Days 181-188

Hey.  I know I've totally failed at this gratefulness blog and I totally understand if you want to write me off as a phony.  I promise you I have been grateful.  And I also promise you I've been feeling adequately guilty for being lame and not writing.

I've also been adequately busy stuffing my face full of delicious food and not caring at the same time.  It may all come around to bite me in some way.

I spent all last week stressing out because I wasn't anywhere near internet (which is totally awesome until you realize that you NEED THE INTERNET), and I just haven't felt like working very hard at finding a way to post.

I'm not having a hard time finding things to be thankful for - in fact my problem is that there is so much to be thankful for that I'm enjoying it and keep forgetting that I am supposed to be documenting it.  My big plan this last week was to write something down every day and then to post all of it when I got home today and was again attached to the outside world.

One look at my couch and my unpacked bags and...well you can only imagine my non-existent motivation to sit down in front of a computer and search by brain for things that happened on exact days.  Sometimes life is too much fun to bother with forced reflection.

Sometimes the sun is too warm on your forearms and the beach is too close to that perfect combination of breezy and warm, and your kids are having way too much fun jumping in waves and your books are much too good to put down.  And sometimes you end a pretty spectacular day too exhausted to do anything but fall into your bed with all of your clothes still on, and sand still in your hair and think, "Oh man this is real life and this is outstanding."  Sometimes you're too all of the above to want to write down just one thing to share with the world (or the three of you that decide this is worth reading).

So I missed 8 days....to make up for it, here are 16 things I was thankful for this past week (2 for each day - because I like to punish myself like that).

1. Lake Michigan - again.
2. Family pictures
3. College friends.
4. Reunions with college friends shared in a backyard hogroast with coolers and citranella candles and a band and the whole shabang.
5. Engagements.
6. Weddings.
7. Little boys that just can't find the will power to stay out of the lake.
8. Forgiveness and understanding.
9. Birthday cake.
10. Laugh-out-loud books that make everyone around you think they are missing out on something amazing - because they are.
11. Older cousins.
12. Sweet baby girls that fall asleep on your chest while you sit outside on the porch swing.
13. Brunch, conversation, delicious coffee, and pastries on a shady patio with friends. (Tree shady - not "bad part of town" shady.)
14. Safe travels.
15. Kisses goodnight.
16. Gigantic servings of delicious pizza. 

Try and tell me you're having a better summer...I dare you. ;)

Day 180: My Boo.

Who was born 34 year ago TODAY?

This hot thing.

Today I'm thankful that my husband was born.

I love almost everything about him.  (If I said "everything" then you would all know I'm a liar - of course I don't love that he leaves his clothes next to the clothes basket every. single. time.)

My top ten favorite things about D at this moment. (subject to change based on performance, mood, and wind direction)

1. This hair.
2. That if I ask, "Will you run to the grocery store and get blank?" He will always do it.
3. He puts music and apps on my iphone without me knowing it.
4. He lets me do fun things like go to California without him.
5. He's always up for an adventure.
6. He always goes to bed later than me so I don't have to turn off any lights and listen to strange noises in the dark.
7. He loves God.
8. He is a great father.
9. He looks good in t-shirts.
10. He's funny and kind and humble.

(see what I did there, squeezing a few extras in the end?)

Happy birthday Sweet Cheeks. (the name my sons have decided is the absolute funniest thing you could call anyone in the history of ever, and should therefore belong to their dad.)
xoxo

Day 179: One Year

The picture I took the last time I walked down my cliff - exactly one year ago today.

A year ago from this moment we were driving to Central Illinois after being gone for two years. 
We were scared.
We were excited.
We were heartbroken.

And look at us now.  I can't even believe this is us just a year later. 

Happy.
Employed.
Content.

I still have days were my breath gets sucked away - like yesterday when a double rainbow spread across the sky.  There is no doubt that I miss our lives in Northern Ireland.

But I also have no doubt that this is exactly where we are supposed to be in this moment.

We were placed here.

Today I am thankful for the last year, and a smooth transition.

Full circle baby.

Day 178: New Lake

Dustin's family owns a piece of land with a patch of water that is too large to call a pond and too small to call a lake...but we do anyways.

It has a small beach and patch of trees.  The wildlife runs rampant and the cows are grazing just feet away.  I've always loved it.  When his grandfather was still alive it was always kept in great shape.  We went camping out there - by ourselves and with friends.  Eventually everyone got a little too busy to keep it mowed and free of weeds.  The lake went unused except for the occasional fisherman looking for a little peace in the middle of the Midwest. 

This past year has brought plans by some members of the family to renovate this little patch of land.  Basically, to clean it up and make it more appealing.  It didn't take much.  There is so much beauty there by itself. 

And I love going there with my boys.  I hope it is a place they remember fondly from their childhood. 

Today I am thankful for this patch of land and for the people who are caring for it.

Bliss.

Day 177: Crickets

Today I am thankful for the sound of crickets at night.

And the breeze coming through my bedroom window.

And knowing that it is summer.

Day 176: Energy

** Before I start writing I must offer a correction to an earlier post.  A few days ago I wrote about my Dad and his big bike-riding weekend.  WEELLLLLLL, it turns out he actually did it all in one day - and the ride in the middle was 50 miles.  SO...my 60 year old father rode 100 miles in the morning, took a one hour break, and then rode in an organized ride for 50 miles, and then rode another 100 miles home to Ohio and was back in my mom's arms by 8:30 p.m. (Actually it was probably more like 9:00 since I'm SURE she made him take a shower first.)  It turns out my dad is even more B4d4$$ than we all thought.  (Did I mention he can also rollerskate backwards?)

Anyway, about today.  I woke up still pretty sick and sore from my grim (but not so grim!) diagnosis yesterday.  All I could think about was the million things I had to do that couldn't wait - like, for example, tend to the 8 quarts of strawberries I had purchased and were now rotting away in my kitchen. 
By some miracle I had enough energy to function by about mid morning.  And I was even lucky enough to get almost everything do (namely - the strawberries) before I started heading downhill again. 

Today I am thankful for found energy where there wasn't any before.

When you're home over the summer with three little boys and the sun is calling to everyone but you, you have to hope for a reserve somewhere.

Day 175: Nodes

On Sunday my left lymphnode became noticeably swollen.  It spent the next few days getting larger and larger, and more painful.  Of course, like any self-respecting natural worrier, I spent a lot of time running through the worst-case scenario. 

Today I sat in the doctor's office and he ran through the different things it could be.  At the beginning of the list was simple strep throat - something I would have never thought of since I didn't even have a sore throat.  The first test he did was a strep test. 

It was strep.  After hearing the list of possibilities, combined with my own manufactured list, all I could think was "I'm so happy it's strep."

Today I am thankful I just have strep throat.

I never thought I'd say that.