Days 7, 8, 9, 10 - Dec 5-8, 2011

Writing this blog everyday has been a challenge for me, as I knew that it would be. I tried to talk myself into just giving it up and going about my daily life like always, but that would be quitting. I'm not a quitter. I've never been a quitter and I don't intend to start now. There were times in my life that I probably should have quit and started over. But I can look back on those times and know that I learned something about myself.
I'm thankful that I refuse to give up. I refuse to stop something once I start no matter how difficult it may turn out to be because I know that in the end, it will be worth it. Things could turn out not to be in my favor but I always have learned something about myself, have taken that lesson & turned things around for myself.
I'm not saying that sticking with things have not been without heartache. There were plenty of times in my life that brought me to the brink and I have fallen to my knees in defeat. But I was able to pull myself up, dust myself off, taken what I've learned and moved on to the next. It's helped me to look for the postive, helped me become more selective and helped me to learn more about myself as an adult. It's something that I would never haved changed about myself.

Day 6 - Dec 4, 2011

Today was a hard morning followed by a great afternoon. I met up with a friend and we took my two daughters to see the new Twilight movie. I pushed myself to go because I had three others relying on me. If it hadn't been for them, I probably would have stayed home. All in all, I'm glad I went.
After spending just a small amount of time with my friend today, I realized that I'm am so thankful for the strong, funny, intelligent female friends I have in my life. I tend to choose my close girlfriends very wisely and I have a hard time letting females get too close. But I wasn't always this way. I used to allow myself to open up to just about anyone posing as my friend. After A LOT of rumors, backstabbing, and broken promises, I learned to guard myself. I put up a few dozens walls or so and cut myself off from people because I just couldn't handle the hurt anymore. As I got older, I realized that maybe wasn't quite the way to handle things so I started to put myself back out there. I still had my guard up but missed having close friends to relate to.
Time went by and I can now say I have some absolutey amazing friends in my life. With age I've learned that it's not the quantity of friends but the quality that counts. I'm so thankful for these women in my life, I'm thankful for the time I get to spend with them, the way I can confide in them, the times they have made me laugh and the times that they have let me cry. I will always make it a point to let them know how much they mean to me. I know now what a true friend should be and will take what I have learned from them to forge new friendships.

Day 5 - Dec 2, 2011

The only thing I can say about today is that I'm thankful that it's over. It was a hard day for me and I am spent physically, mentally and emotionally. It's been a rough one but I powered through. I'm very thankful that God gives us each day and then, each evening, we're given a chance to wipe the slate clean.
I know that none of us are promised tomorrow and we need to live each day to the fullest. But sometimes there are days when you just want to stay in bed, pull the covers over your head and deal with everything at another point in time. We can have those days every once in awhile and then start fresh after a good night's rest. I'm thankful that I have that opportunity tonight as I plan to sleep and wake up in the morning with a new perspective. Good night to all!

Day 4 - Dec 2, 2011

I've been busy this afternoon and evening preparing for the Christmas season. I began by taking a box full of presents to the ladies raising money for the American Red Cross for them to wrap. I was able to sit there with them while they wrapped presents for my children and had plenty of laughs with them. It was nice having some adult conversation!! After picking up the kids from school, we drove to the train station where I purchased our tickets for the ride tomorrow to our first ever European Christmas market. We're very excited! Then it was off to the tree lighting where we picked up my first live Christmas tree.
This evening, after getting home and putting the newly wrapped presents under the tree that it hit me how absolutely lucky I am this year. In this economy, there are so many families that will go without this year...without presents, without food, or even without a home. Today I am so thankful for the fact that during these hard economic times, my family will still be able to enjoy Christmas as we have come to know it over the years. We may not have all of our loved ones close this season but we still have each other, a cozy home to celebrate, and a warm meal Christmas evening. I'm thankful for the stability of my husband's job and that fact that he continues to work so hard for our family. It's because of his hard work that I am able to stay home to take care of our kids and household.
Tonight I can lay my head on my pillow and know that my family will be able to make it through the week with our basic needs met. There will be food on the table and clothes on our backs. My hope and prayer is for everyone else to soon have the same.

Day 3 - Dec 1, 2011

Today has been one of those days. One of those days when it seems like nothing goes right and anything that can go wrong, definately does. This is actually the second time I've sat down to write this blog because the first time I typed it up, edited it, inserted a cute image and then went to publish...except it was promptly deleted. Don't ask me how because I have no idea. It adds to my dilema of finding something to be thankful for today. I have many obvious things to be thankful for, of course, but as I'm trying to think 'outside of the box' it's been a challenge. Then it dawned on me that maybe that is exactly what I should be thankful for.
Challenging days like today help me to overcome myself, bring me back down to earth, make me feel like a human again. I'm thankful for the challenges of everyday life and trying to push myself through those days is sometimes difficult. Pushing myself wasn't always the case. Whenever challenges would come about, I was always able to talk myself away from it, slide under the radar or just plain give up. It was just easier that way. But as I've gotten older (and possibly wiser), I've realized that coming out on the other side shows me what I'm truly made of. What I can handle, what I can't handle and what I will not deal with. I'm thankful that I can now actually push through and continue to meet the challenges that come my way no matter how big or how small.
Now is time to put this day behind me. I am very thankful that tomorrow I can wake up and start over!

Day 2 - November 30, 2011

Today my thanksfulness lies with my paternal grandparents. My grandparents were never really a part of my life. There were no christmas presents under the tree from them or birthday cards holding money. When I was old enough to really understand the role grandparents usually played in a persons life, I was hurt that I didn't have the same thing. I was jealous of friends who were lucky enough to spend summers and holidays with their Granny and Gramps. But as I got older, it was just something that I knew I could not change and in turn, accepted.
I am thankful for my grandparents for one simple thing...they raised a very smart, compassionate, encouraging man whom I am lucky enough to call my father. My grandparents worked very hard to raise five children in their lifetime, my dad being the second oldest. Times were tough in the 1950's rural Kentucky but my grandfather and grandmother pushed through and were able to provide a home, food, as well as an education in hard knocks for my father. He was raised to be a respectful, God-fearing young man and today is his 59th birthday!
My father is the kind of man who would give you the shirt off his back whenever you needed it. He's the person you could call anytime of the day of night and he would be there to help out. He believes in working hard, playing hard, enjoying his family, and he has instilled these values in my sister and I as well. My father is an amazing father and wonderful grandfather to his seven grandchildren. Today I am thankful that my grandparents raised such an amazing person and that through their life, have taught him how to live as a man, a friend and a father. The values learned in his young life have been passed down to myself and in turn, I will try my hardest to pass those down to my own children.
These days, we don't get to see too much of my father due to time and distance, but we do our best to stay in touch. His children and grandchildren continue to be a huge part of his life and always will be. For that, I am also thankful.

Day 1 - November 29, 2011

Thanksgiving is a time of year where family and friends come together over a meal, celebrating all they have to be thankful for. I absolutely love this time of year! Lots of yummy food, so many sinful sweets, and a chance to spend time with those I love. But this afternoon, it occurred to me that being thankful should be something that is done daily. I do, in fact, have a lot to be thankful for. I have an amazing husband, five wonderful children, and one small granddaughter on the way. I am blessed to be the oldest daughter to two fantastic parents and an older sister to the most awesome person in the world. I have the greatest group of girlfriends anyone could ask for. I don't express my thankfulness enough to those around me, but maybe I don't actually see all that I truly have to be thankful for.
I've decided to give my thanks everyday. I'm starting this blog so that at least once a day I will have a chance to look back on that one single, solitary day and find something that I am thankful for. Those things may seem hokey at times but maybe it's made my day a little easier, but I know there will be those days when the things that I am thankful for are bigger than I could ever possibly express. My point to all of this is to open my own eyes to show myself that I need to slow down and appreciate my little piece of this world. My point for doing this all through a blog like this one is accountability on your part.
I know that at the beginning of this 365 day journey, finding what I'm thankful for will be very simple. So let's just get those out of the way now, shall we? I'm very thankful for being from the greatest country in the world, the United States of America. I am a very proud American woman, born from a very proud US Air Force veteran, and currently married to a very proud US Army service member. I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband who works extremely hard for our family and loves and my many quirks. I have a very small group of amazing woman that I am lucky enough to call friends and I know that I could call on anyone of them no matter the time of the day or night for support, love, laughs or maybe a swift kick in the pants. I have two very strong parents who I can lean on when life gets a bit tough. I realize that I am a very lucky girl to have all of this and more in my life but I know there are more things, more people, more circumstances that I don't acknowledge.
Hopefully, this exercise in thankfulness can change my attitude towards life in general. We all get so busy with our everyday duties that we forget the simple things that make life worth getting out of bed every morning. If, in turn, this can also reach others in my own life, I've succeeded! One more thing to be thankful for.