gratitude this week

I'm bringing you my gratitude post a day early this week because today is November 30th and my month of blogging every day is done and I plan to take tomorrow off! (Based on the lack of comments on the posts this month, I'm pretty sure I've been talking to myself anyway.)

November 24: The good thing about coming home from the beach before the holiday weekend was over was that I could get the Christmas decorations up. Last year, we didn't get the house decorated until the weekend before Christmas and that was a disaster. My very favorite decoration is our creche. If I put nothing else out, I would be fully satisfied. (That's foreshadowing for our home after the kids are grown and moved out.)

November 25: But since you have to put the other stuff out, you might as well be thankful for it. The tree is a comforting sight each night, that is for sure.

November 26: Of course, the best part of the tree is the lights. They are what really bring the Christmas shine to things.

November 27: My sister and I had our own tree growing up filled with angel ornaments. When we married and left home, my mom let us have half of them each and I still love putting them on the tree each year.

November 28: The other ornaments that mean the most to me are the ones that my kids made (or their daycare teachers made for them) when they were little.

November 29: Not a strictly seasonal entry for this day, but I really do love the bare tree branches that are starting to show up all around as the leaves are going, going, going.

November 30: My pastor gave me Watch for the Light (an Advent devotional) several years ago. I have read it each year since then and there are always new words for my heart to hear. I can't recommend this book enough.

gratitude this week

This week we took a vacation, so that naturally figured into my gratitude journal.

November 17: The trip home from Auburn includes journeying over roads that I have travelled since I was little, including the I-65 bridge north of Montgomery which makes this bump-da-bump sound and makes the car rock as it goes over it. I love that feel and sound. It reminds me of trips to see family for Christmas and of those same trips coming home.

November 18: RENT is one of our favorite plays and we were excited to see it last weekend at University of Montevallo. When Collins sings as he mourns Angel's death, I cry. Every time. Big production or small. (If it's a really great production, I cry when that song is introduced near the beginning of the play.)

November 19: It was just an ordinary day, with an ordinary entry for the gratitude journal. Pictured is the best fast food hamburger around. Not pictured is the Frosty which I consumed before even making it home.

November 20: Half days at work are almost as good as whole days off. Not gonna lie.

November 21: Sunsets at the beach are just spectacular. Thankful we got to see some this year.

November 22: Thanksgiving was so different this year being at the beach with just the four of us. Different...and wonderful. We ate our Thanksgiving fixings for brunch on the balcony. Sweet.

November 23: Of course, sunrise at the beach is also wonderful. Got up early the last day of our trip to catch one.

gratitude this week

A very movie-centric week of gratitude, plus a couple of introspective items. Here goes:

November 10: Daniel Craig is a great Bond and this movie was the best of them yet. Easy to follow, the movie has stunning visuals (we saw it in the IMAX) and a cartoonish villain played to Bond perfection by Javier Bardem. Highly recommended.

November 11: The executive ministry assistant does a beautiful job of decorating the altar in our traditional sanctuary. This week (and for the next several) the decor is Thanksgiving oriented and is warm and truly lovely.

November 12: I have the best mother-in-law in the world. You can't convince me otherwise. Happy Birthday, Barbara! I love you!

November 13: Already covered my love for Twi-soundtracks earlier this week.

November 14: I chose to say "no" to something on Wednesday. It felt good. And, in trying to portray it for my pictorial gratitude journal, I realized that when you say "no" you end with your mouth pursed not unlike in a kiss. I thought that was fitting because, in this case, saying "no" was a big kiss on my own cheek, respecting my needs at the moment over other things that might have led me to saying "yes" instead.

November 15-Another item already covered in a blog post this week.

November 16-The Twilight saga came to a close this week with the last installment hitting the big screen. I have loved every page of the books and every minute of the movies. Yes, every overwrought emotion, every cheesy line...regardless of terrible wigs, bad special effects and moments that seemed funny when they weren't supposed to...I truly enjoyed. Now, on to regular scheduled programming.

gratitude this week

This week's gratitude journal entries had a couple of pharmaceutical entries. Not generally a sign of a great week, but I look back on it and can't complain too much in spite of those.

November 3: I got our Christmas cards designed and ordered last Saturday. I love the process of taking the kids' picture, editing the one I like the most and using a few of my digital scrapbook goodies to make a card that will be uniquely ours. I love it so much, that if any of my local friends are interested, I would be happy to meet you and yours at one of the many good local choices for family photos some Saturday or Sunday, take a few pictures and edit it for your use in one of the many great options online* where you can drop in a photo and have a set of cards in a week or so. 

November 4: On Sunday, I woke up with some sort of bite on my arm. Steve likes to think that I got the bite while I was out on a trail walk on Saturday. That's possible, but I think it's also possible some spider got me in our bed...which is just too scary for him to think about. 

November 5: For weeks, I have had to wait in my car when I get to the trail for my run because it is too dark to get out when I arrive at 6:30 or so. Not this week!

November 6: I can not tell you how glad I am that the election is over. I won't even try because thinking about it makes my head hurt...

November 7: ...and speaking of which, on Wednesday I had a sick headache. By the time I got to my Disciple III class (which I facilitate), it was hard to focus on Jeremiah's prophesies for the stupid thing. Two ibuprofen once I got home fixed me right up. 

November 8: I wrote about this earlier this week. Pretty cool when you come home from work with a good idea for daily living.

November 9: I met Steve for lunch yesterday at a Mexican restaurant that has these punched tin star lights all over. I adore these. I envision one over my computer desk at home. It would make me smile just like having my PostalPix strung across a bulletin board at work and my Instacanvases on the wall there do. 

*I use Shutterfly for all of my printing, cards and scrapbooks, and highly recommend them. Christmas cards are now 40% off with the code HOLIDAY until November 14. If you spend $30 or more on your order, there is a free shipping code, too (SHIP30). 

gratitude this week

I've been keeping a photographic gratitude journal this year. I thought maybe during this month of daily blogging I would share with you my entries and a little background on them on Saturdays.

October 27: We attended the Auburn-Texas A&M game and as soon as I saw it was Military Appreciation Day I was excited for the pre-game show because I just knew it would include a flyover. I videoed it and yelled like a big redneck as they flew over.

October 28: Sundays are usually pretty low-key and my posts on those days are sometimes hard to come by. (Remember, I've been doing this for over 300 days at this point and each day is something new and different.) This Sunday, I was playing around on one of my favorite photo editing apps, so it became the day's entry.

October 29: Revolution is one of the few new shows Steve and I are watching this year. It has a strong, compelling story that twists you through flashbacks as effectively as Lost ever did. And, it has Bella's father in it. Team Charlie all the way.

October 30: Ellen DeGeneres is simply one of my favorite people. This week the show where she was given the Mark Twain Prize aired. They aired a clip of Ellen when she first spoke to Gladys on her talk show. I laughed so hard watching Ellen laugh that it was clear it was Ellen's turn in my journal.

October 31: This may have been the last Halloween both of the kids trick or treat. (I've said that each of the last two years as well, so what do I know?)

November 1: I have a terrible time finding headphones I can run with. I've had several pairs that hook over my ears because I can't keep earbuds in even if I am sitting still. My latest pair of those over ear jobs were falling out, too, and I picked up these great Bluetooth headphones on Amazon. Greatness. They stay in place, the sound is fantastic and no wires for me to inadvertently yank them off my head with.

November 2: Grandma Macie's birthday was yesterday. She's not really our grandmother, but Steve and his sister adopted her as such many, many years ago. Love this woman.