THANKFUL.

Something I want to be in this year of my life is intentionally thankful. Sometimes thankfulness comes super easy, sometimes ya gotta sit down and force yourself to think of some things you're thankful for. In both times, I want to be intentional about it. 
So, this week, I'm thankful for. . .
Friends who go out of their way to celebrate me. One of my best friends drove two hours just to take me to lunch for my birthday. My other best friend took me out to dinner and drinks this weekend. AND THEY PLANNED A SURPRISE BIRTHDAY TRIP FOR ME. I could cry all of the thankful tears that God put these people in my life at this time.
Jack. I'm always thankful for him, duh. But lately, I've been thinking about how much he's changed my life just by being here. I've become a stronger person, a more patient person, (and honestly a freaking warrior, OKAY?) all because he's in my life. Thankful. 
Fiesty cherry diet coke. I cannot stop drinking these. See also: Ginger-lime diet coke. SO DELICIOUS. 
The library. April has been a wonderful month for library books. And have we discussed how my library doesn't do late fees? Because they don't. It's amazing. 
What are you thankful for this week? 

Let's Force Some Thankfulness.

November usually feels like such a thankful month. We just had a month full of fall goodness, Thanksgiving is this month, and Christmastime is looming so close. But the last ten days haven't really felt full of gratefulness, probably because of the election. Election years seem to bring out the worst in everyone. Twitter and facebook are just plain mean lately, even though it's a month that's usually so full of family pictures and dinner parties and thankful hashtags. 

Sometimes (like the holidays, for me) thankfulness comes easily. You don't even have to think about it. And sometimes, you have to dig in and force your perspective to change. The more you focus on the good in your life, the happier you will be. Plain and simple. So let's get down to it. 

I'm thankful for Jack. I know, I know, so obvious. But just thinking about how thankful I am for him makes me realize how good life is. I wrote yesterday about all the things this election has reminded me I need to teach him, and it really just reminds me how much of a privilege it is to get to shape another human's life. 

I'm thankful for the things that are in my control. I may not have control over when I get to see my husband (#residency), or how much sleep I get at night (#jack), but I do have control over things like how I spend my days, how good I feel (love you, yoga), and what's for dinner. Tacos for dinner three nights in a row? Heck yes I can. 

I'm legitimately thankful for Instagram. Social media gets a bad rep with bloggers sometimes, because looking at other people's pictures can make you feel less-than, or like you're not doing enough or aren't successful enough. This is especially true with mamas. And sure, I sometimes feel that way. Like, I was feeling pretty good about myself for getting my kid dressed and fed and eating breakfast myself, until I saw that you somehow had time to get you and your babe dressed in magazine worthy clothes, contour your face, take your baby to a quaint little cafe for breakfast, and get the perfect Instagram picture, all before 9:00AM. 

But it can also be encouraging and motivating and helpful. Sometimes I'll be at a loss for what foods to feed Jack, and then I'll see someone recommend mixing two things together. Hey, maybe Jack will eat that. I'll see someone having a picnic in their backyard and letting their baby just crawl around in the sunshine. I could totally do that. It would be so easy and so fun. I'll see the blogger who works full time but still manages to come home, chug some coffee, and pound out some posts after work. Ah, yes. It's so important to chase my dreams. 

I could go on and on about this. The mom who's up in the middle of the night letting her toddler eat chicken nuggets and watch Netflix because he just won't sleep. Solidarity. I am not alone in this. I'm not a bad mom. The fellow resident's wife who hasn't worn makeup or cooked dinner or done dishes all week, because it's just really freaking hard to be in charge of everything. Solidarity. I am not alone in this. I'm not a wuss for thinking this is hard. 

And on, and on, and on. Cheers to the people with the perfectly curated feeds, you inspire me. Cheers to the people with well thought out, funny feeds, you make me laugh. Cheers to the people with messy, real life feeds. You make me happy. 

I'm thankful for the time change. What?! It's true. I usually HATE the time change. And, okay, I still hate the fact that it gets dark at what feels like 2:45. But I wake up so early now, and it's nice to see the sun instead of hours of darkness. It's harder to be productive when it looks like the middle of the night outside, you know? 

Please oh please tell me something you're thankful for. Let's all force a little thankfulness today.

Practice Makes (Kind of, Sort of) Perfect.

At my 6-week checkup, my doctor cleared me to start working out again. So I put on my cutest workout clothes (motivation, duh) and headed to the gym for the first time since morning sickness hit.

It. Was. Brutal.

Simply using the elliptical had me winded in an embarrassingly short amount of time. Weights I could easily lift a year ago had my arms shaking almost immediately. And my body hurt in places I didn't even know I had muscles.

There was no one else in the gym, so when I stepped off the treadmill, on the verge of tears after realizing just how far I had to go, I said out loud: It will get better. You just need to practice. 

That's the cool thing (and also the sucky thing) about working out: You know that the more you do it, the better you get. I know that if I keep going to the gym, I will eventually be as strong as I was before, or maybe even stronger. I just have to practice.

And that made me think about everything else in my life that I want to be good at. How I want to be a happy person, a generous person, a thankful person. And how there's no shortcut to those things, either. You just have to practice them.

If I want to be a happy person, I have to actually work on it. I have to choose to be happy. If I want to be a thankful person, I have to work on being thankful every day. It doesn't just happen. It takes practice.

I went to the gym yesterday, and it was way easier than it was three weeks ago. It'll be easier next week, too. It's still not the easiest thing, but if I keep practicing, maybe one day it will feel easy again.

Being happy after some jerk cuts me off in traffic and causes me to spill my coffee everywhere isn't the easiest thing, but if I practice it, maybe one day it will be.

What are you practicing lately?

It's Not Just for Thanksgiving: Being Thankful This Month & All Year Long.

No matter who you are or how much emphasis you put on thankfulness in your daily life, you can't deny that Thanksgiving just brings about an attitude of thankfulness. For me, all of November is just full of constant reminders to be thankful. The month is full of magic and happiness and reasons to overflow with thankfulness.

Every November, I'm always thinking about how much I have to be thankful for. Drinking coffee outside with my husband, having a picnic with our pup, lighting pumpkin candles at night, getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving together...these are all things that make me explode with happiness.

Right now, at the beginning of the month, I want to stop and tell myself to let this month be a reminder to practice thankfulness all year long.

After November has passed, after fall is gone and Thanksgiving has ended, when the holidays have come and gone and Christmas music is a distant memory, there is still so much to be thankful for.

Logically, we know there are things to be thankful for. We know that if we had dinner last night, we're luckier than a lot of people. We know that if we have a bed to sleep in, we should be thankful for that. But knowing something and putting it into practice are two different things.

This coming year, I don't want to just know that I have things to be thankful for; I want to practice thankfulness all year long. In the same way that November fills me with gratefulness, I want the whole year to be one heart explosion of thankfulness after another.

Cheers to November. To Thanksgiving. To being thankful. And cheers to keeping that thankfulness alive in our hearts all year long.

Life is Good. Let's Talk About It.

Life can be rough. The world can be an ugly, terrible place at times. And we certainly talk about those times...and talk, and talk, and talk about them. When there's bad in life, it seems like it can't be talked about enough. 

But life is also good. There are a million little reasons to be happy, and I don't think we talk about the little things nearly enough. 

Life is good. So let's talk about it. 

• A good thing in my life lately: These candles. From Wal-Mart. Anytime you can get 5 candles for $10, it's a good thing. But when the candles smell amazing and not at all cheap, it's an amazing thing and we should talk about it. Note: You also need the pumpkin spice collection. For some reason I can't find a link to that one. 

• Also on the subject of candles: Target has a blueberry pumpkin candle. A BLUEBERRY PUMPKIN CANDLE. For whatever reason, it's not on their website. But it's $7 and you need to get it and experience a whole new level of happiness. 

• I've been waking up and lighting a candle or two next to my bed before turning the lights on, and drinking my coffee by candlelight. It's not quite having coffee in front of a fireplace, but it'll do. It's such a nice and cozy way to start the day. 

• In more happy news, I had my first ever fall experience at a Trader Joe's. It is fall flavor wonderland. If you like pumpkin flavored things and have a TJ's near you, you need to go. I have spent every day since trying to figure out what all I can put pumpkin butter on. Hey, it's not my fault that the baby likes pumpkin even more than I do. 

• I truly believe that October is just a happier month. I just wake up happier and more refreshed in October-which is really saying something, because sleep and I aren't on the best of terms right now. But it's October! How can you not wake up and be happy to be alive in such a wonderful month? 

What's good in your life today? Let's talk about the good things!

it's a beautiful day to be thankful.

This week, I'm thankful for...

Concerts with my best friend. Sometimes you find out that Mat Kearney--who you loved and listened to throughout high school and college--is right down the road from you having a concert. And when you find this out, you drop what you are doing and go to said concert. 

And then sometimes the opener ends up being so good and hilarious that you make this face all night: 

Pool days. Summer has arrived, and I plan on taking full advantage of my rooftop pool for as many days as I can. 

Marriage. Someone was asking me about marriage last week, and the best way I could explain it was this: Even if I fail at everything in my life--if I lose my job and all of my friends and ruin everything around me--I know that I can come home and there will still be one person on my team, no matter what. And that's just the best feeling in the world. 

Country music. I love country music, and lately I can't get enough of it. I can't stop listening to this song. It is absolutely hilarious, but it's also very true. 

What are you thankful for this week?

A Thankful Life is a Happy Life.

Sometimes it's good to take the time to think about what exactly you're thankful for. It makes a happy life, and we could all use a happier life, yes?

Good books. The kind that you fall asleep reading and want to pick them back up the second you wake up.

Warm weather. Because even as an adult with a job that does not get summer break (but why???), there's still something about summertime that's just more laid back and alive and carefree.

Coffee. Always coffee.

Learning to live in the present. Planning is good, and planning is my favorite, but I'm learning that you get 24 hours at a time to make as adventurous or as productive or as relaxing as you want. You literally only get one day at a time, so I'm learning how to live one day at a time to get the most out of life.

Little joys. Last week I wrote about getting more excited over the little things. I was cooking dinner yesterday, and this beauty was right outside my window!

What are YOU thankful for this week?

Thankfulness.

In my life, I've found that the cure for stress, sadness, not-so-great circumstances...well, that cure doesn't really exist. Sorry. But, I have found a really good way to combat those things, and that's with thankfulness.

You have to focus more on the good. It doesn't make the bad go away, but it does shift your perspective. And sometimes, that's all you need.

This week, I'm stressed. Tired. Worried. Confused. And there's not really anything I can do about those things.

But I am also so very thankful.

I'm thankful for days spent crafting. For surprise rooftop dinners. For the summer weather that seems to be back. For weekends that aren't full of to-do lists. For a snuggly pup. For days when writing comes easy.

It's just so important to take time to be thankful. Because do all of those things make bad circumstances go away? Nope. Do they change anything? No. Thankfulness may not have the power to change situations, but it has the power to change me.

And this week, it definitely did.

On Wednesday, Christopher came home and surprised me with dinner. We went up to the roof and he set the table with candles and wine. He grilled burgers. And we sat up there laughing and talking and just being together. I'm so thankful for moments like that, where you stop worrying and thinking and stressing and just be. And when I take the time to actually stop and think about how thankful I am for that, how can I ask for anything else?

Thankfulness changes you. It really, really does.

What are you thankful for this week?