100 Things and Thanksgiving 2014

As is my annual tradition, here is my list of 100 things for which I am grateful for or found a new appreciation for this year.  These are off the cuff and in no particular order - obviously I appreciate my health more than bananas and peanut butter :).

1. My boys, all three of them.
2. A solid marriage and a wonderful husband who unwaveringly supports my dreams and our family.
3. Dinner brought to my door after Graham was born.
4.  Grady’s inquisitive spirit.
5. Baby cuddles.
6. That tantrums come to an end.
7. Peanut butter and bananas.
8. My Bella girl and her cuddles on the couch.
9. My mom’s countless hours watching our kids for free.
10. College football.
11.  Pumpkin pie.
12. The Ellen Degeneris show, pure happiness.
13.  My dad’s laugh, one of the best you will ever hear.
14.   Warm towels out of the dryer.
15.  Costco wool socks.
16.  A book club forcing me to read.
17. A beautiful new office filled with kind, supportive and candid coworkers.
18. Good, appreciative clients
19. The privilege of having paid maternity leave, something I know many Americans sadly don’t get.
20.  Finding new inspiration in unexpected places.
21. Having cousins for our kids so close by.
22.  Grady being able to pick up right where he left off with his out of town cousins.
23. Sisterhood, both blood and friendship.
24. Knowing my sister would drop anything to listen if I needed her.
25.  Andy’s safe return from Afghanistan.
26.  All the men and women who serve our country.
27.  Two healthy and relatively easy pregnancies.
28. The beautiful quilts Grandma Robin has made for our boys to treasure forever.
29. Play dough.
30. Popsicles.
31. That Grady loves fishing and working in the yard as much as his dad.
32. Pacifiers.
33. A baby who is the perfect little brother.
34. NBC Nightly News, I feel like my day is not complete if I haven’t watched it.
35. Fresh Air and All Things Considered on NPR, they make my commute so much better.
36. The Blacklist.
37. Tokyo Salad from Lucky Fins.
38. Baby pajamas with zippers.
39. Papa Murphy’s cookie dough, just the dough not the cookies.
40. The beautiful Boise autumn.
41.  Red maple trees, my favorite autumn treat.
42.  Priest Lake and the Johnson’s generosity in letting us visit.
43. Pinks sunrises.
44.  Being unplugged for periods of time.
45. Being able to stay connected with friends and family through technology.
46. JohnsonDoodles.blogspot.com.
47. My 801 girls and the amazing 10-14 years of friendship they’ve brought me.
48.  Grady’s excitement over trick or treating.
49.  A good glass of wine by the fireplace.
50. The Eagle library and free child music classes.
51.  My big bathtub and being able to use it again.
52. The convenience of Amazon.com.
53. The smell of a freshly cut Christmas tree.
54. The smell of freshly cut grass.
55.  Bouquets made from spring flowers cut from our yard.
56. Creeping phlox.
57. Getting sleep in a six hour stretch.
58. The Cathedral of the Rockies and a wonderful baptism of our boys.
59. Naps by the pool.
60. Little Gym classes and their wonderful teachers.
61. Kind cashiers.
62. A husband who raked 1300 pounds of leaves with one very helpful two year old.
63. Pickles - Klausen to be specific.
64.  Christmas lights.
65. Scenic drives.
66. All the overnight babysitting and special trips made by Grandma (Kim) to take care of Grady.
67. Papa’s adoration of our boys and the trip he made down to meet Graham.
68. Friends who made the trek here to do the Sawtooth relay.
69. Sun Valley.
70. Weekends in McCall.
71.  Grady’s special love for all of his grandparents and the fact that our boys have 5 loving grandparents – lucky lucky boys.
72. Having faith and my own ongoing faith journey.
73.  Hot Apple Cider.
74.  Watching lightning storms.
75. New pajamas.
76. Giants winning the World Series.
77. The Olympic Games.
78. Country music.
79. The Boise river.
80. Flip flops.
81. Date nights.
82. Making new friends.
83. Skiing with my huz.
84. When I get an unsolicited, “I love you” and “thank you mommy”.
85. The hilarious things that come out of Grady’s mouth.
86. Peonies.
87. Magazines, I hope they never go completely away.
88.  Personalized stationary (thank you Lynsey Kehrli).
89.  Living in a place with 4 beautiful seasons.
90. Walgreen’s Instagram prints and my new photo arrangements at home and in the office.
91. The roof over my head.
92. A Good massage.
93. Heated seats in my car.
94. Snapdragons.
95. The way my hair smells when I get it washed at the salon.
96. Lazy mornings at home with pancakes and Peppa Pig.
97. That we live in  a place with a lot of tractors to look at and Grady’s joy in seeing them.
98. Take out dinners.
99. Comfortable heals.
100.  My and my family’s health.

      We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  It was a relatively quiet day at home with my mom and some of our friends.  We have so very much to be thankful for.   Cuddling a sweet little baby by the fire while Grady danced in excitement over his new obsession with pumpkin pie really put life in perspective.  I am thankful indeed and will continue to work to acknowledge and appreciate all that is good.

Scenes from our morning . . .

Scenes from our night... Grady brought his first girlfriend home for the holiday :)