August 15, 2013

3 Things I'm Grateful for Today:

1. My Brother - Today is my brother's 48th birthday! I'm grateful he is here to celebrate it.  Yesterday he got out of the hospital, 2 months to the day! Going from food poisoning to Pneumonia to Septic Staph Infection to DTs from alcohol withdrawal (can't drink when you are that sick - hell of a way to quit!) within the span of a couple of weeks = your entire body shuts down! He was admitted, went into respiratory distress and placed on ventilator. I spent 3 weeks by his side in TN until I could comfortable feel like he was going to make it. He's pencil thin, but he has survived. Happy Birthday! Welcome to your new life!

Shawn Before & After

2. My Friend Lisa - She's in OC taking care of her mom who has just been diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's. She called for some girl talk so we could vent about the things troubling us these days and that hour long phone call helped me change my mood for the day! By the end of the conversation, I was laughing and smiling. It's good to have friends!

3. Comfort Food - The delicious scent of a homemade meal filling the house just soothes my soul sometimes.

August 15, 2013

10 Things You Are Grateful For in Your Life:

Ok so I listed more than 10...I can't help it!

1. ) My Kids: My four wonderful kids, though most of them aren't kids now! LOL!

They are nuts! (TJ, Spencer, Sierra with Mikaela in the middle for her graduation)

2.) My Mom: My mother who has always supported me in every thing I've chosen to do.

She's holding my youngest grandbaby (my little TLC)!

3.) Grandbabies: All these grandbabies! What's not to love about that!!

7.) Yarn:  You'll think this is a crazy thing to add but through the use of yarn to crochet with, it has connected me to more wonderful ladies and friends than I ever thought I could meet.  It has allowed me to make blankets to wrap up newborns, and gift things to the homeless and vets. During times of stress, it keeps my hands busy so I can calm my mind.

Afghan I started working on while my brother was in the hospital

Celeste over at Personal Excellence is hosting a 14-day Gratitude Challenge that I've decided to participate in! If you've never been to her site, you really need to check it out!  It has things in it to help feed all different parts of your soul and life!

I've kept gratitude journals in the past.  In fact, I have another blog that I used to post on that perhaps this will assist me with getting back to. That's a story for another time!

2013 has been an extremely hectic and stressful year to say the very least. I'm going to use this blog to help cultivate an "Attitude of Gratitude" because if the second half of this year is anything like the first half, I'm going to need it!