38 Reasons to be Thankful

Today's my 38th birthday!

I can remember turning 16, 18, and 21, and now here I am turning 38.  In the past I've shared lists of random facts about myself on my birthday. {Here they are when I turned 33, 34 ,and 36.}  I don't have a list of random facts this year.  It gets more difficult each year to come up with something original for those types of blog posts so instead of spending time on that, I decided to list 38 things I'm thankful for.  

38 Reason to be Thankful on my 38th Birthday

1. Y'all know my faith is important to me.  All of the blessings in my life that I'm undeserving of are a gift from God.  I'm grateful for God's grace, patience, and forgiveness and the love and sacrifice of Jesus.  I'm thankful for the Bible to guide and direct us.

2. My husband--Mark and his unconditional love.  He makes me a better person and God knew I needed him.  He's handsome, intelligent, humble, funny, and always up for an adventure.  Mark is the love of my life and my best friend.

3. My precious boys--Will and Ben, they are my purpose and make me want to be a better person.  I'm the luckiest to get to be their mommy.

4.  My grandparents--Being raised in a Christian home by people who set an example of faith and honored God in their lives

5. My extended family--my in-laws, brothers, sister, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, and cousins

6. My health and the health of my family

7. Being a teacher-- Having a job where I see my husband often and my children have the same schedule

8. Living in a country where we are safe

9. Friends--ladies who get me and make life fun

10. Our home and the new home we are fortunate to be building

11. Social media and the relationships built through it

12.  The teachers who help educate my children

13.  Bible class teachers at our church who help teach our children God's word

14. All of our travel memories.  Some of the best moments in my life have been spent on trips with my family.  

15. Going through hard times because it's made me appreciate the good times that much more

16.  Being raised in a small town because it's made me value the simple things in life

17. Having the opportunity to live in a big city and travel to big cities because it's shown me there's a lot more out there

18. The ability to attend ETBU and graduate from Texas A&M

19. Imperfections because they keep me humble

The first half was serious, and I could only think of so many meaningful things.  The next part of the list includes things I'm definitely appreciative of but they are also things I could live without. 

20. Tex Mex

21. Makeup and good hair products

22.  Social media because it's a distraction from life

23.  Freezer meals on a weeknight when I'm tired and don't want to cook

24. Cherry limeades from Sonic or Dairy Queen

25. Good music

26. Romantic comedies--chick flick movies

27. Getting a good deal when I'm shopping

28. Netflix

29. Pinterest

30. Candles that smell good

31. Coffee and tea

32. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's

33.  A clean house

34.  Photos--professional, from my iPhone, my DSLR and any others,  I love photos of places we've been and photos of my family!

35.  Cooler weather when we've suffered through the heat of summer.  Fall is my favorite season.

36. A good book

37.  Cardigans and scarves

and last but not least

38. Being surrounded by an abundance of love