Thanksgiving and being thankful...

 A lot of people do Thankful November where they list something that they are thankful for everyday in November. I was planning on doing it this month but I blinked and it was the 26th. So I was going to do a Facebook post today and in three minutes it was so long, I said nope this is a blog entry so here we are!!! 

(I have spent the last four months in a critical thinking class where e spend a lot of time in thought and reflection....I blame it all on my need for a higher education.)
So I sat and reflected on the past all the way back to my teen years and I am highly thankful I am even here.  I can remember at least three times we (and all parties there can attest to this) should have been dead! There should have been serious injuries....but I am here so for that I know I am blessed and for ever grateful. I look at the picture to the right and I am so blessed here....my little family that I would be lost without. I am also grateful my face is not that round anymore. The Husband of the year in my book, that I can never quite figure out, but know he loves me and that I am enough. I am so thankful for everything he does to provide and how understanding he is with my limitations. (He also gave me a few hours kiddo free yesterday which is always a blessing!)
But that little face in the middle I am grateful she keeps me on my toes. 

 Without her imagination, I would be bored!She has me laughing so hard so many times and where these stories and stuff comes from is unknown, but she does it.

She is a gift straight from heaven and was sent to two lost souls that had just barely found each other. We were an instant family and I am so so so thankful....



 I am also thankful that two of the most scariest revelations where discussed, met, and changed this year. This year has been messy and my family has been through some major shakeups and changes BUT they have made us stronger and a closer unit. I am also forever grateful for the friends that got me through it and keep me to it!!

  Which brings me to this one and I have a list of those who have made an impact....from my two Dads,  my Mom, and my Mother in Law, all my Aunts, Uncles....Grandmother.....The list goes on!  See there was a life lesson that Mom made sure we all learned...always the best of every situation...no matter how many boxes of rocks life hands you. I will explain that story closer to Christmas....that is a Christmas blog, but anyway as I digress. I come from a long line of make something out of nothing women!

My husband would say I am the queen of random throw it together and see what sticks dinners...that is something he is thankful for, one of us cooks.
But there is someone who is always there...specifically when everything is falling apart and when I get good news, that is also the first phone call...Jenn. She is someone who before there were two pink lines, I called and said I think and I named my daughter for her and my mother. Jenn has been my best friend since that fateful ride to a meeting that left us alone....I will say the first ten minutes were awkward, but a cigarette later we had it...I will be forever grateful for her and everything she does for my family!!!

My Mother in Law also holds a special place because from the first e-mail after she realized I  was tough as nails and had this military life style down to a science....she called me daughter. She has really helped these last few years when I had my I need my Mommy moments!!

Then of course my motley crew of sisters, we are each so different we are the same!! Each of them...all four of them together, they have all taught me something about myself. My middle sister was my inspiration and hero (again another blog all together), my little oldest sister who was always my go to for advice...my baby sister who prepped me for raising my own mini who reminds me so much of a little her, and then the second to youngest who helped keep my head out of the clouds and reminded me to check into reality a little more often. Together I learned I am not cut out for multiple kids...one is enough!

Everyone has a special place in my life, and if I tried to explain and thank everyone...I would never finish what I need to do for today...but
                                                                                                                                                                 

As I reflect on all of this...I am grateful for everything I have, all of it has been placed in my path by a higher power and I am forever in awe of not only how God is moving in my life, but how he is using people and situations, and more importantly me...how he is providing me the trials to become a stronger person. Without them, I would not have the relationship with him and I would not know my own strength.



So as I wrap this up, just for today I am thankful I have a plan of attack on how to handle the holiday foods, I have all of this to be thankful for and even more so I am thankful I am under the 30 day mark for Christmas Vacation!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Readers!!