I Know I Can

I'm thankful for people who discourage and make you question yourself and your ideas. Encountering such people puts your aspirations to the test, leaving out the unnecessary things and making space for the worthy ones, and it also makes you really appreciate those people in your life who give you strength and make you believe in yourself and what you do.

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.

No Hate

I'm so thankful I don't feel hate any more. Hate is a very strong word, and it's nothing to be proud of, but some 8 years ago I used to hate an ex best friend of mine with a passion. She deserved it though, and I even wrote a little hate poem to her back then. She never got to hear it, and never did I even share it with anyone - I guess it was my own outlet of those poisonous emotions. But here's the poem, just for the laughs of it, because it does make me smile now - it feels really good not to have felt anything like that for so long, and I am thankful that feeling such genuine hatered at a tender age of 14 or so didn't turn me into a vindictive dark little person.

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I hate you when you speak,

I hate you when you're silent.

You always make me sick,

B***h, you make me violent.

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Now c'mon laugh with me!.. Ha

Picnic No. 2

Having accomplished our second picnic this summer, I want to say thanks to those of my friends who made it here to my area yesterday allowing me to take Mr. Rhett Butler for a day out with us. My dog is not a fan of the underground traveling so if it wasn't for the gathering nearby my place, he would not be able to join us and would miss all the fun!..

Turkey, Summer 2004

Six years later I'm glad I'm still thankful for this amazing experience - my trip to Turkey in the summer of 2004. Just like with the Miami trip I mentioned earlier, this journey provided enough of unforgettable memories and little life lessons and connected me with so many amazing people, some of whom I still happily have in my life.

Picnic & the City

We have this one park here, which is right in the central area of the city, practically next to one of our busiest highways, so it always amused me how quite and peaceful it always felt there. We've been planning to have a picnic there for at least 2 years now, so I am very very thankful and happy it has finally happened!! Thank you to the friends who made the day such a perfect one, and thanks to the Un-Boring Garden (that's what the park is called!!) for providing some un-boring place of gathering. Do I even need to mention the weather was perfect too?.. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Lost & Found

I'm feeling very thankful for getting back in touch with a friend of mine from a year back. We used to have so much fun - scary movies, street racing, night outs, ice skating and whatnot - until our mutual female friend ruined it all (women are such jealous creatures for the most part). Our friendship might never be the same again and maybe me and him won't be hanging out again any time soon, but I love it how when we chat now it feels like we've never stopped talking.

What are YOU thankful for? It's the last day to enter the Thank You Too! Contest and your last chance to win a little thankful something! Submit your thankful story HERE now!

Chat, No Roulette

I'm thankful for our yesterday night's conversation with my friend Jack. Was good to catch up, to reminisce, to confess some things and to clear some things up... And I guess while I'm at it I also need to say thanks to MSN Messenger for even making this sweet chat possible, because long distance is not the most helpful thing when you want to talk to someone. So thanks!

What are YOU thankful for?
Come share a story and win a little thankful something - HERE!

Most of My Life Isn't Real

I'm thankful for the days and nights that feel so good and real that all that was before feels just like a haze before your eyes and the bad stuff in your past just really doesn't matter - all that matters is you truly live in such a moment and the future seems so bright.

Visits

I'm having a blast with visiting friends from Europe, so I guess today I'm thankful that they are here in Moscow! Yay!

P.S. There's now a Facebook page for The 'Thank You' Project - it should prove useful for those who asked me if there was an easy way to keep track of thanks without creating a Google account. Another reason I decided to create a page is I saw other thankful pages popping up on FB and thought that effort put in updating daily for over 6 months deserved a page... ha

Care 2

There are people who care about you, and then there are people who also care about your feelings. I realize those are two different things. A true connection isn't possible without the latter, so I am thankful for people who take the time to know you better and do or say things taking into consideration your distinctive personal qualities.

Hearty Conversations

I'm especially thankful for meaningful hearty conversations that last till the sun comes up because they don't happen often, and each such experience is overwhelmingly delightful and unique.

To Teddy

I once read somewhere that the best way to create harmony in your life and spread it to those around you was to first find and establish that harmony within yourself. This is no easy task and I could never succeed in it until I met Teddy, who has been succefully 'balancing me out' ever since.

I don't know how he does what he does, all I know is that he's my personal guarding angel. Might sound silly, but it's something I believe in and only refer like to two people I know - my grandma and my Teddy. If she's the reason I still breathe, he's the reason I still believe. She brought me back to life physically, and he brought me back to life emotionally. He heals my hurts, he always knows what to say and how to cheer me up, sometimes I get a feeling that maybe he knows me a little better than I know myself... He's always been there to save me from my demons and whisk me away from the approaching blues, never asking for anything in return - he's the opposite of selfish and I love his heart. He doesn't know this, but I compare him to my grandma a lot. They're the only people I know with such incredibly beautiful souls. I swear I can see their halos.

So Teddy, I've told you that at least like 30 times before (and I hope you're not tired of hearing it yet), but thank you so much for being in my life. Thank you for being the best friend one can be. Thank you for being my harmony. Thank you for being you. Happy Birthday and God bless the parents who made you.

P.S. Got so caught up in being thankful I almost forgot it was supposed to be a birthday post, ha... Love ya!..

Emotional Baggage

Someone's (mine) thankfulness has no limits, let me explain you why. Yesterday I wrote a note on Facebook titled "I'm a Loser, Baby" - my thoughts on my weird love patterns. The analysis inspired yesterday's thankful post too. And today, after leaving a comment that made a whole lot of sense to me, Graham, my amazing blogger buddy, is my hero! His remark inspired my status update on FB, which in turn, inspired a very meaningful conversation with my girl pals Deb and Sarah. Right now I am so elevated, so encouraged and so thankful! I am thankful to Graham for always being very on point with his comments and bringing a fresh attitude; I am thankful to Debby for putting in so much into our today's conversation and taking the time to make me feel cared for; I am thankful to Sarah for never judging me and always cheering me up; and last, but not least, I am thankful for having all the emotional baggage that I have - without it I'd never be who I am today, and I'm kind of very fond of this person! THANK YOU!

Musee du Louvre

Today I want to give thanks to Charles, to my lovely friend and a perfect French gentleman. There are many things I could thank him for, but let's focus on our trip to the Musee du Louvre during my short but productive 4 day Paris trip at the dawn of 2008. We got to the Louvre late and it was getting close to the closing time, but since I had only so much time we decided to still go for it - running through the spacious halls and up and down the stairs was still a lot of fun. Charles happened to know the Louvre really well since he used to go a lot with his father when he was a kid, I'm sure I would totally get lost there if I was alone, and mind you, I speak no French!.. So, thank you, Charles, for taking me there and for being a perfect tour guide!

Bottled Up

So thankful to my wonderful friend Teddy! There have been quite a few things going on for me that have been leaving me all sad and tired, upset and uninspired, and at some point I started to feel a bit bottled up and realized I really needed to talk to someone... And it just so happened that at the time I could only think of one person who I could turn to with all of those things that have been bugging me lately - to Teddy. I'm thankful he was right there for me when I mentioned I needed to talk, I knew he would. And now that we've talked I feel so much better, most of these things don't even seem like such a big deal to me any more, I know I'll get through. Actually, while we were talking, I even forgot about one of the things that was upsetting me and now feel like it really doesn't matter that much any more. I even feel like he somehow help bring back the spirit of inspiration, yay! Thank you, Teddy! I so can't wait for your birthday to dedicate a personal thankful post to you in the best of my birthday posting tradition!..

Let's Hug It Out

What's better, a hug or a kiss?

I'm all for hugs, I might even be a bit obsessed with them when it comes to the very few people I hold close to my heart. Even when it comes to romantic relationships, if you can't give me the kind of a hug I like, I doubt it we'll get any further. A hug just really makes me feel good, loved, appreciated, cared for and desired... I'm thankful to whoever is responsible for coming up with the idea of hugging!! Yay, let's all live the hug life!

If You Care

I'm thankful for people who care. Sometimes some things in life bring us down and make us sad, and it's not always easy to make things right, but knowing that there are people who care always makes me feel so much better. Just knowing that someone cares is a lot already, even if they can't 'physically' help you and the situation never works out in the end. Thank you for caring to those who do.

World Wide Web

I'm tremendously thankful for the internet! For this awesome thing that makes me such a world wide woman, and helps me keep in touch with people and dear friends from all over the globe. Some of my friendships that I value so much wouldn't be possible or would be so much harder to maintain without internet, and some of them would have never happened in the first place, even if it sounds pathetic to some. I'm honestly very very very thankful!..

SMS

I'm thankful that a little kind gesture, a simple text message can still cheer me up.