Blessed Beyond Measure

Today I am thankful for pictures.  Life is short, so capturing our family is very important to me.  My brother and I decided to have family pictures done for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.  We are still waiting to have those done because it is hard to get us all in one place at one time.  Especially with my beautiful niece, Terra, living in New York City.  So, for now, I settled for having pics of just my little family and my parents.  We are not picture people, so choosing the perfect setting and photographer was no easy task.  Lucky for me, my friend Brandi needed help keeping up with her dogs during a photo shoot when she was pregnant and we met Holly, of Holly Young Photography.  This girl was PERFECT for our pictures with my family.  She is laid back, funny, not to mention she loves animals as much as we do.  And isn't the land where she takes pictures beautiful?!  You should meet the horses wh...

Today I am thankful for a long, lazy Thanksgiving break!  We have slept past 8am every single morning and it has been wonderful.  Nixon even slept until 11am yesterday.  She has never done that!! We have enjoyed family time, fun time, trips to the movies, and made tons of fun memories.  Now . . . back to work soon.

Today I am thankful for an amazing father-in-law and the ability to spend time with Bryan's extended family.  We are especially thankful for the time with Holly and Michael.  Nixon LOVED her girl time with Holly staying up late into the night picking out pretty things on the internet with her cousin.  Girl sleepovers are the best!  What a blessing it is to live so close to those who mean so much to us.  I would post pictures, but I was so busy eating good food that I didn't take any!

Today I am thankful that Benihana takes pictures of your family when you have special occasions.  This is from my birthday and I am sure glad to have it!  What an amazing day we had!

Today I am thankful for all of the HELP I am getting putting out Christmas decorations!  Willie should put an interesting twist on the season.

Thankful for Thanksgiving time with my family in Athens.  Even if it was only for one day!

 Look at dad go!  He is such a trooper!  A sweet teacher joining two amazing girls for some fun! Today I am thankful for an amazing school that provides Nixon with education and stimulation every single day.  We had her PE Expo night this week.  And what fun it was to watch her in action and participate in her PE class.  I am also thankful for the best 3rd grade teacher any kid could ask for.  You should have seen Nixon's face when she came and sat down with them.  Beaming!

Today I am thankful for a boss who puts family first and is making sure I don't miss Nixon's Thanksgiving feast today.  I am thankful for a team of people who stop by in the morning to make me smile.  I am thankful for birthday desserts for friends at lunch.  I am thankful for jeans one more day this week.  I am thankful for the time we are about to have off to spend with friends and family.  Today I am thankful that I am traveling in the right direction.    

Today I am thankful for a boss who knows how much teachers love a good jean day and was kind enough to give us multiple weeks of wearing them every single day.  Jeans make me happy!

Today I am thankful for my loving, kind, giving daughter.  She gave up some of her free time this last weekend to complete some mission work with her AWANA friends.  They spent Saturday stuffing shoe boxes for Samaritan's Purse .  I am proud of her giving heart!

Today I am thankful for my job.  I am so happy and so in love with my job.  I have fallen in love with teaching all over again.  I have fallen exactly where I am supposed to be.  I am surrounded by amazing people.  I love my classroom.  I love my kids.  I love being at peace.  I love being happy!

Today I am thankful for an amazing group of friends that we have joined at my new school.  I mean seriously . . . would you mess with these kids on the way to school?!  No way!  Love that she has a great group of kids to share her day with.

Today I am thankful for a pumpkin muffin mix my parents bought me.  They were amazing!

Today I am thankful that the Highlanders get another week of playing football!  This picture makes me smile because almost all of the faces were my students at one point or another!  They sure do make me proud.

Today I am thankful for cuddles with my favorite cat and the warm blanket!

Today I am thankful that I am not this person any more . . . in so many ways!  Thankful for change and the promise of peace and hope.

Today I am thankful that I had a Daddy who loved me and encouraged me every single day.  And I am even more thankful that he still does!  He and my mom even made a special trip to surprise me for my birthday.  Sure do love that kind of support!

I am so thankful for all of the laughs our little Silly Willie has given us!!  We love you Wilhelmina!

Today is my birthday!  I am so thankful for the beginning of a brand new year.  Celebrating day one of new beginnings!

Today I am thankful for some very sweet neighbors who took the time to buy Nixon a special light-up necklace for Halloween.  We are very blessed to have such amazing neighbors!  I am also thankful that they aren't all as noisy as the one's behind us.  Really thankful!

Today I am thankful that I have a job that I can take time off to spend in my daughter's classroom making recycled robots and reading stories to her friends.  I love my third grader!

Today I am thankful for our little playful kitten Wilhelmina.  Like how I snuck in that we have a new cat.  We won't go into how we got her.  Let's just say we are banned from walking in to PetCo or PetSmart any time when they are having pet adoptions.  It just isn't safe!

Today I am thankful for the example of love and respect that my parents set for me in our home.  I am so appreciative of the loving support that they offer me in every part of my life.  I love you Mom and Dad!

Today I am thankful for a kitty who lets me know when I have spent too much time grading papers by ripping a test paper out of my hand and running off with it.   I guess I could tell the kid my cat ate his test!

Today I am thankful for a daughter who loves taking pictures with her mom.  She makes me smile!

I am extremely thankful for great friends.  I love these women and am thankful that God brought both of them into my life.  I am extra thankful for the day we celebrated Brandi's baby shower.  Baby Philo is so cute and I am pretty thankful he is here too!

I have been looking forward to a month of being thankful for almost a year!  After taking such a long break from my blog, I am more than ready to get back to it.  And what better way to re-kindle the love for blogging than to have a month of all of the things that make me smile.  Today, we start with a picture of my duty post exactly 30 seconds after the bell rang for the end of the day.  This is a main hallway!  Our building empties out sooooooo fast and I love it!  Thankful for my new "home" and love that it is small and quiet.