Well, it’s finally Friday.
I meant to write this post Wednesday, but I’m not going to lie, I just didn’t have the heart to sit down and write. It’s been a week of ups and downs and I’ve been feeling kind of “blah” for reasons I’m not sure I will be sharing on this blog. Maybe at some point in the future, but not right now.
Although it was a weird week, that is the exact purpose of this 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge. To remind me that there are always things to be grateful for, no matter what the last day, week, month, or year has held. There is beauty in the journey right?
If you missed the first 3 posts in this challenge, you can check them out HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Without further ado… The last installment of my 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge:
Day 22: What story are you grateful for?
I honestly could not think of anything to put for this. I started looking around the room I’m sitting in for inspiration and I realized that both of the dogs are in here with me. They’re both sleeping peacefully on the floor and it hit me what story I’m grateful for: their adoption stories! I talk about our dogs all the time on this blog, but they really are family members and we love them so much.
If you missed Lyssa’s adoption story, you can read it HERE.
If you missed Levi’s adoption story, you can read it HERE.
Day 23: What tradition are you grateful for?
I’m grateful for a tradition Chris and I started on our wedding day. Each year we will write letters to each other and seal them up to be opened on the next year’s anniversary. At our wedding we placed letters to each other in a wooden box and sealed it during the ceremony. Then on our first anniversary we opened the letters we wrote to each other a year prior and put new letters into the box to be opened next year on our anniversary. It was so much fun to read the letters we wrote each other with our hopes for our first year of marriage. It’s a really fun tradition and even though we’ve only done it once so far (we’ve been married a year and a half) I’m looking forward to doing this tradition many years in the future.
Day 24: What challenges are you grateful for?
I am grateful for the years that Chris and I spent in a pseudo long distance relationship. You can read the story of us HERE but for over 3 years Chris worked in a city that was 3 hours from where I worked and we lived. Our agreement was that he would stay there during the work week and spend the weekends at home. It was a challenge and I definitely had my low points during those years, but in the end I am grateful for them. They connected me and Chris in a deeper way and I became more independent. It was a good experience for me as a person and us as a couple. It made us stronger and prepared us for what was to come… AKA kidney failure and a kidney transplant.
Day 25: What moment this week are you grateful for?
Graduating the dogs from their dog crate. We crate trained both Lyssa and Levi when they were puppies but they haven’t used the crate in a long time and it was taking up space in our bedroom. So we decided it was time for it to go. It was a little bittersweet to be honest. It made me realize that our dogs are all grown up now and they don’t need a crate anymore. But I will admit it’s been nice to have the extra space in our room. I think the dogs are happy too: we replaced their crate with a new dog bed.
The small bed is Levi’s from when he was a puppy. I don’t have the heart to part with it!
Day 26: What form of expression are you most grateful for?
This is an interesting question… It can be interpreted a few different ways I think. But I’m going to interpret it as a figure of speech. I am grateful for a figure of speech I hear every day in my Beachbody workouts: Progress, not Perfection. It reminds that even though I’ve fallen off the wagon a few times (maybe more than a few times) it’s about the journey and as long as I’m still making progress, I’m doing ok. It keeps me inspired and keeps me motivated to be the best version of myself that I can be.
Day 27: What small thing that you use daily are you grateful for?
Totally cliché, but my iPhone. I love that thing. I’m grateful that it keeps me connected to friends and family and I can reach most anyone within a few seconds.
Levi likes it too 🙂
Day 28: What small thing that happened today are you grateful for?
I’m grateful we got more Christmas cards in the mail! Our Christmas card holder is overflowing and I love it. It makes me happy to see it every day 🙂
Day 29: What friend/family member are you grateful for today?
My hubby, Chris. I’m grateful for him every day though. He’s always there for me and he can be serious, but he can also be really funny. Just now he called me into the living room to watch part of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. And even though I’m not the biggest fan of that show, Chris knew this particular scene would make me laugh and it did. I’m grateful for the little things we do together like laughing at a TV show.
Day 30: What talent or skill do you have that you are grateful for?
I’m grateful for my Excel skills. Over the years I have learned lots of “fun” things to do in Excel and I use them on a daily basis at my job. I didn’t realize it until recently but this is a somewhat unusual skill to have and I think it will give me many career opportunities in the years to come. My Excel skills also help me to create my meal plan for the week. So that’s an added bonus!
Well, that wraps up my 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge. This was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed thinking through all of the things that I am grateful for. There are so many things to be thankful for and this challenge was a great reminder of that!
Hope you guys have a great weekend!
choclette
This is such a good thing to do. I really need to get back into writing my gratitude diary. It really helped.
Amanda Morgan
It really is so helpful, especially for those “blah” days!
Jem
Lovely post, it’s so important to practice gratitude. There are so many benefits to your overall well-being. I’m so glad you enjoyed the challenge
Amanda Morgan
So glad you enjoyed it! I agree, it is so important to practice gratitude!