30 Days of Thanks: Day 13

Yea yea, I skipped two days. Between lots of travel and a major lack of sleep, feel privileged that it was only two days that I missed. So instead of trying to catch-up, I'm just going to start back up where I left off, with day 13. So today, I'm thankful for a new discovery and that's BWO. What's B.W.O you might ask. B.W.O is Blogging Without Obligation. I discovered B.W.O through photography blogger, Julie King and she gives the following explanation for why she created B.W.O:

* Because you shouldn’t have to look at your blog like it is a treadmill.

* Because its okay to just say what you have to say. If that makes for a long post, fine. Short post, fine. Frequent post, fine. Infrequent post, fine.

* Because its okay to not always be enthralled with the sound of your own typing.

* Because sometimes less is more.

* Because only blogging when you feel truly inspired keeps up the integrity of your blog.

* Because they are probably not going to inscribe your stat, link and comment numbers on your tombstone.

* Because for most of us blogging is just a hobby. A way to express yourself and connect with others. You should not have to apologize for lapses in posts. Just take a step back and enjoy life, not everything you do has to be “bloggable”.

* Because if you blog without obligation you will naturally keep your blog around longer, because it won’t be a chore. Plus, just think you will be doing your part to eradicate post pollution. One post at a time. . .

30 Days of Thanks: Day 12

Tonight I'm thankful for the fact that when our Jeep says ZERO miles until empty, it really means you have about 25-30 to go, THANK YOU! We took a very long road trip last night but I'll save all of the miniscule details. The short of the story is this. We hit I-65 last night, these means one hour until we've made it to our parent's house. At this point, my husband simply asks: "How are we on fuel? Can we make it or do we need to stop?" I look down, 1/4 tank..."Sure, we're good to go" I replied.

Well, 5 miles from the Georgiana exit (35 miles from Andalusia) BING...the gas light comes on. "Cousin Kris" switches the digital board to read how many miles till empty. 11 miles, 7 miles, 5 miles, ZERO miles...PHEW! There's the Georgiana exit, we can get diesel here. Pull into the gas station and guess what, no diesel. Three cops sitting there. "Excuse me, we need diesel fuel, where is the closest open gas station?" Well, you can go 15 miles back that way (back the way we came) or 20 miles that way (well past the exit). So, what choice do we have? We set back on the interstate, backtracking what ended up being 20 miles to the an exit with a diesel station, we praying the entire way that we won't run out of fuel. Luckily, no one chose to yell at me, though I'd want to yell at me if I were in their situation. So we set out, scooting at just 60 miles/hour and me biting my nails and praying "God, PLEASE don't let us run out of diesel, please." Thank God, WE MADE IT! PHEW!

So, tonight, I'm thankful for the fact that ZERO miles to empty doesn't really mean ZERO miles to empty for the fabulous Jeep Liberty.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 11

Today I am thankful for Migraine medicine that actually works. We had to go back to some old school stuff since what they're using these days do nothing for me, but FINALLY, something that works. I started with a Migraine today. Fought it until lunch so I could get some food on my stomach, then popped that pill and BAM! Migrain gone. Granted, the way I'm feeling.....I probably shouldn't drive but so much worse than the nauseating pain I was experiencing with that migrain.

Thank you Prodrin!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 10

Man, today I'm having a hard time with what I'm thankful for. Don't get me wrong, I have a LOT more that I'm thankful for but it's hard to say it or type it and mean it today. No, I didn't have a bad day, no, nothing happened. I've just had some things on my mind lately that has had me frustrated and every time I think about them, I get pissy. And now I'm here, waiting on the hubs to get home and I'm thinking again, something I've been avoiding. ***sigh***

BUT, as I sit here and think about how I get out of a funk like this, there are two things that come to mind. First and foremost my husband. He ALWAYS knows how to put a smile on my face. But he's not the only one that knows how to put a smile on my face which brings me to what I'm thankful for tonight. Tonight, I'm thankful for my closest friends. I've gone through A LOT over the last year, times when I thought, it couldn't get worse and guess what, it did. But my friends picked me up again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again and.............I'm sorry, this could take a while, you may want to take a pee break now.......Ok, maybe you get the point.

This last year has really shown me who cares, who worries, who loves me and you can't be a good friend of mine without love...it's a must. Wow, not only did I realize just how freakin AWESOME my friends are, I gained a couple of extra friends along with way. WHAT THE HELL would I do without my friends? I would be sitting in a corner feeling sorry for myself, thanks guys for not letting me give up and for not letting me be a bumbling idiot. I Love you guys!!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 9

Enjoy!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 8

Today I'm thankful for SLEEP. Yes, that's right. With Jarrad and I having opposite schedules, I find myself staying up WAY too late, way too often, to spend time with him.

Yesterday, I got home and surprise, he ditched class and we could actually spend time together. You would think we'd go do something fun together but no...too many days with too little sleep. I feel asleep on the couch by 7:45, woke up at 10:30 and went to bed and didn't wake again until the alarm went off.

Sucks I didn't take advantage of last night, but it was WELL WORTH IT. Today I'm thankful for sleep.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 7

Today I'm thankful for Craigslist.com. I walked into Big Lots tonight, just to get a metal frame for the guest bed. Just a few years ago they were between $10 & $20 depending on when you caught them at big lots. Guess how much they are now: $67 WHAT??!!! Yea right, tonight I'll be searching Craigslist.com because I know I can find a REAL bed frame for $20 there that I'm certain will be much nicer than the metal frame I was getting ready to settle for.

On CraigsList I've bought a $40 solid maple coffee table, sold my washer and dryer in less than 5 minutes for the exact price I paid for them, found my last three houses that, by the way, have been great for well under what I would have paid for less than what I paid in rent, and landed a few side jobs for a little extra cash.

Tonight I'm thankful for Craigslist.com

30 Days of Thanks: Day 6

Wow! Feels good to be back on a roll with my blogging. It's much easier to do this when you have a deadline. Now to day 6...


Today I'm thankful for my job. If you get paid to play online games, interact on Twitter, interact on Facebook, make friends with bloggers, brainstorm and execute exciting contest and fun campaigns raise your hand......oh oh oh, me me me!!!!!

Of course there are a lot more details to my job and a LOT of strategy that goes into each and every campaign. Too much to write and of course I can't give away our secrets but know that I work with so many creative individuals, so many people that are willing to dig down deep and work their butts off to create something amazing and deliver amazing results for each and every client. I've never seen such perfect dynamics within an organization. So today I'm absolutely thankful for my job

30 Days of Thanks: Day 5

To switch it up a bit, I thought I'd make a video for day 5 of my 30 days of thanks. Forgive the quality, it's the first video I've ever created and uploaded to YouTube so I didn't exactly put a lot of time and effort into it. So, enjoy the mix up and feel free to let me know that you don't want to see my face again. If not, I'll stick to text and images.

ENJOY!!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 4

Today I'm thankful for the lesson my dad instilled in me throughout my adolescent years, and that's determination and heart. I won't hide it, I was daddy's little girl (daddy's little tomboy) and anything he did, I wanted to do- except hunting, that never panned out so well. Anyway, I digress.

Throughout those years, my dad supported me in whatever endeavor I pursued. Always my coach, he sometimes did it with cool calm understanding and sometimes with tough love, but he pushed me so that I could realize no goal was unattainable. In July, father's day came around and I started thinking about what my dad had done for me and at the same time, made the decision to begin training for a marathon. At that time, I told my dad that I was running the race for him, utilizing the lessons he taught me. This became even more real when just a few months later, my dad had a heart attack. My healthy, active, father had a heart attack. I know, it baffled the doctors as much as it baffled me. And I panicked at the thought of losing him, losing his wisdom. But, it was then that I knew I HAD to finish the race, no matter what, for my dad. So I set and accomplished three goals for this marathon using what my dad taught me:

1) At no point was I to walk during the marathon, always running/jogging, but NEVER walking- CHECK
2)FINISH the marathon- CHECK
3) Finish in under 5 hours- finished in 4:46- CHECK AND CHECK

There were times that I had to just put my head down and pray, or give myself a motivational speech. I kept telling myself, one mile at a time, one mile at a time. And as painful as it was (the knees were KILLING and the cramps wouldn't stop), I did it. THANKS DAD!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 3

Today I'm thankful for having a hobby/interest I can share with my husband and for boats, lakes and fishing. This past summer, "Cousin Kris" as we refer to him, acquired a boat that Jarrad claimed as half his. Throughout the summer Jarrad went on a number of camping trips and even more fishing trips. No, I didn't get to go as often as I'd like, but there were a few occasions that I got to escape with him and I fully believe that those moments were what helped me to regain my sanity.

When camping, we roughed it so I didn't have to worry every minute about how much money we were spending and what bill would suffer as a result because we caught our food and cooked it. And I got to experience true serenity. During the day, hundreds of boats are flying across the lake but if you get in your boat after dark and drift off into the water, you realize that the water can be still. The calmness that follows is amazing: a slight rock of the boat, laid back, feet up and total quite- AMAZING.

Not only did I get to enjoy the camping, but I've fallen in love with fishing. It's the same stress free results for me, except instead of calmness, it instills excitement in me. My dad taught me SO much growing up, but I didn't take a large interest in fishing until recently (which is weird since my dad LOVES fishing) and it was Jarrad and "Cousin Kris" that taught me the basics and because of Jarrad, I caught my first big fish this year- a 4 pound bass....SO exciting. I jumped up and down in the boat like a mad woman. Jarrad trying to yell instructions to me through my excitement and I'm freaking out and telling him to land it because I was SO afraid I'd lose it. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face the rest of that day.

So today I'm thankful for a shared interest with my husband and boats, camping and lakes

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2

Today I'm Thankful for two things. First, I'm thankful for waking up in a good mood. Despite the fact that I didn't get in bed until after 1:00 AM, despite the fact that I still struggled to fall asleep and despite the fact that it was raining when I went to bed and raining even harder when I woke up, I woke up in a great mood. Today my heart is FULL of thanks and while I won't list those off because I still have 28 days to go, today I'm thankful for waking up on the RIGHT side of the bed.


NUMBER 2 and more importantly: Today I'm thankful for our Veterans. Every year on Veterans day, I feel more and more gratitude towards my husband that served in "Operation Iraqi Freedom." I'm so proud of him and the pride he had/has for his country. He is my hero.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 1

OK, well,I'm a little late in the game as I should have started this on November 1st, but oh well. We'll just start today and go through the beginning of December instead of attempting to pack 10 days into one post. You can thank my friend Amy at "This Lucky Little Life" for the inspiration.

I noticed that many of my most recent post (not that I'm good at keeping them updated which is reason two for taking this on) were very angry, upset and distraught. Today, I'm thankful that those stresses, those insecurities and the horrible horrible anxiety are slowly and gradually retreating. Our lives are getting back on track and after a full year of struggling, it feels pretty good.