List of Gratitude: 2016

I started a new Thanksgiving tradition last year with a gratitude list, and I liked the exercise of reflection so much that I decided to do it again. I think it’s incredibly important to spend time thinking about what you’re blessed with, whether big or small. Focusing on your blessings helps put everything into perspective.

In no particular order, as a stream of consciousness, without further ado…

My List of Gratitude: 2016

1. My health: Despite taking hormone medication daily to manage my thyroid disease, I am relatively healthy. I know things could be far worse and I am not taking any of that for granted.
2. My family’s health: As of now, knock on wood, no one in my immediate family is dealing with any major health crisis. I thank God for that.
3. Our beautiful house: I say it all the time to my husband, I adore our house. Almost daily I find myself saying to myself, “I love this house!” I feel very lucky to have found a home that we can grow our little family.
4. Bean’s strong-willed personality: You know what they say, strong-willed kids grow to be excellent leaders. I could do without the sass, but I’m thankful that my Bean likes to do her own thing!
5. The studio: I get to work with my mom and my sister, and I also get to see my kids grow into mature young people. It’s like being the foster mom to 50 kids every year and it’s pretty awesome.
6. Dunkin Donuts coffee: I know I thanked coffee last year on my gratitude list, I’m getting a little more specific this year. This is, by far, my favorite coffee. I drink it black, it’s that good. It’s my morning kickstart and I owe my productive mornings to this wonderful brown liquid.
7. Mornings: Speaking of productive mornings, being a “morning person” has been a developing thing this year. I’ve started to value the quiet time before life hits the ground running for the day. It’s a beautiful thing.
8. Everest: If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that we adopted a dog this summer. More specifically, we adopted through a local Siberian Husky rescue group. I grew up with a Husky and always wanted to have one of my own, but I am a firm believer in adoption. Everest has been the perfect addition to our active family 🙂
9. Casey: I don’t refer to him by name very often on here, but I thank God every day for my husband. He supports everything I do, 100%, without doubt or stipulation. If I want to go for something, he’s behind me all the way. If I’m having a bad day and can barely manage to survive, he has nothing but support. I am incredibly lucky.
10. Living 5 minutes from my parents: We only lived 20 minutes from my hometown prior to moving last year, but after moving just 5 minutes away last winter our old house feels way out of the way. I love being so close that I can tag along to Costco spur of the moment with my mom just to get me and Bean out of the house for the day. Not to mention, with my husband travelling a lot for work, finding someone to care for Bean while I work is pretty darn convenient.
11. Kitty: Nothing will relax you like a purring, fuzzy kitty on your lap. Now that we have a big energetic dog, my poor Kitty likes to hide out more and more. I love the moments when she stands her ground, slaps the dog when she gets too pushy (she won’t stop sniffing Kitty!), and snuggles in my lap. It helps me relax 🙂
12. Heated blankets: I’m a frugal gal, so when winter hits our house gets COLD. I’m talking our thermostat is set at 63 degrees and colder at night. When I just can’t get warm, I plug in my heated blanket and snuggle up.
13. My DSLR: I’ve always been into documentation and photography. To have a way to perfect my photography skills and also document family life quite easily is a gigantic blessing. It’s hard to remember the limited exposure days!
14. LaCroix: Over the last year I have been working on limiting my soda intake. This delicious bubbly beverage has helped ease the transition so much. It’s been almost a year since I’ve bought soda for our house.
15. My treadmill: When the snow starts to fly, running outdoors gets to be complicated in MN. I love having a way to get a good run in despite what the winter weather is like outside. Especially when it’s too bad out to take a 5 year old and a dog along.
16. Florida: I know there are plenty of warm, oceanic places on Earth but Florida is my happy place. We (Casey and I) have made a priority to go once a year. We stay on the Atlantic coast and I look forward to walking up and down the beach with the ocean water running over my bare feet all year long. This Minnesotan thinks that’s basically heaven on Earth during the cold winter and early spring months.
17. My church: There’s something so rejuvenating and invigorating about attending our church’s weekly service. No matter if we’ve missed a few weeks or not, I always feel so welcome. There’s nothing like starting your week off with a good Sunday Sermon.
18. Bean’s new Preschool: This is Bean’s last year of Preschool (and her 1st year at her new school) before she heads to Kindergarten next year, so I knew this would be an important year to set her up for success in the future. After seeing the worksheets she comes home with everyday, I know that she is absolutely in the right place. Not only that, she tells me every day how excited she is to go to school.
19. Buzzr: This one is going to sound funny, but it’s so true for me! We don’t pay for cable so when I want to turn on the TV and tune out, Buzzr is that station. I could listen to reruns of Match Game while I get ready or clean the house all day long!
20. Forever friends: This year has been pretty anti-social for us. I’m OK with that, we’ve been focusing a lot on personal and family growth (as weird as that sounds). Luckily, I know that I have a lot of forever friends that I can pick up wherever we left off! Those are the best friends to have 🙂
21. My Nume wand: I discovered this magical hair tool at the recommendation of a friend. It’s now my go-to for my regular hair style. I don’t know how I lived without it!
22. Audible: I don’t have as much time to read as I would like, but I can find plenty of time to listen to books in the car. I started a trial with Audible this month and, thanks to a recent AWESOME book I’m listening to, have gotten back into some great health habits.
23. New beginnings: I love the fact that, no matter what circumstance you’re in, you can find a way to make a new beginning. End of quote.
24. Family: There are so many instances where I ask myself, “What do people who live out of state from their family DO?!” Whether it’s when you need a last minute babysitter, or when the holidays roll around, or even when you’re heading up north for the weekend. I can’t imagine being away from family. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
25. Hobby Lobby: We finally got a few Hobby Lobby’s in our location, and I am OBSESSED. My husband asks, “What makes it better than other craft stores?” and my answer is, “It just is.” If you’ve ever been, you get what I’m saying.
26. Scented candles: My favorite thing to do after I get done cleaning the house is light a yummy scented candle.
27. Changing seasons: A lot of Minnesotans complain after the first snowfall, I embrace it. I love that I live in a state that changes with every season.
28. My husband’s job: I spent every day of Bean’s newborn life wishing that my husband had a “normal” 9-5 job. He was, at the time, working the 3rd shift as a jailer at the county prison (in fact, I had to “call prison” when I went into labor to let him know and they thought I was trying to reach an actual prisoner!). This meant I was not only spending all day being a mom to a newborn with a husband who was asleep, I also spent all night teaching at the studio, picked up Bean late at night on my way home, and then had to cover all the night time feedings because my husband was at work. It was TERRIBLE. I was basically a single working mom. I don’t know how ya’ll do it. Now, I couldn’t appreciate more now that my husband works the typical 9-5 job. Man does it make life easier.
29. Gilly: We discovered our beloved Gilly after searching for pontoons on Craigslist on a whim. It was truly meant to be. I only wish Minnesota summers were longer so we could enjoy being out on Gilly more often!
30. Thrift stores: Even “before it was mainstream”, I was a thrift store aficionado.  We have plenty of furniture from that thrift store that I made over. I regularly take advantage of 50% off kid’s clothes and find ADORABLE, practically brand new outfits for Bean. Thrift stores are my lifeblood.