30 Days of Thanks: Days 21-24

I don't feel very well today, so I think it will be good to focus on what I'm thankful for!  :)

Disappointment/Fear:  Hm.  It's weird to be thankful for a disappointment or fear, but I guess I'm thankful for all the disappointments I had with dating and boyfriends before Andrew and I got together.  Those disappointments all led to him, and he was worth the wait.  I truly can't imagine being married to any of my past boyfriends.  Any of those would have been marriages set up to fail.

Book:  To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book, and I adore reading it to my 8th grade GOAL students every year.  We're getting close to the end, and they're all so caught up in the story and in the characters.

Feeling: I'm thankful for feeling supported and loved.  Being lonely is a terrible feeling, and I'm so happy to not feel that way anymore.

Photo:  I love all of our wedding photos, but I love our expressions in this one.  I have it on the lock screen of my phone, and it makes me happy whenever I look at it.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 20

Keepsake:  Pretty much anything that is family-related, especially from my mom, is a keepsake I'm thankful for.  One very special one that I have, though, is the $2 bill that I carry in my purse.  It was in my mom's purse when she died, and it was in my Grandpa Sutherlin's wallet when he died.  It's a little piece of them I carry with me.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 19

Clothing:  Today I'm thankful for Blue Fish.  This store popped up in Fairfield a few years ago, and I was instantly smitten.  The clothing is fun, comfortable, and quirky.  Plus, it comes in all sizes... even mine!  I love being able to go into a shop on the square and find clothes for myself that I love.  Really, the only other place I can find clothes for myself in town is at Wal-Mart, and well, um... yeah.  If I had the funds, I think Blue Fish would be the source of my entire wardrobe.  Check out Blue Fish here!

30 Days of Thanks: Days 13-18

Day 13: Something Old:  I'm thankful for my great grandparents' bedroom set that welcomes guests to our home.  My brother slept in the bed two weeks ago when he was here for our early Thanksgiving celebration.  My Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Hiatt bought that bedroom set when they got married in 1917.

Day 14: Something New:  I'm thankful for my new (to me) car, Maude.  She's a red go-getter, and I feel safe and secure driving her.  Bluetooth is awesome!

Day 15: Experience:  I'm thankful for our honeymoon this summer.  Andrew and I waited almost a year to go on our trip, and it was worth the wait.  Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver, and the Rocky Mountaineer to Banff and Lake Louise before flying home from Calgary was a spectacular trip, and we made so many wonderful memories.

Day 16: Recipe:  I have lots of recipes I love, but I think I'm most grateful today for the pie crust recipe from Beth Howard's cookbook, Ms. American Pie: Buttery Good Recipes and Bold Tales from the American Gothic House.  It was the first recipe I used to make pie, and it's the only one I've used.  I've had such good feedback from it.  When I took two pies to school this week for Support Staff Day for American Education week, I had lots of compliments and two requests for the recipe.

Day 17: Store:  My favorite store is Target.  I guess I'm thankful for having one only 25 minutes away for my entire life.  I'll try not to cry big crocodile tears that it is closing, and now I'll have no reason to go to Ottumwa except to watch a movie.  Why are you leaving me, Target, oh WHY???

Day 18: Quote: Wow.  I have a lot of favorite quotes.  I guess I'll choose one unknown to the world but special to me.  Before I'd embark on an adventure, whether it was on stage or in the classroom or out in the world, my mom would tell me, "Go get 'em, Babe.  It's showtime."  I say it to myself now, and I hear her voice saying it my head.  It gives me strength and helps me when I'm feeling nervous.

30 Days of Thanks: Days 11 & 12

Tradition: My life is built on traditions, but here's a weird one not many people know.  Whenever I call my dad, I never say hello.  When he says "Hello," I always ask "Where are you?" in this weird voice.  He used to answer the phone like this whenever a former girlfriend called, and I mocked him incessantly about it.  I have since kidnapped it as my own greeting for him, and it never fails to make him laugh.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Laughing.  I love it.

Gadget: Well, my cell phone is my favorite gadget... I can't believe I ever got along without one.  But for a simple, interesting favorite gadget of mine, I love this silicone garlic peeler.  You can find this little bad boy for around 99 cents, and it really does the trick.  Great invention!

30 Days of Thanks: Days 9 & 10

Blog/Website: I'm grateful for the blog written by my dear friend Jeff.  I get a glimpse of his life from Facebook, but he adds lots of detail on his blog, and it's always fun to read.  His commitment to his blog is one reason I'm writing again on mine.

Time of Day: My favorite time of the day is when I get quiet time to read in bed before turning the lights out.  I'm glad my husband is a reader too because it's part of my routine to read a few pages before bed.  We also like to read to each other, and right now, I'm reading Little Women to him because he's never read it.  I'm thankful for books and refreshing rest at the end of the day.

30 Days of Thanks: Days 6-8 & Other Nice Things

Pair of Shoes, Scent, and Restaurant... those are the topics for days 6-8.  Um, yeah.  I'm going rogue.

Day 6:  Instead of a pair of shoes, I'm grateful to be wearing shoes at all after my foot surgery last December.  It's been almost a year, and I think things are almost back to normal.  I'm back to walking (not as much as I should be), and even though I probably won't ever wear heels again, and I definitely won't wear Danskos again, I'm back to regular shoes.

Day 7: Scent.  Instead of being thankful for a scent, I'll be thankful for what a scent means.  Yesterday we had an early Thanksgiving since Andrew & I will be with his son & daughter-in-law for actual Thanksgiving.  Matt came down on Friday night, and we all went to Cider House.  Holly was home by Saturday morning, and we had a nice morning cooking and getting ready.  Since we put the turkey on before we went to bed Friday night, the whole house smelled like delicious turkey when we got up.  YUM!  Dad, Alice, Dale, Matt, Holly, and Andrew's brother-in-law Jeff came over for the meal, and it was delightful.  Good food and good company... and good leftovers!  :)

Day 8: Restaurant.  Hm.  I like far too many restaurants for my own good, but today I was going through our honeymoon photos, and I found a picture from Seattle when we ate at a place called Ray's Boathouse.  This was my favorite meal of the trip because I love trying new things.  I tried a vegetable called broccoli romanesco.  I had only seen it in pictures until our trip when I saw it in person at Pike Place Market, and then I got to actually eat it when we went out with our friend James Gibson.  It was delicious, especially when paired with my seared fresh tuna and pistachio creme brulee for dessert!

The last exciting piece of news is that we're getting a puppy.  We chose her from the other girls in her litter on Saturday and I am so excited.  She's a miniature golden doodle, and her name is going to be Georgie.  We'll get her during the first week of December, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 5

Today's theme is Place.  Today I'm thankful for the place where I work: Fairfield Middle School.  Our building is full of friendly, caring people who are willing to help each other and who are, in the words of Scout Finch, "Fine Folks."  I am proud of our building and our staff.  I love my job, and I love my students.  My job makes me feel like the luckiest girl on the planet.  Go, FMS!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 4

A favorite snack... well, I have lots of them; that's my problem!  ;)  But one I had for lunch today was snap pea crisps and Oasis hummus.  Oasis hummus is expensive, but it's the best hummus I've ever had.  I'm addicted!  I normally don't think of things like that to be thankful for, but I guess it works!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 3

Going to use this as my guide for the rest of the 30 days.  Thanks for posting to Facebook, Ronda Whitney!

Today I'm thankful for our warm, cozy house and our private beautiful nature retreat of a yard.  I love our fire pit, I love all our trees, and I love the privacy we have in the middle of the town.  Our house really feels like my home.  I don't even miss my nice little house on Grand Park.  I'm happy here in my space as Mrs. Edlin.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 2

Today I'm thankful for my students.  It's a Monday, and even though I'd like to be still in bed, I'm thankful for a job that I love.  So many people hate their work and aren't shy about complaining about it.  I have a job I love, and I look forward to seeing my students every day.  When I'm tired or cranky or overwhelmed, they can always lift my spirits and make me laugh.

Time to Blog & Time to Be Thankful

It's been a long, long time, blog world.

I took a hiatus from blogging a couple of years ago.  Since I'm a teacher, I filter what I put on my blog.  I write about my life, but I don't put everything out there.  I was going through some challenges 2 years ago, and I decided that until I was in a better place, I needed to step back from the blog.  It seemed that I didn't have anything good to say that didn't feel fake because of the low place I was in emotionally.  Well, things are better now.  Thankful November is a great time to get back in the swing of things.

Today I'm thankful for my husband.  The last time I blogged, I didn't even have a husband!  :)  My husband truly is my other half.  I have never been so open and so truly myself with any other person except maybe my mom.  He takes care of me, and I let him.  He's so kind and loving.  He's so smart and so giving.  I could go on all day.  Life didn't give me what I thought I wanted when I thought I wanted it, but Andrew was worth the wait.