The Grateful 15: Part 1

I can't lie... Thanksgiving has never been one of my favorite holidays and over the years it has grown to be less and less of a favorite.  I tend to just like to forget about it, enjoy the food with a few of my close family members, and go back to getting into the Christmas spirit ASAP.  Well, this year, I'm going to try and have a better attitude about it. I want to make a point to really remember what the holiday is all about and embrace it!  So I've decided to begin a new tradition... called The Grateful 15.

The best part about this new tradition - anyone can participate in it with me!  The Grateful 15 is all about taking those day to day things that you often take for granted and giving them love and appreciation.  So here's how it work... make a list of 15 things that you usually take for granted and write why you're grateful for them and each day when you run into these certain things - embrace them!  Let's be full of joy and gratitude together this Thanksgiving!

To start off, I'm going to list my first 5 things that I'm usually ungrateful for but am now grateful for... yeah, there's really no way to word that without it sounding weird!  :P

1. Blankets:  I snuggle up in a blanket literally every day of the year - even in the super hot months.  It's how I wind down for the night.  I plop on the couch, snuggle in a blanket with Bella, and do work on my laptop.  Everything is so much better when you're cuddled up in a blanket!
2. The bathtub:  So our shower is super tiny and the shower head is basically broken.  Ever since we moved here I've transformed from a shower girl to a bath girl.  Our bathtub is pretty deep and a decent size, so on a chilly day, climbing into a steaming, hot bath is one of the best feelings ever.  Mm, wish I was taking one now!
3. The basement:  Even though it's usually a cluttered mess and a bit stressful every time I walk down there to do laundry, I am so glad we have one.  I didn't use to and I had to transfer stuff (Christmas tree, decor, clothes, etc) from my parent's to the apartment all the time.  It's nice knowing most of my belongings can be found all in one place!  I'm sure my parents appreciate having the extra space, as well!
4. My iPhone 4:  Lately I've been kind of wishing I had the new iPhone.  Mine's been a bit slow and there are moments I'd like to just throw it... but this is the longest I've ever used the same phone.  I make about 55 calls on it M-F for my other job, I text on it regularly, play games on it, check all my social networks a billion times a day on it - and well, it's still holding up!  If I didn't have it, I may not be able to work from home and I wouldn't be able to use social networks to stay connected with my fam, friends, and all you beautifuls throughout the day!  Basically, I don't know what I'd do without it!
5. Lights:  The other night when Austin was already in bed, I was up working late and I had blown a fuse from having the space heater on.  It was pitch dark and our flashlight wasn't working - of course!  It was a bit of an annoying situation as I had to stop what I was doing and figure out how to get the lights back on.  Staring at the bazillion switches, I finally just decided to flip them all until the lights came back on - yeah, I forgot what single girl probs felt like.  It ended up being the last switch I tried!  But once I got it on, I smiled pretty big and now I know not to use the space heater on that side of the house!  Seriously, what would we do without lights and electricity?... Especially us night owls?

My next 5 will come in a later blog post!  If you'd like to participate in this tradition with me, I'd love to here some of the things that you're grateful for this year in the comments below.  :)  Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!  Woah, I never say that... but it feels good!