Thankful Thursday No. 4

Happy Thanksgiving! I truly hope your day is filled with things to be thankful for. Even if it does include working the holiday or preparing for a surge of people on Black Friday. Be thankful for the job. Stop and think of the good. There is usually a bright side to everything. And if you are working to keep our country safe or heal us on this holiday, you deserve a million Thanksgiving feasts for the work you do.

+ I’m thankful being being a mom. If you know me at all, you know Winter is not my favorite. Though actually, I do love that it gives me an excuse to wrap dozens of blankets around my body, curl up on the couch and watch tv, topped off with a big cup of hot chocolate. But that’s besides my point. Being a mom to Ephram gives me new perspective. When we had our first snow of the season last weekend, normally I would have followed my ritual of staying inside, but being Ephram’s first snowfall, we had to get him outside. To touch it, to play in it, to feel it. And it reminded me of the excitement Winter can bring if you just let it in.

+ I’m thankful for an adventurous husband. I’m a planner, a saver, a homebody. I like to travel, and enjoy traveling, but I need the extra push sometimes to get out the door. We have yet to set in stone any vacations for 2012, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been discussing it. We may have even searched for airline prices to France on Saturday evening after a couple glasses of wine ;-) Who knows where the new year will take us, but I know that Beau will push me to go somewhere amazing.

+ I'm thankful we live near family. Before graduating college I was well-prepared that being a meteorologist could mean moving far away. Especially if it meant living in the same location as my meteorologist husband. But we didn't have to move far, and luckily live very close to nearly all of our family members. We're less than a day's drive from 90% of them!

In fact, we'll be making the drive both today and tomorrow to visit various family members, enjoying fantastic meals, having great conversations, in the comfort of warm homes. With smart phones in our hands.

I'm thankful for having *so much* to be thankful for this year and every year.

Thankful Thursday No. 3

Wow, only a week until Thanksgiving? That just can't be possible, but according to my calendar, I'm just plain wrong.

+ Today, I'm thankful for not only cameras, and the ability to capture a memory in a photo, but digital cameras as well. Yesterday as I played with Ephram on the kitchen floor, he became so cuddly. He wanted to be close. He grabbed my feet and locked them in a circle around him. I immediately grabbed my camera to snap some photos of us together, which isn't nearly as easy as it sounds with the only lens in reach being my 50mm. So I held it up high above us to maximize the distance between us and the camera (you know, to get more than just my nose in the frame), not exactly the easiest thing to do in addition to capturing something in focus. But because of the digital format of my camera I was able to snap and snap, not worrying about how many photos it takes to get a few in focus. Not worrying about running out of film.

Is it evident yet that I'm obsessing over black + whites lately? ;-)

Thankful Thursday No. 2

I'm back for another Thankful Thursday post. What are you thankful for today?

+ Today, I'm thankful for a energetic little boy running around in footie pajamas. One day I realize I won't have a boy in those adorable jammies, trying to play with every toy in sight before I take him off to bed. But that day is not today. And for that, I'm thankful.

+ Today, I'm thankful for sippy cups. Even though they get left everywhere and sometimes get smelly with old milk still in them, I'm not sure there is a cuter sight than watching a little boy tip a sippy cup back and relax on the couch.

+ Today, I’m thankful for the job I have. I was seven years old (at least) when I decided I was going to be a meteorologist and here I am, 26 years old, forecasting the weather. Though sometimes I worry my job may not be there for me forever, I enjoy what I do, enough so, that it keeps me content most of the time. It doesn’t stress me out too much and I’m able to leave work at work when I come home each day and focus on my family. The rotating shifts do take a toll on my body, my social life, & my family life from time to time, but it also allows for more time with Ephram than if I had a “normal” job, and for that, it’s golden right now.