beauty in every inch.

growing up is a lot of hard work & it's necessary to see the beauty in every step, or things get monotonous.
i'm grateful for the way black words on white scripture pages become pathways when you take the time to ponder them.
i'm grateful for those pretty gold edges of the scripture pages.
i'm grateful for the glow of mine & mikelle's lamps. they bring a soft yellow light into our room in the wee hours of the morning (okay, more like at 11, we go to bed early around here) and they actually keep me awake better than that nasty fluorescent thing above me.
i'm grateful for penciled cursive words spelling out love. i'm grateful for those beautiful love letters.
i'm grateful for all the french words always running through my mind.
i'm grateful for the trees and their falling leaves. i'm grateful for the hedge maple and the lily magnolia.
i'm grateful for prayer and that desire to tell my Father all about my day.
i'm grateful for allie's laugh because it brightens my days.
i'm grateful for the russian's hair and the eye candy it provides me. also for the fact that he's not russian, and he grew up down the street from my roommate. 
i'm grateful for packages in the mail and movie quotes that set me straight. (thanks kari)
i'm grateful for weekends because weekends often mean home. i'm grateful for the way i feel at home.
i'm also grateful for the people who are home. for those ones i know were also mine in heaven, for the way we can understand without words. i'm grateful for understanding through spirit.
i'm grateful for the feeling of accomplishment and the wise use of time.
i'm grateful for the way my life looks in photos strung across my wall. my beautiful life sometimes distracts me.
i'm grateful for those donut eyes that me and jacob sport. i'm grateful for the bench. for that 4th of july. for the eiffel tower and the photobooth.
i'm grateful for my guidance and my ideas. for new songs and old ones.
for drops of jupiter. for the sound of what i'll be one day, for someone.
i'm grateful for the strain of my spirit as it undergoes the necessary growing pains. i'm grateful for my destination.
i'm also very grateful for that birthday cheesecake in my fridge.

i'm grateful.

life is hard, but life is beautiful.