Final Thankful Tuesday of 2011

Hello, lovelies! Thank you for joining me for the last installment of Thankful Tuesday – at least I think it will be the last one. I’m finding more and more reasons to be thankful these days, so you just might see a ‘Thankful Tuesday’ post in December, January, April – you get the picture.

This very final Thankful Tuesday, I am thankful for:

Learning + Growing.  There was a time in college when I realized that I just LOVED learning, and couldn’t get enough of it.  This was quite the opposite of how I felt during high school – when I needed to take boring class A, B, and C to make my college applications look good.  Thankfully, those boring classes brought me to the University of Washington.  My ‘aha-moment’ came sometime during my junior year – reading, writing and helping others write.  As graduation approached, I began ‘planning’ just how I would continue to learn + grow.  Our plan was grad. school after our kids started school.   That was our plan, but God had a different one.  One that was more awesome than I could have imagined back then.  While taking care of my growing family, I discovered something creative – graphic design.  It has taken me to many different places, being published in a book, creating my own designs that people actually like enough to buy, seeing my designs turn into actual paper and eventually fabric.  That is definitely better than anything I could have dreamed up 7 years ago!

And more recently, I’ve embarked on another quest for knowledge.  This time in the form of an e-course – Blogging Your Way.  I spent 4 weeks learning the Ins-Outs of blogging from the amazing + inspiring Holly Becker and Leslie Shewring.  It was an inspiring.  It was empowering.  It was awesome!  Along the way, I’ve had the chance to reflect on what I’m passionate about and why.  And I’ve also managed to meet some super inspiring bloggers + friends!

© Holly Becker, Decor8

Pictures. You know that saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words?” Well I believe that it is worth more than that.  They can make you laugh.  They can make you smile.  They can make you cry.  And as a parent who wishes that her last baby would stay a baby just a little bit longer – it does just that.  Pictures allow you to capture that one moment in time.  So I can look at pictures of all of my babies at different stages in their life and I’m transported back to that specific moment – remembering how they smelled, the sound of their little laugh.  To me, that it definitely worth more than a thousand words.  This this picture below, I will already remember Eleanor at 3 1/2, still needing/wanting me to carry her and Bella and her ‘no-teeth’ smile because her big teeth were still in the adorably awkward growing-in phase.
©Amy B. Photography

Having enough.  Earlier this year our life was filled with uncertainty – thankfully that was very short-lived.  But in those few weeks, we learned that we have enough.  Yes, sometimes it may not seem like it.  But we have enough.  We have each other.  We have our health.  We have a home and food.  We are safe and warm on cold, dreary days.  We have a loving family.  We have a great group of friends.  What more can you really ask for?

  Lastly, I’m thankful for each and everyone one of you who spends time with me via my blog.  You keep me writing and sharing.  Thank you for all your wonderful comments and support – they mean so much.  I can’t wait to see where my blogging adventures will take us!

And as a way of saying thanks + for celebrating turning 50(posts), I’ve created something for you.

Download Here

Thank you for stopping by today!

-Andrea