Thankful Day 26

Thankful Day 26:  Today and every single minute of every single day, I'm thankful for the amazing family I have.  It was a wonderful holiday full of delicious food and fun people.  I'm beyond blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful Days 19 Through 25

I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving!

Thankful Day 19:  I'm thankful for cheap heat that allows us to have our home nice and toasty.

Thankful Day 20:  I'm thankful for beautiful music played in a beautiful building.

I will share more about this later since it was a task is on my 101 in 1001 list.

Thankful Day 21:  I'm thankful for my wonderful girlfriends.  So blessed to have their friendships!

Thankful Day 22:  I'm thankful for Sunday dinners and dominoes at my father-in-law's (even if I do have to put up with him and my husband picking on me!).

Thankful Day 23:  I'm thankful for Excedrin Migraine.  It helps me through some painful days.

Thankful Day 24:  I couldn't narrow it down today!  (1)  I'm thankful for craft stores and fun crafting machines.  Can't wait to find some time to start playing with my new Cricut!  (2)  I'm thankful for awesome co-workers who will spend their lunch hour with me - in public, no less!  (3)  I'm thankful for super glue that is holding my Santa's broken arm together.  (4)  I'm thankful for the area's classified website that is connecting me to people who have beautiful pianos available.

Thankful Day 25:  I'm thankful for a cozy evening on the couch watching adorable Pixar movies.

Sunday Smile

Thankful Days 17 & 18

Thankful Day 17:  I'm thankful for a warm, comfy bed.  (A bed that usually has an adorable pup in it.)

Thankful Day 18:  Today I'm thankful I made it to work safely.  Freezing rain made driving conditions less than ideal; I passed four accidents on my five mile route.  I'm also thankful for the cautious drivers that were on the road with me.

Thankful Days 12 Through 16

Thankful Day 12:  Today I'm thankful for those little acts of kindness from strangers that put a smile on your face all day long.

This morning on my way to work I let a truck merge into my lane when no one else would, despite the fact that he was signalling and driving politely (that can't be said for most people at that time of day).  The driver merged over again and as we passed one another, he looked over smiling and gave me a thumbs-up.  It's all about small gestures to make each other's days a little brighter.

Thankful Day 13:  On heartbreaking days like today, I'm thankful for those who are spreading love instead of hate.  Sending prayers to Paris.

Thankful Day 14:  I'm thankful for all the laughter in my life.  I'm blessed to know so many people with such wonderful senses of humor.

Thankful Day 15:  I'm thankful I an do laundry from the comfort and convenience of my own home.

Thankful Day 16:  I'm thankful for the beautiful weather we are having this month.

Sunday Smile

Thankful Days 9, 10, and 11

Thankful Day 9:   Today I'm thankful for the little bit of quality time I got with my cousin while she was in town.  Love her so much!  (Photo from one of our 2007 adventures!)

Thankful Day 10:  Today I'm thankful for a job I love.

I'm so very lucky to have a job that I don't mind going to every day and that doesn't much feel like work when I'm there.

Thankful Day 11:  Today I'm thankful for the men and women who have served or are currently serving our country.

Thankful Days 7 & 8

Thankful Day 7:  Today I'm thankful for Saturday morning breakfasts with my husband and parents.

My parents have long been "regulars" at the diner we frequent Saturday mornings and Mitch and I have joined those ranks during this past year or so.  The waitresses and cooks know all our names and orders, share stories about their lives with us.  It makes the experience even more enjoyable.  And did I mention the food is absolutely wonderful?  Diners are the best!

Thankful Day 8:  Today I'm thankful for sunny Sunday afternoons.

One of the little reasons I enjoy weekends is being home to watch the sunshine travel through the house.

Sunday Smile

Thankful Days 5 & 6

Thankful Day 5:  Today I'm thankful for music.  I love that I can always find something to listen to no matter what mood I'm in.  Music truly is magical.  (And, yes, I know I'm old school, burning CDs for my car.)

Thankful Day 6:  Today I'm thankful for thrift stores where other people's trash becomes my treasure.  So many fun items you can't find just anywhere.  Why yes, I would love a dog wearing glasses, reading a book in a shoe for my library!

Thankful Day 4

Thankful Day 4:  Today (and every hour of every single day!) I am thankful for our ridiculously adorable little girl.  Crickett brings Mitch and me so much happiness; we are so blessed to have her in our lives.

Thankful Day 3

Thankful Day 3:  Today I am thankful for cozy evenings reading in my little library.

I am so ridiculously lucky to have a space dedicated solely to my books.  My library is truly my happy place - I feel nothing but joy when I'm in there.

Alaskan Vacation, Day 4

The fourth day of our Alaskan vacation was a "fun day at sea."  It was just a travel day but the ship had a variety of activities going on to help keep guests entertained throughout the trip.

Mitch and I decided to watch an ice-carving demonstration

and then Mitch participated in the Hairy Chest Contest!  (Apparently this a well-known, very popular thing on the Carnival Cruise lines.)

Meet the contestants!  Some of the men were pulled out of the crowd by the women chosen to judge (hence the ones with little to no hair on their entire bodies; hard to determine what is under a shirt!) and others - like my dear husband - volunteered for the task.

After some "walking the catwalk" performances and judge inspections of the chests, it was narrowed down to the top three hairiest men (I was not surprised that Mitch was included in this group).  These three guys then had to compete in a little game and the last one to get his balloon filled was eliminated.  What you don't see here, however, is that the rules changed and the guys weren't allowed to use their feet, they had to set the pump on the chair and use their butts.  It was quite entertaining!

Mitch made it to the final two!  These two were given a very short amount of time to go around to the women watching this performance and convince them to offer a piece of clothing so they could make an outfit.  I'd say neither guy did a great job at this but it did look like quite the challenge; I mean, would you want to give up any piece of your clothing to a strange, hairy man with no shirt on?  So after that activity and a little voting from the crowd, the winner was announced.

As I'm sure you can imagine, I was so very proud!  Mitch was recognized the rest of our trip as the "winner of the Hairy Chest Contest"; it was rather humorous.

And here are a couple random photos and tidbits since there isn't much else to say about this day of our trip.

One of may favorite places to visit on the ship was "Swirls," the ice cream machine nook.  I love soft-serve ice cream cones; my record was three in one day.

I thought the little signs that they set up at the buffet lines in the evenings were cute.  Notice that "Swirls" was allowed to stay up all night! ;)    

Thankful Day 2

Thankful Day 2:  Today I'm thankful for sites like Etsy that connect me to creative minds around the world.  I love finding unique items that make perfect gifts.

I know this may sound like a silly thing to be thankful for but there are so many talented people in this world and to have access to their ideas and creations is a truly wonderful thing.

Thankful Day 1

I am thankful all year round - there's no doubt about that - but I really enjoy taking a little extra time in November, the month known for showing gratitude, to stop and reflect on those things for which I'm thankful.  So from now through Thanksgiving, I will be sharing those things that make me feel so very blessed.

Thankful Day 1:  Today I am thankful for a husband who wouldn't let me back out of our "work-out date."  It felt great (hard, but great) to start running again.

I haven't been taking very good care of myself for quite some time now.  I quit roller derby in the summer of 2014 and haven't exercised since (despite the fact that I have two free gym memberships through my employer!).  Combine my lack of movement that with my love of sugar and you have clothes that don't fit anymore and a constant feeling of uncomfortable blah.  I know I need to make changes, I'll be the first to admit that, but I always find a "reason" to put off the hard work until another time.  I'm honestly not even sure why I make excuses because I know how good it feels to take care of yourself.  So, knowing I couldn't count on myself, I enlisted my husband to help keep me accountable.  Mitch has been working out diligently for the past year and doesn't listen to excuses (about anything, ever!).  I knew if I scheduled a date with him to go to the gym, I'd have to keep it.  I was right, he didn't let me skip; believe me, I tried!

So, Mitch and I ventured to the gym and each got our running (and lots of walking for me) done this morning, him on a treadmill and me on the indoor track.  I'm starting out slow and steady using my tried-and-true walk to run program.  Even though I didn't do much running, it felt wonderful to do those few minutes that I did.  I'm really excited about getting back into this activity and then crossing some of those running goals off my 101 in 1001 list!

Sunday Smile

Yep, hahaha!  Happy time change!