Happy November! & 27 Days of Thankfulness

Well October has come and gone and were full swing into November. Suddenly daylight savings has hit, it's brisk and chilly, and leaves are really starting to fall. November is one of my favorite months. It's chilly but not quite cold. The leaves have turned but still remain lovely, not completely dead. Thanksgiving is on the horizon and that means lots of comfort food, cooking and baking, and magazines filled with beautiful photos of perfectly cooked turkey and pumpkin pie. What could be bad?

We actually have a pretty busy November ahead of us. Here's just a quick view of the month:

• 3 family christenings
• Our annual Sweatsgiving feast
• We are getting a new couch {and need to move our old one out!}
• 1 wedding of dear friends
• 1 bachelor party that requires a weekend away {Shaun}
• 1 business trip to Colorado {me}
• My cousin's Eagle Scout celebration
• Possible holiday cookie baking
• Thanksgiving!

So yeah. It's going to be a busy one for sure! This weekend I already started feeling some anxiety about the busyness ahead and so in my attempt to calm myself, I remembered that typically for the month of November, I keep track of the small things I'm grateful for each day leading up to Thanksgiving. It is a holiday about thankfulness after all, right?

This requires simply taking a moment to reflect on the day and what thing, big or small, has made me happy or smile. The idea for this started years ago from Julie of Savvy Eats. I'm not sure if she does this anymore (I haven't seen her post about it!), but I just really love this idea so much and I hope she knows how special this idea is and how much it's made me reflect on my life. It's something I hope to continue beyond the month of November.

My life is so busy and often I find myself wondering when it will slow down, when will I get a break, when will it be easier? But the reality is that my life is pretty great and I want to spend less time thinking negative thoughts and more time feeling grateful for everything I have, which is a lot.

And so taking the time each day to recognize that is something that I really hope to do and look forward to committing to this month!

As in years past, I'll reveal my 27 Days of Thankfulness on Thanksgiving morning.

Here are mine thus far:

Nov 1: A rainy and cold day turned fun after seeing Penelope's pure joy at Field Station Dinosaurs.
Nov 2: Daylight savings awesomeness. All of us in bed at 8:40 = Mom gets to watch Scandal w/ pile of Halloween candy.
Nov 3: Dinner plans to celebrate Christine's birthday; so lucky to have my family.

So what do you think?

Will you join the 27 Days of Thankfulness challenge? 

2010/2011/2013