Giving Thanks and Being Proud

Tradition has always played an important role in my life. For as long as I can remember my sister and I have held onto to the many traditions in our family. No matter how silly some may seem, and how hard our parents have tried to change or drop them, the traditions always remain. Oh and we aren't afraid of starting new tradtions that we think would be a great idea to continue year after year! One of my favorite traditions is one we do on Thanksgiving. This "officially" started some time around when Bonnie began hosting Thanksgiving Day at her house. Before we would eat our bountiful feast, everyone would gather together, hand in hand, and in turn tell eachother what it is they are most thankful for. We then end with a prayer to the Heavenly Father thanking him for all of these things and blessing the meal before us. This usually brings everyone to tears and hearts overflowing with love. It is such a special time- one I look forward to all year long.


Looking back on this got me thinking about what it was I wanted to share with everyone tomorrow. We each usually say one, maybe two things and then it passes onto the next person. Well, I realized that this has been a good year! There are literally thousands of things I am thankful for and for this I in turn am proud of my life and those that are in it. I have decided to name a few of the most special things I wish to give thanks to here, and that way I don't really have to choose tomorrow. I will just go with whatever it is that flows out of my mouth at that very moment.


I give thanks that I married, hands down, the most amazing man in the world. I am so proud of the man Scott has become and look forward to watching him grow as years go by. I couldn't dream of a more wonderful husband and friend. He listens to my heart and has the ability to just "get me". He works so very hard all day long so that I am able to stay home with Jackson 98% of the time. For this I am also grateful. I never would have thought I would be able to be a pretty-much-stay-at-home mom at the age of 29. Amazing. I am also proud of how darn handsome he is- I am proud to admit he looks good on my arm. I am grateful to God for the love we have in our household, and watching Scott with Jackson makes me fall more in love with him every single day. I am proud of the father he so naturally became.


I give thanks to God for blessing me with the most beautiful little boy in the whole world. How is it that I was the one chosen to be the mommy of Jackson?! He is so perfect and wonderful, I am in awe every single day at his accomplishments and tenderness. He is a bundle of energy and also a bundle full of love. I am so proud to say that he is my son. Becoming a mom is truly the most beautiful thing I have ever and will ever accomplish.


I give thanks for the cute little house that Scott and I own.


I give thanks to God for giving me that perfect family to grow up in. I am proud of my parents and strive to be at least half the role model to Jackson that they are to me. My father is the defination of what is honest and kind. I am proud to able to look at him and know that is how to be good. I hope I also make them proud of the life I have chosen to live and the way I have gotten here.


I am so very, very proud of the beautiful relationship I have with the women in my family. My sister and mother are my very best friends, and I couldn't imagine a life without them in it. I give thanks for letting us not only be family but to truly be friends. Not everyone is this lucky- I know. They are the best role models, and guinea pigs out there. They let me be me, and even like me this way. I am proud of the type of woman my sister is. Bonnie is so strong and I want to be like her in this way. My mom is the most courageous woman I know, and the thing is, is that I don't think she even knows this about herself. She is a phenomenal woman.


I give thanks for being raised in a Christian home and for being made to attend church and sunday school as a child. Because of this upbringing, I now have a relationship with God that I am proud of.


I give thanks to God for the most beautiful little girls that I not only have have as my nieces- but can also proudly say I am am their Godmother as well. Anna and Sophie light up my life and help to fill my heart with joy. They are truly "Angels from Heaven".


I give thanks for marrying into the most wonderful family. I love that they are not just my "in-laws", but family that I love as much as my own. They have taught me very much and am proud to say I am also now a part of their family.


I am proud that I graduated from college and give thanks that I had the opportunity to work at an amazing job in my field at Harvard University just after graduation. This job also makes me proud that I was able to move to a completly different state 13 hours away from the home and security I knew. And thrive.


I am proud that I breast-fed Jackson. And together we both thrived. I give thanks that God gave me this amazing ability and that I was successful to make it exactly to my goal of one year.


I give thanks for the amazing girlfriends that I have in my life. These women are so special and I feel incredibly lucky to be able to learn from them and to share in their lives. Time has carved a bond in us that will always remain in my heart.


My heart could go on and on with all of the things that I am Thankful for and those wonderful things that make me proud. But this list pretty much sums up those things that have really made an impact on my life and soul. I am grateful and very proud of this list. For as this blog says "My Cup Runneth Over".


Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

It's Been a While....

I am so sorry it has been such a long time since i have updated this blog! A few weeks ago, somehow between my going online during Jackson's nap and Scott coming home from work our internet stopped working. We tried everything we could think of to fix it before having to go to any drastic measures. But after all the advice from every person we know and still nothing working, we finally bit the bullet and killed our computer. We had to do a system restore and put it back to factory settings. Unfortunately these factory settings are from 2005, so we have A LOT of updating to do, including reinstalling lots of software. But the good news is that we now have internet again and didn't have to buy a new computer to get it (as much as we would have loved a beautiful new Mac, with the holidays here, our wallets couldn't swing it- bummer). With no internet for weeks I was about to loose my mind. I finally made Scott set up his work computer at home in the evenings so I could at least check my email. I was going crazy thinking of all that I was missing- yes I have now realized how addicted I am to this darn thing! But *phew* we are back. And the plus side to this whole mess, is that it forced us to back everything up on disc. We didn't end up loosing any pictures or documents during our kill, but if we hadn't backed anything up I am sure we would have. That is just how things go!