Blah, blah, thankful, blah, blah, blah

As a write this post, I am ready to jump into the pit of self pity. You see, I have lost this document twice now, gone into Internet nothingness forever. I have an aggravating sinus infection, my nose has been rubbed raw from blowing it, and a cold sore, sensing my immune system weakness, has started to appear on my upper lip. I have signed up for the Atlanta 1/2 Marathon tomorrow and am pretty sure I might die. Ahhhh, things to be thankful for....wait, no that's the "I am so NOT thankful for this" list. Sometimes, I get them confused. Here is the real thankful list, in no particular order:

1. Dr. Pepper. When God invented the perfect drink-well, this was it. I am always thankful to see a can of ice cold DP.

2. My husband. What do you say about someone who sees you at your worst, but still loves you the best? I know everyone thinks they have the best husband, but sadly, they are wrong. I have the best husband! My husband has big dreams, is good at math, and is an amazing coach. He is always trying to be better and pushes me to be better too. He thinks I am funny. Plus, I think he is cute. :) We really are the best team ever. I am so thankful I found him and get to hang out with him everyday.

3. Our family dog Shelby. We had 14 great years with her and she is the standard to which our family will judge all dogs. She was a fighter and a true friend. I am so thankful she was a part of our family.

4. Henry. I don't think that I could love a dog more than Henry. (I have included not one, but two pictures to show that love.) Henry is pretty much the perfect dog for us. He is funny, athletic, social and super handsome. He makes weird noises, is a Mama's boy, and is ready to snuggle with you at any point. Plus, he always reminds me of two important life lessons:

1) Never give up. No matter what. This mantra guides Henry's life and at the end of the day you know he gave it everything he had.

2) Good things can come out of bad situations. Just trust God. He pretty much always knows what he is doing. (Henry came to us at a time that was pretty yucky, but all those bad things that happened made us bring home the best dog ever-see how it worked out?!) I am so thankful for him.

5. Family. Yeah, yeah, I know everybody says that they are thankful for their families, but when I write it, it is actually true! Sometimes the people that we are the most thankful for, are put on the back burner, just because you know that they will always be there. I am thankful for my funny, energetic, caring family. And, I am thankful that no one in our family had to go the the hospital this year. Good job, Dad!

6. The Divas. We have been friends since college and are getting ready to welcome the first baby diva into the world! These girls crack me up and even if we don't see each other for months, we just pick up where we left off. (Which is usually in the middle of a pitcher of margaritas!) We are all so incredibly different, but I am so thankful that we are friends.

6. The roof over our heads. Seriously, there is something about having a new roof that makes me feel safe and secure. Even if it does make the frosted glass door and the teal shutters look even worse. It's next on the "to do" list....

7. Awesome people to work with. I am so lucky to work daily with some of my favorite people! Katy is my teaching partner and I couldn't do it without her! She is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She is real, unpretentious and funny. She keeps me in stitches, even if the day seems like it will never end. Oh, and she loves napkins.

I couldn't do a shout out to great people to work with without mentioning my original teaching partner, Andrea! She kept me organized, quasi sane, and always gives her honest opinion. She is also an awesome teacher. People that we had worked with for years thought we were sisters! I miss you twin sister and am thankful that I got to teach with you!

7.5 Slim. Slim and I coach the novice men at Georgia Tech and I don't think there has ever been a day that we didn't laugh until my sides hurt with him. Slim is such a generous person and an awesome coach. We have such a great time coaching together and kicking rowing booty on a regular basis. He really is like the brother I never had. (But way better math skills than anyone in my family would ever have!)

8. Seat Heaters. They make my mornings so much better.

9. The Library. I might actually write a whole other post on this, but here is the short version. I love books. The smell, the feel, the spines, everything! I can't buy all the books I want, so I use the library. I seriously get excited driving to the library. I have a system of how I look for books at the library as to make sure that I don't miss any. (I'll tell you if you ask, but I can't get into it here. Too long.) I love browsing the shelves and finding a book that I have been wanting to read. I love finding a book that I never knew existed and having to have it. When I can carry no more, I head to check out. (This was my mom's rule when I was a little girl-you could only check out as many as you could carry!) I am that girl that can barely see over the top of her books as she walks to the car. I read at stoplights on the way home. I lay out my books when I get home according to the order I want to read them. Going to the library is quite a special event. I am thankful for the library.

10. Friends. Without them things just wouldn't be that great. I am lucky enough to have friends that I think the world of and even as life gets busier and busier, and I don't see enough of them, I am so very thankful for each and every one of them.

11. Learning new things. I love learning new stuff and always have. This year I feel that I have learned so much about my photography and it has made a big difference in my photographs and in how excited I get about it. There is something everyday that I can't wait to try out or see when it comes to photography. I am thankful to have that eagerness to learn in my life.

12. Good parents at good schools. I am so thankful for the school where I teach. It's not perfect, but it is a place that truly cares for children and not just doing something because it is mandated or is the easy way out. I am also thankful for parents that are not afraid to be parents, even when it gets hard. Parenting is hard. I'm not even a parent and it looks hard from where I sit! But I am so thankful to be able to see the effect that quality, loving, sometimes tough, parenting has on a child daily at my school.

When I get to witness this skilled parenting, it makes me sleep a little better at night, knowing that we might be doing some of life the way it was supposed to be done. :)