nuts and bolts

So now that I have a few posts up, I should tell you what I'm doing on this blog. I'm reading a book. It's my January book. Last year I had a January book (The 4:8 Principle) that gave me such a good perspective and helped me to face 2011 with a positive outlook. By September I still remembered what the book was about and it was still my theme of the year, but it wasn't quite "with me" the same way it was back in the early months of the year.

My January book that I hope will be vivid and practiced in my life even on December 31, 2012 is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It's an amazing book that I just love, and I'll try to tell you a little bit of what it's about. In my words, the book is about wanting to get up out of the blues and the rut of everyday life and find things to be truly thankful for. Not just a slap it on "I have so much to be thankful for and am so blessed", but a slow, moment by moment awareness of what is around us and all that is a gift. I like the word awareness...because these things are around us, but how often are we aware of them and delight in them? Voskamp makes a list of one thousand gifts/things she's thankful for, and that's what I'm attempting to do here.

I've started my list. (I currently have 34 things.) My goal is to reach one thousand by the end of the year. I'm also wanting to develop my photographer's eye, and so some of the things on my list will have a picture with them. I'm not going to post every day, because I know I wouldn't be able to keep up with that, but my goal is to post several times a week. Not having internet at home makes it a little harder, but I'm excited about this project and having a creative outlet is so much fun! Plus, focusing on being thankful I think is going to change my life!