Love, Enjoyment and Gratitude...Happy Hearts Day!

Love

So, today is Valentine's Day...it's finally here! I know the traditional way to think about today is the L word...Love..as in romantic love. But, I'm going to approach this day just a little differently....from the standpoint of three areas: People I love, things I enjoy and blessings that give me gratitude. Sit back, relax, maybe eat some chocolate and come along with me. Perhaps you will want to fill in your own ideas of Love, Enjoyment and Gratitude. First off, people whom I love.

Mrthisandthat tops my list. The "romance" part of Valentine's Day, right?  We have been married for 33 years and dated for 5 years before marrying. It feels like we grew up together. I am so grateful for the love we share.

It's hard to believe that 33 years have passed since this photo was taken on our wedding day!

I am blessed to have a loving family. The picture you see above is of my mother holding my hand on a family outing when I was about 3 years old. Wasn't I cute?! My mom was a huge influence on my life and my faith. She went through a lot in her lifetime, but was always a strong woman who loved the Lord. Her birthday would have been a few days ago and I wish she was here so I could give her a big hug. Unfortunately, she passed away almost 20 years ago. I still miss her to this day and always will. Luckily, she gave me four older sisters who are all awesome and strong women! I also have brothers-in-laws, adult nieces and nephews and many great-nieces and nephews as well as other extended family members. Not to mention our family on Mr.thisand that's side. I have much gratitude for my family.

How blessed I am to have good friends! Where would we be without people who know our up sides and our down sides and love us anyway?! 

This saying pretty much sums it up, don't you think?

This is a great saying about friendship, also. These "quotation plates" were a gift from one of my sisters this past Christmas. 

       And, you better believe I love my Gracie Cat!!  She's a "fur person" after all!  I have so much gratitude for all the pets that have been part of my life. OK, let's move on now to things that give me enjoyment.

Enjoyment

Decorating our home for various holidays gives me great enjoyment. Here is how I styled the foyer table for Valentines this year. A little more understated than last year.

                A couple more peeks at some of my decorating.

        

Did you know I enjoy collecting snow globes?  I have a few, but this is one of my favorites.

   

I think the polar bears are unique and snow globes are a great way to decorate for winter. I enjoy them!

Sewing is a new form of enjoyment for me....and, OK, quite a bit of frustration, too!  My friend, Sharon, is a great sewer and quilter and I decided I wanted to give sewing a try again. The last I sewed was in Jr. High! So, for Christmas Mr.thisandthat bought me a "beginners" sewing machine by Janome. It goes sloooooowly, which is exactly what I needed! With Sharon's help, I've made a set of pillowcases and I managed a few Christmas ornaments and some place mats so far. Woohoo!! I just bought some sewing items I needed this weekend as you can see in the above pic. I've been using thread that is probably 40 years old. The price tags were still on the thread and the spools cost 20 cents each. Ahem....not the price I paid for new thread yesterday!!

I'm a PBS buff and pretty much enjoy all the "old" shows they have on. As Time Goes By is one of my all time favorites. I picked up several seasons on DVD at a local used bookstore so I can watch episodes whenever I want. 

My love for reading is well documented on this blog and I am currently enjoying a new book series by Jenn McKinlay.

This is part of  A Library Lover's Mystery and is about another librarian (reminds me a little of the Magical Cat Series librarian), but this time the librarian has a pet dog named Heathcliff who helps solve mysteries. No magic in this book, but a lot of enjoyment in the reading!

Gratitude

I have so much to have gratitude for this Valentine's Day. My husband, family, friends, pets, not to mention all of the things that bring enjoyment to my life. I have gratitude for health and a roof over my head and a job that brings meaning to my life. I have gratitude for my faith which sustains me each and every day. And I have gratitude for this new experience of blogging, which fulfills my desire to write and share my writing with others. I experience so much enjoyment from blogging and I also have great gratitude for you, the readers, who give of your time to visit my blog. Thank you and know that you are appreciated and valued! I may not have the biggest blog in the neighborhood, but I have the very best readers! Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Until Next Time,

Debbie

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