30 Days of Thankfulness

I saw this #30daysofthankfulness and started daily doing "Thankful's" on Facebook. We've been sick this month with awful coughs, so I haven't been taking many pictures. I thought  I'd put My Thankful's on here too! I am up to day 16, so I'll do that today and hopefully finish the other days in a couple weeks!

DAY 1: PERSON
Jesus!! Thursday is my holy hour at our Adoration Chapel, so all day, I think of my time with Jesus. My hour is from 10-11pm and my oldest daughter goes with me. I look forward to it all day!

Day 2--ANIMAL
This has to be Hudson!! He's brought so much joy to our family!

Day 3--COZY PLACE
My Porch! Well, in the warm months, not exactly now. I need a cozy place for winter.

Day 4--FAVORITE SNACK
Apples with Nutella!! (FYI: Strawberries with Nutella are pretty dang good too!)

Day 5--PLACE
South Padre Island. I'm thankful for South Padre Island! I long to go back.

Day 6--PAIR OF SHOES
I am not a big "shoe" person. I don't have a favorite pair, although, I am thankful for shoes.
Especially flip flops!

Day 7--SCENT
I love filling my winter house with this scent! Thankful for fresh ingredients to make this!
Orange, sliced
Lemon, sliced
2 bay leaves
3-4 cinnamon sticks
a pinch of cloves
Water, which I replenish as it evaporates into the air all day!
Simmer and enjoy!

Day 8--RESTAURANT
My favorite restaurant has always been Perkins. Ever since I was a little kid!
Thankful we have Perkins, the perfect sit-down, relaxing, quiet restaurant to meet friends or go with your family!

Day 9--BLOG/WEBSITE
I used to have favorite blogs, but I rarely read blogs now. And the ones I do I couldn't just put one as my favorite. SO this one had me stumped a little, thinking about it all week. I decided I'm THANKFUL for my own blog. I started it by accident almost 10 years ago. I wanted to help my friend start her blog so I went on and was trying to figure out things and all of a sudden it asked me to name my blog! Well, since I pray very often, "Lord, Make Me a Saint" that became the name of my blog. Within minutes I... had a comment and the rest is history! My blog has introduced me to a multitude of online friends (and some real-life ones too) Women just like me, trying every day to do our best in our lives with our faith, marriages, children and everything that goes with those things. Within the first week, I found having a blog gave me a way to express myself and share all the things I was thinking about. Within the first couple years I did have a child-hate group attack my blog and bombard it with nasty comments and ended up deleting almost all my posts that had pictures of my children in them. This is the downside, the negative, the evil of the internet. After a long time of praying about it and taking a break from blogging, I started to open up again and did not let evil win. I pray for all who read my blog and I pray that all that read my blog go away not feeling inadequate, but a little happier, a little more thankful.

Day 10--TIME OF DAY

My favorite and thankful time of day is the 3pm hour! 

Day 11--TRADITION

With Thanksgiving so close, I thought of a tradition I post every year. My kids make these special little treats every year while I'm preparing our feast! 

Don't forget your supplies!

Day 12--GADGET

My cheapie immersion blender! I love it for making scrambled eggs!  

Thankful for fun tools to help with cooking for my family!

Day 13--SOMETHING OLD 

Day 14--SOMETHING NEW

I put these together because they kind of go together. 

 I love blankets. I hate being cold!! The red quilt was made by my grandma, she gave it to Tom and I at our wedding shower, almost 21 years ago! It's old now, worn quite a bit, LOVED and a special treasure!

This NEW blanket (throw) was given to me from my mom last year for Christmas (does that make it old now?) Anyway, I love it so much, it is so soft! Everyone wants to use it when they sit down, but I always get it. Because it's mine. 

Day 15--EXPERIENCE

My best experience was living in South Padre Island, TX for 3 months. 3 years ago, we took all our money and went down there to live for the winter. (and more because our trip home cost about double what we'd planned with a rare snow/ice storm in TX) Getting the opportunity for all of us to experience life on an island, seeing the daily changes on the beach, small town living, different cultures and meeting new people, was just something that is SO very special and such a blessing, I am so very THANKFUL to have had this opportunity to do this with my husband and children. Then the following year my in-laws made it possible for us to go again for a month! (although, it makes winters now in MN much harder, knowing there is something so much better) I so long to live on the island again. I have to say it is my dream to live there again someday....

I wrote about it HERE.

And HERE. (many posts in that last "HERE")

Day 16--RECIPE

I picked my pumpkin bread recipe because it is still fall and it's the best ever!

Pumpkin Bread (the best ever!) 

Oven 350, grease and flour 2 loaf pans

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar...
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup oil
1 can pumpkin
4 eggs
I put all wet ingredients in first, then dry and mix until well mixed. Bake 55 minutes

Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow is Day 17, another day, more things to be thankful for!