At the top of today’s gratitude list is BlogHer ’14… because I’ve been anticipating the event for almost a year, and now it’s finally time to start counting down for real! I’m so grateful for being able to attend the conference for the third year in a row, for the chance to catch up with dear friends once again, for opportunities to learn and grow and be challenged, and for all of the exciting possibilities that lurk around every corner of the conference facilities.
Let’s get packing!

Hope you’ll join me in this week’s Gratitude Linkup!
(If you’d like a bit of background on why I started the Gratitude Linkup, check out this post.)
How to get involved in the Gratitude Linkup
- Write and post an entry in your own blog containing your gratitude list for a moment in time.
- Share the URL to your gratitude blog post by clicking the “add your link” button at the end of this post and filling out the information.
- Share the Gratitude Linkup with your blog readers by clicking the “get the InLinkz code” link at the end of this post and copy/pasting the appropriate code into your gratitude blog post.
- Visit some of the blogs listed in the Gratitude Linkup and comment on their posts.
My Gratitude List
In no particular order, here is my own gratitude list for this moment in time. I hope that after reading it you’ll go on to write and share your own!
- The way Peter has really taken to grilling. I foresee plenty of yummy meals in our future!
- Having the memory of a stunning, flaming orange and gold sunset, so beautiful and vibrant that a picture couldn’t possibly capture its glory.
- Discovering, completely by accident, that all the windows on the second floor of our house are the kind that can be flipped open so that you can easily clean the outside. Funny timing, too, as we had just a couple of days before seen a home improvement show where the homeowner was installing that type of window, and I’d remarked that they made so much sense and wished that we had them in our house. Wish granted!
- Simple times enjoyed together with Peter.
- Personal connections and small kindnesses in a crowded, impersonal place – like the young man who saw the grapes in my cart and shared that they reminded him of his childhood in India, when he and his brother would eat fresh, ripe grapes they’d just snipped from the vine in their yard… or the guy in the parking lot who saved me a trip back to the cart return stand on a hot, muggy day by taking mine back along with his.
- Racing the storm and making it back into the house with our load of groceries BEFORE the sky started dumping down with rain!
- My “niche-free” blog where I’m not bound by topic requirements and therefore have the freedom to write and share anything I want.
- Looking back even a couple of years ago and seeing how far I’ve come as a blogger. I’m thankful for the opportunities that have found me, and am looking forward to what’s to come in the future!
- Our new walkway! Finally we have a path to our front door again.
- Plenty of time to tangle.
- Peter’s knack of telling me, with a certain tone of wonder in his voice, that I’m beautiful – at the precise moment when I’m feeling the absolute LEAST beautiful. I really don’t get it, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
- Working from home and being able to stop for a cuddle with Oscar or a quick game of “fetch the catnip mouse” with Felix.
- My cozy and well-equipped home office.
- Air conditioning on humid days.

Twitter: raphaellove
July 13, 2014
I love your list! It has reminded me of a few things that I need to reflect upon that I have been taking for granted. THANK YOU!!!! 🙂
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
You’re most welcome! 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Twitter: vidyasury
July 13, 2014
So much to be grateful for, truly. I loved that point about your windows!
I have a gratitude list in my post today, too! Looking forward to reading about your BlogHer experience this year!
Vidya Sury recently posted… Self Help Is The Best Help
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
I will check it out! And you’re always welcome to add your gratitude posts to the linkup. 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Lovely, I like writing gratitude lists, it’s important to step back and appreciate what we have x
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
It is indeed. 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Twitter: Lightpromoter
July 13, 2014
I love the comment about the windows! I used to have windows like that, and I loved it. Maybe a little sad, but it was so easy to clean the upstairs windows! On my list today:
The sunshine is back: yay!
Looking forward to a lovely Sunday roast
Had time for baking while it was raining earlier
Now got enough food for lunches at work for the week
Finished a really good book
Inspiration what to write about
Elasticated waistbands. Don’t ask.
Blessings, Andrea (UBC)
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
Lovely list, Andrea – thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
So many reasons to be happy for. I need to get back to tangling too. Haven’t completed one in a while. My soul is yearning to. 😀
Kathy Combs recently posted… Let it Go: A Writer’s Enema
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
Yes, things just aren’t the same without tangling!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Twitter: Sophie_Bowns
July 13, 2014
Awww!
It’s so important to show our gratitude!
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
Very true!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Well, I haven’t made a gratitude list before but I feel compelled to do it this week.
– having our power back on after just a bit over seven days of going without it due to the damage done by Hurricane Arthur
– in the same vein, not having to carry our water from the ditch
– also in the same vein, being very thankful that we have an overflow pipe running into our ditch from our well so which made us much better off than the unfortunate people who had to race to stores looking for enough water to do them through the power outage
– having lots of hard working people at NB Power who worked non-stop to get the power back on. Also, the guys who came here from Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Maine to help out. Power was out all over our Province.
– many more things to be grateful for but that was uppermost on my list when I read yours, Laurel. 🙂
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
Wow, seven days?! I can only imagine how grateful you must be to have things back to normal again!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
That’s the longest (so far) we’ve had to go without power. I hope we don’t break that record, ever! It sure does make you appreciate having power though. 🙂
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
I’ll bet! I hope not, too!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Twitter: rm29303
July 13, 2014
Great list this week Laurel! Your way of taking the smallest thing and making them into lovely thing to be grateful for inspires mebto take a closer look at my own life and all I am blessed with.
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
Thank you, Rena – I’m glad. 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Twitter: rvidsigns
July 13, 2014
Love your gratitude list Laurel 🙂
Sherri Hayter recently posted… Can RV Living be Eco-Friendly?
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
Thanks, Sherri. 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Twitter: kajal_kapur
July 14, 2014
Lovely gratitude list…thanks Laurel!
Kajal recently posted… Nostalgic
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
Thanks, Kajal!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
I loved your gratitude list, will make mine and add the link. It feels nice to put our thoughts on paper and reading them makes us doubly happy.
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
I agree! Looking forward to seeing your list. 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
Love your list! A bit envious of your upcoming trip to BlogHer’10, but excited and very happy for you!
That type window. I want it too. Maybe we’ll be able to install some in our one-day home! 🙂
Life Breath Present recently posted… Gratitude Linkup – Week of 7/13/14
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
I hope you’ll be able to attend at some point – maybe if it’s a little closer to home!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Date Night
another great list…can’t make my own this week, as i’m recovering from hand surgery, but once again i”m grateful for medicine, for doctors and surgeons, and for anaesthesia!
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 14, 2014
Sounds like a good list to me! Wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery.
Twitter: indywrites
July 15, 2014
It is a beautiful gratitude list. I say beautiful because it glorifies the simple pleasures of life. The things we take for granted, never appreciating them ones that are easy.
Glad to be here.
Inderpreet Kaur Uppal recently posted… TORNADO GIVEAWAY : Day 15 : Monsoon Memories by RENITA D’SILVA
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 15, 2014
Thank you – I’m so glad you “get” it! 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… The Cab Ride – A Sweet Lesson on Patience
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