I've enjoyed so many people posting each day of November what they
are thankful for on Facebook although it kind of makes me smile that the
first 10 days or so are things like "my parents", "my health", "my
house" and then by the 26th day, it's things like "the wine store down
the street that sells huge vats of cheap wine that help me cope with the
weather in November". Hey, whatever works for you!
I've
been trying to list the things I'm grateful for every day of the year -
Tom and I actually do it each night before dinner. I guess it's our
sort of grace before supper. And in a year when it's easy to say how
much a lot of the situations that we have faced have sucked, our list of things
we are grateful for each day is quite long and impressive.
We
have an amazing marriage, build from a friendship, surrounded by love
and trust. We fight, we disagree, we get angry at each other, but we
always talk through things and we never go to bed mad. We get each
other and know that everything we do is way more fun with the other one
next to us. We laugh, a lot, usually at the other person and that's
fine. We're a team in every aspect of our lives.
We
have the most spectacular little girl in our life. Never in a million
years did either of us think that a little girl could bring us so much
happiness. And each day she gets more and more fun. She's learning
something new around the clock and her personality is starting to shine
through. She smiles and giggles, she plays with toys and pets the dog.
She grabs your nose and blows raspberries with a mouth full of carrots.
She's awesome.
We
have a dog who I swear is getting younger every day. We laughed the
other day while running her when someone stopped and said "what a cute
puppy. She's going to be a big one". We went on to tell them that
she's 9.5 years old and then smiled the rest of the run wondering if
there's a big 10 year growth spurt that we should be concerned with.
She's so patient with Abby, and we keep telling her that someday soon
they will be the best of friends, probably when Abby starts feeding
herself!
Our family is a blessing to us. They support
us in so many ways and encourage us to put ourselves out there and take
risks. They teach us the value of love and that it's totally
unconditional.
We have friends and neighbors that have
become like family to us, especially when our "blood" family is so far
away. They are people that we can truly count on for anything. It's
important to have people like that in your life.
We have a beautiful house that's safe and keeps us warm. We have food on our table each day to keep us
fat full. We have the ability and desire to exercise which keeps us healthy and sane.
Tom
has started a new career and through his patience and determination,
has been able to teach himself a trade, pass a test and get licensed in
the state of Georgia to do something that he's truly excited about in
less than a month. And he has a company willing to mentor him to help
him achieve his goals and to learn everything he can possibly learn to
be the best.
Seriously, we are lucky people. We have a
great life. We have so many things to be thankful for 365 days a
year. I challenge you to take a few minutes every day... not just in
November... and think about all of the things that are blessings in your
life. I bet the list is longer than you think!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay
so a few more things. Black Friday - aka total chaos in stores for
things that inevitably will be that cheap again in about two weeks
without the crazies. I try to avoid it if at all possible (I have gone
out at the wee hours of the morning just to experience it and it was
fun. Once. Now my warm bed is WAY more exciting). And don't get me
started on the stores that are open on Thanksgiving. Ahhhhh... there
are a ton of online sales though that are pretty awesome and I totally
cool with that. As a Zensah Ambassador, I'm sharing this one
with you because it's a really great deal. They socks are awesome (well
everything about their stuff is awesome, but their socks are really
awesome). This is a good deal people. Trust me!
It's
also Beat M*ch*gan week. That could possibly be more important to a
lot of people than Thanksgiving. Tom and I have been proudly flying our
Ohio State flag all week and Saturday we'll plop our butts on the couch
with some yummy snacks and cheer our Buckeyes onto a win. I'm not a
die-hard OSU fan or anything, but it's funny how easy it is to meet
someone from M*ch*gan and simply say "I'm sorry". :) O-H
I'm
testing some Mizuno WaveRider 17's right now thanks to FitFluential and really loving them. Will post a
review about them soon. Here's a sneak peak at them though...
