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

Happy Thanksgiving! And The Things I'm Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Shaun is cooking appetizers in the kitchen, Penelope finally gave into her nap, and I'm stealing some time away to catch a bit of the parade and write this post before the day really gets going. 

I had a blast keeping my thankful little things over the last month. Thanks to Julie for inspiring this. Of course, I'm thankful everyday for the big things in my life...like health, happiness, my amazing family, my wonderful husband and my beautiful, happy daughter.

 

But it is also nice to appreciate those little things that make me smile each day. And so here we go...

Nov 1: I'm thankful for Pumpkin Spice creamer making my morning coffee completely indulgent

 Nov 2: I'm thankful for five star camping with my in-laws

Nov 3: I'm thankful for truly gorgeous fall foliage in the wee hours

Nov 4: Movember! Shaun is participating, so P and I are excited to cheer him on this month! Personally, I always think a neon mustache scarf makes everything better.

Nov 5: I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the democratic process...voting!

Nov 6: for a glorious 2 hours to myself while Shaun was out and Penelope was sleeping. Mom's night!

Nov 7: for my mom not only driving to JC to watch Penelope, but for dragging a huge box of sternos behind her; we plan to use them for an upcoming party!

Nov 8: I'm thankful for a gorgeous walk to the office and the opportunity to stretch my legs and get some easy exercise each day

Nov 9: I'm thankful for whole berry cranberry sauce. Yes I am.

Nov 10: I'm thankful for so many friends gathering at our annual Sweatsgiving

Nov 11: I'm thankful for leftovers in my fridge...no cooking tonight!

Nov 12: I'm thankful for good TV which shows incredibly attractive men shirtless (I'm looking at you Jax Teller)

Nov 13: I'm thankful for baked cheese and tomato sauce on crostini. what's better than that?

Nov 14: I'm thankful for hugs from my baby and her falling asleep in my arms after being away on business

Nov 15: Starbucks oatmeal...$2.99 well spent on this sleepy, chilly morning

Nov 16: I'm thankful for in-laws who bring dinner while we're knee deep in a packing mess

Nov 17: I'm thankful for a sleepy baby on our flight to Aruba

Nov 18: I'm thankful for the familiar sticky morning heat, stiff breeze, and quiet beach of Aruba that I missed so much

Nov 19: I'm thankful for the genius who thought to use evaporated milk as coffee creamer...would it be so bad to use this in everyday life?

Nov 20: I'm thankful that I purchased all new bathing suits and cover ups for our trip. At least if I'm now in one pieces, I feel fabulous

Nov 21: I'm thankful for unlimited flank steak at Texas de Brazil. #fatkid

Nov 22: I'm thankful for a happy, belly-laughing baby playing in the Caribbean sea

Nov 23: I'm thankful for a glorious week spent in Aruba with my whole family. As my dad says...you can have all the money in the world, but it can't buy you a week of vacation with all of us together

Nov 24: I'm thankful for a smooth and safe (if daunting) airport excursion and flight home

Nov 25: I'm thankful that I don't drive to work...and for once, am thankful for the PATH...this morning it took me 1 hour and 30 minutes to go 20 miles via car

Nov 26: I'm thankful that my Thanksgiving plans don't require travel as all I'm hearing on the news is how everyone's travel plans will be ruined by a huge storm this week. Also feeling sad at the injustice of this for those who are traveling...I hope you all make it home to your loved ones!

Nov 27: I'm thankful for a happy baby, granting me smooth passage through two grocery store stops

Nov 28: I'm most thankful for family.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

What are you most thankful for?

30 Days of Thankfulness

Well somehow October has come and gone, leaving me filled with anxiety over the month of November. It's going to be quite a busy month. Among the upcoming events to look forward to are our annual Sweatsgiving dinner, a work trip to Colorado, a family vacation to Aruba, Thanksgiving, and squeezing in the beginnings of Christmas shopping. It's going to be a fun yet daunting one and so I think it's more important than ever to begin giving thanks at the beginning of the month. I find it helps keep my head on straight and recognize just how lucky I am in this life.

If you've followed me for a few years, you may have seen me participating in Julie's Little Things series in the month of November (see 2010 and 2011...2012 got sidelined by pregnant lady brain and things). I really love this so much. For each day in November, Julie takse note of something to be thankful for. Whether big or small, I love taking a moment to jot down just one little thing making me happy each day. It's so simple, yet I know that I often forget to just sit back for a moment and take in all of the good in my life because, well, there is a lot of it.

As in years passed, I plan to share my 30 Days of Thankfulness on Thanksgiving day (though I know it won't quite be 30 days at that point, but I think we can go with it).

So will you join me? I plan to keep something informal in my phone, but if you want to get fancy, Julie has a very cute printable that you can download.

To kick things off, I'm posting my thankful things from the past 4 days...

Nov 1: Pumpkin Spice creamer making my morning coffee completely indulgent
Nov 2: Five star camping with my in-laws

Nov 3: Truly gorgeous fall foliage in the wee hours

Nov 4: Movember! Shaun is participating, so P and I are excited to cheer him on this month! Personally, I always think a neon mustache scarf makes everything better.

Many thanks to Julie for inspiring me each November to do this...another reason why I love blogging ;)

I hope you will join in the fun...what do you say? Are you ready for some thankfulness?