How can I raise the level of gratitude in my life? Let me count the ways.
With the New Year rushing in on the heels of the holiday season, we always end up resolving to start fresh at a time when we’re also trying to decompress from the hectic pace of the holidays. We’re eager to wind down, but we can’t help but imagine what might be achieved in the coming months. There’s so much unspoiled territory ahead. Imagining the possibilities and resolving to meet them is exciting, but also a little overwhelming. Sometimes those ambitious midnight declarations dawn on us the next morning with unexpected weight—did I really mean I’d go for all that glory …
From the nearby town of Genesee, Idaho, five horses who have eaten well and then turned their faces to the sun.
I hope your heart is full and content today and that yesterday you loved well and ate well. May you face 2012 with renewed resolve to make it your best year yet.
It was our day to shine at our local food co-op. Well, actually, it was a special day for …
Maria Kaul Casper says: This is great – in these troubling financial times America is facing it is time to reconsider the cooperative movement as a way to make America great again and not some out-of-date rural farm movement. Just as a reminder every cooperative uses the following governing principles. The seven principles that guide all cooperative are
Voluntary and open membership, Democratic member control, Member economic participation, Autonomy and independence, Education, Training and Information, Co-operation among Co-operatives and Concern for community.
Some of our dedicated workers here at the farm need a change of venue every now and then. Nick and Curtis (below), who work alongside my dad and brother, have one of the hardest jobs at the farm. Showing up every day, they put on …
Lori says: I loved this, brought back a lot of memories! I’m a city girl now, but sometimes my heart is still on the farm. I had lambs, and they were the biggest pets! I did enjoy riding horses also, but when winter came, well I didn’t enjoy it at all. LOL. Having to go out in the cold and feed the cattle wasn’t fun to me.
Thank you for sharing.
Gratitude can grab you in the simplest, silliest, and most unexpected places. Take, for instance, the recesses of a pocket, or deep down in a crevice between couch cushions, (that’s where those keys are!) Or, maybe, gratitude will get ya when you’re …
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
Debbie 
Hello dear simple minded friend! I adore your resolutions to simplify! We are on the same page! Our eldest and I listed twelve items on eBay the two weeks before Christmas… all Star Wars Lego building sets he had outgrown. We sold all of them which allowed us to purchase his new laptop and software for his biggest passion, (of the moment ) recording music! It is a great feeling to ” reduce” these items also knowing they are being loved and used in other house holds! It’s not always easy to let go, but once you do it it is sooooo liberating!
Hubby is on board too and he is an admitted pack rat.. but even he says enough is enough!
Happy simplifying….!!!!!!!:) 🙂 🙂 🙂
tee hee!
Deb
I’m grateful for another clean slate in 2012. I shall continue to shed unecessary stuff that often has a negative emotional charge and free up the spaces for new possibilities. I shall strive to stay in the present moment more and not dwell in the past or the future.
I’ve been feeling this way for a while, but it is hard to implement. Especially the de-bulking of our lives, our stuff. We may need it some day! When I got married, all my “stuff” fit in my car and the smallest u-haul possible for the used fridge, stove and dresser I bought from a friend. I feel relaxed when I think of those days and my shoulders tighten up when I walk around my house now. It is time to bite the bullet.
Inspiring words for 2012. I must confess, staying up until midnight on New Years Eve is not something I do. But I did it last night to keep my hubby and daughter company. (…they were all sorts of excited to set of the rest of last Julys’ fireworks.) And I found, by serendipitous chance, this part of your website!
Your photography, wisdom and generous sharing of the farmgirl philosophy will enrich my life in the days to arrive in 2012. Thank you so much!
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One thing I do every year around the end of Dec., after the Christmas rush, is read my entire year’s journal entries. I try to use it to re-evaluate and consider what, if any, changes need to be made. This year I was floored by how many times in one year I mentioned my health. Colds, headaches, fatigue, etc. So my resolution is to take better care of me. I’m working on the list.