May celebrations day by day
The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
~ Oprah Winfrey
I chose CELEBRATE as my 2026 Word of the Year (WOTY). One way I’m putting that word into practice is to take note of the many things I have to celebrate…large and small…during the month and share the highlights with you on the final Tuesday of each month.
Another way of putting my word into practice is to keep a Celebration Journal. Actually, I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for several years now. For 2026, I’ve made a minor adjustment to make it a Celebration Journal. Throughout the day when something strikes me as worth celebrating…no matter how small…I jot it down in my journal. Each night just before bed, I review the day’s list and quietly celebrate my good fortune.
For this month’s Celebration blog post, I have decided to share with you one item from each day of my Celebration Journal.
May Celebrations
1.My cactus bloomed for the first time!
2. Enjoyable visit with our neighbors out on the patio.
3. Kind words of encouragement on my Camino training video.
4. Purchased euros for my trip.
5. Came across a beautiful, unexpected mural and a road runner on my training walk.
6. Had a great experience at St. George Running. The employee was kind and helpful.
7. My arch supports and the lock-lace method of tying my shoes are helping.
8. Started a beautiful flower puzzle.
9. A perfect pool day, listening to my new Poolside playlist.
10. A couple of quail on our window sill.
11. Discovered a new place, Rowley’s Red Barn. Had a delicious turkey sandwich and homemade coconut, chocolate, and almond ice cream.
12. Cooked a tasty Hello Fresh dinner.
13. A free cold brew from Beans & Brew.
14. A glorious massage.
15. Blood draw went smoothly. Thyroid and iron are both within normal range.
16. Completed another good training walk.
17. We finally got a little rain.
18. Finished another good book: My Name is Anton.
19. Got my Camino-themed nails done.
20. Safe return to Murray (Salt Lake area).
21. Larry’s surgery is complete and appears to be a success. Fingers crossed!
22. I rescued dinner with the aid of two air fryers when our oven wouldn’t heat. (Thanks to our son-in-law, Panos, for resolving our fuse box issues.)
23. Dinner with my sisters.
24. We purchased a new refrigerator and were able to save the food when our old one went out. (For those of you keeping score, yes, we had problems with our stove and our refrigerator in one weekend. We also replaced our dryer. When it rains, it pours!)
25. A delightful visit with our daughter, Kenzi, and our great granddaughter, Ivy Sue, while Buddy and Ben installed the new appliances.
26. A yummy lunch with Ashley and Piper.
Scheduling note
I will be taking the next 2-3 weeks off from blogging while I am on my Camino de Santiago adventure. Thanks again to everyone who has offered encouragement and good wishes for this dream-come-true.
Your turn
- What did you celebrate in May?
- Have you found any delightful surprises in your neighborhood recently?
- What else is on your mind? Anything at all; I just love to hear from you.
Sorry to read about the household appliances; they do always seem to break at the same time, don’t they? We celebrated 25 years of marriage this month. Man, time sure flies by.
Yes, Joanne, it seems things seem to break down in groups. When we remodeled our house many years ago, we bought all new appliances. Evidently, they all have a similar lifespan! Congratulations on 25 years of marriage!
Happy travels Christie – it’s going to be an amazing experience and the memories will be with you forever. Soak it all in – there’ll be plenty to include in June’s celebration journal – and hopefully no more appliance breakdowns! 🙂
Thank you, Leanne. We did have an amazing time and made memories that will last a lifetime. More to come in a future post!
Oh, my! When it rains, it pours! I do love your Camino manicure! I’m so excited for you, Christie! I can’t wait until you’re back, full of thoughts, experiences, and everything else. My May was one of waiting until Mike’s surgery. He’ll be starting physical therapy soon.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
So true, Marsha. My mother used to say, “If it’s not one thing, it’s a dozen.” Guess we got the dozen…or maybe just half a dozen. I hope Mike’s physical therapy is going well.
All the best for your Camino Christie’s. I’m looking forward to following along. I have just come home from hospital today as last week I had my total knee reconstruction. So I will living vicariously through you for a while.
Thank you, Jennifer. The Camino journey turned out to be wonderful. I can’t wait to share more in a future post. I hope your knee is healing well and that you will be out walking in nature again soon,
You know me, I am always late getting around to read everyone’s blog posts. But I do eventually make it around. I know you are away from the blog and making wonderful memories on the Camino. Enjoying following your progress on IG and FB. Cheering you on. So happy that you seem to be gathering momentum and only getting stronger!!
This was such a sweet post. Nice to read all the little celebrations in your May. We have quail but have never seen them on the window sill! The ice cream sounds delicious. What a grand combo of flavors. You and your sisters have the same radiant smiles…from mom or dad? Love the nails.
Hope you are resting well in between walks. Big hugs!! So proud of you.
Thanks for all the encouragement and the kind remarks on my Camino posts, Leanne. You are a good friend! We had a wonderful experience and were surprised at how we felt stronger day by day, as opposed to getting progressively more worn out. I think my sister and I inherited our smiles from my mother. Though my dad had a great smile (and laugh) too.