my lucky stars
That I'm alive and well

It'd be easy to add up all the pain
And all the dreams you sat and watched go up in flames
Dwell on the wreckage as it smolders in the rain
But not me, I'm alive

And today you know that's good enough for me
Breathin' in and out's a blessing, can't you see?
Today's the first day of the rest of my life
And I'm alive and well
I'm alive and well

Stars are dancin' on the water here tonight
It's good for the soul when there's not a soul in sight
This boat has caught its wind and brought me back to life
Now I'm alive and well

And today you know that's good enough for me
Breathing in and out's a blessing, can't you see?
Today's the first day of the rest of my life
Now I'm alive and well
Yeah, I'm alive and well

 What are you grateful for?

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This weekend, boyfriend & I are working on our new home! So exciting! I will post before & after pictures when we're all moved in = ]

Happy Weekend friends!

Weekly Gratitude

At the end of every week [Saturdays for me] I post a list of things that I am grateful for. 

Can be anything and everything. Little or big. Serious or silly. Just reminds us to take a look at our lives and cross off the not-so-good-moments and place a big exclamation mark next to the ones that brought us happiness, peace & love. 

Click the link above to join us!

xoxoxoxo
 

Friends who send me new music. Thanks Alivia Lynn!

 Quiet moments to myself

Halls drops & dum dums for soothing my scratchy, icky throat

Valentines from my little dance students

Valentines from momma & boyfriend

goofy moments & serious moments

G L E E & Tuesday night tv in general

 Fresh, Spring-like air & how it feels on my skin & in my nose!

Home cooked meals
Thin mints
My Northampton School of Dance jacket =]

Having found the perfect place for boyfriend & I to live!



Have a wonderful weekend friends!

Weekly Gratitude

 

At the end of every week [Saturdays] I post a list of things that I am grateful for. Can be anything and everything. Little or big. Serious or silly. Just reminds us to take a look at our lives and cross off the not-so-good-moments and place a big exclamation mark next to the ones that brought us happiness, peace, and love. 

Click the link above to join us!

In the last seven days of my life, I have found reason to be grateful for the following things:

Cannoli cake [of course I would list food first].
Birthday's [so that we can eat cannoli cake].
My supportive and loving family.
Boyfriend shoveling the snow off the roof. He.Is.My.Hero. [He's going to be so happy I included this!]
Sleep. Ohhhhh sleep. And naps.. like every day!
Selling my handmade items.
My little ballerina's who come to class in ladybug tutus and tell me they love me.
The assistants in my dance classes. Without them I would lose my brain and just sit on the floor and cry.

 

 

 LoveCards

TaxiLove

Happy Saturday friends - Enjoy your Valentine's [or love stinks] weekend!

xoxoxo

Weekly Gratitude

Usually I post my weekly "thankgodIhavethisinmylife" lists on Saturdays. But bright and early tomorrow morning (like 5:30am bright and early!), I will be venturing off to Plymouth New Hampshire with my mom and sister. Plymouth University has invited Eclipse Modern Dance Company, the company that I am a part of, to take master classes during the day and perform in their Gala Show Saturday night. It's super exciting.. except for one tiny thing: HELLOOOO New England! Surprise Surprise! Snow/sleet/ice/winter MESS is going to fall from the sky. Go figure. Luckily we will be in my mom's car which is better than the other possible vehicles we could be traveling in. (Please cross your fingers/toes/arms for us to make it there and back safely). 

So in any case, here is my list of gratitude:

the smell of lavender

massages

boyfriend's sense of humor and the fact that we can be goofy together

card games

homemade french toast made on snow days

huge cups of tea

clean laundry

trucks that can pull other trucks out of snow banks

girl scout cookies

my make-shift craft table/desk under the window

new slippers

 

Happy Friday

Have a great weekend blog friends! Stay warm!

 [Happiness photo credit]

Weekly Gratitude

This week has made me grateful for the following:

family dinners, funny stories & game playing

lovely new followers

grilled cheeses and soup

waking up in a good mood

coffee.. [sigh] oh coffee

productive dance rehearsals

feeling confident and overwhelmed with joy after teaching dance

hair cuts that make you feel like a new person

 the memories that come from the videos in this post

 

Join Us!

photo credit:

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Weekly Gratitude

 Weekly Gratitude participant! At the end of the week (for me, Saturdays), talk about the things that you are grateful for. Join us here!


*snow days (two this week)

*cozy socks that make boots feel all squishy

*boyfriend's oh.so.cute. surprises

*blogger's new fonts (however, I am soooo not grateful for blogger messing up my header.. which required me to spend lots of time out smarting whatever new format they decided to start using)
*I shouldn't complain in a Weekly Gratitude post - therefore I am honestly grateful that I have a blog with followers. So thank you = ]

*finding new music/sharing some of my current favorites - (see playlist)
 *sex & the city reruns that suck me in for  h o u r s!

*friends & our game nights




What are you grateful for? Happy Saturday friends =]

Weekly Gratitude

*my new pink laptop*

*barters that involve receiving several [very much appreciated] massages*

*new tires [after experiencing lack there of]*
*snow days spent with the kitty and the boy*

*my family and their ability to put me in a good mood*

*our "grown-up" bed [technically from last week..]*

*being healthy, alive and having a warm place to live*

*my amazing dancers and their enthusiasm*