Day 21

Today I'm thankful for friends and family that support and love my little family no matter what. My heart is full with the blessings of these friendships!

Day 20

Today I'm thankful for social media and cell phones! It's amazing to me that Facebook didn't even exist when I was in high school yet I now use it on a daily basis to connect with friends - old and new. I can tell you that the past few years would have not looked the same without this mode of communication! I'm also thankful for cell phones. I still remember when our family got our first "car phone" (that was the size of your face!) and we could only use it for emergencies. But now everyone has a phone and everyone can talk easily! I love that we can communicate with our families any time we want! I'm so thankful for the blessings of the modern age...

Days 18 and 19

Yesterday I was thankful for wonderful time with my sister! She has had a string of no good, very bad days over the course of the last month and it did both of us some good to just be together. Plus, I got a start on my Christmas shopping! Woo hoo!

Today, I'm thankful for little things. The little things that I almost always forget to be thankful for. Things like dirty dishes and a ton of laundry. Or stinky puppies, dusty furniture, or a broken vacuum cleaner that's still under waranty. My heart is full of things I forget to be thankful for. Today I want to focus on those things I need to thank God for. :)

Day 17

Today I'm thankful for cheese. (Except for when it dries onto a dish and becomes cheese glue!) I love this versatile food and eat it pretty much every day. I do not, however, love blue cheese. I can't get past the smell and it looks gross. Blue, if you will. But back to my point. I love cheese. (I also love Andrew Peterson.) Bonus points for you if you own that shirt. :)

Day 16

Today I'm thankful for people who speak English! Don't get me wrong, French is a fine language and I'm happy that French people can converse with each other easily. However, when I'm calling customer service for an American company, it's really hard to sort through two hours of someone who doesn't speak English. My vacuum cleaner broke this afternoon and I talked to three different women who had a very difficult time understanding what I needed. I could almost see them flipping through their translation dictionaries and the on-screen script to figure out how to help me. When they finally referred me to a local repair shop I nearly cried when the man who answered was a native English speaker. If it was possible I would have jumped through the phone and hugged him!

I also have several students this year who don't speak English. It is a daily challenge to help them understand what's going on in our classroom. It's even harder for those students who don't speak at all.

So, I'm very thankful for English. Having the same language makes communication so much easier!

Days 14 and 15

Yesterday, I literally never looked at my computer! It was just one of those go-go-go days! However, towards the end of the day I got to spend time with a friend due to deliver any day now and another that has a 7 week old infant. I was kind of expecting the time to put an ache in my heart, but it didn't! I left feeling re-charged and so excited for the new chapters in the lives of these two families. My heart was so refreshed and the whole evening felt like a two hour vacation from life...

WARNING: I'm about to discuss "women things" like periods and ovulation. If you're not into that sort of thing, please stop reading now.
Today, I'm thankful for PMS. Yes, I hate PMS (as does the Hubsters!) but right now, it's a beautiful reminder that I'm finally ovulating again. For several months after our miscarriage, I didn't ovulate at all. In August, the doctor decided the reason was Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Basically, I create all of the hormones I need and then have trouble processing and absorbing it. So we started new medicine in August that will help. So far, it seems to be doing it's job. I am ovulating on schedule and this month I am "thrilled" to add a raging case of PMS to the list of signs that my meds are working!

Day 13

Today I'm thankful for a wonderful home my husband has so graciously given to me! I don't always keep it as clean as I'd like and I'm not the best at keeping the dishes put away, but I'm so blessed to have a wonderful home. We originally wanted to sell the house and buy a new one together, but I am glad God had other plans. I can't wait to fill it with babies and toys and noise!

Days 10-12

Day 10:
I was thankful for the opportunity to attend training for school. It was long and exhausting, but I absolutely love learning and the chance to sepnd TWO days learning about how to help my students succeed really felt like a little dream world.

Day 11:
Friday I was thankful for a God who was bigger than wishes made at 11:11 on 11/11/11. He blows my mind every day and I'm amazed at the depths I have to learn.

Day 12:
Today I'm thankful for a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving TWICE! We had Thanksgiving with the in-laws this weekend and it was a wonderful time! I really enjoyed getting to spend the day together cooking and laughing and loving every moment! Good news - I only gained about 6 pounds!

Day 9

Today I'm thankful for the small group the LORD is growing through our church. We've been a part of a small group since we moved up here two and a half years ago, but we've never felt plugged in or connected like we longed to be. I'd given up and assumed that the friends I had in Waco were rare and unique and I needed to be thankful I'd had close friendships at all. In the course of the past 10 months, the Lord has been stripping everything away until our hearts are left bare. It is only at this point that He has showed us what true fellowship is about - His glory and His renown! Amazingly enough, the Lord's been doing the exact same thing in the hearts of two other couples. And now we're growing the close, heart-to-heart friendships we've been dreaming about. Thank You Lord, for the wonderful and amazing things you're doing through our small group as You transform lives!

Day 8

Today I'm thankful for an amazing mother-in-law and father-in-law that raised my Hubsters to love the Lord and serve others with a passion that leaves me in awe. I am so blessed to have in-laws that love me as their own daughter and would do anything for me. They have taught Hubsters how to love a wife and how to be an amazing daddy, and I am forever thankful for them!

Day 7

In all my brilliant blonde glory, I posted the following post on the wrong blog. Anyone interested in my views on play based learning can now learn about my thankfulness for my sister. Score.


Today I am thankful for my little sister. Megan. Meg. Meg-a-boo. Meggo-my-Eggo. There really aren't words to describe this person in my life. When I was in kindergarten I took her to show and tell as my favorite toy. When we were young, she was a great play mate and a fun room mate. In high school we used to watch The Parent Trap every weekend while we painted our nails.


But I don't know that I appreciated her fully until we grew up. The year after I graduated from college, I lived in Abilene and she was a freshman at ACU. She came over every Sunday afternoon for Sister Day. We would do laundry every week and throw a few things at each other. :) Now that we've grown up a little more we've grown closer and become better friends. And, we still throw things at each other on a regular basis.

Meg-a-boo and I could not be more different! She's quiet and reserved and leads with her head. I'm her total opposite in almost every way! However, I love spending time with her. We are truly sisters by chance and friends by choice.

Day 6

I can't seem to pin down one thing to be thankful for today. My heart seems to be full... So here's a list of what I'm thankful for today!

• A church where I can hear solid Biblical teaching each week. I love going and knowing that the Gospel will be proclaimed with no apologies.
• New friends that we get to eat lunch with each week after church. It's been fun getting to know them over the past several weeks.
• A fantastic husband who took care of the house this weekend while I worked through a mountain of school work.
• A beautiful home that keeps us warm and dry (and happy).
• Apples. We're doing an apple unit in Pre-K this week and as I've spent the past several days preparing for it, I've realized how much I love this simple fruit!
• The ability to breathe through my nose. The Hubsters has a cold this weekend and I'm increasingly thankful that it's no longer my nose that's so drippy!
• Cuddly puppies that love to snuggle and warm your heart.
• Mouse traps (that my husband takes care of so faithfully). There's construction behind our house and in one week we've caught 9 mice in our backyard. It's gross but that's 9 mice that won't be coming into my kitchen!
• Thanksgiving decorations! It means fall is here!

Day 5

Yesterday, Brandi posted that she was thankful for the ability to walk. I'm not trying to steal her thunder or take away the true blessing each step is for her. But today I am thankful for my ability to walk. Today, I completed my very first 5K. It was a wonderful, fantastic time, and it was way more of a blessing than I ever imagined it would be. I spent a good part of those 3 miles talking to the Lord and it was a wonderful time! I'm so thankful for the chance I had to raise money for brain cancer research, to walk in celebration of my friend, to spend the day with the Hubsters, and to finally do the 5K I've always wanted to complete! I'm also so thankful for the friends that I supported us as we walked - that prayed and made donations and that cheered me on. It was a wonderful day and my heart is so full!

At the finish line!

Day 4

Today, my heart is thankful for a Mom who gave up everything to stay home with me while I was growing up. She is the best Mom I could have ever imagined and I am blessed to be her daughter - and her friend. I love you Mom and I'm so thankful for you! I would post a picture of the two of us, but she would absolutely kill me. So instead, I'll post a picture of my dog. Enjoy! :)

Day 3

Today, I'm thankful for the wonderful ladies I work with! They teach me so much every day and it is such a blessing to work with them! They're an amazing group of friends and I'm still amazed that I have the job I have! Thank you Dana, Beth, and Leslie! You make my life beautiful!

(That was five exclamation marks in a row. Can you tell I'm excited?)

Thankful

Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember. Even as a child, I loved everything about this precious day! Now that I'm grown, I still love it with more than a little enthusiasm. Therefore, I'm going to attempt to post every day - between now and then - at least one thing I'm thankful for.

Yesterday, I was so super thankful for the man who makes my face look like this:

He is the love of my life and my rock! Two and a half years have flown by since that picture was taken and I can't imagine living my life any other way. :) Love you babe!

Today, I'm thankful for my friend Brandi. She's overcoming all of the odds, she's fighting for her life, and she's walking through it all with way more grace and dignity than I walk through daily life with. She's blogging her thankfulness this month and inspired me to do so. Thanks B! And, just for fun - here's a picture of my sweet friend. :)

What are you thankful for today?