Gratitude

I have been thinking about gratitude a lot lately.  Maybe it is because it is a new year and in addition my  yearly resolutions of getting organized, exercising, eating healthy, and scrapbooking; I am trying to take a deeper look inside myself and focus more on the present.  Or it could be that my son just turned 16, leaving me to wonder where the time has gone, and by trying to focus on the present  maybe I can slow that time down just a fraction.

Anyways, it seems wherever I am lately the word gratitude is surfacing. Just the other day while driving home from dropping my kids at school I was listening to Oprah on the radio and guess what? The topic was Gratitude.   Sarah Ban Breathnach, the author of Simple Abundance, was reminding me that I need to consciously give thanks each day.  By doing so, I could make a bigger change in my life then just getting the office organized.  Taking her advice, I purchased a blank book so that not only me, but my entire family could start recording what we are thankful for.  It now sits in the kitchen and I have told my family that they do not need to journal everyday, but when something comes up that they are thankful for just write it down.  It could as simple as a note from my daughter giving thanks to her dad for picking up her favorite ice cream, Cookie Dough. I think by recognizing what I am grateful for I will be more present in my day to day life.

To put this into practice,  I called a friend to walk because we were having warm summer weather in January with high surf and I wanted to stop my busy life and enjoy it for a moment.  While doing so, I took these amazing pictures of the ocean (the ocean was amazing, the pictures aren't nearly as good). I knew I would want to scrapbook them, after all scrapbooking is a form of journaling and reflection.  I found the perfect layout sketch at Heart 2 Heart for my inspiration.

I like the way this turned out, and I had more paper left, so I created a second layout to compliment this one:

Tell me what you think.  I think the two look good together...

What I like most about these layouts is that I was present enough at these moments to not only take the pictures but enjoy the beauty.
Enjoy your day,
Kim

Supplies used:
Paper-Dreamin Level 2 packet from CTMH X7142B
Leaves and pendants-Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge Z1686
Letters-Cricut Base Camp Cartridge
Coral-Cricut Life's a Beach Cartridge