Top 10 Things I am Thankful For

1. First and foremost, I am thankful for having a God that loves me. Without God, my other things I am thankful for would be non-existent. He provides all blessings and without Him, I would have and be nothing.

2. My wonderful husband, Gary. We have our issues, but there is noone else in the world that I would rather hang out with. He is a man that would do anything for anybody without complaining. He works so hard that I am afraid I will lose him someday, but he does it for our family and I love that about him.

3. My kids, Braquel, Mikayla, Chelsey, Treven, and Ellie. They are my most cherished blessings. I don't know how your love grows everyday, but it does. They are my everything, my pride and joy.

4. Our health. I have been sick with a cold these last few days and I am miserable, but overall we have been blessed with health. We have never had health insurance and so far, we have always had the money when we needed it to take the kids to the doctor and such. Even when Ellie was born and she was so small, I was afraid she would have to stay at the hospital, but thank heavens she was healthy enough to go home.

5. I absolutely love my home and the town we live in. Every night when we go to bed, we talk about how much we love our house. It is so perfect for us (except we could use another bathroom, but I'm not complaining!) Our house has everything we have ever wanted. I can remember that I was so excited it had such weird things like a clothesline and bleeding hearts already started. Simple joys, but I count them as blessings.

6. I'm thankful to live in America. I think there are certainly troubled time ahead, but to be able to believe as I choose is amazing. I believe this land will be blessed as long as we continue to be a Christian nation and I am concerned about how quickly we have taken God out of our country, but it still is one of the best countries in the world.

7. My friends. We have had so many good friends for many years. We haven't had the time to spend with them since we opened the bar, but they have continued to stick with us. We have also made so many new friends in Albion. We have so many wonderful people in our lives that bless us daily.

8. Technology. Sound weird, but how bad would life suck if there were no computers to blog on, no washer to clean our clothes, no cars to get the kids to basketball practice...get my point? Also, the advancement of medicines allow us to live longer, more productive lives.

9. My parents. They taught me so much and made me the person I am today. They have both remarried amazing people and we are so lucky that the kids have so many grandparents to love them. Also, my in laws. What a family I married into...couldn't have asked for better people than Bert and Gary.

10. My love of reading. I love to read (even though I don't have time to read much now) and it has really expanded my mind. I think it's crazy that 200 hundred years ago, only about half of Americans could read.

Well, off to work I go. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!