A Month of Journal Tags: Day 1, The little things I value most in my daily life are…

Sensucht (Dreaming) by Heinrich Vogerer

Journal writing is particularly hard for me because:

  1. I’m tired by the end of the day
  2. I don’t quite know what to say
  3. My thoughts are ALL OVER THE PLACE
  4. . . . I forget. 🙂

That being said, I do think journal writing is extraordinarily important. Therefore, I want to challenge myself! If you would like to join me on my quest to journal every day, feel free to copy, use, and tag the journal prompts I use.

Before I officially begin, the more I thought about what I value every day, the more I realize I love my life and what I have. Gratitude truly lies at the center of a joyful everyday life. Hopefully, I’ll be able to realize this more as days go by.

Let’s go! The little things I value most in my daily life are…

“He is not Here” by Walter Rane

God/My Spiritual Beliefs

My relationship with God and following my religious beliefs day by day is the foundation of my life. I value the time spent reading scriptures, exploring other religions to better understand others, meditating, and sometimes sharing what I believe with others.

I am truly grateful for the joy I receive every day because I’ve chosen to live a virtuous, kind, and thoughtful life.

“Christmas Homecoming” by Norman Rockwell

My Family

Whether I am calling, texting, and visiting with my family members, or even doing family history my connection with my family is precious. I have loving parents, six great siblings, five sister/brother inlaws, multiple nieces and nephews, two living grandparents, and many many other extended family members to love.

I know there are many people who do not know their family or lack a loving family environment. Therefore, my personal connection to such a beautiful family is one of the things I value most.

“Healthy Living” on Dreamstime

My Health

I am SOOO self-conscious of my health. How I treat myself through eating, drinking, and exercising has always been one of my top priorities. This also means I consciously work on my mental health. I value the relationship I have cultivated with my body. Because of this, I never need to worry about being a stranger in my own body.

“Fresh and Cold Soft Drinks” from Dreamstime

Water

There was a poll on Facebook I randomly answered a few days ago that asked, “If you could have a lifetime supply of any beverage, what would it be?”. I chose WATER. I mean that. Sincerely. I understand what a blessing it is to have such easy access to clean water. I value every drink of water I have throughout the day.

“Grace Walking” by Penny Mirande

Walks

It wasn’t until recently I noticed how much my body was craving daily walks. I used to walk about 10,000+ steps per day because I didn’t own a car. I really miss the time I had walking, thinking, and connecting to my world. Walking may be slower than riding a car, but it is such a wonderful addition to my daily life!

Now, despite my crazy job schedule, I take time to walk around my neighborhood. It is how I take time to notice what a beautiful world I live in.

“Philosopher Reading” by Jean-Honore Fragonard

Learning

I am infinitely grateful for my college experience. My professors instilled in me a passion for daily learning. I’m constantly studying, reading, or listening to something throughout the day. Sometimes I write about what I learn. Most of the time I add it to my arsenal of knowledge I cherish.

Image via Dreamstime.com

Yoga

From the time I stumbled across a random yoga video in college, I’ve loved how yoga makes me feel. Doing yoga daily helps me sort through my thoughts, burn off daily stress, connect to my body, and strengthen myself physically, spiritually, and mentally. It’s why I wanted to become a yoga teacher several years ago.

“John Lenon- Imagine” by Melissa McCracken

Music

Listening to and performing music has been one of my greatest joys since I was a young child. I thought I would become a singer when I grew up. Now, I value any time I have with music even more because it took me a LONG time to overcome the personal trauma I experienced while studying music in college. I have quite an eclectic taste in music. 🙂 I’ll talk about it sometime in the future.

Nature Watercolor via HappyWall

Nature

I need daily grounding in nature. I have plants in my room, know all the nature hot spots where I live and am currently working on my backyard garden. If I could live anywhere I would choose a cabin in the woods in the mountains. Henry David Thoreau got it right in his autobiography Walden when he said,

Image via Dr. Tara’s Sunshine

Food

I. Love. Eating! Food is one of my dearest daily joys. And not all food is created equal! One of my goals whenever I travel anywhere whether it be Europe, Albuquerque, or Orem Utah is to find delicious places to eat and remember. Anywhere I’ve lived I remember the delicious foods I found.

It was truly a joyous moment for me when I let myself enjoy eating nourishing meals and indulgences without guilting myself into eating more or less.

“Happy Birthday Miss Jones” by Norman Rockwell

My Job

Surprise surprise I truly value working as a teacher. My 24-year-old self would want to slap me outside the head but I’ve grown up since that time. I’m finally earning my own money and giving back to my community in a way I enjoy. Granted not every day is wonderful, or a picture-perfect Norman Rockwell painting.

What means the most to me is how much I learn and grow by connecting with children.

Thank you for reading! Again, feel free to use this Journaling Tag. Hope to see you soon!

March Madness: Review A Book A Day

I’ve been excited about this post for several weeks! For February, I wanted to focus on my yoga practice and the lessons I learned from exercising throughout the month. March will be all about books!

Usually, I talk a lot about animation, silent movies, and TV Shows. This is fitting because I love studying film. But before I loved researching cinematography, I fell in love with reading. I actually read more books than I watch movies and TV shows. ( I also own over 600 books. For now.)

However, as many who have looked through my blog might have noticed, I don’t write book reviews very often. Such a travesty! But it is also understandable for several reasons.

  1. Book reviews take a lot of time. It is a lot easier to sit down and look over parts in a film rather than a book.
  2. By the time I am ready to write a book review, I’ve moved on and lose interest. I have an ever deflecting attention span.
  3. I get overwhelmed by all the books I read. (Sometimes I read up to five different books at a time. I blame college.)
  4. I don’t think its necessary to write about books I hated or thought were okay. Books I consider great are few and far between.

Despite all these things going against me, I’ve resolved to write about a book a day this month! All the amazing book bloggers I follow inspired me to extend my writing repertoire. Maybe this will be the month I change my tune!

Thank you for reading! Look forward to a month of book reviews! If you have any book recommendations, feel free to send them to me in the comments.

A Wrinkle In Time (1962) Book Quotes


I had never read this book until a few days ago and I have only one regret; that I can not go back in time and read it again as a child. It was a beautiful story. I highly recommend it.

“We look not at the things which are what you would call seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. But the things which are not seen are eternal.” -Madeleine L’Engle