Gratitude Journal

I try to make it a habit every night of thanking God for all of the blessings in my life. I have a huge list, and I usually fall asleep before I am done. But I think it's good to write them out sometimes as reminders. I read someplace that you should list five things you are thankful for every day. I don't know if I'll be able to do it every single day, but here's my first crack at it, and these are my five major ones:

1. My hubby. The guy is really awesome. Without him, my life wouldn't be nearly as fun or full. He's:

• Cute (at least I think so)
• Funny as hell
• Practical
• Down to earth
• Handy (The guy can fix anything. He's kept our two old cars running for years. Plus he has no fear of learning new stuff. He's finishing off our entire basement all by himself.)
• Educated.
  
• He spoils me. He makes my lunch in the morning, waits with me at the bus stop before work, drives downtown to get me at night. He'll never let me drive when the roads are bad either.
  

2. My family. I'm not close to all of my siblings, but I'm grateful I have them and that my parents are still together and living. The parents are getting older, and I need to be grateful for every day they are here. They are as dysfunctional as any family (or even more), but they're mine and I love them.

3. My job. I may complain once in awhile, but I really do have a great job. I get to do basically what I want, with a flexible schedule, and good pay.

4. DH's job. He has a good job close to home. He's happy there, and together, we are able to afford #5:

5. Our home. Okay, this is a subject that I can go on and on about (and as you can see, I do!). A lot of planning and headaches and $$$$$$ went into it....but it's our haven and we love it. It's a large home for two people, but that's not a complaint. I especially wanted lots of rooms to decorate and spend time. It's got almost everything I wanted:

• Huge wood-burning fireplace in the middle of a big two-story living room.
• Large windows everywhere.
• A big kitchen with lots of counter-top space, a walk-in pantry, lots of cupboards and drawers, a planning desk, and most importantly, a generous-sized island with raised bar.
• A porch in the front. I love sitting on it in the summer.
  
• A generous-sized deck on back which abuts to a stamped concrete patio.
• A nice, flat, fairly private back yard.
• A master bedroom with big windows and skylights. It will be plenty big enough for a king-sized bed when we are ready to buy that.
• A master bathroom with huge whirlpool that fits two comfortably, large vanity, big linen closet, separate toilet stall, separate shower stall, and two big walk-in closets.
• A dining room. It's a little smaller than I would have liked it, but it definitely will work. I can't wait until our furniture finally gets here.
• Laundry room with lots of storage on the main floor.
• A big four-car garage for DH. We only have two small old cars, but he uses the extra room for wood storage and a workshop. He's very happy in there.
  
• A wonderful loft that overlooks the living room on one side and has awesome views of downtown and the surrounding suburbs in the front since we're on a hill. I LOVE my loft! It's the perfect place to sit and read.
  
• My temporary workout room! I love it in there. Eventually, that will be my office.
• A really nice spare bedroom that's great for guests or for us.
• A gigantic basement that DH is slowly finishing off. He's really enjoying himself, and it's going to be wonderful when it's done.
• LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!! I love our location. We are a mile from the supermarket and other stores and restaurants, a mile from a rec center, 20 minutes to downtown, a mile from the library, five miles from a national park. But our neighborhood is small and quiet (for the most part!). The only time there is noise is when my neighbor lets her kids out!
• The only thing I would like that we don't have: more acreage. Well, how about ONE acre? We have a little over 1/3, but we would both love more. Coming from a rural area, this is still an adjustment. On the plus side, DH isn't mowing all day. So I won't let this one thing spoil my gratitude!
  

Well, those are five of the major things. There are so many more. I'll make a habit of posting five items regularly. Even writing/typing the little things you appreciate in life makes you have a positive outlook for hours. Many are coming to me right now, but I'll save them for later.