“I appreciate my husband committed to feeding Genevieve or sourdough starter so I could use a portion of her to make buttermilk sourdough pancakes for breakfast.” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I am thankful Arsenal beat Leeds in today in the EPL. Go Gunners!” ⚽️(Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I am blessed to have a family who connects with me in meaningful ways.” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I appreciate the green sauce my husband made for our steak dinner tonight…scrumptious!” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I am thankful my husband has a similar sense of humor and gets me.” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I am thankful I got all my monthly reports submitted…on time.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
“I appreciate the banter my swim athlete had with me at practice. It added to our relatedness as coach and athlete.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
“I am thankful for the young soldier who waited to hold the door open for me at the gym. Very polite gentleman.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
“I am thankful for a partner who will hear me bitch and complain about a frustrating work scenario. He supports me through thick and thin.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
“I am grateful to my partner for helping me review, test drive and potentially purchase my first car ever. Daunting experience, but with him in my corner, I feel confident.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
Lyrics: Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line Better run, girl You’re much too young, girl With all the charms of a woman You’ve kept the secret of your youth You led me to believe you’re old enough To give me love And now it hurts to know the truth Woah, oh, oh Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line You’d better run, girl You’re much too young, girl Beneath your perfume and make-up You’re just a baby in disguise And though you know That it’s wrong to be Alone with me That ‘come on’ look is in your eyes Woah, oh, oh Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line Better run, girl You’re much too young, girl So hurry home to your mama I’m sure she wonders where you are Get out of here Before I have the time To change my mind ‘Cause I’m afraid we’ll go too far Woah, oh, oh Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line You’d better run, girl You’re much too young, girl Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line You’d better run, girl You’re much too young, girl Young girl Get out of my mind
“Almost always it is year by year the complexities of this spinning world grow bewildering and so each year we need all the more to seek peace and comfort in the joyful simplicities.”
Woman’s Home Companion (December 1935)
“As we become curators of our own contentment on the Simple Abundance path, one of the great payoffs is that we start to seek peace and comfort in the joyful simplicities. Little things begin to mean a lot to us. Joyful simplicities nourish body and soul by engaging our senses. They teach us how to live in the present moment. Life comes together when we seek out the sublime in the ordinary.”
“To keep our daily round from being all drudgery, we’ve got to savor the art of the small: discovering diminutive delights that bring us peace and pleasure.”
“Don’t you see how we have to seize the essence of life? We have to embrace every moment.”
“People need joy quite as much as clothing. Some of them need it far more.”
Margaret Collier Graham (California short story writer; September 29th, 1850 ~ January 17th, 1910)
“Today, make discovering those joyful simplicities that bring you personal comfort and a sense of well-being one of your highest priorities.”
“I am procrastinating lately. My soul is screaming for me to nourish it with my creative expression in my blog, while my revamp of my resume sits in waiting. UGH! I am caught up on my blog and feel complete. I choose now to focus on my resume to market myself for the positions I want to seek. It is funny, today I was chatting with my co-worker, Dave, and shared with him some insight on our current contract salary. Between the 3-year and 5-year contract, we only received a .5% raise. So, if we assume COLA is expected, by the end of the cumulative 8-years, we will be making 29.5% less than when we started 8-year prior. Really is upsetting. Enough procrastinating…onto the needed work on my resume. I am committed to creating abundance in my life.” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“In the present state of the US, it is imperative to stay employed if possible. These are very uncertain times. I have come to learn to not drudge my daily tasks. Instead, I look forward to them and checking them off my list feeling productive and complete. Most tasks are associated with keeping the household running and because I love my partner, completing tasks like these are a loving gesture to us both. Reframing how you look at things you get to do (Tasks), is a genuine pleasure of being alive. The alternative is not so pleasant. Stop waiting to live…LIVE NOW!” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 32 of 501.
I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.
My Distilled Life 