We all get caught up in our day to day lives and tend to focus on only the things we feel are not going our way, hindering our own personal progress in some way or could be just "not fair". I think I am a pretty positive person in general but definitely find myself thinking these thoughts daily like everyone else. I've decided to spend time each week (every day but record each week) recognizing the blessings in my life and stop focusing on the negative which will eventually consume your life and disguise any blessing you may have or receive.
Grateful For:
- our healthy baby girl Ann; we haven't met her officially yet but she seems to be healthy and doing exactly what she is supposed to. We are so blessed to have this daughter on her way very soon and we're excited to introduce her to this crazy world and teach her the best of everything.
- my husband; he has been working so hard lately and hasn't had a chance to really enjoy summer like we are accustomed to. He goes into work every single weekend and I know he is making a difference and picking up slack in the office that will one day pay off. He comes home and still takes care of me when I'm tired or not feeling up to cooking or cleaning, he volunteers to massage my feet and back and hands and makes sure that I am eating what I am supposed to and still getting whatever dessert I want (or claim Ann wants). He is such a patient, supportive and loving man and I am very blessed to have him as my husband and father to our daughter and fur babies.
- the change in weather; we have experienced the hottest summer on record in Northwest Arkansas this year. We have been in a drought situation with dangerous temperatures like the rest of the South and I really didn't think it would end until September. This week some storms came through that gave us about an inch of rain over a couple of days and we are experiencing high 80's during the day and high 60's in the evenings. Our AC is getting somewhat of a break; the puppies get to play outside and our trees are recovering just a bit. Our yard already looks like fall with all of the leaves that have dropped as a preservation mechanism for the distressed trees. I know this fall will not be as colorful as we are normally spoiled with but we'll have little Ann keeping us too busy to notice the lack of color in the trees.
- The few weeks we have left with just John and I; we only have a little less than 5 weeks left before Ann's due date and that means this is the last time in our lives when we will not have a child in our lives and it is just us. I'm savoring our evenings even if it is a quick dinner and watching tv together, savoring the ability to sleep in on the weekends and pick up and go somewhere with little to no planning.
- My Mother; as I get closer to becoming a mother myself I am thinking and preparing myself for all of the things I will be responsible for. I am so blessed to have the mother I do. She has taught my sister and I the joys of the house such as cooking, decorating and in general making a house a home. She has shown us unconditional love and always put her own needs behind whatever ours were at the time. I can attribute my love for the domestic arts to my Mom and feel so blessed that we grew up in a traditional household where we had family dinners nightly that were homemade; we grew up in lovely houses that were filled with beautiful things pulled together from Mom and Dad's love for antiques and decorating; we have never been without anything we needed or didn't need but wanted; we understand the value of money and hard work and to treasure what you have and not lust after what you think you need or deserve; we have learned to not be pretentious and show off; surround yourself with quality and not quantity; and be generous with your friendships and family members. Our Dad has taught us many things as well and I'll highlight him in another post :). Mom is always there for us and is always enthusiastic and ready to help Sarah or I in whatever way she can. I only hope I am as unselfish as Mom is and can teach Ann to love and enjoy the simple things in life like a good pie crust as well as enjoying working hard and being a good example to others.
- My House; I know I am always looking for that next house or next thing we could do to ours but I am truly grateful that John and I found the house we did and in the location we are. We couldn't live in a more convenient part of Fayetteville. We live within walking distance of the U of A, 2 minutes to the grocery store and I540 which I take to work everyday, we live 5 minutes from my parent's house, 5 minutes from our church, we are surrounded by trees and live on a quiet dead end street, have a large yard for the puppy dogs to do whatever they want in, a big back deck to entertain with, a fun contemporary style that I never thought I would like and now love, it's small so that means less for me to clean (which is becoming increasingly hard to do and the smaller the house the better I can maintain it), Ann's room is adjacent to ours' so we will never have to worry about not hearing her or being close when she needs us and it's our FIRST home together.... what's not to love about that?
- Our Football Team; our amazing Knile Davis, top running back in the SEC, fractured his ankle yesterday in practice.... this was supposed to be "our year" and everyone is so down about it. My thoughts are this: why do we think that this one person will make or break our season? We have the most talented offense in the SEC, we have a coach that is an offensive genius, we have a quarterback who came into the Auburn game, at Auburn last year after Mallett got hurt and threw for over 400 yards in less than 3 quarters against a team that won the National Championship.... he is obviously talented, has his head on straight and isn't afraid to step into a situation and take over. We will definitely be hurting for Knile but I don't think that he was the sole reason for our success last season and he wasn't going to be our sole reason for success this season. He was simply a part of it and our coach isn't like some other coaches where they have no depth on the team and only one player per position... we have many talented guys that can step up and take on what Knile would have done for us... it may not be one person with Knile's numbers but a few guys who together make up for it. We do not need to get down and feel sorry for ourselves but rally and use Knile as a leader on the sidelines giving encouragement and motivate his group to bring the Razorbacks to yet another level above where we were last year. Let's not focus on this injury as hindering us but giving other guys the opportunity to feel the success and pride in using their talents that they clearly have or they wouldn't be on Bobby's team. Let's also not use Knile's injury as the excuse all season if we don't end up where we think we should be... I hate blaming things on circumstances out of our control and we have every opportunity still to succeed and have a great football season. Go Hogs!
I am obviously grateful for much more but those are the things on my mind today.
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