Thankful Thursday (Week 1)

Remember that time I used to post things on my blog? Oops.

Hey y'all, my long lost blog and the few people who didn't give up on me and still read my words. I could say a bunch of things about the lack of posting and make promises I probably can't keep, but I won't. I'm just gonna say...

Hey. I missed you. How are you? Let's be friends again.

Also, remember that time I posted this post about thankfulness last January and had big dreams of being intentionally thankful all year? For the most part that didn't happen guys. I will say that "project" helped me focus on positivity vs. negativity, which is a total victory to celebrate. BUT, as far as intentionally taking time to be consistently thoughtfully thankful for things big and small, it didn't happen.

It's November, so naturally people are on the thankful bandwagon again. At first, I resisted. But, I decided I don't want to miss an opportunity to be intentionally thankful for a month even if it's trendy, cliche, or cheesy. Who the heck cares?! Taking time to shift how we think about life and add positivity is good for us whether it's a bandwagon thing or not. My "make your own rules" mentality tries to skip bandwagons sometimes, but sometimes, it's also just called pride. November is a hard month for me, my hardest (anniversary of my Dad's death + holiday season without him). I started to post ALL of this, and my catching up for the days I resisted, on Facebook. But something about it felt more flashy than genuine and less like an accountability effort to actually do it and more about showing off my list making skills.

Therefore, today I'm sharing my catching up list and my goals with you guys. Somehow this feels more genuine and I'm okay with that. My goal is five thankfuls a day. I will be writing them in my journal and possibly posting them on Facebook most days. Why Facebook? Well, I like sharing and think social media if used correctly (not as a crutch, not as an isolation tool, not as false sense of community/community substitute, not as an addiction, and not to compare or be mean) can make our community richer and help spur one another one. I also might post them as a weekly round up here. Maybe I'll steal the clever and catchy Thankful Thursday. Maybe. Regardless of where I share, or if I share, or if I skip a few days or a week, my goal isn't to check it off my to do list, though I do love a good check mark. My goal is to preach positivity to myself in a month that comes with some pain and heartache. My goal is to be thankful for deep things and shallow things, big things and small things, fun things, silly things, growth things, hard things, ALL THE THINGS! Join me if you wish, but if anytime is a time to intentionally give thanks, November kind of easily sets itself up for that in America, but for me personally, my November needs this. And now, let's catch up! 

November 1st: 

1. new tattoos/tattoo viewing crew 

2. the Babalu burger 

3. the coolest temperatures of fall so far 

4. Mallory and how pleasant and fun she makes getting new tattoos 

5. a working heater 

November 2nd: 

6. a church family that serves together 

7. being in dirty "work clothes" at McAlisters amongst lots of "church clothes" 

8. cast iron skillets 

9. cheap apple season 

10. our growing group of college girls 

November 3rd: 

11. caramel brulee lattes 

12. red cups at Starbucks 

13. meal planning 

14. days of the week notepads 

15. a fun night with my roommates 

November 4th: 

16. colorful fountain pens 

17. my new lunch box 

18. Dollar General lunch breaks (it's the only store I'm not scared to go in in Raymond and I actually love it) 

19. texts from my best friend 

20. my amazing DNA group 

November 5th: 

21. breakfast meetings at Chick-Fil-A 

22. work encouragement/purpose 

23. #fireworkpeople 

24. seeing Arise Church traditions form (2nd Halloween party and 2nd Rake it to the Streets just happened and super pumped about our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner for people in our community) 

25. looking temptation in the face and saying no, you don't win today!