Things I'm Thankful For In Life

With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow I am reminded of the many, many things I have to be thankful for. 

Here's the way I think this post would work. My wife Mel would read it, look at the pictures, then get to the end of the post and get a slightly sassy attitude. She would say "What? You're not thankful for the dogs too?" So I'll avoid disappointing her and get that out of the way first. I'm thankful for these 4-legged creatures who steal loaves of bread off the counter when we're not looking, leave Sasquatch-sized poops in the backyard, and wake us up in the morning barking.

But in all seriousness, their food thieving is reaching all-time levels. Don't you dare turn your head when there's a piece of pizza on your dinner plate. By the time you turn around, that piece of pizza will be in their mouth, digested, and sitting in a Sasquatch-sized pile in the backyard.

I am so incredibly thankful for my family. I love them so much. We have the normal struggles every family has. We have fighting and tantrums and grumpiness. We have arguments about keeping the house clean. We have impatience. We all have our flaws. We are each like a broken piece of pottery, but love holds us together. 

I'm thankful for my amazing wife Mel.

I'm thankful for my son Jackson. 

I'm thankful for my daughter Danica.

I'm thankful for my youngest, Kylee.

Each night when I lay in my bed I think about how blessed I am to have each of them in my life.

This is going to sound absurd, but EVERY single time I stop at a gas station to buy a soda I feel so, so thankful. (On days that involve ridiculously early alarms to get out of bed, followed by many miles running, then going to work, that soda gets even bigger.)

I don't feel gratitude because of the caffeine hit. I feel so thankful that I live in a country where simple pleasures like soda are available. I think about countries where they are lucky to have some dirty water to drink. I think about how there are people in the world who would give anything to have a drink of cold soda and I'm reminded how fortunate I am. I love my country. I think about people living in poverty who don't have the financial means to walk into a gas station and hand over a dollar bill for a cup of empty calories. I think about how blessed I am to have a dollar to spare for a drink. I'm not exaggerating. I really think about all these things every single time I walk into a gas station. 

My heart swells with thankfulness. I hope you and your family have a positively awesome Thanksgiving from me and my house to yours.