As I said in my post about goals for this year, I read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin a couple of months ago. In it, she talked about starting a journal in which she would write down one thing every day that she was thankful for. She wasn’t able to maintain it for the entire year, but I thought it sounded like a great idea. So, I’m giving it a try. We are 67 days into 2012 (UNBELIEVABLE!), and while I’ve forgotten to write something down EVERY day, I have been able to go back and fill in the blanks. I’m trying not to repeat myself and find 365 different things to be thankful for. To do this, in most cases, I’m very specific about each blessing (for example, instead of saying I’m thankful for Reagan, I said one day that I’m thankful that she made honor roll. She has so many amazing qualities, that I can make several entries just about her for the year if I’m specific). And, as usual, some are serious, some are silly. Reading these, I realized that some of them didn’t make much sense unless you had some background, so I tried to give some explanation in parentheses. Raising a son with autism is stressful, not to mention the fact that both parents and my sister are constantly dealing with chronic health issues. As I said just yesterday on Facebook, if I didn’t look for those bright spots everyday, I’d have driven off a cliff long ago. Look for more “Thankfulness Journal” posts to come!

Day 2– Housekeeper

Day 3– Chorus rehearsal is back!

Day 4– Winter school break is over!!

Day 5– Chic-Fil-A Chicken Minis

Day 6– Date Night

Day 7– Newborn puppies (A stray dog had puppies in our back yard. She finally trusted me enough to hold one of her puppies!)

Day 8– Mom and pups were picked up by a local Pet Rescue and went home with a foster mom.

Day 9– Dinner with Hen Friends

Day 10– Breakfast with Tim

Day 11– Clearance sales

Day 12– Simplicity (The quartet I sing with)

Day 13– 30 Rock is back!

Day 14– Tim’s job (even though he had to work all day today on a Saturday. Just 3 years ago, he was laid off from a job he’d had over 10 years.)

Day 15– Rock Band with the Life Group

Day 16– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Day 17– My health (My sister, Jeannie, had another health crisis today)

Day 18– Heated car seats (High’s only in the 30’s all day. Brr!)

Day 19– Reagan made honor roll

Day 20– Alton Brown’s 40 Cloves And A Chicken recipe

Day 21– Dinner with Bunco girls

Day 22– A Sunday nap

Day 23– We can use the hot tub again!! (Finally clean after sitting empty for over a year)

Day 24– Goodbye, World, Goodbye (absolutely love singing that song with Metro Nashville Chorus!)

Day 25– Prayer labyrinth in Vespers

Day 26– Steve and Becki (a hen friend) made it safely to China to get their adopted son

Day 27– Misty (another hen friend) and baby are okay after pregnancy complications

Day 28– Time in Gatlinburg with old Antioch friends

Day 29– Brad and Valerie (they kept the kids while we were away)

Day 30– Mom came home from the hospital (She’d been there with pneumonia for over a week)

Day 31– Cooper’s adoption is official! (Becki and Steve’s son)

Day 32– Dad and Jeannie arrived safely in Nashville

Day 33– Mama dog and puppies are safe at the rescue (after being mistreated by the foster mom) and we got to visit them.

Day 34– Metro Nashville Chorus retreat!

Day 35– Came home from MNC retreat to a clean house

Day 36– Found out the kids will be going to camp on the same days this year (meaning that Tim and I will be able to get a little vacation!)

Day 37– Jeannie had a successful surgery AND Tim made it safely to Utah for his snowboarding trip.

Day 38– Free housing for Dad and Jeannie from Natchez Trace Church of Christ while Jeannie recovers from surgery

Day 39– Got Old Navy jeans from Goodwill for only $7.50

Day 40– A week of free chiropractic care

Day 41– Steve and Becki are home with Cooper!

Day 42– Tim home safe from snowboarding

Day 43– Opportunity to sing on Otter Creek’s Praise Team

Day 44– Grandma Osburn’s Apricot Nectar Pound Cake recipe (Fond memories of this cake, and Reagan requested it for her birthday)

Day 45– Thankful for Ada Winford!!! (Metro’s autism specialist that helped me with one of Pierce’s teachers that was being difficult)

Day 46– Reagan’s 11th birthday

Day 47– Clipping thyme from my garden in February

Day 48– Reagan’s sweet friends

Day 49– A McKay wedding instead of a funeral (funerals seem to be the only reason we get together)

Day 50– Song from worship: When The Night Is Falling

Day 51– Discovered Downton Abbey

Day 52– Daffodil bouquet

Day 53– Mom’s safe travel to Nashville

Day 54– Driving with the windows down in February

Day 55– Jeannie’s pacemaker adjustment took her nausea away instantly!

Day 56– Ms. Lee felt well enough to come to coaching (a chorus member in her 80’s who’s been battling cancer. She’s been carpooling with me to rehearsals lately)

Day 57– Roberson’s thoughts during today’s communion

Day 58– Pierce’s great experience at Chadwell Elementary (working on Pierce’s school scrapbook)

Day 59– Simplicity sang very well for MNC

Day 60– Opportunities that women have at Otter Creek to help lead worship

Day 61– Got to meet Cooper at the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show (2 for 1; met Cooper AND went to the garden show, something I look forward to every year!)

Day 62– All of my friends and family are safe from bad storms and tornadoes and had no damage.

Day 63– NyQuil and earplugs (because of the train at Petticoat Junction, the location of our scrapbook retreat)

Day 64– 86 completed scrapbook pages!

Day 65– Jeannie did NOT have a stroke (went to the ER displaying symptoms of a stroke, but it was ruled out. There are other serious issues, but at least it isn’t a stroke.)

Day 66– New John Mayer song on iTunes

Day 67– A cute haircut for $12