30 Days of Thankful - Day 18

Today I am thankful for the spirit of Christmas. With every store I go in, I'm reminded of the joy that only Christmas can bring. Jolly jingles, trees decorated with bows and ribbons, white lights, and silver bells - I'm getting antsy just thinking about it. Christmas is the most happiest time of year. Growing up Christmas was a magical time in my household. I would watch my mother decorate the house, with a tree in every room. Every room, a different theme. There were no shortcuts and nothing done lightly. I think my favorite decoration is my mother's revolving Hallmark tree. Every ornament is unique and it's always so interesting to hear each one's story of how it came to join the collection. I think my mother has rubbed off on me a little. My home is fully decorated, way too early, and Christmas music echoes throughout my tiny apartment. There's just something about being with family, giving gifts, and reading stories that puts a smile on my face. I love this time of year and with each one that passes, I cherish it more.

30 Days of Thankful - Day 17

Today I am thankful for quiet time. I had one hour of pure, uninterrupted quiet time where I got to simply sit, sip some delicious hot chocolate and read. I stopped and looked up and saw my puppy sound asleep and that's when I snapped this photo. All I heard was the sound of her sweet breaths and my occasional flip of the page. Having one hour of quietness is a blessing in the crazy life that I live in. It was pure bliss. I really need to plan to have these more.

30 Days of Thankful - Day 16

Today I am thankful for the little things like delivery pizza. Wow, I sound like a fat kid. I worked all day and was too tired to stop and get food on the way home. I thought I could scramble something up to fix, but fell on the couch instead. I opened up my Papa John's app and boom: 25 minutes later - pizza at my door. Tonight, I definitely deserved to be a little lazy. I don't get to very often and boy did it feel good! It's the little things that make the day more bearable.. and today I am thankful for the little things. 

30 Days of Thankful - Day 15

Today I am thankful for my sanity. I am a woman of many hats. I work two part-time jobs and have four classes to tend to. Somehow I find time to get everything done, but if it weren't for my sanity I would have gone crazy by now. There are  days where I wish I could just quit everything and just lay on the couch all day (man when's the last time I did that?) but I know that I have things to do. I pray that all of this hard work will pay off and I can have a rewarding job that I love. I remind myself that God has a plan for my life - a plan to prosper me and a plan to sustain me. Thank goodness for promises and thank goodness for sanity. Without both of these things, I couldn't make it through the day! 

30 Days of Thankful - Day 14

Today I am thankful for getting to grow up in the South. I've never lived anywhere else, but I've decided on four things that make the south unique from everywhere else. 1) The people. People in the south are so friendly. Strangers ask about your day, start conversations, share their lives with you in the checkout lane. It's just a way of life. I love the middle aged country man who says, "Yes ma'am" to me multiple times in a conversation. People are naturally courteous and seem to care about your well-being. Friendliness can be found elsewhere, but I find you must look for it and make it happen yourself. It's not so readily "available." People seem more trusting in the south, more ready to share themselves. 2) Family. There is something to be said for being in a place where your ancestors lived. For walking down small town streets where your grandmother once walked as a child. To know that the homestead where your great-great-great grandparents raised their family is a drive away. It draws you to a place like no other. 3) Food. I can drive down a stretch of highway on any given day and see countless local food stands. People sell their veggies in front of their driveway. It makes me happy to see people sharing their abundance and growing their own food. I love visiting my grandmother's house and getting to eat REAL Southern food; food she's slaved over and made from scratch. There's something heartwarming about biting into a homemade biscuit verses one out of the can. Also in the South, we make the best BBQ, there's no doubt about it. You won't find it anywhere up north like it is down here. And lastly 4) The landscape. The South boasts tall pines, red dirt, and kudzu. Rolling hills, long summers and winters, and fields of grass through the country. These things remind me where I am, where I came from. They comfort me. All in all, the South is special. If you take out the obnoxious football fans and the fact we all could lose a few pounds, we're pretty awesome. I know that wherever life takes me, I will always have a home here. 

30 Days of Thankful - Day 13

Today I am thankful for the imagination of a child. Watching my niece tonight, I realized children are so fascinating and in awe of everything around them. They have such a sense of purity and innocence without a care in the world. When I'm with her for a moment, it feels as though the world isn't bad, people aren't mean, and life is just a fairy tale. I've had the pleasure of watching the discovery of life through the eyes of two sweet little boys and two sweet little girls. Every time they are in my presence, I wish I could just pause time. I love to hear their little voices as they play, watch their eyes light up when they discover something new, and feel their precious hands as they reach out to me. When you walk in a room, and they smile ear to ear and then run towards you, you know you've done something right. I love being an aunt to these little babies. I just wish I could keep them this small forever. If being an aunt feels this good; I can't wait to feel the love of motherhood! Well...I can wait for now. I am thankful I've had this opportunity to know what it feels like to be loved by a child. It's a pretty darn good feeling! 

30 Days of Thankful - Day 12

Today I am thankful for mistakes. What did she say? Yes, mistakes. Every mistake I've made as made me into the person I am today. Each and every one of them has given me the ability to grow and improve my well-being and ultimately shape the woman I have become. They've allowed me to see that on my own I am nothing and that I must allow others to help me when I mess up. The important thing that I have learned is that even though I mess up from time to time, I must grow from that experience, and be better in the future. I've always heard you learn from mistakes, not from success. Nobody got where they are through pure luck; they've had to have fallen a few times and bruised some knees to get there. Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. I love the quote by Steve Maraboli. "We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future." That knowledge gives me hope. Instead of focusing on what I could have done, it's now what can I do in the future to make sure this doesn't happen again.