Thankful

The day after Halloween, I woke up, rolled over to Blake, and said, "Well, time to put the tree up."
Ok, that might be just a tad bit early, but, I always shoot the gun with the Christmas decorations.
I can't help it....I love the lights, the ambiance, & the feeling that Christmas & Christmas decorations bring.  This year,  I will try my darndest to at least wait until the week of Thanksgiving...
But, in the end, why does it even matter when ppl put their Christmas decorations up?
I say, do whatever makes you happy.
Who's to say I won't pull out the tree tomorrow & cry as I watch a cheesy HallMark Christmas movie?

Anyway, sorry about the above tangent.  I really wanted to talk about Thanksgiving in this post...not Christmas.  This month is so special to me...the older I get, the more Thanksgiving means to me.  I am now a mother of two & have an amazing husband....I have SO much to be thankful for. I know I should take time & consider all I have to be thankful for everyday of the year, & I want to try harder from here on out.  It should be a no brainer, since I'm so much more positive & happy when I think of reasons to be thankful.  However, I'm really thankful that we have this month to celebrate our thankfulness, blessings, & giving.  And, I'm glad that this month reminds me of how rich my life truly is.  Life is so fiercely good to me.

With a combination of wanting to start a Thanksgiving tradition to make this holiday more meaningful for me & my little family + with London going Mahamad Ali on a little boy + trying to incorporate the spirit of giving and thanks for this special season, this website came at just the right time.  If you are looking for something meaningful + simple, check it out.  I love that the main focus is giving with thanks.  Giving?  Shouldn't we all do it more?  Why is it so hard to find time & ways to give?  It really isn't all that hard....even a simple smile to a stranger can go a long way.  We just started it Monday & I can already see a difference in all of our perspectives & attitudes.  It's funny how serving others will make you feel so good?  It's a natural high, I tell ya.  While we were 'giving' back to our community by cleaning & weeding our townhome sandbox a couple days ago, a peace swept over me.  I knew that by doing a simple thing like making the sandbox look nice, we were teaching London (and ourselves) a valuable lesson.  My heart overfilled with joy as London wrote an apology letter to a friend (the boy she went Mahamad Ali on) & 'gave' her friendship.  She was so happy & I know her little heart felt so good.  We have been filling up our tree with giving leaves & my heart has been filling up right along side it.  Most of the time, I think 'giving' should be done without acknowledgements. My heart gets fine tuned every single time I 'give'.  The feeling I get is something I cherish & ponder on....something I hold dear to my heart & something that is personal.

This world is SO good & has amazing people.  If I just open my eyes, I see that people 'give' to me every single day....even multiple times a day.  It can come in all forms...from Blake playing with my hair to London telling me she loves me to a complete stranger seeking me out because Penny had lost a shoe.  I am surrounded by amazing family, friends, & even strangers.  Good is everywhere.  This Thanksgiving season, I want the spirit of 'giving' to envelope me.  It already has. 

Photo Cred:  Dani Lamb. 

Thanks again sweet girl for capturing all these priceless moments.

I will always look at these & cherish them for the rest of my life.

You're a doll.