Day 12: Books Galore

I read every day. I have been a veracious reader ever since I was in elementary school. When I was younger I'd be told to go to bed and my parents would find me in bed, reading by flashlight under my sheets. Even today, during school breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc) I can read a book within a couple days. I love getting lost in a book, completely consuming myself with it. After a hard day at work, some people choose to exercise or watch TV to relax/relieve stress. Me? I pick up a book. I don't have an aversion to e-books or hard copy. I am just thankful for books and the world they take me to when I pick one up.

Day 11: Veterans

There are certain jobs I can't imagine that people willingly do....plumber, exterminator, fireman and soldier are just a few that come to mind. Soldiers go through hardcore training where they learn how to detect bombs and kill people if necessary. They go to unknown areas to spend months in horrible conditions (horribly hot, bitterly cold, limited food choices, little communication with home). They know, signing up for the military, that they will most likely spend months or possibly years away from their family to fight for Americans' freedom. A freedom that most seem to be abusing these days, getting offended over every.little.thing. Throughout history, brave men and women have gone off to war, knowing that they may have said their final goodbye to their family when they left. I can't even imagine. So, today and every day, I am so thankful for veterans. I am thankful for my freedom that they fight for. I am thankful for their selfless sacrifices, most of which they never discuss. I am thankful that there are men and women who proudly sign up for the military, never knowing me or my family, but willing to do right by us. THANK YOU VETERANS for ALL that YOU do!!

Day 10: Kids and Their Friends

Today I was sitting at the dining room table, watching the boys play outside with their friends. Laughing, running around, a front yard full of boys playing football. Later I took E to a birthday party, in which a lot of his school friends had been invited. While there, I was talking to the mom of one of P's friends. We were talking about how thankful we were that our boys are friends. I looked around the party room and was immediately thankful for all of our boys' friends. They have friends at school, in the neighborhood and one or two at church. (I hope that increases soon.)
I love that the neighborhood boys feel comfortable enough to come and go as they please, treating our home as their own. I love that our boys' friends watch for our cars to come home, knowing that means the boys will be home to play. I love that our boys will play outside well after dark, trying to make the most of their time with their friends. I love that our boys' friends' moms treat our boys like their own!
I love that the boys get excited to go to school to see their friends. I love that their friends know me and say hello or give me a hug when I see them around school. I love that they feel comfortable talking to me even when the boys aren't around. I love that they challenge the boys academically.
Maybe next year I hope I will be able to say that I love that the boys have a lot of friends at church. In the meantime I will say that I am thankful for the friends our boys have. Our boys are blessed with great friends!

Day 9: Sales and Coupons

We're a "sale" kind of family. My mom shops sales and can get away with paying little to nothing for an item. My dad researches purchases until he finds the best deal for what he wants. My brother buys 90% of his stuff from Ross or TJMaxx. Me? I bargain hunt everything! It kills me to pay full price for anything. I will drive across town to save a few cents on a tank of gas. I won't buy bananas or Milk at Albertsons if I know I'm going to Costco in the next day or two because Costco's stuff is cheaper. I will, however, use the Albertsons app, which saves me anywhere from $20-$40 per shopping trip. Today I used a Subway coupon to save $.90 on my sandwich that I bought for lunch. My favorite is the free kids' meals that Cane's gives away at community events. I can buy the boys and I an entire meal for under $3! I've returned things that I've bought when I've looked at the receipt and found I had paid full price. I will NEVER, I repeat never, pay full price for a pair of shoes for any member of our family. You get the point, right? Well, last month I had scouted one of E's "wants" on his Christmas list for sale. But at the time we had 2 car repairs and a costly pool repair so it wasn't feasible to buy the toy. I was sick about missing out on the great sale but I was not about to put it on the "emergency" credit card. Fast forward to today. I was looking at the store's pre-Black Friday sales and saw that the toy was listed on sale. Imagine my disappointment when I saw it was on sale for less than a dollar off the original price. (What kind of sale is that??) Right after that someone on FB posted a 25% off coupon for the same store I had just been looking at. But, I figured it couldn't possibly work. Too good to be true. Well, I was wrong. I ended up being able to use it, and saving MORE money than I would have from the original sale! The way I see it, Rob and I give up stuff to work full time. We work hard for our pay. So why waste it? I'm okay spending a few extra minutes to save a few extra dollars. And around this time of year I like to use those few extra dollars to help out people in need. I am thankful that there are ways to save money and I am equally thankful that there are ways that we can help others with those few extra bucks.

Day 7 and 8 combined

A week in and I'm already slacking. (Insert eye roll emoji) But I have been under the weather the past couple days and have just been surviving instead of thriving. Any hoo….
Day 7: I am thankful for modern conveniences. I was reading about all the destruction in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic from hurricanes the past few years. One sentence jumped out at me because it said that 1500 houses in Puerto Rico still don't have a roof. I can't imagine. Not only do we have a roof over our heads but we have central heat and a/c. We have running water and can adjust it to our liking. We have an oven and stove. And if we want to eat it even faster, we can use our microwave. It's easy to take that stuff for granted. But when you read an article about so many without it's an eye opener to just how blessed we are. I am thankful for the things we take for granted, things that make life so much easier than our ancestors or people in other countries. If I had more time, I could blog an entire page on things I've seen in other countries that really, truly make you appreciate how good we have it here in the USA.
Day 8: I am so incredibly thankful for my niece. I never in a million years thought I'd ever have a niece or nephew. So, imagine my surprise when my brother told me that my sister in law was pregnant. A year ago today my sweet niece was born. Although I've only seen her a handful of times, I enjoy our FaceTime "conversations". She has blessed our family in the past year that she's been on this Earth and I can't wait to see how the Lord uses her life to bless others.
I would write more but I've got to get to the store and I am on a time crunch. So expect a longer blog tomorrow. Until then.....

Day 6: 4-legged family members

I debated all day whether to share my thankfulness for great co-workers or wonderful neighbors (who have become good friends). But, I settled on our 4-legged family members. I have been a dog owner ever since I was rewarded for bringing up my grades in 6th grade. Since then I have never been without at least 1 dog (with the exception of a few days when we had to put Roxy down). Sadly, not all of the dogs we've owned have been a good match for us. But for the past 5 years we have been blessed with the most perfect mutt who adopted us to get away from an abusive home (at least that's what we think happened before she came to us). And for the past year we have been blessed, and sometimes annoyed, with our little black lab/Korgi mix. Both dogs have been a perfect match for us.
Fetcha, our yellow mutt, is technically P's dog. He found her, begged for her, named her and worked with her to trust others. She's a faithful dog, so mellow you hardly knows she's around and you can set your clock by her because at 9pm she'll pace until one of us put her in her crate. The only time she'll show any form of aggression is toward another dog if she feels her boys are in danger. If I am walking her and another dog approaches us, she wants to play with it. But if her boys are walking her, she'll snarl any time a new dog gets close to them. Her only quirk is running away if the door is left open. Unfortunately, she has run to the main road outside of our subdivision and we worry about her getting hit by a car. 9 times out of 10, P is the only one who can get her back home. Most nights she'll curl up in her bed in his room as he falls asleep. If he's had a rough day, she will sit by the side of his bed so he can stroke her fur until he falls asleep. Sadly, she is a shedder so she is not allowed on any furniture. (Although once in awhile we do catch her up on P's bed!)
Our other mutt, Charlie, became E's dog last October when we fell in love with him at a fall festival. They have been inseparable ever since! He's a tad high strung but, when we get home from school, we let him out to play with his best friend (who, ironically, is the dog of E's best friend). Playing with Otis usually wears him out enough to relax the rest of the night. He never strays far from the house or the boys. If he gets left outside he stays by the door until one of us let him in. He plays with other dogs fairly well (once he lets them know he thinks he's in charge) and he wags his whole butt when he gets excited about something. He loves to lay next to me on the couch and for some reason he loves to be rubbed by my feet. He'll sit under my foot until I "pet" him with my toes. Sometimes he will crawl up on the boys' beds at night but most of the time he has "his" place on the couch. If anyone sits there, he paces until the person gets up. I think his favorite place in the whole world is deer camp. We've only taken him there once but he ran ALL weekend, scouting out new scents! He wagged his butt the entire weekend and it seemed like he smiled for 48 hours straight.
It took the dogs a few weeks to get used to each other but now they get along great. We quickly learned to feed them separately and not to give them bones when they're together. So now they get along as well as any siblings. They look as different as night and day and their personalities are polar opposites, but they are both perfect for our family just as they are. I am so thankful for our faithful, fun loving 4-legged family members!!

Day 5: New Days and Coffee

There hasn't been a day recently where I thought, "I want a do-over". But the nights are when I am thankful for new days....and good coffee. I usually average one good night of sleep a week. Sometimes it's every two weeks that I actually wake up feeling rested. Most nights I'm woken up by a nightmare (like last night) or Rob snoring or a leg cramp or E waking me up because of a nightmare or our neighbors' floodlight or having to go to the bathroom. Once I wake up I have a difficult time going back to sleep. Sometimes I get about 4 hours of sleep and I'm a 8+ hour a night sleeper. By the time morning shows its first light I am ready for the new day and a couple cups of coffee. I am thankful that the good Lord provides us with new days. It energizes me and makes me ready to go, despite my lack of sleep. I love drinking my coffee by the picture window, watching the morning wake up with birds singing, and reading my devotion. I used to love the nighttime but now I am so thankful for the new day, new beginning, new light....and a good cup of coffee.