Day 21

Today I am thankful for lots. I am thankful for my friend Carrie who loves me enough to run errands for me. She lives near our local orchard and picked up a big bag of apples for me. Without her help, I never could have had the pie making/dance party that took place tonight. So today I am thankful for awesome co-workers turned friends and also pie/dance parties

Day 20

Today I am thankful for our chore chart. Some evenings it's the only reason anything gets done around here. Today was one of those nights.

Day 19

Today I am thankful that our boxer Laila prefers to cuddle with Mike in the morning.

Day 18

Today I am thankful for apple pie for breakfast. I attempted my first pie from scratch yesterday and it was a huge success. Mike gave me Ashley English's "A Year of Pie" fot my birthday in August and finally got to reap the benefits of the gift. Her instructions were easy to follow and made one of the most flaky crusts I've had in a while.

Day 17

Well I seem to have fallen a few days behind.  Day 17 I was thankful for friends of friends.  Our friends Carrie and Shawn invited us to a "Friendsgiving" dinner on Saturday night that she managed to throw together in about a week.  I've know Shawn for about 15 years and I actually introduced him to Carrie around 9 years ago.  Over that time Carrie has invited me to countless gatherings where I've gotten to know a lot of her other friends.  These aren't people that I see outside of my relationship with Carrie but I really enjoying spending time with this group and watching how it has transformed over the years.  We were joking around on Saturday that at some point, the kids will start to out number us!

A little blurry but I still love it

Day 16

Today I am thankful for knitting. I picked up this hobby a few years ago but just started finishing projects recently. I am currently working on my first baby blanket which was supposed to be ready by the shower this weekend. My new deadline is due date but I really need to finish so I can start my holiday crafts (and figure out how to use that darn sewing machine).

I'm taking care of some continuing education this week and am quickly approaching 16 hours of knitting. I am thankful that this hobby of mine is so portable and allows me to keep my hands busy while still taking in all of the information. I'm also thankful the blanket will be done soon. I think I will have to think twice before I commit to a blanket again. What a time commitment!

Day 15

My picture for today really didn't turn out very well and I'm sure it had nothing to do with the empty wine glass on the table. None the less, I am thankful for my neighborhood book club. Not only have we read some fantastic books but I look forward to catching up with these ladies each month. The book club started almost 2 years ago just as we were moving into the neighborhood and it was a great chance to meet most of the women in my neighborhood. And now I am lucky enough to call these women friends.

Day 14

I am thankful for dinner with a good friend from high school. I am lucky enough to have a great group of girls from high school who I am still very close with. I have drifted apart with this particular friend in recent years and I am thankful that not only have we made a pact to get together more but also that we always pick up right where we left off.

Day 13

I am thankful for trips to the library. This week is much busier then I would like but we managed to squeeze in a family trip to the library this evening. I really think the library is such an underutilized resource and we've been trying to go more often.

Day 12

I am thankful for my two awesome dogs.

Day 11

Today I am thankful for all of the veterans out there. I'm especially thankful for my little brother and two cousins who are currently serving.

Day 10

I am thankful for the new member our family who will be joining this amazing family shortly

Day 9

Today (and most days) I am thankful for Pinterest. I've been addicted for longer then I'm willing to admit but it's such an awesome way for me to organize my ideas and dinner plans. I love all of the healthy meals I've found and amazing crafts. Exhibit a) motorcycle diaper for my sisters shower tomorrow.

Day 8

Today I am thankful for Mumford and Sons

Day 7

Over the years I think I've become less and less concerned with politics.  There was a time when I would proudly jump up on a soap box and proclaim what I found wrong with this country.  But really, what good does that do?  Sitting around complaining has certainly never resulted in a positive outcome, of this I am certain.  Over the years I've lost my passion for politics due to a lot of different reasons, the main reason being that politics are just another thing to divide us.  Democrat or Republicans is divisive enough.  But now there is division within parties between the left, center and right leaning of these groups.  Really what this country and it's people need is to come together, to stop focusing on the things that we disagree on and focus on the things we have in common.  Because when you really take the time to sit down and think, we all have things in common.  Sure, the differences are more prevalent and easier to find, but doesn't it feel better to relate to someone than attack them?  Not that you would know it by turning on the news or social media around election time.....

Regardless of my decrease in political passion over the years I am still thankful for the ability to have a say in how my country is run.  In Maryland, we were lucky enough to be able to vote on a very important constitutional amendment to allow ALL families to have a sense of security.  I went to bed on election night praying that I would be able to wake up in the morning proud of the state I have lived in my entire life. Luckily, I was able to do that and today, I am thankful to be a resident of Maryland.

Day 6

I am thankful for fresh doughnuts from Fractured Prune. We didn't think they'd be open during the offseason but I called around Monday morning to all the stores anyway. On the way out if town I spotted an "open" sign and we got out doughnuts!!!

Day 5

Today I am thankful for a mini vacation with my favorite little man

Day Four

I've had this conversation with friends before and I truly believe that people are either beach or mountain people. I am without a doubt the former. Don't get me wrong, the mountains are beautiful and I love a quiet weekend in the woods. But something about being at the beach relaxes me like nothing else can. I feel like my entire body takes a collective breath the minute I come over the sand dunes. So on day 4 I am thankful for not just the beach, but the fact that in less than 3 hours I go from my front porch to feet in the sand.

Day Three

Today I am thankful for our football team. Mike has been playing with some of these people long before we meet. We've lost and added people over the years but its great to get out on Saturdays and have fun as a team.

Day Two

Friday I picked Garrett up for some quick errands before our cub scout meeting.  Our first stop was Garrett's new favorite place stop; the library.  He has been reading pretty much nonstop since he discovered the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. 

Garrett's Halloween parade was rescheduled to Friday due to the storm.  His hair was dyed black for his costume and the awful stuff spreads every where.  By the end of the day, kids thought he was dressed up as a zombie because of all the black dye on his face and hands.

So day two I am thankful for reading zombies

Day One

The past few days I've noticed I smattering of "I'm thankful for...." on facebook.  I've sworn to get this blog back up and running and figured this is a good way to do.  So for the month of November I will post a picture everyday of something I am thankful for that day.  I challenged two of my co-workers to the do the photo challenge with me so we shall see how it goes.

The first day of November was Thursday.  After Sandy hit our area, flooding our basement and knocking out our power with a full freezer full of local meet.  Our power was restored on Thursday just in time for trick or treating and my freezer was still completely frozen.  Needless to say I didn't get the homemade Lego Ninjago costume done.  It was a little ambitious for my first sewing project but we'll blame it on the storm :)  So Thursday I was thankful for trick or treating!

 

 

We have an amazing neighborhood of people and although we only have about 25 houses on the block.  Garrett is one of a small handful of children so he managed to fill his entire bucket thanks to generous handfuls from neighbors who are just glad to have trick or treaters in the neighborhood again.