Sunsets

I am thankful for sunsets! Reminds me that I need to just take the time and watch the sun set - from the beginning of it till the very end, not doing anything else, but just watching... Can you believe I've never done that? God, I'm totally missing out on life. Shame on me.

Who's Gonna Catch Me When I Fall

I am thankful for support and people who are willing to provide it. Just a little bit of sincere support can go a long long way!

Genes

I'm thankful for my genes. When I think of the personality traits me and my parents have in common, I always feel like I've only taken the best my mom and dad had to offer in terms of temper, habits and such. The mix makes me a very contradictory person at times, but I kind of like this about myself, so I really don't mind. I'm also thankful I didn't inherit some of their traits I personally don't like, ha.

Color & the Metro

Most trains in the Moscow metro are classic and not too modern, but we have a few types of newer ones too. Some of those newer trains of certain design feature yellow and orange handrails. They're my favorites - I'm thankful for those two pops of unexpected color, those ultimate mood lifters that are sure to provide you with some extra energy on an early working day morning!  

Each time I happen to catch one of the few trains that feature this 'clever' design it puts a smile on my face, and because those trains are rare it's allways a nice surprise.

You Had Me at "Thank You"

I'm thankful for people who are naturally polite and know when to say simple "please" and "thank you". Such little gestures can really mean a lot!

Practice What You Preach

I'm not going to point fingers at anyone, but I'm thankful to one of my family members for unknowingly and unwillingly teaching me a very good thing - not to tell others to do something a certain way if I don't do it this way myself. By always giving me advice they themselves don't follow, they really taught me to always practice what I preach.

What are you thankful for today?

I'm totally developing a new hobby here! Last month GOOD chose my question to ask its readers on Facebook and Twitter (GOOD's post here), and I'm still so thankful for the joy that being able to ask it and read all the thankful answers brings to my heart, that I just can't help but want a little more of it. 

So tell me, what are you guys thankful for today?

Body Modification

Thinking of it now, I'm thankful I'd gone through the phase of being into getting body piercings when I was still a teen. It would be much harder to pull off some of the "looks" now taking into consideration my office job. Nevermind that it's illegal to get those if your under 18 without your parent's permission, I actually think it was wise of me to be done and over with it back then.

Commute to Work

My office might not be situated in the most fabulous area of the city, but getting to see something like this every day when leaving work during the colder months of the year is sure enough a good thing to be thankful for! The sunsets are fantastic.

Winter Drawings

It's not even winter here (thankfully! I'm not quite mentally ready yet), but somewhere it is (any visitors from the Southern hemisphere today?), so I'm saying thankful for another nature's wonder - window frostworks!.. 

Taking It Easy

I'm thankful I know how to relax, and I'm thankful I know whan it's time to take it easy on myself. It should be pretty obvious to all people, but I've seen many who either don't understand the importance of it or feel it's an unapologetic luxury to take the time to wind down.

Laundry Service

So, as finding the good in the bad is one of my specialties, here I'm bringing to you yet another of my silver linings. I was just wondering yesterday what I'd be missing about living at home once I move out... I have no problem with supporting myself, with cooking, cleaning, being on my own, buying groceries etc.- the kind of things a lot of my friends like to rely on their moms to do. One thing I'm not so used to doing is laundry. Whenever I want to wear something and it needs to be washed I'd just go and wash it with my hands - no probem with it either. But for some reason I never really had to even plan any grand laundry days, this is something mom has always done on her own. Thus, while I still can, I am thankful for not doing the laundry.

If you want to find some good in something bad of your own, come ask me and let's figure it out together!

Stronger

n spring I did a series of thankful posts on my time-tested music favorites, and I realize now the list isn't really complete. I'm thankful for the Sugababes' song "Stronger". Sugababes might not be the first band that comes to mind when you think of deep or insightful inspiring music, but "Stronger" has proved to be calming and empowering to me. I listen to it when I need to gather myself together, reassure myself and soothe the nerves and soul. I'm thankful that it helps.

"I'll make it through the rainy days,

I'll be the one who's standing longer than the rest..."

Night Sky

I'm thankful for the stars at night. It could've been made that we wouldn't see them, but they're bright enough so we do. If you just take a moment to really think of it, it truly is amazing! And what about all the wickedly cool star constellations?

Nevermind that I can only find the Big Dipper (here we call it the Great Bear) and sometimes the lesser one too on my own, it's still pretty awesome to know there are so many more of them out there. Can any of you actually spot other canstellations up in the night sky? Do tell! I might just invite you to a star gazing party if I ever host one, ha!..

Change

Things change, people come and go... Easy to get frustrated and get angry with a change. But life happens, people come and teach you things, and they change you. And it's important to change. One just needs to make sure they don't lose their identity while at it, because with identity comes purpose - take it away and there's nothing purposeful left. But it's important to change, and I believe it's important to embrace any given change and be thankful for it.

Mice in the Metro

Yesterday in the metro I saw a guy who was playing with a real living mouse that he held in his hand (or was it a little rat?)... Now I'm thankful I'm not afraid of mice or rats, because I only noticed that sweet couple when I sat down right next to them. I can only imagine how hard I'd scream if I did have a fear of mice (or musophobia, or murophobia, or suriphobia)!

Maxi

I was wearing a maxi dress today, and each time I had to lift or hold it with my hand or even both my hands to help me go up or down the stairs I just felt so feminine, so graceful... Lately I've just been increasingly appreciative of simpler little things like that.

Hold His Feet While He's Asleep

I'm thankful for being an owner to my dog! I'm thankful I can hold his feet while he's asleep (he's a really small dog so this is easily possible), I'm thankful I can tease him and squeeze him until he starts growling cutely, I'm thankful I can shave half his fur off when I think it's too much - he wouldn't quite let anyone else do any of that. And I am thankful that after all of that, he still actually loves me.

Childhood Memories

When I was little my family had a dacha in Belarus, where me, my then non-working mom, my brother and my grandparents used to spend all summers long (my father would visit us whenever he could get away from work and make his way to basically another country). Our piece of land there was prosperous and the soils were rich - all sorts of nature's creatures lived and growed there in abundance. Nearby we had ponds with water lillies and frogs, and we had woods with numerous kinds of trees and all sorts of wild forest berries and mushrooms waiting to be picked up, and wild forest animals waiting to be discovered or maybe even hunted down... On our own lot we had various juicy fruits and garden berries that we would eat right from the trees and bushes, we had luscious flowers of all colors growing there too - I even had a beautiful pink rose planted in my name (my brother had a little oak tree planted for him). So many living things were there for us to enjoy also, I remember my favorites were friendly little grass snakes, the harmless kind with bright yellow spots on their heads - I was always fascinated with them and would touch and gently poke them on the head with my fingers, and they wouldn't mind that at all!

It all sounds just like a fairytale, doesn't it? Most of my childhood memories have to do with this amazing place, and maybe its wonderfullness is what deserves all the credit for making me remember myself and my surroundings so well since I was about 3 years old.

This is what I'm thankful for.

GUM's Art Installations

I'm thankful for GUM Department Store's art installations. The idea is relatively new and it's such a good one - definately provides extra entertainment and artful education to one's shopping or cultural routine both for locals and Moscow's guests!

The photo above is taken during one such art installation dedicated to Moschino fashion brand and the history of its boutiques' best display windows worldwide. And if you know me, you know I just couldn't ignore the chairs!

What's Hot Stays Hot

One of the many things I like about our current hot weather is that when you sip on a cup of hot tea your tea stays hot for a much longer time! How awesome is that?.. Talk about silver lining!

An Attitude of Gratitude

The other day I've noticed another way this blog project has affected me already... I've truly developed an attitude of gratitude - whenever I say "thank you" now I mean it on a whole new level and it really comes from within - I truly say it in a way I didn't do it just a year ago. Maybe it's because I now know the true power of each thank, and this is definately a reason to be thankful for in itself!

Summer 2010

I am thankful for this summer, which might as well be the most eventful and meaningful summer out of all the summers I spent not traveling. I had this mini goal to make this summer a mini pursuit of many things active and out of the norm – to do things I don’t usually do in Moscow and do things that can only be done when it’s hot outside, and looking back I am happy to realize I’ve accomplished enough (and the things I planned to do but didn’t get a chance to execute, I'll just keep in mind for summer 2011!)

Family

So many things to be thankful for, ugh! Sometimes I'm just stuck and don't know what to blog about... Oh well, I still have almost 2 full months!..

Today I'm thinking that I am thankful for the very understanding family I have. We might not always be on the best of terms and we might not be best friends, we do have our issues and complications, but all in all, my family is an understanding one, and for that I am thankful.

Dog Stuff

They say all dogs can swim but you can't really say this about your dog until you've witnessed it - thus I am thankful I've had an opportunity to check for myself and can declare now that my dog indeed can swim!.. He's so funny while he's at it too - when you lift him and he's no longer in the pool he keeps moving his legs in the air...

Time to Read

As I've mentioned before, I'm not the biggest fan of visiting our family dacha, but still, whenever I do, I really appreciate the opportunity to have my meals outdoors and the spare time I can spend reading. Whenever I am in the city I always find it harder to find time to just relax and read - must be the calming effect of nature!

Facebook Notes

I love writing my notes on Facebook. I love everything about it - from the moment I get an idea of what to write about to this very moment when I am about to click "publish"... I swear my heart almost stops for a moment!..

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Now I guess I need to explain what the fuss is all about - after all, what's so special about posting stuff on Facebook, you may ask. For me, it is kind of special and a kind of big deal - my notes are personal and often representative of my creative writing style and a lot of times each such note reveals a part of me not many know. This is why. This is why I'm thankful for my own way of writing Facebook notes!

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P.S. And this is also the reason why I take my personal Facebook account seriously. Should you want to connect via Facebook though, feel free to keep in touch via The 'Thank You' Project's FB page.

No Smog-ing Zone

I must admit, all this crazy heavy smoke hovering all over Moscow these days (and especially today when the situation's especially bad) made me really appreciate the clean sweet air we humans are supposed to breathe. I'm so looking forward to having it back here and having it in my lungs again!

Just a Lesson in Your Life

There are people who are meant to come into your life, teach you a lesson and then just walk out of your life as if they never even existed... Or at least that's how I experienced it a few times. I was thinking about it today and realized, that if there are people out there who are meant to play this role in my life, then I am also a person who is meant to play this same role in someone else's life as well. Maybe this explains why sometimes we connect with someone and even though such a connection seems to be such a magical thing it somehow goes somewhat wrong and you're left feeling like you better just 'vanish'. Maybe it really means that you've played your role - you came and provided a lesson (even if unknowingly) - and now you're meant to walk away, leaving the other half of such connection with their thoughts and their lesson. Maybe. This is just a thought, but I still feel thankful for playing a part in someone's life, because frankly, we all do.

On Fire

The situation with wild fires in Russia seems to be getting worse, and without getting into too much sad detail I just want to say thanks for the fact that my family and friends are all okay!

Countryside Thankfullness

While I'm still here at our family's dacha, I've came up with enough things to be thankful for, but I'll outline just a few:

• I'm thankful for the kind of modern technology that lets you have internet connection anywhere your cell phone would have a signal. Otherwise, how would I update my blog?
  

• And the second good thing to be thankful for is for the fact that Mr. Rhett Butler is still alive and healthy - he ate a bee yesterday and this freaked us all out. Thankfully, the bee didn't bite him on the tongue or throat, because then we'd have a HUGE problem.