30 Days of Gratitude 2015

I'm such a rule-breaker (not really, but this time it's true). While everyone else participating in the 30-Day Gratitude Project was daily posting their photos on Instagram and whatnot, I was keeping them to myself, to share all at once at the end of the month.

So here we go- all 30 of my moments of gratitude this month.

1: Home.

2: Inspiration.

3: Love.

4: Color. I think a picture of the sky has been my 'color' shot almost every year for this challenge, but I can't help myself.

5: Happiness.

6: Words.

7: Keepsake.

8: Nature.

9: Laughter.

10: Music.

11: Gift.

12: Wisdom. This is the shelf in my personal library that I reference the most frequently.

13: Art.

14: Routine.

15: Clothing. So grateful they dress themselves now!

16: New. 

17: Weather.

18: Food. Chickens who provide us with so much, eating pumpkin seeds.

19: Beauty.

20: Friendship.

21: Technology.

22: Time. So grateful my girl is learning to tell time at school!

23: Scent.

24: Knowledge.

25: Comfort. My little thumb-sucker with is precious "Fresh Blanket."

26: Family

27: Luxury.

28: Work. I am so grateful for kids who willingly do chores!

29: Creativity. Aaaaarrrr-drey the Pirate in her box pirate ship.

30: Self-Love. It's cliche, but I rarely shop for myself, and it feels a little like love when I do get out... alone... for just me.

This month was chaotic at best, and just like in the regular day-to-day that isn't leading up to a holiday, I found it hard to stop and find something I was grateful for to focus on for every. single. prompt. Also there were some days when it seemed like nothing was photogenic enough to make the cut... so I skipped a day here and there and doubled up on other days.

However, I still enjoyed this "challenge," and found myself able to appreciate things that might not have gotten a second glance- like the chalk art in the driveway- or things that are so appreciated and used that they're taken for granted- like my coffee maker.

Also, it's always fun to look back at a month and have a photo for every day that flew by, and I think that's what I like best about this project. The saving of the days that speed by faster than usual when we enter into these holidays.

So long November, thanks for leaving me with a little somethin' to remember you by.

Thanksgiving Weekending

Thanksgiving brings a terrible chore,

'Cause I'm forced to eat, then eat some more.

If I don't eat it up right down to dessert,

I fear the cook's feelings will surely be hurt, 

So I do my part, even though I suffer 

To be a good guest, I'm a belly-stuffer.

~Karl Fuchs

I am so grateful. Grateful for my family, grateful for so many who love us and want to be with us, grateful for our mobility and ability to travel, grateful for so many darned good cooks willing to slave away, grateful for the good attitudes and appetites of my babies, and grateful to be back home again.

What a holiday! 

Wishing all a weekend full of leftovers of all the good stuff- gratitude, cheer, and of course the spoils of the feast. 

Happy Weekending!

Thanks at Thanksgiving

"I'm especially thankful for Mrs. Massey and rainbows."

There are about 100 beautiful photos I could take and post that would represent Thanksgiving; pumpkins and gourds, fall leaves, autumnal dining tables, pots and pans full of delicious things... you get the idea. But this little gem, which came home with Audrey on her last day before her Thanksgiving break, says it all, doesn't it?

And it's true- I do have so much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends.

Getting Down to Business

We're getting down to business around here, y'all. While Henny naps, my girl is cookin' up a storm! I can't wait for her to get to present what she's made to her family.

So. Proud of her.

Home Improvement Stuff

There's not a lot to say about our weekend... I mean, there was a lot going on, but it was kinda the same-old same-old: cutting down scrub, mucking up the house, neglecting all the chores... you get the idea.

Except this weekend we made serious, obvious progress. We cleaned up a lot of the brush we've been tearing down. We broke down a lot of the dead trees into firewood and got that split and stacked. And inside we (and by we I mean mostly my father-in-law) got all the sinks working again.

We worked out in the woods basically from sunup to sundown through the weekend, mainly because our mighty skid-steer Kubota will have to go back home at some point in the next week. Now that we're back to Monday the focus will turn to the inside of our Home, and I'll start working through the wreckage that always follows a workin' weekend. Now that the sun is coming up, it's time to assess the damage and develop a battle plan.

Isn't there a holiday coming up soon, too?

Aaaaaaaaah, this crazy home improvement stuff!

Happy Monday!

Weekending

Every weekend can't be all work all the time, right?

Happy weekending!

Workin' on Stuff

There is a lot going on right now around here, y'all. Our yard is torn up, our woods are torn up, our kitchen and bathrooms are torn up, our new well is still exposed (and there's supposed to be a freeze coming this weekend), and there is debris from all these projects here, there, and everywhere.

We're eating off of disposable dishes- after today we'll have zero operable sinks- and we're running out of silverware, we're tracking sand everywhere we walk, and the kids have been glued to some kind of screen for the majority of the last 24 hours in the name of keeping them out of the way.

BUT it'll be worth it soon...

...because this.

Only a few more days 'til it's all wrapped up.

Only a few more days.