In no real order {though of course the first few things are clearly the most important}:
Love - I'm so thankful for all of the love that I am given and that I get to give back on a daily basis.
My husband Cheyenne & our marriage - Everyone in a happy marriage thinks that their spouse is the best, and for those two people it's true. But I'm here to throw Cheyenne's hat in the ring for "best husband on planet Earth". He's wonderful and I love him more than words could ever say.
My happy healthy baby - The passed year has been amazing. I am so lucky that I have a supremely healthy and happy baby. She's been very much an "easy" baby but even if she wasn't my love and admiration for someone as special and perfect as her could never be measured.
Josie & Sully - Like 99.5% of pet owners i adore my dog & cat as though they were my children. I love them and know that I receive their unconditional love in return.
My mom - She's great. We have a relationship that's totally unique but we couldn't survive without one another. It's a weird and off day when we don't have contact by phone or email and a rare week without a visit in person.
My dad - Behind every well adjusted, confident woman is a dad who taught her how she deserves to be treated, who doted on her as a child and beams with pride at her as an adult...mine is all of that and then some. I'm so happy that he's able to shower his granddaughter will all of the love and laughter that I got as a little girl. Sundays wouldn't be Sundays without my dad at our house.
Family - My in-laws, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and 2nd cousins are totally amazing people that I am lucky enough to call family. I love them, each one {and there are many} fully and completely.
Portland - Portland is the New York to my Carrie Bradshaw. There isn't a thing that I don't love about this city. Perhaps I see my Rose city through rose colored glasses but there is nowhere else in the country that I would rather be.
My house - It's cute, it's warm in the winter and cool in the summer, it has room for my animals {Cheyenne, Amelia, Josie, & Sully} to play in, has a great back yard and works so well for my little family. In a time and country with so many people struggling to find or stay in their homes I am truly thankful for the one I have.
Patience - Had you asked me 18 months ago if I were patient and I gave you an honest answer it would be a worried "no, not really". But 9 months can change a lot it turns out. I have found that I actually have a bottomless chasm of patience and strength, and that all parents do it's just that sometimes it takes having a newborn and then a crawler to find it.
Knowledge & experience - Without the ability to fall down and make mistakes and then learn from them I'd be a doomed woman. I'm just as thankful for the hard times as I am for the easy times because of the knowledge I've gained.
Friends - My friends are my family so I considered lumping them into the "family" category but decided that doing that wasn't doing them justice. I am so lucky and thankful for the friends that I have, I know that each one of them would give me the shirt off their back if I needed it.
Laughter - Tiny suppressed giggles over how Amelia sleeps while trying not to wake her, big guffaws over a joke told by a friend, screams of laughter over the phone with my mom, laughs that start with "I shouldn't be saying this BUT", tinkling peals of laughter from my baby when she's being tickled by her grandpa, laughing until i cant breath and have tears streaming down my face with Cheyenne. There is nothing quite as good for the soul as a laugh and I'm thankful for all of the laughing that I'm able to enjoy in life.
Bacon based dessert - I dig the swine. It's one of the first things people in the know will tell you about me. I love everything porcine from snoot to toot. That being said, I love love love the combo of smokey saltiness of bacon paired with sweetness. My two favorites being the chocolate bacon bar by Vosges and the bacon maple bar at VooDoo Donuts in Portland if Elvis is alive I'm sure that he disguises himself and goes there for this amazing donut.
Red meat - The only thing that compares with my love of pork is my love of red meat. Beef, Lamb, duck, venison, rabbit, and goose. I'm sure this will end with me in an early grave but if/when it does i want to be buried holding the Mortons Steak Catalog.
Seafood - To counter my unhealthy but beloved consumption of red meat and pork I also love seafood. My favorite is sushi {unagi, sake, spicy tuna, and hamachi being my top picks} which I could eat every single day without getting sick of it. I'm also lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest with it's delicious salmon.
Farmers markets - I'm so thankful for the amazing farmers markets that I'm luck enough to have in my area. I'm also thankful to all farmers markets around the world and am very grateful to all farmers who are committed to organic and sustainable living. Thank you for the amazing foods and keep it up!
Dry martinis with Castelvetrano olives - Mmm, the perfect drink exists and this is it. I like mine with 12bridges gin by Portland's own Integrity Spirits.
Good wines & beers - Portland is also known as "beervana" and the microbrew capital of the country. I'm thankful to have access to such quality beers - no mass produced water American pilsners here! I'm also thankful for wine. I love a glass of wine, reds over whites but i love them both.
Seasons - I have my favorite seasons {Fall & Spring} but I love each in it's own way {even Summer, though that's my least favorite}. I'm thankful that I live somewhere with actual seasons {not the tundra or the tropics}.
Down booties - Each Christmas Cheyenne gets me a new pair of foot duvet slippers from Restoration Hardware {one of my very favorite stores}. If you haven't been lucky enough to enjoy this slice of heaven I strongly urge you to pick up or order a pair ASAP!
Tea - I drink tea every single day. I have a ponderously large collection of teas {herbal and regular} and love the comfort of a hot cup of tea.
Baths - There has never been a day in my life that I didn't love a bath. Even with all that I have on my plate I am grateful to be able to slip into a hot, soothing bath at the end of each day.
Teachers - The most noble profession on the planet {outside of parent} is teaching. I am thankful to all of the amazing teachers that I have been lucky enough to have, I'm thankful for all of the young college students who have chosen a less financially rewarding path for one that is infinitely more emotionally rewarding, I'm thankful for my grandmothers/aunts/cousins/friends who have dedicated their lives to generations of children, and I'm thankful for all of the really good teachers out there making a difference.
My digital camera - I'm super thankful that i haven't had to drop off film in years, that there is a way to erase those photos that are taken from bad angles, that i can take photos of fantastic memories being created to look back on for years to come.
My Flip video camera - I'm thankful for this little guy for creating beautiful videos of my growing baby since she grows so fast it boggles the mind.
Facebook & Blogger - I'm thankful for these tools for enabling me to be able to keep up with friends and family that I'm not lucky enough to live near or see often enough.
Kindness of strangers - I've been thankful for this many many times in my life. I'm thankful to the total strangers that stopped to cover my friends & I up and hold our hands after my horrible car accident, I'm thankful for the people that held doors or offered their seats while i was pregnant. I could go on and on because each day at least one stranger in daily life offers up some form of kindness.
Books - I love to read. I love the smell of an old book, the sound of breaking the binding on a new book, the worlds that i get to travel to because of the writing in great novels. No kindle can ever come between me and my books!
My warm bed - My warm cozy bed in the morning with my husband, baby, and dog {the cat want no part of the latter two in a bed} is my very favorite place in the world.
Art - Art in all forms: paintings, sculptures, photography, music, dance. All of it makes each day beautiful.
Everyone who reads my blog - I dont know who all reads this but Im really thankful for all of the people that find the things I write in any way interesting and im thankful for all of the genuine and sweet compliments from so many of you! Thank you!
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