25 days of Thanks

I am not disciplined enough to put my daily thanks on FB so I have been jotting them down on post-its and what-have-yous so that I can put them all together in one blog. (Plus I am only thankful up to thanksgiving, and then I'm full and ungrateful because I have just added 5 more pounds to lose.)

1. I am thankful for my job.  I love getting up every Monday and going to work no matter how tired I am.  I work with special ed kids and although some days are tougher than others, I have a lot of flexibility in what I can do and I really like the people that I work with.
2. I am thankful for cookbooks.  Adam and I have been cooking almost every meal from a Taste of Homes cookbook.  Starting this month, we are trying to cook dinner from my TOH Soups Book.  It has been awesome and we can almost always get 2 meals per recipe.
3. I am thankful for my DVR.  Adam and I have a long list of shows that we like to watch and it is nice to get settled by 8 and get 3 or 4 knocked out by bedtime sans commercials.  What a great invention.
4. I am thankful for fall.  I love the cooler mornings and pretty colors.  It's so nice to get in and out of the car and not worry about the heat!
5. I am thankful for the Bye week.  We are heading home to surprise our families with a visit for the first time since June.  EXCITED!!
6. I am thankful for my family.  We have all moved here and there and the older we get the closer we get emotionally, but the farther we get away from one another in distance.  I laughed so hard talking with my sister today that my sides ache.  Adam and I are blessed to both come from families that are fun to go home to!
7. I am thankful for long drives.  Most people would see this as their worst enemies, but whether I am in the car alone or with someone, long drives are good for my soul.  I usually either get to think out or talk out all the things that are going on in my life.  The drive is like a 5 hour destress program!
8. I am thankful for our home.  Adam and I don't live in the fanciest place in the world, but it is home.  It's not stiff or so clean you can't feel comfortable.  I try to pick it up each night or when I get home, but if it doesn't happen, OH WELL!  It is such a great place to walk into each day and to go to sleep in each night.
9. I am thankful for sleep.  Every couple of weeks I get zonked.  Between sports, work, taking pictures, editing, cooking it all just spins out of control.  I love being able to tell Adam, "I'm tired" and crawl into bed at 7.  Sure makes for a better day!!
10. I am thankful for small towns.  I spent 13 years in Hamilton and now I live in Wellington which is about the same size.  One grocery store, a couple of blinking lights, and a whole lotta churches!  The parents are so involved and it is such a great community to be a part of.
11.  I am thankful for getting the opportunity to be free.  Free to have a choice in my education, my career, my friends, my husband, my extra-curriculars, my speech and my own life!  Not that America is the only one to have these freedoms, but I am thankful for those that have fought to make it this way.  I wish we could someday be in a place where fighting wasn't necessary and parents didn't have to open their doors to an officer bringing news that another life is cut short, but I feel that that time will not be witnessed in my lifetime.
12. I am thankful for nights home alone.  Nothing like getting to watch old Grey's episodes and lounging on a Friday night!
13. I am thankful for the weekends!  We get so much done (even when Adam is at work) and it is nice to not have to go anywhere.
14. I am thankful for learning crafts!  I grew up learning how to do stuff from my mom which is probably the most artsy fartsy person I know.  She can do anything I need her to do whether it be paint, sew, build, design, or hell even make me a basket.  She's awesome!  I know how to knit (somewhat) and sew!  I wish I could paint, but I don't think I got the gene!
15. I am thankful for Wal-Mart... nuf said!
16. I am thankful for gift certificates!  I got a certificate at school for meet from the FFA or food from United.  I went a bought steaks and taters for this weekend!
17. I am thankful for date night!  Adam took me to Shamrock to eat at Big Verns.  YUMMY!  Once a month is not near often enough.
18. I am thankful for a clean house.  I had to clean in the middle of the week and then found out we might have company coming!  Got lucky there!
19. I am thankful for playoffs.  Wellington is playing Springlake-Earth at 7:00 pm tonight at Dick Bivins.  Can't wait...
20. I am thankful for the unexpected.  Wellington lost last night in a heart-breaker, but we were able to go watch Ashley march in her last football game as a freshman.  
21. I am thankful again for family.  We get to go home for the holidays and I can't wait to see everyone.
22. I am thankful for short weeks at school.  Only a few days and we are out!
23. I am thankful for my co-workers.  They are quite a hoot to work with.
24. I am thankful for having lived on the road for years.  Today's long drive and the constant hustle bustle that is up and coming in the next few days is just another day to me.
25. For this day I am just thankful.  Thankful that we were blessed this time last year with Lexi growing inside and the belief that we were going to be blessed with a perfect healthy child and to find us at this point this year realizing that we are blessed in a completely different way.  I wish she were here everyday, but for this day I have prayed.  Peaceful bliss and happiness.  I.AM.THANKFUL.