Gratitude

Back again with my 30 Days of Thanks series. As the month goes on, I encourage you to practice a little extra gratitude—and tell your kith and kin how much you love them.

Day 6: Courage

We may rib my dad a lot, but my family and I are grateful for this old man. This year has been hard for him. He’s gone from carefree retiree to full-time caretaker. He’s also had to make a lot of hard decisions that I know took some serious guts and courage.

Thanks, Dad, for being strong for the family (and for taking me out for pizza).

Day 7: Love

I truly couldn’t have made it through this year as well as I have without the love and support of this man. He makes me tea, happily watches 90 Day Fiance and knows when we need a cozy day at home.

Day 8: Nature

Michael’s family has a little northwoods getaway that we retreat to on occasion. Sitting on the deck there with a book is one of my favorite things. I get a great view of the forest, and—if I’m lucky—some animals.

Taking the time to be outdoors is refreshing and I know it’s good for the both of us.

Day 9: Friendship

This year I haven’t been able to see friends as frequently. Between the pandemic, working from home and helping the family, hangouts and catchups have been hard.

But I can’t express how thankful I am for the friends who keep checking in on me, asking after my mom, recommending books and even sending me lovely care packages. I may forget our scheduled FaceTime, but I can’t forget you, you perfect sunflowers.

Day 10: Change

Looking at this year compared to last, there are definitely some bright spots. Like this year we were able to celebrate our anniversary in style at the Iron Horse Hotel. Last year, that wasn’t really a possibility.

While the pandemic is still very much here, I do appreciate how we’re able to move a little more comfortably and safely.

(I’m also thankful for great room service, sunny mornings and crossword puzzles.)

Day 11: Seasons

Bless Michael for keeping me grounded in the seasons. He is the kind of person that insists that we save the Christmas episode of Ted Lasso for December knowing that we’ll enjoy it more then.

He’s also lovely for taking me to a new orchard during the height of apple picking season when our old favorite closed. We came home with 25 pounds of apples, donuts, cider and three giant mums.

Day 12: Music

This hi-fi has been through it! Earlier this year my father-in-law repaired this family treasure. Spinning records on it is always a treat and makes our home feel even more like itself.

I’ll be keeping up with this series all November long. Stay tuned and please take inventory for yourself. ‘Tis the season!

The past few years, I’ve followed this Instagram prompt by @positivelypresent. It’s a great way to reflect on the past year and focus on some good.

2021 has been the most difficult year of my life by a mile, but even in hard times, it’s important to be grateful for what is going right. So let’s kick this off and be thankful.

Day 1: Words

As I said, this year has been challenging. I’m not sure I want to go into it here on the internet yet, but it’s been hard. While chatting with my friend Nicole earlier this year, I said that I went to get coffee because I just couldn’t fathom making a pot myself. Instead of saying, “you lazy bum,” she said, “sometimes someone else needs to make the coffee.”

As silly as it sounds, I think about these words a lot. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s OK to not do all the things you’d normally tackle with ease. Sometimes, you let someone else make the coffee so you have the capacity to make it through more important tasks.

Day 2: Optimism

Sometimes focusing on the good is the best way to make it through tough times. That’s the point of this exercise this year. Is it optimism? Not quite. But I’m not quite ready.

Day 3: Color

As a kid, I always looked forward to the wild phlox popping up around my parents’ home. It’s been a while since I caught it, but I felt lucky to appreciate it this year. The bright purple is one of my favorites.

Day 4: Laughter

It might seem silly, but the second the waitress put this cocktail down at Buckatabon, I couldn’t stop giggling. It’s nice to be surprised and absolutely delighted.

I hope you have enjoyed a few sweet, simple moments like this in 2021.

Day 5: Health

Getting my COVID vaccine earlier this year was truly a high point. A big thanks to the co-worker who tipped me off to extra doses so I managed to get in a week or two before my eligibility bracket opened up. You helped me keep my family safe!

I’ll be keeping up with this series all November long. Stay tuned and please take inventory for yourself! 2021 is rough, but there are some bright spots!

Welcome back to another week of my 30 Days of Thanks series. These posts are good way to reflect on the good parts of the year (though they may seem a bit fewer in 2020). I hope you take a little time to find something to be grateful for today, too. It’ll warm your heart.

Words

Living a slower life in 2020 has meant embracing things like snail mail and even busting out my 1970s typewriter. Writing letters and getting nice notes in the mail has been a real treat this year. I’m thankful to all my thoughtful friends and family for their kind, silly words.

Home

I’ve spent more time in my home this year than ever before. Despite hunkering down in 1,100 square-feet of space for nine months, I can say that I still feel happy and cozy here.

Even though it’s small, this house does so much for us. It serves as offices for Michael and me, a sewing space for me, a music studio for Michael and a jungle gym for the cats. We pack a lot into this space, but it just makes this house feel extra loved.

Friendship

I’ve got some great friends. I’ve got friends that send me the best astrology memes, friends that slay during online trivia nights, friends that like to talk about cats and friends that know great gossip. All of them make me laugh and lift me up. Thanks, pals!

Music

One of my goals for the month was to get our 1950s hi-fi repaired. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t possible. Instead, Michael and I treated ourselves to a new record player, and it’s brought me a lot of joy. I missed putting on music while doing the dishes or having a record spin while we putter around.

Creativity

I can’t tell you how thankful I am to have a job where I get to flex my creative muscles writing and then I can log off and work another set of muscles stitching and sewing. It really is a joy!

Dreams

We’ve put a few things on hold this year, like a trip to Ireland to celebrate our fifth anniversary. And that’s OK. I’d rather hunker down at home and be safe. But we can still plan and dream for the future. So I’m thankful for that. Also very thankful that we squeezed in a little trip this past year to Door County.

Kindness

I could go on forever on this one, but I’m thankful for all the kindnesses that have been shown to me this past year. Even though life is really hard right now, so many people go out of their way to do a little something extra.

So to the owner of Studio Ric-Rak, thanks for swapping goods for masks! To my neighbor, thanks for keeping me in business with custom hoop orders! To the stranger seeing me struggle to carry a 30-pound mushroom kit with a coffee balanced on top, thanks for helping me to my car! To my coworkers, thanks for hyping me up before Instagram Lives. To my husband, thanks for making me tea whenever I ask, making sure I take my vitamins and bringing me cats when I need one to sit on my lap (among many other things).

I’ll be back again next Friday with more. Stay safe and thankful, everyone!

The last few years, I’ve followed along with the @positivelypresent Gratitude Challenge. This Instagram challenge (that I co-opt into blog posts) is a good way to reflect upon the year and count blessings.

I think this year, it’s more important than ever to take stock of what good manages to flourish, even in the darkest of times.

Health

I’m very fortunate that I’ve managed to stay healthy during this pandemic—as have my loved ones. Even with an abundance of caution, this is a feat.

I am so, so thankful for this, I can hardly express it.

Seasons

Staying in most of the year, put me more in touch with the seasons. On my daily walks, I got to enjoy the slowly warming (and cooling) weather, and in the garden, we really appreciated harvesting early crops like lettuces, then summer squash and late-season harvests like beets and carrots.

Appreciating these small changes makes staying home a bit more bearable.

Optimism

Waking up on Election Day, I was full of hope. I didn’t feel worried or anxious, I actually felt good. And while it took a few days to confirm this feeling, I am so happy to see a Biden-Harris win. This fills me with such hope for the future.

And while I know this change won’t be a cure-all, it’s a big step in the right direction. Looking forward to good things!

Strength

I think it’s safe to say that 2020 has put a strain on everyone. It’s really hard to get up and keep up every day, but I’m managing it and maybe even managing it well. I think this is a type of strength. I’m certain it comes from my mom who is incredibly strong, optimistic and resourceful. I think that I inherited about 10% of what she has, but that’s enough!

Nature

Michael and I are nature people. We both grew up with dads that appreciated the outdoors. I’m thankful to my Dad for encouraging me to pick up pinecones as a kid and taught me how to make a fire. I’m thankful to have a partner that enjoys the smell of the trees the way that I do (maybe even more so).

Fun

I’ll be real: Fun has been a little harder to come by in 2020, but I’m still managing to squeeze some in here and there.

I’m thankful for costume-clad Teams meetings and virtual presentation parties. I’m also thankful for quiet forms of fun like listening to audiobooks while doing a puzzle or downloading so many cross-stitch patterns.

I’ll be back next week with more gratitude. I encourage you to take inventory of your life and find a few small things to be thankful for these days. It can be hard, but counting blessings is never a bad thing.