10,000 Thanks

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I really sucked failed at posting the things I was thankful for this holiday season. I set the goal of being thankful of something every day from November 1 - Thanksgiving, and pathetically I posted updates for three days before I got behind. I could make a ton of excuses: I was really busy (true,) I wrote them down but never transferred them into the blog (sometimes true), I won a million dollars (untrue) and I forgot (the most true.) But I can honestly say that every day, not just in November, but every day of the year, I try and stop and think about something I am thankful for in that day. Some days things are the same, and I have to remember all of the things I had been thankful for in the past. Some days I have wonderful new experiences I can be thankful for. Either way, I think that despite my inability to share my thoughts and my feelings, they are there. I am thankful for everything I have, and everyone around me.

Today, I wanted to give one last public thank you... to you. Whoever you are. Wherever you are. Whenever you happen upon this page. Thank you. Thank you for reading my rants and peering at my posts. Thank you.

Adventures in Gratitude: Turkey-Lent III

Today is November 1, 2012. Where has the year gone?! This year has been one of great change; and with change comes many, many things to be thankful for.

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Every year I blog about what I like to call Turkey-Lent.
Yes. I made it up.
Much how Christians show penance before Easter through Lent, I have decided to show my gratitude for all of the wonderful things that have surrounded me just before Thanksgiving. Each November, I show my appreciation for all of the things I have by giving up (or greatly reducing my use and/or consumption of) something I love. I believe in gratitude. I believe that we, as both individuals and as a society, should be thankful for all of the wonderful bounty that surrounds us. Food to nourish us. Shelter to protect us. Friends and family to care for us. Because of this, I always appreciate Thanksgiving. But I don't think it is enough. I don't think there should only be one day a year when we decide it is okay to tell everyone what we are thankful for. We should be doing it every day, as often as we can.

Unable to think of anything to give up that I hadn't already tried (or not concentrating that hard!) the last few years I decided to show my gratitude through various acts of appreciation. I used Facebook and twitter to show the world what I was thankful for, in hopes that other people will be inspired to share their own gratefulness. My goal was to use my status update and/or Twitter update to share at least one thing I was thankful for. My goal was to do it once a day, from November 1 - Thanksgiving.

This year I have decided to continue with my goal of public displays of appreciation, as it has indeed become a KWP tradition!

This year I decided I needed to get back to my Turkey-Lent roots, and truly give something up. I am blessed for all of the fabulous people, places and opportunities that surround me. I feel like the least I could do would be to give up something I really don't need. But I am horrible at this cold-turkey-lent stuff, so I decided to give myself some wiggle room. This year I promise to show my appreciation by cooking more and eating out less as evidenced by spending more time in the kitchen with my fabulous husband making delicious home-cooked meals in our beautiful kitchen. Also by partaking in dessert far less than I do today. Let's be real. I love me some dessert, and as blessed as I am to be able to afford such luxuries, I should not partake as often as I do. I am hoping this will not only make me healthier, but also more appreciative of the decadence of desserts.

So, I ask you my dear blog friends... what are you thankful for?

Random Thoughts of Appreciation 2012

1. Today I am thankful to to live a life of financial stability, so much so that I can regularly enjoy a fabulous evening out with my husband; eating a delicious meal with the man I love so much.  ♥ 
2. Today I am thankful for two big things. First and foremost, I am thankful for a job. I know that finding a teaching job in this economy would be challenging, if not impossible. I was very fortunate to be hired at a school that allows me to do all of the things I have ever dreamed of doing, to work with people that I enjoy, doing something that I absolutely love. ♥ Also, I am thankful to have a remarkably fabulous co-worker (who is one of the bestest co-workers I have had the pleasure of working with) who help me set up a brand new turtle-tank, after the last one sprang a leak right after lunch! 
3. Today I am thankful for calm weekends when I don't have to get up with an alarm. It makes me happy to allow my body the rest and relaxation it deserves! :)  Oh, yeah and I am thankful for Costco's chicken pot pie. Yum. 
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Adventures in Gratitude: Turkey-Lent II

Last year I blogged about what I like to call Turkey-Lent. Much how Christians show penance before Easter through Lent, I have decided to show my own penance of gratitude for all of the wonderful things that have surrounded me. Each November, I show my appreciation for all of the things I have by giving up (or greatly reduced my use and/or consumption of) something I love. I believe in gratitude. I believe that we, as both individuals and as a society, should be thankful for all of the wonderful bounty that surrounds us. Food to nourish us. Shelter to protect us. Friends and family to care for us. Because of this, I always appreciate Thanksgiving. But I don't think it is enough. I don't think there should only be one day a year when we decide it is okay to tell everyone what we are thankful for. We should be doing it every day, as often as we can.

Unable to think of anything to give-up that I hadn't already tried (or not concentrating that hard!) last year I decided to show my gratitude through random acts of appreciation. I used Facebook and twitter to show the world what I was thankful for, in hopes that other people will be inspired to share their own gratefulness. My goal was to use my status update and/or twitter update to share at least one thing I was thankful for. My goal was to do it once a day, from November 1 - Thanksgiving.

This year I have decided to continue with my goal of public displays of appreciation, nay make it a tradition!

I would like to go one step further and continually update this blog with each day's appreciation.

But doing the same thing I did last year just doesn't seem like enough. Therefore I will also add personal notes of appreciation -- a minimum of one per week. I hope to do this through written communication (old school snail-mail letters rock, but email will suffice in a pinch!) because I always like going back to read things where people wrote me a little note of appreciation. Also, in an effort to go above and beyond, I hope to perform one act of random kindness to a stranger, per week.

Random Thoughts of Appreciation 2011

1. Today I am thankful for the smell of freshly baked cookies. Having a loving husband to help me to bake them makes them smell that much better. ♥ 
2. Today I am thankful for kitties. Purring, loving, hissing, kitties. ♥ 
3. Today I am thankful for my husband. Happy Two Month-a-Versary, Aaron Plattner. ♥ 
4. Today I am thankful for my bestest friends with whom I love to share laughter and good times. ♥ 
5. Today I am thankful for Saturdays. ♥ 
6. Today I am thankful for getting to "fall back" to an extra hour of sleep AND for Sunday afternoon naps. ♥ 
7. Today I am thankful for NOT sneezing or having a headache. ♥ 
8. Today I am thankful for everything and nothing all at once. ♥
9. Today I am thankful for anticipation. I am so lucky to have many wonderful things to look forward to. (And yes, I am including the pending three day weekend!) ♥ 
10. Today I am thankful for my best girlfriends and our girl trips to TAHOE! ♥
11. Today I am thankful for everyone who has served our country. ♥
12. Today I am thankful to be surrounded by beauty. ♥ 
13. Today I am thankful for a quiet night at home with my hubby (before the storm that is Parent/Teacher Conferences!) ♥
14.  Today I am thankful people who listen, or read, to my little rants and raves -- Such as with my blog --today I have had 2,000 blog page views.  :) Love the fact that 20% of those views are from outside of the United States. ♥
15.  Today I am thankful for days that I come home from work feeling both happy and appreciated. Happy -- that I have positively affected the lives of children. Appreciated -- by the children and their parents. Finished 11 of 30 conferences today, and it was one of the happiest, most successful days of the school year! ♥
16.  Today I am thankful for making students cry. Today one of my parents cried in happiness... of course that made me cry, and then it made my student cry... but they were tears of happiness, so it was all good.  ♥
17.  Today I am thankful for the internet. And for Peet's coffee at Raley's. And for Round Table Pizza's Wombo Combo. And, of course, Diet Pepsi! ♥ 
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Bloggin' Birthdays!

Today is my blog birthday! I started blogging a year ago today!

Thank you to the wonderful people who have read, continue to read or will ever read this blog.

I am very grateful to all of my readers, whether you are one of my truly awesome three followers or a random reader! I extend even bigger thanks to those of you who have left comments throughout the year -- I really appreciate your thoughts and your willingness to share them. I welcome anyone and everyone to stop a share a comment or two... I love to hear what you have to say!

Thank you ♥ Thank you ♥ Thank you

{Photo from Graceful Cake Creations on Flickr}

Mmmm. Birthday cake. Let's all have some, shall we? (Yes, I think I shall!)