One Thousand Gifts

The Way I See It, there are so many things that I am grateful for. This is where my One Thousand Gifts will be updated each week. My goal is to write down at least 5 things that make me happy, that I am grateful for. And so it begins…

1.       The sun. I love sunny days no matter warm or cold there is something about the sun that is just mesmerizing.

2.       Our dogs. Each one with a unique personality that you can’t help but love.

Chester

 Tippy

 Miyagi

 Tyger Lilly

3.       Our screened in back porch. No bugs and a roof over your head in case of bad weather. I think this is the most peaceful place in our house.

4.       Flowers. Everything about them makes me smile. I love the colors, the smells and how they make me O so happy.

5.       Gardening. Although its in pots, I love to grow fresh produce I can use for different things.

My mint plant

6.       House plants. I love house plants, which is probably why I have so many.

7.       Rooting plants. There is nothing like bring something back to life to make a whole new plant.

8.       Purple plants. Purple (my FAVORITE color) + plants = Fabulousness ;)

9.       My husbands love for Auburn Football. There is just nothing like the look on his face while watching a game.

10.   Art. I love to get lost in a photo or painting. This is something we need more of in our home.

11.   Our Military. Those who have served and continue to serve in our armed forces.

12.   Plug Ins. I love getting to pick out scents to fill my home.

13.   Photos. I love to take them, post them and hang them in my home. I love the memories they keep and the art they can be used to create.

14.   Lying out in the sun. Enough said ;)

15.   Kenji Sushi. The best place with the best food and the best people around.

16. Fall or Autumn however you like to say. To me it is the best season :)

17. Apple picking

18. All the delicious baked goods you can make from apples. Apple Crisp, Apple Bread, Apple Cake, Apple Jam, Apple Dumplings...

19. Decorating my house for the seasons and holidays.

20. Cleaning my house. Yes I am that neurotic that I do enjoy a clean house and feel a great sense of accomplishment when it is done :)

21. My mom. She is simply the best :)

22. My husband. He puts up with me...enough said.

23. My nieces and nephews. It is crazy how fast they grow up and what amazing people they are.

24.Warm rain storms. Nothing like playing in the rain.

25. When the power goes out. With all that technology brings that is positive its nice to get away from it for a little while.

27.My Dyson Animal Vacuum :) If you own one you so know what I am talking about.

28. Walks with my Ched and my husband.

29. Hiking through the different parks we have near the house.

30. Meeting new people.

31. A nice glass of wine after a long week, or day.

32.The squirrel's that chase each other around the trees out back.

33. Sitting on the roof, gazing at the stars.

34. Wishing on stars.

35. Being able to see Pastor Buddy's message through the Internet since I can't view them in person.

36. Reconnecting with old friends.

37. Picking up where you left off with friends you only get to talk to once every few weeks.

38. Learning from my mistakes.

39.Positive people. They bring you up and never let you down ;)

40. Improving our home with our own two hands.

41. Seeing God's grace in the life of a friend.

42. Learning to let go...

43. Long phone chats with good friends and family.

44. Advice...the good kind that is.

45. Baking

46. Seeing the leaves change colors and the airs getting crisper.

47. All the "smells" of fall.

48. Slow cookers. It's like the meal magically produces its self ;)

49. Hugs from former students letting you know you have touched their lives in some way.

50.Pumpkin patches, apple orchards, hay rides and corn mazes.

51. The crisp morning air that takes your breath away.

52. My little brother. I am so proud of him and all that he does to take care of his family.

53. The wind on a hot summer day.

54. Washers

55. Dryers

56. My laptop, without it I wouldn't be as in touch with my friends and family back home.

57. My health.

58. Getting up every morning and being able to do so with ease.

59. Snooze buttons.

60.Curtains, they have the ability to change a room.

61. My husbands determination to build his poker table and he did.

62. Snuggling with my pups.

63. A warm fuzzy blanket.

64. Our fireplace in the family room.

65. The internet, without it I could not do as much research as fast.

66. Recipes

67. Homemade banana nut bread.

68. Hot chocolate on a cold morning.

69. Waking up to the smell of your favorite foods cooking.

70. Pumpkin spice coffee from Starbucks.

71. Swagbucks it takes no effort at all and I get free amazon gift cards.

72. Free samples

73. God

74. The Secret, even though I am still trying to master that.

75. The power of positive thoughts.

76. Being able to read a book for pleasure.

77. Mindless TV when you just don't have the energy to think anymore.

78. My home.

79. Having no car payments right now, yet still have a car for each of us to drive.

80. Pregnancy tests

81. Ovulation predictor kits

82. Doctors who know what they are doing.

83. Fabric spray

84. Candles

85. Christmas cards

86. Happy Birthday wishes giving them and recieving them.

87. Homemade meals of all kinds.

88. Guacamole

89. Watching your friends children growing up so fast.

90. Have a core group of fabulous friends.

91. Learning to let go and be ok with letting go of friendships that have run their course.

92. Standing up for myself when I need to, even if it may not look like the best idea/plan to others.

93. Learning to be my own person.

94. Being happy with myself.

95. Changing what I am not happy about with myself.

96. Reading outside.

97. The warmth from the sun on your skin.

98. Fire pits and cool evenings.

99. Entertaining at the house.

100. When everyone leaves somewhere having had a GREAT time.

101. Gaining new friends.

102. Learning something new about someone you have known for a long time.

103. Learning DIY tricks and tips.

104. Creating a craft myself.

105. The sounds of childrens laughter.

106. Being able to eat what I want, when I want and it not making me huge.

107. Being able to exercise.

108. Comfortable shoes.

109. The feeling of just cut hair and how weightless it makes you feel.

110. Coats for cold dogs.

111. Dreaming dogs and the sounds and movements they make.

112. Being able to type faster than most.

113. Realizing you made a mistake and owning up to it.

114. Saying I'm sorry.

115. Forgiving.

116. Decorated Christmas trees.

117. Decorating for the seasons.

118. Giving to charity.

119. Feeling good after giving to someone in need.

120. Being a mentor or good example to the people around you.

121. Pinterest.

122. Learning how to dress better from pictures.

123. The feeling of freshly cleaned sheets.

124. Taking a mental health day to recharge.

125. Having options.

Coupon Crazy Train???

The Way I See It, my husband has taken a ride on the coupon crazy train and he isn’t getting off anytime soon. Yes, I am perfectly aware that I am the reason he is doing this since I started “normal” couponing about a year ago now. Then Extreme Couponing on TLC came on TV which I forced my husband to watch and that is when he decides that is how to do couponing. Ever since he has been off and running and there is no stopping in site. Now I may be making fun of my husband’s new “thing” but it has saved us quiet a bit of money I must say. He got 60 bottles of Propel water and they paid HIM 50 cents a bottle to take it out of the store. We have numerous rolls of paper towels that he got for free as well as 41 Minute Maid juices for free. Then there are the multiple boxes of cereal and pasta that we are still trying to plough through that he got for all of 37 cents. Here is just a taste, in pictures, of what this crazy train is starting to look like in my shed and in the spare bedroom that will someday (hopefully soon) be converted into a nursery ;) Meaning the stuff needs to find a new home, lol.

I found these hiding in the trunk.

This is in the shed.

And here is the left overs of the 60 propels in the spare bedroom.

And what is left of the cereal and pasta, again in the spare bedroom.

Yea welcome to my crazy life ;)

Summer Lovin

The Way I See It, there are a lot of things I want to do with my summer vacation along with taking vacations ;) Just a few of the things to top off my list is to do some more landscaping with some pretty hosta plants (finally some great looking shade plants) and any other plant I can find to spruce up the place. I want to get more decorative pots for my inside plants as well. I find that I am having trouble realizing that we own this home and I shouldn’t do things the cheap way because we will be here for a long time and I want it to look nice. I want to take more pictures since I have really fallen behind on that and everyone that knows me knows I LOVE me some pictures!!! I don’t even care what the pictures are going to be of just as long as I like them that is all the matters. I may start tonight with our sushi dinner my husband is bringing home for me. Mind you my sushi and most people’s sushi is very different and to meet my last goal there will be pictures to come.

Cream cheese, avocado and cucumber rolls with some Miso soup, yum ;)

 I also want to concentrate on not only finding furniture for our house, my main priority being a dinning room set, but to also find some front porch furniture and decorations like the spiral topiary trees I just need to break down and either buy or make. I also want to take my husband up on the getting up early to exercise like he has been trying to get me to do. I think I’ll start that tomorrow ;) There are some crafty things I would like to try out as well. I would love to do more pictures as mentioned before and I think I am going to try to make the topiary tree and see how that goes before I drop some money on pre-made ones. I want to do and see more things around VA. I feel like we go to the same spots all the time and I would like to go to at least 2 new places a month with my husband and our friends. I need to be a more positive/optimistic person and will be working on that as a little summer project as well. I am going to start doing my One Thousand Gifts where I will be posting the little things that make me happy and that I am thankful for. Other people in the blogging community are starting this due to a book called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and it seems to fit my summer goal just magically. My plan is to post at least 5 things a week I am grateful for which will help me with my last goal to blog more. I might want to add reading the book to my list too, hehe. Lastly I love to read other peoples blogs. It doesn’t matter if I know you or not I like to read about what other people are doing and enjoying. So I have decided to set some time aside to read more blogs and write more blogs. Now writing more I have found is easier said than done but I’ll hopefully have more luck, at least during the summer.

We already have a few trips planned that we are looking forward to. This weekend we will be in Savannah, Georgia visiting with Chris’s family and then at some point in July I’ll be off to NY to visit my family and friends. I also plan to take full advantage of our pool either for a relaxing time to myself or with our friends. We absolutely have more home improvement projects to do like finishing the back half of the driveway and putting up the dog run. Other than that who knows where else life will take us. I guess we’ll see…