30 Days of Thankfulness

I decided to take the 30 Days of Thankfulness challenge that I found on Facebook because I have been working for a few years on retraining my brain to think positively, instead of being such a "negative Nancy," as my grandmother would say. I've found it to be helpful to me to focus on all the blessings that I do have, instead of what I don't have. I try to find little things to be thankful for every day, but I thought it would be fun to come up with one thing every day of November. So here it is: My list of thankfulness.

Day #1: I am thankful for my wonderful husband, who works so hard to take care of our family every day (& is also the greatest partner & father EVER) Thank you, my Meat Man, for always loving & supporting me, & for being such a great man. ♥

Day #2: I am thankful that God has given me such reserves of hidden strength that have helped me through the many trials & painful times in my life, & has blessed me with the knowledge that while my life may not have turned out exactly how I planned it, it is all a part of a bigger plan. Thank you, God, for giving me dark times that I may appreciate the light of happiness. Thank you for letting me experience loss & anger towards you that I may appreciate the many gifts that you've blessed my life with & your love for me. Thank you for never abandoning me, even when I thought you did. Thank you for carrying me through always & forgiving me for my mistakes.

Day #3: I am thankful for all my wonderful family, both the ones I was born with & the ones I married into. They're always there for us no matter what & I love ya'll, every one of you.

Day #4: I am thankful for my good health. This is one of those things that you tend to take forgranted until it's gone, but I am very thankful for it.

Day #5: I am thankful that my sis-in-law, Apryl, fought & beat breast cancer. We love you, sis. 

Day #6: I am thankful to be blessed with such an intelligent, (mostly) sweet, & all around awesome little boy. Mommy loves you more than you could ever know. (Even if you are a little tyrant sometimes!) Thank you for lighting up our lives :)

Day #7: I am thankful for all the fabulous, crazy women I am blessed to call my friends. Without you, ladies, life would be unbearable! Thank ya'll for always being there for me. I love you, whether we're right around the corner from each other or half a world apart, & I can't wait until the next time we get to raise hell together.

Day #8: I am so very thankful for both of my mamas. Mom, I couldn't have been born to a better mother. And Tonya, I couldn't have married into a better mother-in-love if I tried. Thank you both for always being my ears to bend, my shoulders to cry on, my helping hands when I fall, my encouraging words to brighten my day, and my jokesters to laugh with. I love you both so very much & value our friendship more than you will ever know. 

Day #9: I am thankful for my crazy dogs, who can always brighten my day with a cuddle or a kiss. They're both so great with my kiddo, for which I am very grateful. Plus, they're adding years to my life (or so the statistics say). Plus, what could possibly make you feel more loved than whenever you leave to the store for 15 mins & you come back to 3 dogs acting like you've been gone for an eternity? Awesome sauce.

Day #10: I am thankful for the basic necessities that get us through the day, which a great number of people in this world do not have. Such as: a roof over my head, hot running water, air conditioning & heat, a refrigerator & freezer, a pantry full of food, clothes & shoes to wear, a washer & dryer, a car, a TV & computer to entertain me (which is actually a luxury, not such a necessity). Let us never forget that our circumstances, no matter how bad they are, could always be worse.

Day #11: I am thankful for all the servicemen/women & veterans who have served our country's armed forces & some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice by dying to protect our freedom. To all of you out there who have put on a uniform & taken up arms, thank you & your families so very much for all that you do & the sacrifices you make to defend our freedom here at home. I have been fortunate enough to know some of these true heroes: my papa Earl, who served in the Army, Coast Guard, & Marines; my great-uncle Eddie, who served in the Marines; my uncle Billy, who also served in the Marines; my mother-in-law Tonya, who served in the Army; my cousin Shane, who served in the Air Force; my cousin-in-law Timothy, who serves in the Marines; my friend Christine, who serves in the Army; my friend Valerie, who serves in the Air Force; my friend Leo, who serves with the TX National Guard; my old friend Kenny, who serves in the Army; and yes, even my ex, Matt, who served in the Army. Happy Veterans' Day & let's never forget that freedom is never free.

Day #12: I am thankful for the peace & quiet here in this small town we live in. There is never any traffic to hear, or smog to smell, or noisy neighbors to hate. You can hear the wind & the birds & the animals. You can smell the rain & the grass. You can see so many stars at night, it's just unreal. I may have grown up a city girl, but I am most definitely a country girl at heart. ♥

Day #13: I am thankful for my sisters, (blood, in-laws, & soul) who I can always call up just because & either vent to or just talk with for hours about anything. Love you, ladies. Thanks for always being there for me.

Day #14: I am thankful for music. I love music, every different genre. I love that a song can take you back or cheer you up or make you cry. My life wouldn't be so full without the soundtrack of my life.

Day #15: I am thankful that time makes all things easier to bear.

Day #16: I am thankful that this autumn has been so incredibly lovely & mild. Yesterday, I was wearing shorts & a tank top. Practically unheard of, even here in Southern OK. I ♥ autumn.

Day #17: I am thankful that our maintenance guy FINALLY come & put the heaters in the house. It's a bit chilly out & froze last night, but thank goodness it's finally warm & toasty in here.

Day #18: I am thankful for my sense of humor. It works better for me to laugh at myself, life, & everybody else than to cry about it all the time. ;-)

Day #19: I am thankful that my son occasionally sleeps in his own room all night. That's progress & I'll take what I can get!

Day #20: I am thankful for having 30 of our wonderful family together up here for an early Thanksgiving celebration. It was fun, food, football, & fishing. I'm glad that we decided to do a celebration here this year.

Day #21: I am thankful for getting another week-long visit with my fabulous sister. Sister time = awesome time!

Day #22: I am thankful for having yummy leftover Thanksgiving food to eat. I ♥ leftover turkey & ham & everything else (especially pecan pie!)

Day #23: I am thankful to be an American. God bless you, USA. Even if our politicians are idiots, I think the thing that makes this country great (besides its freedoms) is its common citizens, We the People!

Day #24: I am thankful for getting to spend a(nother) wonderful Thanksgiving with friends & family. Happy Turkey Day to all. Try not to go into a turkey & pie coma ;-)

Day #25: I am thankful for my aunt-in-law Tina's miraculous recovery. It is still a long road to being 100% for her, from what I hear, but we are all so thankful that she is off all the machines & walking & eating on her own. God is great.

Day #26: I am thankful that our friends here bought us a new Christmas tree after one of our puppies ate the other one. They adopted the Little Tyrant as their great-nephew & said he just can't go without a tree to decorate, LOL. Stupid dog's lucky it wasn't plugged in, but I'm sure all that glass & wire doesn't feel great in his stomach :-/

Day #27: I am thankful that I got to have my awesome little cousin up for a sleepover. It's great getting to spend time with her & getting to know her, woman to woman. Aww, I remember the day her & her sister were born & now they're just about all grown up. (*tear*I feel old!)

Day #28: I am thankful that we got the lights up yesterday! It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas outside & it's nice to have the decorations up to bring in the holiday spirit. I am listening to some Christmas music & drinking my hot coffee, imagining that it's hot cocoa. (Yes, I'm a dork, LOL) Thank you, my Meat Man, for always decorating so awesomely. It's perfect, babe.

Day #29: I am thankful that we got to go visit my mom for an early birthday get together & that I got to have a lovely phone chat with my bestest bestie, Rachel, whose birthday is today. I ♥ you both very, very much!

Day #30: I am thankful for a wonderful opportunity that presented itself to us. It's still too early to go announcing what exactly on FB, but I will say that if it all pans out, it is something we have been dreaming of & has been a part of our long-term plans for a while now. (No, not another kid!) But this potential opportunity has reminded me that it never hurts to dream. :-)