Be Creative

Have today off?  Instead of heading to the nearest retail outlet to mingle with five thousand other holiday shoppers waiting in check-out lines, do something just for fun.  Let yourself be creative and don't worry about the outcome.  Devote some time to a favorite hobby or explore one of your passions and simply enjoy yourself.  And, seeing the pictures of a Ferris wheel made of balloons always remind me of the notion that if you can dream it, you can create it.

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul."

                                               --Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Be present in all things and thankful for all things."

                                                       --Maya Angelou

Giving Thanks: Mother Nature

"Just feel the magic in the air and the power in the breeze,

Feel the energy of the plants, the bushes and the trees,

Let yourself be surrounded by nature at its best

Calm yourself, focus and let magic do the rest."

                                              --Sally Walker

Giving Thanks

Not only is this Thanksgiving week but today is also my birthday -- double the reason to be grateful!  Therefore, the featured image is one of my favorites and perfect for the occasion as it contains some of the special people who give me plenty of reasons to smile.  No, my husband and I don't have children but we have a great time in the company of our nieces and nephews -- can't you tell from their faces that this is a lively group!  Never a dull moment, and I am grateful for the way they enrich our lives.

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,

they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

                                            --Marcel Proust

Badgers Visit Kinnick

With the Wisconsin Badgers in Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes, we expected several fans from the neighboring state to be present for the football game.  And, yes, there was a healthy dose of red and white sprinkled throughout Kinnick Stadium along with those tailgating in the surrounding parking lots.  While approaching the stadium, my husband and I encountered this particular fan who proudly adorned his head with a badger-skin hat -- and, of course, I had to take a picture.  

A Child's Perspective

"Children are happy because they don't have a file in their

minds called 'All the Things That Could Go Wrong'."

                                       --Marianne Williamson

A Gobbler

"If you want to soar like an eagle, don't hang out with turkeys."

                                                               --Unknown