1. I am Thankful for God the Eternal Father and his son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.
2. I am Thankful for Jason. He is a wonderful companion and I'm so lucky to share my life with him. I'm glad he picked me to be his wife and he can see past my many faults. I love that he likes to run races with me because it's fun to run with him. I feel very blessed that he is a good Dad and is kind. He treats me with respect and lets me be me. He supports me in my decisions and truly cares about me.
3. I am grateful for my 6 children. I feel so blessed to have so many children. I don't know why I was trusted to raise these sweet spirits, but I am happy to have each one of them. I'm glad that I have Caleb, Daniel, Jared, Brenden, Alyssa and Scott to share my life with.
4. Grateful for my happiness. There have been some really hard things in the last few years, but especially the last year in my own family that have really brought me down. I have tried to be happy through all of this. There have been some moments of depression, but I have to say, overall I'm happy and trying to be happier every day. I try to realize that every day is a new day and to just forget the bad and create more good.
5. I am grateful for my health. I feel over the last few years that I've been really healthy. (I know as soon as I write this I'll get the flu or something crazy like that, or some really bad cold), but overall I feel very blessed to be healthy.
6. Grateful I can donate plasma. I've had this opportunity to donate for the last 11 years. I have donated pretty consistently during that time of twice a week. There have been breaks for health things, or low protein or hematocrit levels, but for the most part, I have been very consistent in donating as often as possible. The plasma place pays you for your time since you are there so often and through this I have earned a great deal of extra income to register for races with, or buy food or fuel. I feel blessed to be able to do this.
7. Thankful for Parents, and I'm grateful they are still alive. Many of my friends have lost their parents. I'm glad mine are still here on this Earth. I'm glad my parents raised me in a loving home and care about me. I'm glad they never abused me or hurt me in any way while I was growing up in their home. I'm so grateful I was lucky to have great parents.
8. Grateful for working appliances. There have been many times in my marriage that our dryer, oven, fridge, washing machine, microwave and dishwasher have broken. Some things have broken multiple times. I feel blessed that they are all working currently.
9. Grateful for Christy. I have a friend that I have had since I was little. We met when I was seven. We have kept in touch over these many years and I love her. I hope someday we live closer and can spend a lot more time together. I love that she runs now and I hope she is enjoying it greatly. I'm glad I have Christy in my life.
10. I am thankful for Rodona. Rodona and I met when I lived in Idaho, many years ago. It was a couple years before my daughter was born so it's been just over 16 years. Rodona and I e-mail a lot. Not every day, but at least a couple times a week. We have kept in contact over these years and I feel that I can literally tell her anything. She is the kind of friend you would want forever.
11. I am thankful for my friends in Iowa. I have met some really wonderful people. Some I'm getting closer to all the time. I am thankful that some of these friends like to run and exercise with me and some just are there when I need to talk. For this reason also I'm so thankful for Face book because you can connect with friends daily if needed.
12. I am thankful that Jason has a really good job. It doesn't pay tons, but it gets us by and the benefits are great. I love that we have medical and dental coverage that covers us when needed.
13. I am thankful for a great dentist. I happen to go to Dr. Jones. See link here. He is a really good person and I am glad he is my dentist. I would recommend this person to ANYONE.
14. I am thankful for this new doctor I found that does a method called A.R.T. or otherwise known as Active Release Technique Before this I was in tons of pain in my ankle all the time. This is the only thing that has finally healed me. I go to Dr. Karla Adair at Adair Chiropractic in North Liberty . She is awesome and I'm doing so much better because of what she can do.
15. I am thankful that we were able to refinance our home finally this year. Our interest rate dropped super low and we dropped many years off of our payments, we only have 15 years left and then we will own our home.
16. Grateful for food in the house.. There have been times over the years that this hasn't been the case. For now there is food and plenty of it, so if you need some, please let me know and I will share.
17. Grateful for working vehicles. There have been many car and van repairs in our marriage. I tend to think we've had more than normal people, but that is just me. It seems like we are unlucky with vehicles, so for now I'm grateful they are all working.
18. Grateful for paid off vehicles. I'm glad our vehicles are paid off. What a blessing. Paying a payment each month of money I didn't like spending was hard and I'm glad we don't have this expense hanging over us anymore.
19. Grateful for a job. I like my job and feel very blessed to have a full time job with great benefits.
20. I'm grateful to be a Mormon. Well that's a nickname our religion is called. I actually belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know who I am, where I came from and where we go after we die. I know God's plan. If you want to know more about my religion go HERE
21. Grateful for my home. Although currently it needs a new roof so badly and we can't afford it, and it needs many other home repairs it is still a nice home and I'm glad we have it.
22. Grateful for my Dog. My Dog Abby is a really good dog. Our family received her from a friend and I'm grateful for her that she gave us this awesome gift. We all love Abby so much and she loves us.
23. Thankful I can run again. There was a time last year for several months I couldn't run. I had a huge ankle injury that started out small, but because I ran on it turned into a huge ordeal. Then when it started to heal it turned into Tendonitis. I was actually told by my Sports Medicine doctor that it could take up to 2 more years to feel better. It hurt all the time and woke me up at night. It hurt when I was still, it hurt when I iced it, it hurt when I did my ankle exercises, it hurt when I tried to sleep. It was chronic pain that just never went away. Just when I thought it was getting better it got worse and worse. It affected my happiness and I wasn't sure if I'd ever run again. Plus I wasn't sure if I'd ever run again without pain. Then I found A.R.T. (What I mentioned in #14 and my life has changed for the better.) I now run pain free 4-6 times a week.
24. Thankful for Spring. I love the newness of life, when all the baby bunnies are being born. When the tulips are popping out of the ground, when the fresh blossoms are coming out on the trees.
25. Thankful for Summer. I love the warmth. I love to run in warm weather. I love swimming outside. I love Tropical weather. I love to just sit in the sun and enjoy it. I love seeing my garden grow in the summer.
26. Thankful for Fall. The colors of the leaves turning are gorgeous. The smell of burning leaves when someone burns them is heavenly. The first freeze when my Rag weed dies and my allergies go away is awesome.
Notice there is no thanks for Winter. Seriously don't like that season and would like to live in a tropical place.
28. I am thankful for my Sister and Brother. I'm glad we are siblings. I love them very much.
27. Thankful for my Bed. It's a Tempur Pedic bed and it's awesome. I get a great nights sleep on it and I recommend this bed to anyone. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then go HERE to this link. It is worth extra money to have a GREAT bed.
28. I am Thankful for being able to teach aerobics. I really enjoy being a teacher and teaching others to be fit. I feel you can be fit at any age and start getting fit at any age.
29. I am thankful for the internet, but especially google. Isn't it nice to just type in a question and get an answer? Super cool.
30. I am thankful for the Service Men and Women that fight to keep our country free. I am grateful that my Father, brother, a couple Uncles, my cousin, and two brother in laws have served or are currently serving in the military. I appreciate their service and the hundreds of thousands of others that give their time to help others.
31. Sunglasses
32. Thanksgiving and all the holidays.
33. Vegetables and fruits. As far as vegetables go--tomatoes and red bell peppers are my most favorite. I love all fruits especially when I can make smoothies out of them. Not sure I've ever met a fruit I don't like.
34. Living near the University of Iowa
35. Paid University studies that my children and I have benifited financially from doing.
36. Scriptures
37. Candy. Seriously it's hard to find a candy I don't like.
38. My bike
39. My ability to ice skate. I'm not awesome at it, but I can do some fun tricks and hops without falling.
40. Warm running clothes--espcially on days like these.
41. Having all my fingers and toes
42. Porta potties--love that I can always find one when I'm out running because this Mom has a weak bladder after having all those children.
43. Having a working computer in the house
44. Grilled chicken on a salad
45. Getting to watch a squirrel make a home in our birdhouse and see squirrel babies.
46. Having races to run in the Winter.
47. Nice furniture to sit on
48. My ability to knit dishcloths and towels.
49. Muscle Milk protein powder so I don't have to go buy singles of Muscle milk any more.
50. Good Running shoes.
51. Thankful I can swim. Hopefully I can master the lake and not be afraid of it.
52. Thankful for Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie! Super YUM!
53. Indoor pools so I can swim during the entire year.
54. Treadmills because after swimming with a wet head you really can't go outside and run or you will freeze in Iowa.
55. My sister and brother in laws. I feel I got a whole bunch of great ones and feel really lucky.
56. Finally having internet on my phone. I finally have a new phone as of a month ago and it's made a huge difference.
57. Caramel Creams. And here is a picture in case you have no clue what I'm talking about.
58. I am so thankful for my friendship with Deb. We met a little over 2 years ago, but I hardly knew her then. In this last year we have become a whole lot closer and I just think she is so awesome. We have done a triathlon together and gone to other races together. She is super wise and gives amazing advice. This past summer she helped me through a lot and I couldn't have lived without her. I'm glad she is there for me.
59. Grateful for the talent of being able to play piano.
60. Grateful for my strength to endure hard things.
There are many many other things as well, my list could go on and on.
1 comment:
Truly a great list, Michelle. I love you and am glad that you said yes. I don't know what I would do without you.
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