Bagels

Today I am grateful for bagels. My parents had a dinner group at our house last night and they opted to have soup and breadbowls, compliments of Panera. And because my mommy loves me so much, she bought some bagels so that I could have one at breakfast today.

And it was sooooooooooooo good. Cinnamon crunch...YUM!

But let's think honestly...bagels are great! I spent four years of my life having bagels for breakfast for at least half of the school year. Bagels and strawberry cream cheese...in the middle of seminary....after having morning swim practice... But who invented the bagel? Who thought "Let's make a doughnut that's more bread than cake, slice it in half, and put this cheesy substance on it!"? They should win an award. I mean, the entire existence of a number of bread places would be seriously hindered if there were no bagels.

Bagels...amazing. I'm grateful for them. Who knows what I might have been forced to eat if they didn't exist.

Children

Today I am grateful for children. Odd, I know, considering I have none, but let me explain what I mean.
1) My neice was born three months ago this week. I realize I already said I was grateful for Carly, but we'll spend a few moments here anyway. Since Carly has been born, my whole family has been changed. I've seen my parents morph into grandparents [and they were very happy to do so]. I've watched as my brother and his wife have become real life adults and are now parents. And my sisters and I have become aunts...which we LOVE. And watching Carly grow is amazing and I love it.
2) My main reason for being grateful for children today is this one. The innocence of children. My mom and I took two little girls to the local high school play last night. It was CSI Neverland. It was a pretty cute show, but I was more entertained watching the girls watch the play than me watching it myself. They were literally on the edge of their seats. If they could have gone closer, they so would have. They were entraced. They laughed at everything and they shouted when Tinkerbelle asked the audience to say they did believe in fairies. It was adaorable.
And with Christmas coming, children are even more adorable to watch. The Christmas commercials that make me cry the most are those involving children. Walmart has a good one out where a kid wishes for snow for his dad for Christmas...and his dad is in Iraq or Afghanistan and it actually snows. Macy's has one about a girl delivering her letter to Santa, and it has that famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" quote going. I don't know why, but I love them and I tear up every time.
I'm grateful for children. I hope someday I get to have some of my own. But this Thanksgiving and holiday season, watch the children. You might learn something.

Frost...

Today I'm grateful for frost.

"How bizarre..." you say to yourself. "What is this girl on, really?"

But truly, I'm fine. And I'm entirely serious.

One of my favorite things of the fall/early winter is waking up to find a frost on the ground. One, it means it was cold enough during the night that the precipitation froze, which just tickles me because I like cold. I know, I'm sick. Two, it makes everything look so dang cool! And when the sun hits the frosted ground, a kind of mist rises and it gives the appearance of mystery and enchantedness to the whole area, which is also really dang cool. And three, frost is not snow. Now, I love snow. I just hate driving in snow. With frost we get the beauty of snow, sort of, and none of the badness of snow. It's a win-win, right?

I love what frost does to the grass and the leaves and yes, even car windows. When I woke up a few minutes ago and looked out side, saw that it was sunny and there was a frost on the ground, I grinned to myself and said to my dog Sam, "And frost, too? We're just winning all over the place today, Sam!" She wagged her tail in response, so she must like frost too.

Sadly, however, frost will not stay long. So you have to be an early enough riser to be able to witness it, but don't worry. It's worth the sacrifice of sleep.

I'm grateful for frost, people. And so should you be!

Fuzzy socks

Today I'm grateful for fuzzy socks. I know, I know, that's silly, but I can assure you that not all socks are created equal, oh no. Regular socks get the job done, but do they give you any happiness? And regular socks are totally different than holiday socks, which always make people happy, so don't even try to go there.

No, no, fuzzy socks are the epitome of great sock-ness. They're warm, soft, comfortable, and even when they sometimes slide so that the heel is actually on top of your foot, you can still wear them comfortable and not even care that it's backwards now. I don't remember when I was first indtroduced to the fuzzy sock... It must have been a Christmas, because I am fairly certain that it was my grandmother, a saint among women and all people, who included my first pair of fuzzy socks in one of her Never-Ending Presents. Yes, Never Ending. She's a regular Willy Wonka of Christmas. A box that can be used for many different things is stuffed with smaller gifts, all wrapped indivdually, and of varying topics. Jewelry, books, nail files, pouches, bookmarks, etc... And one year, socks. But not just any old sock, oh no. [althoguh she has done that as well...] These were FUZZY SOCKS!

And I was never the same. Winter just isn't winter without the comfort of fuzzy socks after a long day. Sitting on the couch with your hot chocolate, blanket, and fuzzy socks...life doesn't get any better than that.

Unless there is a lit up Christmas tree in the room, too, in which case, congratulations, you have reached the height of happiness. You can die in peace.

Now go out and get yourself some fuzzy socks! I mean, money can't really buy you happiness, right? But hey, if you buy fuzzy socks, you can get dang close!

Yesterday and Today

I realized about half way through yesterday that I didn't say what I was grateful for on THAT day in the midst of catching up on all the other days! I felt really stupid for about three seconds, and then I shrugged it off, cuz honestly, who is reading this anyway? This is more of a project for me than anything to post out in cyber-space.
Yesterday I was grateful for good flavored toothpaste. It sounds silly, but when you have to spend a few days using toothpaste that gets the job done, but leaves a taste in your mouth that almost makes you wish it didn't so that you could skip it all together, getting a toothpaste that is refreshing is pretty much the best thing ever. My curent preference is Crest Whitening with Scope, the Minty Fresh Striped version. No idea why, but it makes my teeth [and the rest of my mouth] very happy. Maybe I should be grateful for the bad tasting one, too, because otherwise I might not realize how great my normal toothpaste is!
Today I'm grateful for my dog Sammie. I spend much of my day in the quiet of my house and Sammie is always there for me to talk to and she'll just look up at me and wag her tail like it made her happy just to see me. And when I accidently trip over something in the dark on my way back from the bathroom in the middle of the night and step on her tail, she still likes me and waits for me to pet her. Yeah...she's a good dog.

Weekend Wrap-up

I went to Tennessee this weekend to watch my sister swim and to visit my brother's family, so I couldn't do my grateful posts until today, so let's do that wrap up now, shall we?
Friday I was grateful for pillows. See, when we go to Tennessee, my parents like to go early in the morning so that we have more time when we get there. This time we left at 6 am, which was later than the last time we went. I basically rolled out of bed, threw on some normal-ish looking clothes, and promptly fell asleep in the car. I was very grateful for my pillow because when you are jammed in the back seat of the car and only half awake, a pillow makes the whole thing a lot less painful. It was almost really comfortable!
Saturday I was grateful for my niece Carly. I love that baby girl to pieces! She is so stinkin' cute and learning so much so quickly! We [my mom and I] got her to roll over twice when we baby sat that night and almost made her laugh [she's not quite doing that yet]. She has this huge grin that she only gives out once in a while and there is nothing like it! Just holding her and playing with her made my night and I would gladly do it any time!
Sunday I was grateful for music. Again with the long car ride, and I'm grateful I had my ipod because it made the trip go faster and not seem like such a bad thing. Now, I'll be even more grateful when I can start playing Christmas music because that is one of my all time favorite things in the whole world, but for the time being, regular music is pretty dang good as well.
So that's what I was grateful for over the weekend. It was a pretty fun weekend, too, and I'm really glad we did it. Now it's back to the grind and time to work hard until Thanksgiving...when I get to go back!

Sunshine and Sarah

Today I'm grateful for sunshine. I can hardly think of a better way to wake up than to have the sun shining brightly through the trees and giving everything that warm golden glow. It made me smile just coming out of the bedroom and seeing how bright and sunny it was outside. And when the colors of fall are as beautiful as they are now, the bright sun makes them even more colorful and happy, and when the sky is the bright blue that it is.... Ugh, these are my favorite types of days. Bright, sunny fall days when it's cool, but the sun makes you warm anyway.

But even when it's not fall, the sunshine makes me happy. I adore those cold winter days when the sun is out and everything snow covered just shimmers in the sunlight. In the spring, the sunny days are perfect. In summer....well, it depends on the temperature, but most of the time, the sunshine makes the day wonderful.

I'm grateful for sunshine! I think I'll take a long walk today because of it.

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In other, more important news, it is my sister Sarah's birthday today!!! She's 22, and can I just say that it is so weird to have a younger sibling who is 22? But anyway...

Sarah is a very funny person. She has made our family laugh pretty much since the day she was born. I don't remember her back then, but we have her on video as a baby and we all love watching her in those days. Whether it's slapping her self in the eye with a towel or making strange noises or just making funny faces, she manages to brighten up every moment.

She was such a beautiful baby. In fact, our mother has commented that she was the prettiest, and none of us argue the fact. She has always had big beautiful eyes and a big smile. She's grown up into a beautiful lady, and I'm so happy she's my sister! She's been a great example to me and I am grateful that she was born today.

I love you, Sarah! Happy Birthday!