thankful

Do you ever have one of those days when you have to really make yourself be thankful? Today wasn't even one of those days- just one of those evenings. We had a wonderful day playing with our friends at their house (and doing Cleaning Club! Shannon and I scaled Mount Laundry together!) We had a nice lunch, the weather was gorgeous, the kids played, we even had an impromptu beauty shop and I have less hair now- it was a great day! But throw a trip to the very busy grocery store on there, add a couple of kids who won't go to bed, mix in a parental spat and a messy house, and you get a pretty crappy evening in which it becomes difficult to remember all the reasons to be thankful. And it doesn't help that I am feeling grumpy and over-stimulated by electronics... stay tuned for a new and improved plan for reducing our screen time around here...

Anyway. It doesn't take too much to remind me why I am thankful, once I sit down and clear my head of all the unpleasantness of a not-so-great evening. As always, we have loving and accepting families who love us in spite of all our flaws. We have healthy, happy kids and lots and lots (and looooots) of time to spend with them. We have a great house and vehicles that are running and don't have to worry too much about making ends meet most months. We have love. And as we've just been celebrating our first year in our new town, I am constantly aware of how fortunate we are to be here. We have made a lot of decisions in our past and even made a lot of moves to new towns and new homes, and wondered later if it was the right choice. But we have never felt so at home as we do here. I am so thankful for that this year- for the awesome feeling of knowing you are exactly where you are meant to be. Surrounded by love and support and friendship, we are so glad we have put down our roots and chosen to make Athens our home.