A good day

I really just want to share this in as many ways possible. I feel like it is so important to appreciate all that is given to you. I've been let down by negative statuses posted all over Facebook, and after seeing this I just want to share it with everyone.

You think this is just another day in your life. It’s not just another day; it’s the one day that is given to you today. It’s given to you. It’s a gift. It’s the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness. If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is, if you learn to respond as if it were the first day of your life, and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.
Begin by opening your eyes and be surprised that you have eyes you can open, that incredible array of colors that is constantly offered to us for pure enjoyment. Look at the sky. We so rarely look at the sky. We so rarely note how different it is from moment to moment with clouds coming and going. We just think of the weather, and even of the weather we don’t think of all the many nuances of weather. We just think of good weather and bad weather. This day right now has unique weather, maybe a kind that will never exactly in that form come again. The formation of clouds in the sky will never be the same that it is right now. Open your eyes. Look at that.
Look at the faces of people that you meet. Each one has an incredible story behind their face, a story that you could never fully fathom, not only their own story, but the story of their ancestors. We all go back so far. And in this present moment on this day all the people you meet, all that life from generations and from so many places all over the world, flows together and meets you here like a life-giving water, if you only open your heart and drink.
Open your heart to the incredible gifts that civilization gives to us. You flip a switch and there is electric light. You turn a faucet and there is warm water and cold water — and drinkable water. It’s a gift that millions and millions in the world will never experience.
So these are just a few of an enormous number of gifts to which you can open your heart. And so I wish for you that you would open your heart to all these blessings and let them flow through you, that everyone whom you will meet on this day will be blessed by you; just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch — just by your presence. Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you, and then it will really be a good day.
– Brother David Steindl-Rast

Happy New Year!!

Year in Review: Since I didn't update my blog... ever...

January: New House!
We moved into our new home here in Radcliff Kentucky. We are proud home owners!

February - We received devastating news from our doctors after a two year struggle, we were informed that it was medically "impossible" for us to conceive. Vanessa got a job working in Retail. We experienced and enjoyed our first snow storm.

March: Danny got a promotion! We Dog sat an awesome Dog (who Atreus loves) named Sasha, and decided to search for a new puppy to adopt. We explored Mammoth Caves. It warmed up, so we went golfing..

 April: Danny went TDY for a while (no pics of that, and I don't even remember where he went.. honestly..) We found and adopted Naia. And there was a rainbow after an intense rainstorm.

May: Danny went TDY somewhere (again). We played more golf. Naia got bigger. I had several photography jobs that month. Danny took me to Saunders Springs. And Atreus tried to eat a Bee.

June- Danny went TDY (surprise!), Art Jr. & Fam came to Kentucky, & we found Amy's G-pa. We all got in the car to drive down and visit Danny while he was TDY, Danny ate a slab of ribs at the SHED and went to New Orleans. We visited some old friends at Keesler in Mississippi, while Danny was still TDY. 

Visiting Melissa

 July: SURPRISE! and then Danny went TDY.

August: Danny was still TDY.. I had morning sickness. A roommate moved in with her son.. no comment. I got poison ivy and could have died from allergic reaction(as the swelling had moved into my lungs), was on steroids for 3 weeks.. and I got to see our baby.

September: Danny came home from his TDY. I entered my 2nd trimester, morning sickness followed. We went to Wisconsin, The Mall Of America, and Chicago. Danny ran a marathon. We put Naia up for adoption.. and gave her away.

October: We celebrated 5 years of marriage and went to see The Phantom Of The Opera. Went to CALIFORNIA for a baby shower and visited with family. We carved pumpkins together gf It's A Girl!!!

November: Danny went TDY. My morning sickness finally faded. I worked a lot. I completed my second trimester. I saw Emma on an Ultrasound.

December: Danny returned mid December. We got our first real Christmas Tree. People started to recognize my pregnant belly. We spent the last two weeks of December at home, in the house, as Danny had a serious viral infection and had invasive testing done, which he had to recover from. He felt better finally the day before New Years Eve. We went to a friend's house for a NYE celebration. Happy New Year!!