2012 Thankful November Day 12 - Sharing a Special Moment with Our Grandma Rosie

Thankful November Day 12



Today I am thankful to have been able to share a special moment with my husband's grandma.

Grandma comes from a large family.  When she was a teenager her brother Carl joined the military and left home to go fight in WWII.  Sadly, he was killed in the war and she never got to see him alive again.  Carl was brought back to the States and was buried in San Bruno, California at the Golden Gate National Cemetery.

Grandma has shared stories with Greg and I about her brother being killed in the war and she told us the last time she was at his graveside was at his funeral and burial in 1945.  She has often expressed a desire to go back and visit his grave and Greg and I have wanted to make that dream come true for her for some time now.  Several months back, on a whim when we were in San Francisco for the day and grandma was with us, we tried to go visit the cemetery much to her surprise, but we arrived after closing time.  We promised her we would take a trip back to the cemetery when it was open so she could visit her brother's grave.

Greg, my husband, decided since he had the day off from work that today, the day after Veterans Day, would be a great time to take her to see her brother's grave.

We picked up grandma this afternoon for her first trip to see where her brother was buried since her last visit 67 years ago.  One of her friends, a florist, had made her an absolutely beautiful arrangement to leave at her brother's graveside.

It was a touching, emotional and beautiful moment to share with grandma and I am so glad we were able to be there for her during this special occasion.  It was also so very humbling to look out at the rows upon rows of headstones and be reminded that these were all the graves of men and women who have fought for our country, many of whom laid down their lives during that fight to allow us our freedoms!

How can we ever express our thanks enough!

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 11 - Getting a Great Deal

Thankful November Day 11

Today I am thankful for awesome shopping bargains.

I was in major need of some new winter tops.  Some time back I was gifted a Visa gift card and I decided since I needed some clothes I would use that card toward my clothing needs.  One of my favorite places to shop, Fashion Bug, is getting ready to go out of business (I am so sad).  I honestly thought they had already closed until I drove by the store the other day and noticed they were having a big store closing sale, so I decided I would go back this weekend and see what I could find.

Boy did I score!  The store had everything for 40%-50% off plus an additional 10% on top of that.  I walked out of Fashion Bug with around $200 worth of clothes for under $100.  What a bargain!

I love when I score a great deal and get more for my buck!

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 10

Thankful November Day 10

Today I am thankful for time spent with my mom and my aunt enjoying what has become an annual holiday tradition.

Every year for the past several years my mom and I have been taking a drive to Bay Area to visit The Decor Store and do a little shopping for Christmas decor.  It is always her and I and the past couple of years my aunt has joined us too.

I LOVE this store.  It is full of great home decor all year long, but during this time of year it is chock full of Christmas and holiday decor.  We always manage to find a few items to come home with and this year was no different.

After we got done at The Decor Store we decided to head back in to the Central Valley to the nearest Home Goods to see what fun decor or housewares we could find there.  I found some Christmas cookie cutters and Christmas colored sugar sprinkles, and my mom and I also found some great prizes for our annual ornament exchange party that we host each year.

We topped off our night with dinner before heading home.  All in all it was a great day and we had a lot of fun shopping together.

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 9 - Time Spent with my Aunt

Thankful November Day 9

Today I want to give thanks to my Aunt, Rene, for picking me up from the car dealership while my new Yukon was having some minor work done on it. 

It was nice spending the day together.  We ran a few errands, got to enjoy lunch at a place I had never been to before, and I helped her with a task she's been wanting to get done around her house.

It is so nice to have family so close to me who are so willing to go out of their way to help when I need it.

Thanks Aunt Rene!  I enjoyed our day together.

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 8 - Good Health News for My Mom

Thankful November Day 8

Today I am so very thankful for good health news about my mom.  She had two different tests this week for health concerns and both tests came back with good results.  Praise the Lord!

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 7 - Being a Glass Half Full Girl

Thankful November Day 7

Today I am thankful that most of the time I am a girl that looks at the glass as being half full rather than half empty.

Today is one of those days.  Yesterday's election results may have not gone in the direction I was hoping and praying for, but I am still of the belief that the world will keep spinning and the sun will continue to come up each day.

As I scan my social media outlets today I am saddened by the number of people who only see doom and gloom.  I am not normally political by any means, so maybe others know more than me, but I am thankful that I have the outlook that we will get through this too and be just fine.

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 6 - Time with Creative Friends

Thankful November Day 6

Today I am thankful for my circle of creative and crafty friends and the time I get to spend with them. 

I have a small group of friends that I get together with once a month and we make and exchange greeting cards.  I have grown to love this group of women and I look so forward to our time together.  Not only do they inspire me creatively, but they inspire me with their spirituality as well.  They are, simply, beautiful people inside and out! 

At a time in my life when I was feeling that I was missing and needing a network of girlfriends in my life God put in place the opportunity for me to meet these women and I am so thankful that He did!

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 5 - A Husband Who Works Hard, Good Credit and Good Luck

Thankful November Day 5

Today we traded in our 8 year old Trailblazer SUV for a new to us GMC Yukon.  Our faithful old Trailblazer was starting to show its age and it was time to say goodbye while it still had some trade-in value.  As we were going through the auto buying process and doing a lot of waiting in a salesman's office it gave me some time to think about what specifically I am thankful for today.

First, I am so thankful for my husband who is a hard worker with a really good job.  I know I don't tell him enough how much I appreciate all he does for us to be able to live this life.  Because of him we are able to live comfortably.  We are certainly not rich, but because of my hardworking husband we are able to have a nice home, drive nice vehicles and enjoy a comfortable existence.  It's not always easy,  we have had our struggles from time to time, but we certainly have so many blessings that  many others in this world do without and I realize how lucky I am to enjoy the life we do because of my husband willingness to work hard for what we have.

I am also thankful for all that we have done over the years since we first married to build good credit.  On days like today I realize how thankful I am that we have made decisions and worked hard over the years to build our credit rating up from a rating that wasn't so good when we were first married due to being young and naive.  It has definitely made life easier when it comes to certain financial affairs.

Lastly, I am thankful for good luck and for the good Lord guiding us to just the right new vehicle.  We needed to make this car purchase decision fairly quickly and we were lucky enough to find just what we were looking for online, in a price range that worked for our budget, and it was at a dealer close to where we live.  Our car buying experience was easy, quick and surprisingly hassle free, which made me very thankful, since car shopping is not exactly in my top 50 favorite things to do.

Until tomorrow...

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 4 - Family Time

Thankful November Day 4

Today I am thankful for time spent with family. 

Today was my niece, Melanie's, 17th birthday and we all gathered at my sister and brother-in-law's home to celebrate her birthday.  Even my husband was able to take a day off from work and attend her birthday.  The only one missing was my nephew, Melanie's brother, as he was off hunting with his friends.  I know we all missed him being there with all of us.

I am so grateful that my husband and I live within just a few miles from our family members.  Both my husband's and my extended family all live in the general surrounding area of our hometown.  Our parents, siblings, those grandparents who remain living, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all just a few minutes drive from our front door and we all have a fairly close relationship with one another.

When I hear of families who live away from their loved ones and only get to visit them on holidays or other rare occasions it makes me appreciate being so close to my own family.  I appreciate that we can get together on a regular basis or be at their door step in a matter of minutes when needed.

I absolutely would not want it any other way!  So today I am thankful for family time spent with our loved ones.

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 3 - Double the Thanks Today

Thankful November Day 3

Today my thanks is two-fold.  When I started out the day and was thinking about what thanks I wanted to give on this third day of November my thoughts turned to the cake/cupcake baking and decorating skills I have learned over the years from my mother-in-law, Linda, and my grandmother-in-law, Rose, so I will talk about that first.

Today I baked and decorated cupcakes for my niece's 17th birthday tomorrow.  In doing so I realized how much I appreciate the skills I have learned from both my mother-in-law and my grandmother-in-law.  Both of whom have baked wedding and party cakes for years as a profession and generously shared their skills and knowledge with me.  In recent years I have grown to enjoy baking and decorating my own special cakes for family and friends.  I have also been able to put my skills to use on occasion to earn extra income by baking for others.  I have never taken a class professionally, and most of the skills I have learned have come from the two of them.

It has been fun to learn, see my skills develop with each new cake or cupcake I make, and I have had fun allowing my creativity to come out in the form of edible sweet treats.

Thanks Mom B. and Grandma Rosie for teaching me to be a baker and cake decorator!

My second thanks for the day is due to a not so wonderful event that happened tonight.

As I was coming home and turning in my driveway tonight my SUV took a dump.  I mean something is REALLY wrong with my car.  The engine almost died as I was turning in the driveway.  I'm not sure it is related to whatever happened with the engine, but at the same time something also went wonky with my heater and it was blowing about 90 degrees on the passenger side of my car (I have dual controls).   I quickly pulled in to the driveway and shut off the key.  After unloading my car I went back out to check under the hood.  Nothing looked wrong so I got in my car and decided to start it again.  It made some HORRIBLE popping sound and the car shook like crazy and felt like the whole bottom dropped out of it so I quickly shut off the engine again.  It scared the heck out of me!

My car is 8 years old.  It's been a good car, but I'm afraid whatever is wrong may be something major and not cheaply fixed. :(  Seriously, it sounded like it took its last breath.  Murphy and his laws are not funny!  We just paid off my car this summer and we were thankful for the reprieve in car payments.  So much for that!

While I am not happy that my car has gone belly up and may possibly be past the point of no return (I had a good cry after it happened, mostly because of the thought of being stranded at home with no transportation), I am VERY thankful that when it decided to bite the big one it did it just as I was getting home instead of leaving me stranded on the side of a road waiting on a tow truck in the dark while my hubby was at work.

So here's to baking skills and not being stranded!  Until tomorrow...

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 2 - I love that my husband loves the holidays as much as I do.

Thankful November Day 2

Today I thankful that I married a man who loves to embrace and celebrate annual traditions and the holidays as much as I do.  Even though we do not have children, I think there is still an inner child in both of us.  We both grew up in families who love the holidays, with mom's who go all out decorating for the seasons, and that tradition has carried on to both my husband and me.

I am so lucky to have a husband who enjoys helping me deck out the house for holidays like Halloween and Christmas and who is right there in the middle of helping me plan, prepare for, cook, and host holiday meals at our home.  I couldn't pull them off without him.

Greg's Jack-O-Lantern

My Jack-O-Lantern

He was right there in the kitchen with me carving his own jack-o-lantern before Halloween.  He helped me put the finishing touches on our Halloween night decor and was out on our front porch handing out candy to all our trick-or-treaters who stopped by that night.

In a few weeks I know I can count on him to be at the grocery store helping me shop for our Thanksgiving meal and then I can guarantee I will have him in the kitchen by my side helping me prepare a delicious Turkey Day meal for our family.

When Christmas rolls around we'll be outside again together decking out hour home in Christmas cheer and the we will joyfully set out on our traditional annual trips to a couple of local Christmas parades, light displays, and he will be loving it as much as I do.  Then when the time comes I know can count on him to help me shop for and wrap gifts if I need the help and he will once again help me prepare a fabulous meal for our family Christmas day.

I am so thankful I have a husband who shares my love for the holidays and shares in the workload of preparing for the holidays equally as much he shares the joy of these holiday moments with me.

Tweet

2012 Thankful November Day 1 - Being Alive

A few years back I was prompted by some friends on an Internet message board I frequent to participate in a blog challenge.  The challenge was to post at least one thing I was thankful for each day of November.  It made me really examine and appreciate both the big things in life that I am thankful for as well as to think about the little things in my life that are to be appreciated that I sometimes tend to overlook, and on days when I wasn't having such a great day it made me dig inside myself to find something, at least one tiny thing, good about that day.

Today as I was on Facebook I noticed a lot of friends starting this challenge again as status update posts, so I am once again prompted to join them each day during the month of November in posting the things in my life for which I give thanks.  Rather than filling up my Facebook page with my daily postings I have decided to post them here on my blog and then link my post to my page.  

I attempted to challenge myself last year, but I admit I wasn't good about keeping up with my daily thankful posts.  I am hopeful that I will meet my goal of daily posting this November.

Thankful November Day 1:

Today I am thankful for life.  I can't express how much I appreciate living, breathing, having a mostly healthy body, and for being here on this earth with my husband, and being able to share my life with him, my parent's, and all of our extended family, friends and loved ones.

Two years ago on this day I was staying at my parent's home, pretty much in solitary confinement, confined to one bedroom and a bathroom after having undergone Radioactive Iodine Therapy treatment for Thyroid Cancer just a few days prior to the first of November.  I was in confinement for 7 days due to being radioactive.  I wasn't allowed to leave home, eat with my family, see my two cats, or be near anyone for more than just a few minutes and even then I had to keep my distance.  This meant not seeing my husband for an entire week.  No daily hugs or kisses from him or anyone else and lots of time spent alone.  It gave me a lot of time to think and to be thankful, even then, when I was so uncertain what my future would hold or if I would even have a future. 

Two years ago I learned a lot about myself, about life, about love, and about being thankful for all I have been given by the good Lord up above.  That time in my life changed me forever, and I hope it made me a better person, a more appreciative one.

I don't just take life for granted anymore, and now I know without a doubt that bad stuff can happen to ANYBODY.  Up until my Thyroid Cancer diagnoses two years ago I lived a pretty charmed life, but I certainly did not always appreciate or realize the value of living such a great life.  I now understand that we never know our fate and what each day may hold.  It doesn't matter what your age or status in life is,  as the saying goes, "sometimes shit happens," and "bad things happen to good people," and we just have to learn to deal with it and be thankful we are here and able to deal with it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't wake up every day with bells on and a smile on my face ready to face the day thinking it is going to be perfect and wonderful.  I still have my moments when I get grumpy, am short with people I love, and I don't always show my most charming side to everyone, but two years later and cancer free, I do try and remember more often than not how very lucky I am to be on this earth and how very lucky I am to be surrounded with so many people who love me and who believe in me.

Tweet

Nov. 30, 2008 - Gratitude Post Challenge Bonus Entry

Since I didn't start my challenge posts until Nov. 2, I've decided to do a bonus post today.

I am so thankful to Sherry for starting this Gratitude Post Challenge this month. It has been so good for me.

After a rough year and a lot of negative thinking and some depression, I really feel like this blog challenge helped me to see the brighter side of life and focus on all of the wonderful and positive things and people I am surround by. I have truly seen my attitude and outlook change since starting this blog post challenge.

Thank you so much Sherry!!! I'm looking forward to the next challenge.

Tweet

Nov 30, 2008 - Gratitude Post Challenge Day 29

Today I am thankful for the great relationship I have with my Greg's grandma. We only live a couple of miles from her so we get to see each other often.

When Greg is working Grandma Rosie invites me over often to share dinner with her or to go out for a bite to eat. Greg's grandpa passed away last year. Since Greg works nights and grandma is home alone, it is nice to have someone to visit with at night. We get along great. I probably have dinner at her house at least once a week, sometimes more. Then we watch TV together and visit.

She is also my occasional casino buddy. Grandma LOVES to go to the local Indian casino. I like to play slots too, so on occasion we will head up the hill to hit the slots.

Even though I'm an in-law, she makes me feel like I am her very own granddaughter. I love that we get along so well despite our age gap.

We always have a good time hanging out together and I am thankful that we get to do it so often.

Tweet

Nov. 29, 2008 - Gratitude Post Challenge Day 28

Today I am so thankful that my brother-in-law Chris has found a special girl to share his life with. He met his current girlfriend, Janet, in August or September and they have been dating ever since.

She is wonderful for him and all of us in the family really enjoy her company and having her as part of our family. I have seen so many changes for the better in my BIL since he started dating Janet. He is so much more happy now than he has been in a long, long time. He is showing a much more polite and caring side now too, not just to his girlfriend, but to everyone. There were times in the past when it was really stressful to be around Chris because of his sometimes grumpy attitude, now it is actually a pleasure to be in his company.

Janet is good for him too because she stands up to him and keeps him in line. LOL I think they are a perfect fit for each other. There is no telling what the future will hold, I know that, but I also know that they both really care about each other and I couldn't be happier for Chris. He tells me that he plans to keep her around for a long, long time and that she has expressed that she feels the same way. I certainly hope that is true, because I really have enjoyed the times I've spent getting to know Janet and I look forward to getting to know her even better as time goes by. I also have always hoped that someday in my life I would have a sister-in-law, and I think that when and if the time is right for that to happen Janet would make a good one.

Tweet

Nov. 28, 2008 - Gratitude Post Challenge Day 27

Tonight I'm thankful for carrying on family traditions.

As I'm sure you have already gathered if you have been reading my blog this month, family is very important to me, and just as important to me is participating in and carrying on family traditions.

Tonight Greg and I joined my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, niece, and aunt at the annual Sonora, California Christmas Parade. Sonora is a little mountain town about a 45 minute drive from where I live.


A few years before Greg and I met my parents stumbled upon the Sonora Christmas Parade by accident when they had gone up the hill to a craft show. While at the craft show they found out there was a parade going on that night and decided to stay and check it out. It turned out to be a great parade, and being the small town that Sonora is, much of the towns residence show up to watch the parade.

Ever since my parents discovered that parade so many years ago we have been going to it as a family. Before I met Greg I went with my parents and sister and her family, and once I met Greg he started attending too. It has become our day after Thanksgiving tradition.

Let the rest of the United States population brave the stores and the mall the day after Thanksgiving. We prefer the fun of bundling up in warm clothes, brewing up some hot cocoa, packing up our lawn chairs and heading up the hill to watch the parade.

It is one of the things that gets me in the Christmas spirit and ready to face the holidays. Afterward we always head to one of our favorite restaurants to enjoy a lovely steak dinner together.

It is a family tradition I look forward to every single year, and one tradition I hope to carry on for years to come.

Tweet

Nov. 27, 2008 - Gratitude Post Challenge Day 26

When I started out the day, being Thanksgiving and all, I had this grand idea in my head about what I was going to blog about today, but as I sit here tonight stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey and miserable because of it, I think I'm going to make this thankful blog short and sweet.

Today I'm thankful for the abundant blessing of family. Even when we sometimes get under each other skin, we still love each other. Even when our time together doesn't turn out just the way we plan for it to, we still love each other. Even when we see each other often, or not often enough, we still love each other.

Today, despite the fact that the perfect Thanksgiving day plans that I had in my head didn't quite turn out that way, and frustrations were high at times, I still enjoyed being with my family. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to spend my Thanksgiving holiday with the people I love the most, and that even in these days of financial stress and hardship for so many people, today we were abundantly blessed with a feast fit for a king and all his court.

We truly are blessed!

Tweet

Nov. 26, 2008 - Gratitude Post Challenge Day 25

Tonight I am thankful that both Greg's and my family live close by and that we do not have to travel long distance to see family on the holidays.

Today we were out and about shopping and such, and the traffic on the freeways was so busy. It made me think about how many people will get in their car or board a plane this Thanksgiving weekend to travel such long distances to be with family and made me realize how very thankful I am to have our entire immediate and extended family live within 30 minutes of us. With the exception of a great aunt and uncle and some second and third cousins, every member of Greg's and My family live that close to us.

I am thankful that because we all live so close to each other and all share such close relationships that we will be able to go and visit Greg's side of the family for a little while, and then go to my parent's house to enjoy our Thanksgiving feast.

Family means the World to both of us and being able to enjoy the holidays with both sides of our family is such a blessing to both of us!

Tweet

Nov. 25, 2008 - Gratitude Post Challenge Day 24

I am thankful for being able to act as a mentor and a teacher to my niece today as we worked on some crafting projects just for fun.

Melanie is currently out of school for the time being due to some medical issues that cause her pain with activity. She has been out for a couple of months now, and was out almost all of last school year. Both my sister and BIL work during the day and her older brother is in school and then works after school, so Mel ends up spending a lot of time home alone.

I know she is bored at home and also missing hanging out with her friends. I told her she could come and hang out with me every now and then and we would do some crafting and other fun things together.

Like I mentioned in yesterday's blog, she was a big help to me yesterday as we baked for Thanksgiving. After I worked her buns off of her yesterday I wanted to make sure that today we just had a fun day together.

After an unexpected side trip to the aquarium store to test our salt water tank water after the tragic overnight death of our two 7 year old salt water fish (which is a whole other post), we were off to Michael's to buy some craft supplies.

With a little encouragement, Mel decided to pick out a letter M to alter. I also helped her pick out some scrap paper and ribbon.

We came home and got to work. With my guidance Mel worked on her M and I worked on a project I'm making for my SS Secret Santa.

I'm so proud of her. Sometimes my dear niece doesn't have much confidence in her abilities, and tonight she surprised herself and was proud of the way her altered M came out. I gave her very basic guidance, but she did most of the designing all on her own.

I think her M turned out awesome, especially for her first time altering.

Tweet

Nov. 24, 2008 - Gratitude Post Challenge Day 23

Today I am thankful for my 13 year old niece Melanie.

We don't get to hang out together too often. So it was cool to just enjoy each others company today. She was a ton of help to me today in the kitchen as we worked on getting all the baking done to fill my Thanksgiving egg nog cake and rum cake orders.

She is spending the night at my house tonight, which doesn't happen too often.

I think after all the hard work she did today we will spend tomorrow just hanging out and having fun. Maybe we will work on a few craft projects.

Tweet