hello, charlotte!

Ben is the lucky one. I never win anything, but he always scores big...like winning a 2 night stay at a Marriott in Charlotte, North Carolina.

So why not? We marked our calendars, ducked out of work early, and headed south for a weekend.

We didn't have much on the agenda, in fact, we were pretty boring while there. Our fun consisted of long walks through Freedom Park, afternoon drives in old neighborhoods with southern mansions shaded by tall oaks, two hours spent in wide-eyed wonder as first-timers at IKEA, a Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives tour organized by Ben Rothwell himself, antique mall shopping, and a visit to Elevation Church. 

We slept in every morning only to lazily trudge down to the full breakfast buffet, still in our sweats, of course. We ate oversized omelets. We leisurely sipped on coffee. With nowhere to be & nothing to do, we let conversation run wild, refilling our mugs repeatedly before finally neglecting the little table for two by the window. 

It was a quiet weekend. A weekend where I looked at the man in the driver's seat next to me or across the table from me or whose hand was in mine, and thought, yes, yes, yes, YES. A weekend where we decided to take the scenic route whenever we punched our next destination into the GPS. A weekend where we ate double dinners due to restaurant hopping. A weekend where we craned our necks and peered out windows to see all we could of this new place full of new experiences. A weekend where we drank the brisk air and embraced all the shades of fall. A weekend where we stopped the pace and centered on the peace. 

 A weekend of gifts, grace, gratitude.

"this gift will never let you down; this gift is waiting to be found"

This week I made an effort to list 20 gifts that have been flooding my life. Daily gifts that are discovered when I stop. recognize. embrace. and name. They may seem small -- insignificant to some -- silent, or simple. But to me they are beautiful and remind me that I have a beautiful life.

Here is the beginning of my goal to name one thousand gifts:

1. an earnest compliment from a sister
2. healthful meals after a salted caramel mocha splurge
3. my husband's oversized thermal shirts that fit just right when pulled over a pair of knees that are hugged to the chest on chilly nights at The Treehouse
4. a pot of chili simmering on the stove, announcing itself with aromas that escape the kitchen and roam throughout the house
5. my grandmother never, ever forgetting my birthday
6. $1 breakfast burritos on the weekends
7. boutique shopping where they sell the most darling dresses and give you your purchases in chevron gift bags adorned with ribbon bows
8. virginia mountains in the fall -- always hues of blue despite the exploding fire colors
9. listening to a whole album from start to finish and finding you love every song
10. the fall foliage that covers my parents' yard, taking me back to all those childhood afternoons spent begrudgingly raking crunchy leaves
11. scooping extra apple butter onto a toasted English muffin
12. that gravel road that takes me home -- the slowing of pace, the pops of rocks under the tires, and the tips of hundreds of trees bending to meet like an arch
13. french pressed coffee with mama, hearing about her dreams, and sharing an omelet on the patio of one of our favorite restaurants downtown
14. unable to resist biting into the reddest of apples while plucking them from trees at the orchard
15. walking through the door after a long day to find my husband cooking dinner amidst a cloud of steam in the kitchen
16. movie nights where we ditch the couch and spread blankets out on the living room floor
17. peeking into the oven (even though I know better) to see if the sugar on top of my homemade pie is sparkling yet
18. Ben's car parked in the driveway every day...still in total dreamland that we live together
19. birthday letters & cards in the mail
20. my favorite pair of strong arms sneaking around my frame from behind; a sweet embrace of interruption

*My quest for gratitude was inspired by the God-fearing, fascinating, and fellow canadian Ann Voskamp.  She is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, One Thousand Gifts. And it's been changing my life...one quiet moment at a time. Click HERE to hear a little tid-bit from the lady herself, click HERE to read her daily blog, and click HERE to purchase her book!