I'm not sure how most people approach these challenges, but these people and things are by no means presented in any order of importance. As the month went by, I found inspiration in aspects of my daily life that made me feel grateful and blessed.
- Day 1: I am thankful for my family: for my little family of three and for my extended family of whom I've lost count. At the end of the day, these are "my people" and I couldn't be more blessed. This is a photo from Christmas 2012 of my little family, my parents, and siblings.
- Day 2: I am thankful for all things caffeinated, especially my Starbucks. With the amount of sleep that I run on sometimes, my coffee is what helps keep me going and a functional person :)
- Day 3: I am thankful for my camera. It's certainly not professional grade, but it helps me to churn out some high quality images to capture our memories. I look through my photos and go down a trip on memory lane.
- Day 4: I am thankful for my different circles of friends. It's funny how being an adult sometimes breaks down your friendships into various cohorts: college, work, mothers, neighbors, school. These folks help to lend both a sympathetic ear and some great advice, as well as offer up lots of fun.
- Day 5: I am thankful for our right and responsibility to provide our opinions on how this country should be run through the voting process. It's something that is taken for granted all too often and I need to remind myself of that.
- Day 6: I am thankful for my Nana who, on this day, celebrated her first anniversary in heaven. It's hard to think that it's been a year since we lost her...it still feels like just yesterday.
- Day 7: I'm thankful for our home. Being a homeowner is an enormous sense of pride and responsibility. It's hard to think that we've been in this house for about three and a half years already!
- Day 8: I am thankful that I have channeled my inner thrifter. Chris and I work hard for our money, so I try to make every dollar count. From coupons, to deals, to online yardsales, to consignment, to free kids clinics at the home improvement stores, I try to balance practicality with some fun. All of these toys were made for FREE at Build & Grow Clinics at Lowe's and Kids' Workshops at Home Depot:
- Day 9: I am thankful for a son who, while energetic and stubborn, can be sweet
and wants to make us proud of him. Just tonight he asked if he could
read to me at bedtime.
- Day 10: I am thankful for my husband who works tirelessly during the week to get in extra hours to support our family. He's a keeper!
- Day 11: I am thankful for our nation's veteran's who have and continue to serve our country. I am especially thankful for both of my grandfathers who took care of our country and our family.
- Day 12: I am thankful for the past five years (and counting) at a job that I love, which nurtures my professional goals, challenges me, and affords me with the flexibility to maintain an important life-work balance.
- Day 13: I am thankful for the opportunity to continue my education. I've always been a good student and while grades are VERY important to me, it's even more important for me to be a lifelong learner and set a good example for my son. One of my educational goals has been to have conferred graduate-level credit. Well, today I applied for graduation for my Graduate Certificate in Academic Advising from Kansas State University! One day I'll get my Master's...baby steps!
- Day 14: I am thankful for Nathan's desire to help and to learn new things. Once he comes home from preschool, he is my shadow if I am doing any sort of housework. Tonight, he helped me with laundry by moving all of the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Even more amazing (and a bit startling) was that once everything was in the dryer, he knew how to hit the power button, select the cycle, and push 'start'. I see a chore chart in our future!
- Day 15: I am thankful for my OCD tendencies that help me to stay organized and on top of my game, for the most part. It saved me several times this week at work!
- Day 16: I am thankful for 'sleep in Saturdays'! The work week can be long and exhausting, so Chris and I developed a new system about a year ago where I get to sleep in on Saturdays and he sleeps in on Sundays (as long as we don't have any conflicting plans). It's such a nice thing to look forward to!
- Day 17: I am thankful for the rare and fleeting moments of calmness in my house. With a three year old boy, a husband, and two 'vocal' dogs, it can get loud. Moments like these in the morning help to even out all of the craziness!
- Day 18: I am thankful for the safety and security of our family and the general area where we live. Sometimes it takes a wake up call to remember to be grateful and fight for this sense of security.
- Day 19: I am thankful for my son's sense of humor. Between the inflections lent to his words and his mannerisms, I generally have a hard time stifling my laughter with this little guy (even if it's something that he wasn't supposed to do to begin with - remember these fiascos and what happened when he needed a little course correction?) Well today we took a look at all of the things that the kids in his preschool class said that they were thankful for. A good 90% of them answered some form of mommy, daddy, or both. My kid's answer? T.V.
- Day 20: I am thankful for whoever came up with the "clean up song" (and no,we don't watch Barney). This song is pure magic and Nate is conditioned to stop whatever he's doing and put everything he owns back in its designated spot. Magic, I tell you!
- Day 21: I am thankful for my undergrad experience that helped me through a crash course in becoming self-sufficient, as well as helped me to 'check the box' with a degree to demonstrate capability of learning. Let's be honest, that's what bachelor's degrees really are in today's world. I treasure the time that I spent at JMU, the things that I learned about myself, and for the people that I met ... and the fact that I can now dress my kid up in JMU gear and it's adorable.
- Day 22: I am thankful for the wonder of imagination. After Nathan's bi-annual haircut (I know, it's terrible to wait that long), we walked around the mall to see the Christmas decorations. Nathan found one of the coin operated rides and had the best time sitting on the different parts of the ride. I love that he doesn't remember that they actually move - who carries cash around these days, much less change? Nate was perfectly content to pretend to drive his boat and "catch monsters" as he told me. It really is the little things.
- Day 23: I am thankful for the sense of balance that I attempt to keep in my life. The last year has been a huge hurtle as Chris and I have taken graduate courses simultaneously, but we've learned how to work together as a team to help fill in the gaps. This weekend is a perfect example, as I have a big paper due and he has to log some hours at work. Planning, patience, and coffee!
- Day 24: I am thankful for being able to witness the little things and milestones that Nathan hits - it seems that the older we become, the more that we take mannerisms and behaviors for granted. Just today, I walked into the restroom to check on him and found him like this. Where in the world did he pick this up? lol
- Day 25: I am thankful for the opportunity to use my paid time off for my staycation. Nate and I went bouncing today, had an absolute blast, and we are exhausted
- Day 26: I am thankful for being able to make small changes around the house from time to time to make everything feel more cozy. I decided to retire our bedding set and invest in a new one that I found on Groupon. It finally got delivered today. I love the design and color even more in person than I did online!
- Day 27: I am thankful for having a husband who takes care of me and all of the craziness that goes on at our house when I'm having an off day. Today's migraine hit me pretty hard and now that I'm able to tolerate a small amount of light and sound, I'm starting to feel like a real person again!
- Day 28: I am thankful for the chance to get together with relatives every year to celebrate Thanksgiving. Chris and I switch off years with our families - last year we went to Texas, so this year it was my turn! When we first got there, Nate started to play with the other kids immediately and five minutes later told me that he was too busy to eat because he was playing with his friends. Made me so happy! :)
- Day 29: I am thankful for being able to decompress after an eventful holiday! Today, I got to edit my pictures from yesterday, spend time with my brother & sister-in-law and nephew, and do a whole lot of nothing. Get ready for a three part day of thanks!Part I: I got to watch the video of the James Madison Marching Royal Dukes lead off this year's Macy's Day Parade! I always tear up at parades and I've always loved marching bands, even though I did orchestra. It's perfect that I ended up living with band people in college and remain good friends now. Congratulations to the MRDs!Part II: To continue the JMU trend, I am so happy that we were able to take a few photos at the JMU campus. We took a photo at the "life sized" statue of James Madison (poor guy!) and then upon seeing the statue of the Duke Dog, Nathan immediately stuck his head into the dog's mouth
Part III: Spending time with Chris's brother, sister-in-law, and our nephew! I am going to miss them so much over the next few years. I mean, how cute are these two together?!
- Day 30: I am thankful for the holiday season! It took every bit of restraint that I had not to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, so we spent today putting up the tree and listening to Christmas music. I love that Nathan is old enough to help this year. He had a great time putting on a few ornaments, although we did suffer a few casualties. We now have a tailless dog and a spaceghost that is no longer a real ornament. It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!
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