Happy November!

Hello? You there? Hi! I've been a little absent lately, and not just from the blog, but from my head. HA! I haven't even read much this past month, and I've been really busy at work and home trying to plan things and get ahead. But I'm starting to feel balanced again, so hopefully I'll get back in the swing of life. :)

I was talking with Malissa yesterday and I mentioned that I hadn't posted in forever. What brought this up is that the The Broke and the Bookish is hosting the fourth annual Secret Santa! If you are unaware as to what that is, click on the Secret Santa link and it will take you to the post with all the info you need to participate. I did it last year (so did M) and we had SO MUCH FUN with it. It was exciting to put together a package to send to someone I'd never met in any capacity and to receive a surprise package from someone who had never met me (and the sweet chick she is, she even sent candy for my kiddos!). Anyway, the point of telling you all of that is - you should totally go over and find out what you need to do to participate and have some secretive fun. :) You have until Nov 17 to sign up.

So I decided that the month of November I'm going to countdown to Thanksgiving by giving thanks to something different every day (hopefully). This isn't original, but I can't tell you who originated it. I've seen it on blogs, on facebook, twitter... and I'm too lazy to do research to try and find who started it, especially since I'm not even sure if that's possible. That being said, if you know someone who did, feel free to link them in the comments and I can link them up in future posts. :)

So what am I thankful for today? Definitely not being innovative here, but I'm going with family anyway. I don't know where I'd be without them all. My husband, my kids, my parents, my sister in law, and (begrudgingly) my brother. There's also the extended fam that supports and loves me unconditionally, but I'm just going to stick with the immediate here.

I love when my son (4) tells me "I love you the best in the whole wide world." And when my daughter (nearly 2) runs up to me and squeezes my neck. I love that my husband does all sorts of little things to show me he loves me (helps with dishes, laundry, kisses me before work, makes me a cup of coffee, lets me read in peace). I relish the moments where we all sit and cuddle, reading books or watching a movie, or when we sprawl out on the floor and play board games. Things, of course, aren't always rainbows and butterflies, but all the fun/good moments overshadow the bad.

Sibling love...

And as for my parents and my brother... I wouldn't be where I am today without their love and support. Not that everything was perfect, as things rarely are, but all my experiences with them made me who I am today. And for that, I am grateful.

I hope you all have had a wonderful October and enjoy the upcoming holiday seasons. Hopefully we'll see more of each other from here on out.

Smiles,
B