Oh Happy Day

Today was amazing. Today was Memorial Day and much like many of you, we had a BBQ to celebrate the day. But it was so much more for me than just a BBQ. It was one of the best days I've had in over a year. Nothing fancy happened. Nothing big and spectacular. But it was amazing none the less.

I kind of got the idea to have a BBQ late last night. So last minute I invited my sister (& her 4 kids) and my bestie (& her 2 kids) over. I invited my other besties too but they already made plans. But that's okay. There was no shoratge of kids with there being 9 between all of us!

Since everything was planned last minute there was quite a bit to do. Cleaning, shopping (the two little ones and I took a walk to the store to do our shopping), prepping, and even some yard work! Last year our yard turned into a nightmare. On the list of my husband's priorities taking care of me on bed rest was waaaaay up high...and yard work was waaaaaaay down low. We've been working hard so far this spring to reclaim the front yard and it is looking great if I do say so. But the back yard is a different story. So I set to work cleaning off lawn chairs, pulling weeds, sweeping cob webs off the play ground, and cleaning the grill while the hubby & our 15 year old mowed the lawns and worked on the shed. The 4 year old ran around and played while baby kept me company in the exersaucer. Am I losing you? Hang in there. There's a point to all this.

After hours of work my sister and best friend showed up. We busted out the lawn toys (frisbie, horse shoe, lawn hockey, etc.) and the chalk (for drawing all over the play ground) and turned the kids loose while we started making dinner. My husband & oldest son were busy building the tool shed so it was up to us chicks to build fire and cook meat. After dinner we all gathered around the fire pit and made s'mores. As the sun went down we adorned the kids with glow necklaces and watched them dance around.

I flittered about in almost constant motion juggling the grill, the kids, & my guests all with a baby on my hip. You should have seen me! The energy was endless! This exact thing was what I dreamed of for 23 long weeks last year. I craved busy. I longed for hectic. I desired a full schedule. So now when I was a full day I am just so grateful! I have no desire to complain. I understanbd what a gift it all is.

Today I soaked in the smiles of all of the kids as they ran around the yard, hopped all over the play set, and shoved gooey s'mores in their faces. And I was there for it! I remember last year sitting in a chair looking out my bedroom window just so I could watch my kids play outside. Now I get to join them. I got to serve my friends and cook for them instead of them taking care of me. It was all just an amazing and beautiful gift!


See, nothing spectacular. Just a BBQ like anyone else would have. But for me it was amazing. It was normal. It was just like we used to do before our world changed forever last year. And it felt so good.

The Gratitude Challenge

Last year was a really hard year for our family and many, many bad things happened to us. Sometimes it seemed like more bad than good. But we just weren't looking close enough. There were amazing things happening all around us. So many amazing things came out of our bad year. And now in hindsight I am grateful for all the things we went through and I wouldn't change any of them. The exception to that being the death of my father in law.

So since things have calmed down my mind has been processing all the amazing things and the gratitude that I feel is overwhelming. I have been trying to think of the right ways to let all the people around me know just how much they have meant to me but nothing seemed big enough.

Today I figured it out.

I think that as people we are guilty of recognizing the crap in our lives and dwelling there. It's cozy. I think that for some reason it's harder to say "Thank you" than it is to say "That sucks". So I figured out a way to flip it all around and change that for myself. I am challenging myself to identify just who I am grateful for and to let them know just how much they have meant to me. And I want to see how many of you will take this change with me.

Here's the idea. I will pick one person (or place such as my church)each day in March and I will send them a hand written note (preferable) or email detailing why I am grateful for them, how they have been a blessing to me, and offering to return the favor to them if they ever need me. I'm going to start my list and letters now so that I am more likely to meet my goal of one a day. I will not let anyone know that I am doing this outside of my readers as I want these people to know this is sincere. I don't want them thinking they are just another name to put on the list as my intentions are true here.

My hope is that by the end of March I will have let 31 people know how special they are. I want to put good out into the world like these people did for me. Then in April I'll let you all know what an impact it had on them and me.

Who is willing to commit to take this challenge with me?