What a busy 13 days it has been!
Rounding out my PRIDE weekend in the Twin Cities! Wonderful times, wonderful celebrating, and wonderful organizing! Love and gratitude for the whole weekend!
Also, love and gratitude to New York!!!
I love spending entire days in pajamas with people I loved. This happened, and I am so grateful for that day!
I love car trips!
And cinnamon rolls (and figuring out how to fix recipes which I have "messed up")...
I am grateful for the new job I recently got.
I love finding old things that I lost. Read: one of my many student i.d.s I misplaced throughout my college career recently found its way out of the disk drive on my computer... yay?
I am grateful for my girlfriend... and I love her, too!
I love random adventures to surprise people!
I do not love the smell of used sponges. I do, however, love clean dishies!
I love dancing!
I am grateful for kool-aid :-)
I love spending time with friends!
Love and Gratitude, and a little extra enthusiasm!

on the loose to climb a mountain

on the loose where I am free

on the loose to live my life the way I think my life should

for I've only got a moment and a whole world yet to see

I'll be looking for tomorrow on the loose

That's the chorus from one of my fave camp songs! This time last year I was beginning my adventure as a summer camp counselor. Last summer was definitely a challenging one, but I loved my time at camp and am so grateful for the memories.

I love making up words. Grateful for my friends who put up with such quirkdom (let's go for a ride in my Fatillac)!

I love having an entire day without any obligations... I am choosing to be productive today (and thank goodness for that), but if I wanted I could have stayed in my bed all day. Grateful for me-time.

I love reading. Grateful for the reading time recently! I'm finally reading Fried Green Tomatoes!!! So. Good.

I love having someone to miss. I know I promised no mushy-ness for a while, but, this doesn't count. I am grateful for all the love I feel. xo, MJ.

Love, Gratitude and Fatitude!

I love the porch on the new place I am living. There's nothing better than coffee and sunshine in the morning. Grateful for the rays this morning.
I am grateful for this blog. I have started a new way of thinking and being grateful with this undertaking. All the lovin' is spreading to this rest of my world.
I love the lake. So much water just makes me smile. I'm grateful to live in Duluth.
Lots of lovin', yo!

I love memories and self-created philosophy.
Once upon a time there was a young woman, and though she was intelligent, she was unsure of herself. One day the woman traveled to a far away land. Ready for adventure, she left all she knew to pursue a dream of beauty. What happened next surprised the young woman. She found herself upset. Having left those who loved her she was frustrated and angry she had gone to this new land. She had drawn strength and energy from those who loved her back home. She had to take time and reflect. She learned that the strength she was lacking could be found in a different place: inside herself. Surrounded by the beauty of the new place the young woman realized that the only person she needed to feel strong was herself. That the only person she needed was herself, and that everyone else in her life was a choice. She decided from that point on to live those choices more fully. To not just be a friend or a daughter or a lover, but to fully live each of her decisions.
When I studied in Italy, this was my story. Over a year has passed since my return, and I am still so grateful for what I learned. I am grateful for the people I met on my journey, and for all the beauty I got to see.
Love and gratitude! Vivo per me... I live for me.

The past six days have been filled with moving, job hunting, friend-being and love.
I've come to a couple of really good conclusions recently.
I get caught up in nit-picking my life apart--the conclusion? I don't need my life to be perfect in order to be happy. And frankly, I don't even know what perfect means. I love being happy with how and who I am without going toward some imaginary standard... I am my own standard, and goodness knows I am plenty of a challenge to keep me on my toes.
I love being a good friend. And I love having good friends. To the new and the old, much love and gratitude!
I love spending time with my Mama! This isn't a new idea, just a reminder.
I love taking space and giving space. Space doesn't mean anything is ending, space means you understand your own and others' needs and wishes. Both gave and took space recently and all of life is better for it!
Call me silly, but I love paying for things in change. I had a huge change jar and have been using that for the past couple of days to purchase things... one change jar in my world has thus far equaled a bottled of wine, some splurge strawberry milk, a liter of diet coke for a friend pulling an all-nighter, some gas, and  a cup of coffee and a scone this morning! Cool, huh? I think so.
Here's a really new thought, the new place I am living doesn't have internet. And it's pretty cool. I am grateful that instead of hopping online before I go to sleep I am doing something more creative like reading or writing or drawing. I love feeling like I am creating rather than absorbing as my last act of the day.
What are you lovin' these days? Leave a comment if you want!

Love and Gratitude, ya'll!
Arie.