{life, being grateful and a good quote}

I have a very special place in my heart for much of the Latin culture. In fact one of my fondest memories was when my family & I travelled to Central America. We got to one part of our trip where we came from Belize to Hondorus and the roads were too bad for the bus to go any farther. We had to get into the next town because we were going to be staying there that night. There we were off of the beaten path and daylight was running out so what did we do...we talked a guy driving a cattle truck into letting us ride in the back (where the cows usually ride). Imagine 30 or so tourists bouncing up and down in a stinky old truck. It was quite the scene but made the trip even that much more memorable. Most of the places were fairly poor (unlike in the above photos) but I will never forget the colors, the food, the textiles and the beautiful old towns with all of their happy people. Then it was on the bus ride leaving Antigua, Guatemala that then took us to a smaller indigenous town where small children sang church hymns in their native Mayan language that I declared to the group I was going to adopt a little Guatemalan baby (of course that was when I had zero babies). Anyway after that trip I realized again how very blessed and grateful I was for my life even amongst all of the little trials. I have been trying really hard to replace any negative thoughts with one of being grateful for something. Today I am really grateful for all of the great relationships I have been able to forge with people that have come into my life. To me those relationships are some of the most satisfying parts of life.

Also I recently read the below quote and it really struck a chord because I think it is a good one but also my birthday brought about a age that meant I am not 24 anymore:-) How did I get to this age when my Mom was just this age yesterday..weird.

P.S. - At my next party I am cutting up brightly colored squares and having everyone throw them into the air.

All of the above images were taken by the talented Brian Park. Don't you love how he captured the above scenes?