I have some bomb diggity friends.  I have one friend, in particular, who prays for me every month on the date of my birthday.  I get a text every month with a prayer for me.  I can't tell you how many times the prayer has spoken exactly to something I am experiencing at that time.  It happened again this month, I am so grateful. Today at work I had a friend quietly and sweetly let me know she was praying for me, for a situation that's going on in my life.  I'm so grateful.  I'm so grateful for the prayers of friends, known and unknown to me, that lift my spirit.  I hope *you* have friends in your life that lift your spirit.  If you do, have you thanked them recently?

I love cooking for people I love.  I love bringing a smile to their taste buds and faces.  I love making them something that I know they love and enjoy.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve the people I love in this way.  I'm grateful that I have so many people in my life to cook for and love in this way.  Tonight a bestie who has been living overseas came to our house for dinner and face time. She loves a dish I make so it was a no brainer to cook that up for her.  And send a bunch of it home with her!  It's a recipe that has ingredients a bit hard to come by in her country of residence these days so I wanted to make sure she and her taste buds were happy.  It truly makes my heart overflow with gratitude to cook tasty food for people.

This is a backward kind of Gratitude Attitude.  I have a coping habit that I developed way back in the day during a traumatic emotional time.  And it is such a part of me now that a lot of times I don't realize I am engaging it and that something is even wrong.  Why I am grateful for this coping habit is because it is an indicator to me and to others who know me well and know what it is that I am upset about something, worried about something, processing through something.  So if I don't catch myself at it and someone who knows me well enough to know what I'm does then I can stop the coping and start the thinking and figuring out.  It is rarely something upsetting on the surface of my life, it is usually something that is deep down and usually I am unaware of it until the coping habit shows up.  I am not grateful for the literal damage this habit does to my physical body and I've tried multiple times over the years to stop but it is what it is, I've learned to just

(For Friday July 25) Generally when we humans hear the word "boundaries" we immediately think in negative terms.  We consider it oppression, stifling the human spirit, squelching freedom, etc.  But boundaries are actually one of the most healthy and freeing things we can establish in our lives.  Boundaries give us perimeters that encourage healthy thinking, healthy relationships, etc.  When I draw boundaries around my relationships or my days in regards to time I feel freer, I breathe easier because I have given myself permission to say no or to walk away or whatever the person or situation calls for that is appropriate.  By having boundaries in my life I have given myself permission to take care of my own emotional, mental, and spiritual health which impacts my physical health as well.  I'm grateful for the lessons in boundaries that I have been learning over the past decade.  By drawing boundaries and establishing boundaries in my life I have started to tap into the t

(From Thursday July 24) I had book club tonight with two of my dear friends.  I drove home feeling all warm and fuzzy from spending time with them.  They are crossovers in my life, two of many that I am grateful for.  What do I mean by crossovers?  They were co-workers who became friends outside of the workplace and even though we don't work together any longer we remain friends.  They crossed over from being work friends to real friends. They are just two examples, I have more.  And I'm so grateful.  It happened when I entered back into the work force a few years ago and started working at Young Life.  When I left Young Life I wasn't sure how many work friends would crossover.  It's easy to be work friends but it takes a lot more intentionality  to be real friends. And I'm grateful for these friends who have remained in my life.  I love them dearly, they make me feel comfortable to be myself and to be honest about my life.  I'm incredibly blessed to have them

(For Wednesday July 23) Yes, Crocs. But NOT these Crocs. I never did like those or even try them.  But when Crocs started making stylish shoes that were just as comfortable as the originals I took a second look.  When people find out that the two pairs of Crocs that I have are Crocs they are always surprised because they are stylish and not clunky.  My two pairs of Crocs have cushioned my feet as I have walked all over New York City, Washington DC, places in Italy and Greece, the ruins of Ephesus.  Best shoes ever. AND easy to clean!  I am not just grateful for these comfy and stylish shoes but I love them.  If you haven't looked at Crocs lately I suggest you do, if for no reason to see what they have done with the styling!

(For Tuesday July 22) In the past few years I have really come to be grateful for the local businesses in my town.  And I do my best to try and shop with them rather than the "big box" stores.  I'm grateful for their entrepreneurial spirit, for their desire to provide quality product at a reasonable cost and in many cases with a social justice mindset.  Not too mention supporting my local businesses keep my local economy healthy.  I'm grateful I have the option of local businesses to shop at. What about you?  Do you support your local businesses?

(For Monday July 21) I am grateful when my husband and I are on the same page.  That may seem kind of like an obvious Gratitude Attitude but it deserves some recognition.  Too often I don't think about how grateful I am to be on the same page with him until we aren't and are at odds.  Then I get grumbly.  And it doesn't have to be all big things, it can be the little things as well - like pizza sauce.  Tonight we were shopping for my cook group meals and pizza sauce was on the list.  We aren't rich, heck we barely hit middle class, but we do our best to be wise consumers of food - i.e. non-GMO, organic, fair trade, etc.  Tough to do but I especially am mindful of it.  I passed by the organic, non-GMO pizza sauce and said I would pick it up at Target where the brand they sell is cheaper - in all ways. Lanny stopped me and said, "No, get the good stuff for you."  This was a moment in which he was on my page with  me and I really felt so grateful.  Partly becau

(For Sunday July 20) A friend and I threw a party for another friend today.  It's so much work but it's a great work and fun because it blesses the heart of someone you care about.  But my favorite part of the whole party was when everyone but the guest of honor, the co-host, myself, and another friend were there in the kitchen cleaning up and chatting...and drinking Sangria. :)  Well, they were drinking it while I was washing dishes (I had to drive home, I was choosing to be responsible! *wink*).  We were laughing and girl-talking, relaxed and thoroughly enjoying one another.  Yes, we were being slightly inappropriate but we trust each other enough to know it all comes from a good heart.  We were sharing tidbits of wisdom.  Our conversation floated in and out of several topics and we jumped back into one without transition and the others would follow.  Best time with my friends. I love the kitchen chatter times of parties the best. I feel like it is when the best kind of cha

(For Saturday July 19) Early this morning I met one of my besties for coffee. It was a big deal because this particular bestie lives approximately 7800 miles away from me. As you can imagine face time is rare. :) She lives in Abu Dhabi and I live in Colorado.  Heart to hearts are hard to have - even with Skype.  And when you have that kind of physical distance between two connected hearts relationship is hard. So this morning we squeezed each other, held hands, looked in each other's eyes, heard each other's voices with no delays, and remembered why God chose to connect our hearts. I am so grateful for the heart to heart with her today and the ones God allows in my life at other times with other people.  They always serve to remind me of our mutual love and affection for one another, of our common ground, of our soul desires that match up, etc.

(For Friday July 18) I am beyond shocked that this hasn't appeared yet on the 365!  It's one of the things I am the most grateful for week after week! I am grateful for Sabbath.  I don't want to get into all the ins and outs of that here - that's for another blog at another time - but suffice it to say I look forward to it every week. Here's how I observe Sabbath.  From sundown Friday to sundown Saturday I cease from working and I attempt to give others who work rest as well by not participating in commerce during those 24 hours. I let the dishes go, the bed sits unmade (well that's not different than any other day actually!), the laundry waits, etc.  I rest, I cease from activity and rest.  It is a beautiful thing.  Now.  For this Type A Mama who had to start working full time this has not been easy. I now only have so many hours in a week to get things around the house done. But, in obedience to my Creator , I chose to put it aside and trust he will give me

(For Thursday July 17) A couple of weeks ago a bestie was visiting Colorado.  She moved away a few years ago.  As we were walking and talking she took a deep breath and commented on how amazing the air was. How is was wonderful to take a deep breath of such crisp and fresh air. How it smelled good.  I totally agree but didn't really give a second thought until tonight when I was sitting by an open window and the breeze blew in just right. My eyes were closed at the moment this happened so what my nose picked up confirmed what my friend had commented on a few weeks earlier.  It was a delicious moment of breathing in deep fresh, crisp, pleasant Colorado air.  And I realized breathing it in how grateful I was to be able to live in this wonderful air!  I'm grateful that this air is something that refreshes and revitalizes instead of something that I breath because I have to in order to survive.  This Colorado air provides me what I need to survive but it is also a wonderful perk

(For Wednesday July 16) Sometimes a girl just needs to put on a cute dress and feel a little different.  Men, this Gratitude Attitude is probably not going to be something you relate to UNLESS there is a male equivalent to this.  I gulped hard this morning and put on a dress that I bought about a month ago.  It's super cute, I like it a lot but I've been hesitating for a few reasons.  But today I donned the dress and went to work.  I loved wearing that dress today!  I'm not sure I looked all that cute but I felt a little cute.  And sometimes I just need to feel a little cute. Now, let's not get crazy.  I still managed my time so poorly that I didn't do a thing with my hair nor did I wear an ounce of make-up but I did shave my legs so I figure that counts for something.  I'm really grateful for my inner spirit that I wore the cute dress today, I think my heart needed it.  Weird right?  That a heart could need what a cute dress does for a person?  Weird or not i

I was sitting downtown tonight when a local church tower clock struck half past the hour.  I love listening to a clock strike and chime.  It reminds me of my maternal grandparents and summers spent at their home. They have a grandfather clock that my Grandpa put together and I grew up hearing the clock strike the hour. Sometimes I would sleep in the living room where it was and stir at its chiming.  Every time I hear a clock chime now I am pulled back to memories of my grandparents and growing up with them around.  I'm grateful for so many memories of that time of my life.  It's comforting, it makes me feel safe, it quiets me.  

Yes, I know you have to spend money in order to get the Kohl's Cash but I am grateful for the Kohl's Cash. I have found it particularly helpful when buying gifts, restocking seasonal wardrobes for our redheads or ourselves, and - in the case of today - formal wedding wear shopping!  We've got the clothes, now we need the shoes and I am crossing my fingers that Kohl's will have what we are looking for because I have $100 in Kohl's Cash to spend by Wednesday! So while we spent a chuck o' change to receive that much in Kohl's Cash (just skip doing the math and if you already did it please don't judge us!) I'm grateful to have it to assist in the things we still need.

(For Sunday July 13) Yep.  I'm grateful for difficult people...in the big picture of life.  I kind of lose the gratefulness for them in the day-to-day of life. But I'm working on that.  :)  I'm grateful for difficult people because in having to interact with them I have found I can learn many things.  I can learn to have a broader perspective, grace, and patience. I usually am reminded through difficult people how unattractive narcissism is.  I am really certain God uses difficult people in my life as sandpaper, rubbing off all of my  narcissism!  And in the day-to-day when I'm sighing deeply over some difficult person in my life God likes to remind me that I am the difficult person in someone's life, just to keep me grounded in reality.  :) Have you ever been grateful for that difficult person in your life?

(For Saturday July 12) I've been grumpy today. Out of sorts. In a funk. Whiny. Complaining. Lacking joy. For sure lacking gratitude.  I can't find an attitude for gratitude today. I want to sleep and watch TV and escape from the realities of life, my life, for a while. And because of my mood today I realized I am grateful for the margin I have each week to be whatever mood I am and hibernate if I need to. Trust me, nobody needs to be around this mood. :) God bless the hub for loving me through it. So I'm grateful for the margin that the weekends provide me for the times when I wake up and find myself grumpy.  What is a margin in your life that you are grateful for?

I love to write.  I may stink at it but I love to do it.  I have found that my personality communicates best through written word rather than verbal.  I've always been drawn to writing, probably because I'm a reader. They kind of go hand-in-hand. :) I remember when I was in junior high, I think, my parents got me a Brother Word Processor for Christmas.  This was a big deal for two reasons.  1) That was "the thing" then - nobody had computers and typewriters were being phased out with the word processor so that means they weren't cheap.  2) My parents were, in gifting me with that particular thing, acknowledging and encouraging my love of writing. (SIDENOTE: Parents, even if it isn't your thing, encourage and help your child develop what they love.)  I remember spending hours in my room writing stories on my word processor.  I love to write.  I'm grateful that I love to write.  I'm grateful for it because it provides me a personal outlet, a way to proc

(For Thursday July 10) I am grateful for people who go places I won't be able to, do things I cannot, experience different cultures that I don't have a chance to experience and then share those things with *us*.  I am grateful for their willingness to share their trips and for the chance to vicariously live through them!  Whether I know them personally or not I love living different cultures and such through the eyes, ears, and mouth of others.  It expands my world, it gives me insight into different cultures, it reminds me that we are all different and yet the same.  Right now I have a friend who is in Romania and traveled through Vienna to get there.  She is a frequent world traveler and always posts tons of pics and I am so grateful!  I love seeing other parts of this great big world.  I'm reading a book right now about a family that traveled the world for one full year. Fascinating.  Through their experiences I am living vicariously as well.  I was thinking about it

When you have natural curly hair you have to really pamper it and coax it so it doesn't go frizzy and weird on you.  I have natural curly hair.  This means I need to use product that pampers my curls and keeps them moisturized.  I need to use a diffuser on my blow dryer so the air evenly distributes and plays nice with my curls instead of frizz them out.  I am incredibly grateful for my diffuser.  I travel with it and when I can't I experience "hair woes".  I realize this is a first world kind of Gratitude Attitude but when you've got hair like mine this is a sincere gratefulness. :)

(For Tuesday July 8) The older I get the more grateful I am for brain games.  I need something to keep my brain working and sharp.  :)  The ones I have chosen are purposeful.  I need things that help me sharpen my concentration, eye/brain coordination, problem solving, help me focus, and that I enjoy.  So games like Mahjong on the computer/tablet I use not just for entertainment but for assistance in this aging brain.  What brain game are you grateful for or play?

(For Monday July 7) Here's a lemonade making Gratitude Attitude! I don't like summer, mostly because of the weather.  I am not a fan of summer weather.  BUT.  But I am grateful for summer for things like the light of day extending to 9 pm, the abundance of fruit (it's all I usually want to eat in the summer), the slightly relaxed schedule (although by the time August rolls around this Type A chick needs a strict schedule again), and painting my toenails. What are you grateful for in summer?

(For Sunday July 6) It may seem kind of obvious to be grateful for honesty but I'm not sure I have ever given serious thought to it in this way.  Have you?  I mean, we all appreciate honesty, but have we ever been truly grateful for it? Yesterday I started a teen girls study with my redheads. They, and us parents with them, are in some traditionally rocky years.  I remember all too well my own teen years and the things that I was tempted by and struggled with.  If I can spare my girls any of it I will do whatever it takes! I didn't know how the study would go, I was hoping they would choose to be honest with me and in front of each other. And to my relief, they both were.  And while sometimes honesty is hard to hear because it can be disappointing or angering or concerning I am so grateful for the honesty my girls had with me.  It helps me to parent them better when I have an idea of what might be simmering below the surface.  And as I think about it, I am always grateful

(For Saturday July 5) I looked at my husband this morning with a big smile and said, "Guess what?  Today is not Sunday, it's Saturday! I have an extra day, all day tomorrow!"  AH. Now don't get me wrong.  I like my boss a lot, I like my actual job.  But this full-time working Mama is T.I.R.E.D. and the three day holiday weekend was so very welcome.  I'm so grateful for holiday weekends and a bonus for me is, because I work full time and am salary, I get paid for them!  (My husband, in particular, likes that particular benefit of holiday weekends - ha!)  But I'm grateful for the opportunity to breathe every once in a while for an extra day each week.

(For Friday July 4) Even though it may seem a given that I express gratitude for freedom today, I'm not going to.  Because I already did earlier in this 365 .  :) So today I am expressing gratefulness for travel mugs. Some of my good friends know this - I have a bit of a obsession with mugs, travel and regular.  One friend, with my hub's endorsement, even limited me to only owning 5 mugs at one time.  So if a new one came in, one had to go out.  I may or may not be keeping to that rule.  *wink*  But anyway, I am grateful for travel mugs because I can take my yummy hot drinks with me wherever I am headed.  And sometimes I have a hot/warm drink with me as a comfort blanket of sorts. Sometimes it's not for the drink so much as it is for the comfort of holding something warm.  But sometimes it is most definitely for the drink - usually caffeinated.  :)

I love learning new facts.  And I'm grateful for learning new things.  Life would be boring if we never learned past a certain point.  So I love learning new things because it expands my mind, helps me develop more of a objective perspective depending on subject, and let's be honest - it's fun to learn new things, share them with others, and look a little bit like a smarty.  :)  Today I learned that Carolyn Keene, the author of the Nancy Drew books , is not one person or even two people but a whole team of people authored those books throughout the years*!  Women and men!  It blew my mind!  But how fun to know that now.  What new fact have you learned recently that fascinated you? * The same is true of The Hardy Boys also!  

It may seem fickle of me but I am a woman and our inner temperature controls are clearly very different than men.  Right now it is 62 degrees in my house (at 6 am).  I am delighted, I am finally comfortable.  If it were winter and 62 degrees in the house I would be freezing!  It makes no sense I know.  But today I am grateful that on July 2 it is overcast, cool breezes are blowing, and my house is 62 degrees.  I know warmer days are coming so for all you haters of our weather right now just hang on!  It will turn around! :)

(For Tuesday July 1) Apparently the lazy days of summer include for me, this year, doing the bare minimum to get to work.  I shower (feel free to thank me any time you see me), I put on clean clothes about 99% of the time, and off I go.  No make up, hair still damp or wet pulled back in a hairband.  I'm not looking all that attractive these days.  I'm feeling and being rather lazy.  I was thinking about this today as I yet again showed up to work less than professional looking and suddenly was very grateful for hiding places. I consider my desk and the area it is in as a hiding place.  I'm kind of tucked back in an odd little corner and I'm in the less busy part of our floor so I can literally hide out all day long and manage to not see most people.  And when I have no make up on and wet hair in a headband I'm awfully grateful for my desk that can hide me.  It wasn't the case at my old job (which I loved btw and still miss more than I think I should) because I

(For Monday June 30) This is a Gratitude Attitude I never really thought about until our city experienced 2 devastating wildfires less than a year apart and claimed the lives of 3 people (I think), destroyed over 800 homes, and burned up hundreds (thousands?) of acres of forest.  The first one was bad enough, horrible actually, and when the second fire raged our collective disbelief rendered us speechless.  It really knocked our community on its behind.  Now we all walk around on high alert.  Any hint of wildfire smoke in the air or a haze over our lovely mountain and people start looking around, trolling news sites for info, hearts beat a little faster, fear sets in just a wee bit until we know where that smoke is from and why.  It happened a couple of weeks ago. The second I opened my eyes I smelled wildfire smoke and my heart beat just a tad faster. I looked out the window and saw to the west a smoky haze. And I went searching to find out what and why and where. Once I knew I coul

(For Sunday June 29) I am personally grateful for milestones - all of them - birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  There are some milestones that everyone has in common (turning an age that ushers in a new decade, turning 21 and being legal for certain things, etc) but then there are the milestones that each of us have that may be unique to us or to our immediate family and nobody else would really "get."  I'm grateful for the common and unique milestones in my life and in the life of those I love.  I use them as a moment of reflection, I use them to look back at what is ending on that milestone and see how God walked me through and what he did in my life.  I use them to look forward to what is beginning on that milestone and with anticipation I dedicate my days and moments to the same God who walked with me through what just ended.  How do you feel about milestones?

(For Saturday June 28) How it has taken me to day 306 to verbalize this is beyond me.  I LOVE, and am extremely grateful for, my body pillow.  My love affair with it began in 1997 when I was pregnant and getting super uncomfortable. We heard a body pillow may help, it did much to my husband's regret 16 years later - ha!  Now it's hard for me to be without one.  When I travel and can't take it with me I try to recreate it with multiple pillows but it just isn't the same.  If I can travel with it I do and I have no shame hauling that pillow around with me!  It has truly helped me sleep better even if my husband believes it has replaced him.  He calls it "Mr. Impostor". Whatever, all I know is I am very grateful for it.  *grin*

(For Friday June 27) I'm incredibly grateful for silver and gold friendships .  Last night I had dinner and real face time with a friend of 18 years.  She lives states away so any face time we get is a real treat.  She's known me, and chosen to be friends with me, for 18 years.  Through my thick and thins - both literally and figuratively, ha.  We go months without talking and can pick right back up where we leave off.  I'm so grateful for these friendships that choose to go the distance with me.  Sometimes my distances are exhausting and to have a friend willing to plod along with me is a true gift.  Those are silver and gold friendships.  How about you?  Do you have silver and gold friendships?