So Thankful For....

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't wait to share good food and good company.

I find it hard not to feel grateful at this time of year! During the other 364 days of the year, I try to write in my journal at least 3 things I'm thankful for. And at our Thanksgiving meal, I try to bring a little notebook or (if I've had time to make one) a scrapbook so everyone in attendance can write what they're thankful for...it's fun to look back on.

So for fun and because it's slow at work today, here's my abridged thankful-for list, in pictures, all courtesy of Google. Some items are silly, some are serious, some are basic, but I'm blessed by them all:

I am so thankful for:

The country I was fortunate enough to be born in:

The place within that country that I was raised in and get to live in:

my stash of fabric, and the possibility of things to be created with it:

Faith and a place to go to feel connected to something bigger:

Lovely rainy days:

Memories of visiting beautiful places:

The fog bank that frequently rolls over the coast and makes the air cool & moist (or what John Coleman and I call a "Coastal Eddie":

This lady {sniff sniff, tear} and the time I have left with her! :o(

Whole wheat / Whole grain bread (& pasta),

cause it allows me to eat healthy without giving up my love for toast & spaghetti!:

Knitting! Crochet! Emrboidery! Sewing! Scrapbooking! All those things that I do whenever I can, that keep my hands busy and ease my stress:

This simple pleasure of mine, the only substitute for Dr. Pepper that I actually enjoy:

Thankful for these beauties that make me happy everytime I step outside of my house:

Thankful for a fresh start whenever I want it. Didn't eat healthy? I'll start over again. Was crabby w/ the girls? I'll do better next time.

I like to buy things, but I don't like spending money. Well I don't feel comfortable spending over $25 at one time. If I spend $15 at 3 different stores, that's fine. But if a purchase is over $25, I feel uneasy. And if it's over $35, I probably won't buy it. Or if I do, I usually feel a little sick to my stomach and certainly don't blab about how much I spent! But this next item, I am not ashamed at all to say it: This thing cost me $150. And it's the best money I've ever spent in my life.

My down comforter: Happy mail days, like when one of my magazine subscriptions comes in:

Books!

Books on raising kids, books on losing weight, Oprah's Book Club books, craft books, books in french, biography books...I love them all and just looking at my bookshelves makes me happy:

My friends:

Tucking sweet little tinies into bed at night:

My job.

The fact that I have one at all. And that I'm lucky to have the one I do. At it's best, it's exciting and entertaining and dramatic, but even at it's worst it's never not interesting:

Being tall. Because being this weight on a smaller body just wouldn't be right!

Good teachers for my girls.

The kind that make you feel special and make you like school and love learning.

My sewing machine and all the fun things it helps me make:

And, though it goes without saying, my family. Extended and immediate, and especially these guys:

(well, except for myself)