Since Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching (and I’m going to be running around like the Tazmanian Devil for a few days), I thought I should take a few calm moments to write about the things I’m thankful for in my life. Most of these are things that I’m blessed to experience and think almost every day — but we sometimes take things for granted when we get all caught up in the whirlwind of life.

If someone were to put me on the spot, I’m sure I would forget to mention half of these…so that’s why I’m also thankful I started blogging at all, so that I have a place to look back to 6 months, a year or even 10 years from now. 🙂

• Mackenzie who, although almost 3 years old now, still lets me snuggle with her sometimes and comes over to give me random hugs and kisses. Those are the best EVER!
• My wonderful, loving husband, Stefan, who supports my dreams and encourages me to go beyond mediocracy.
• You! I’m so thankful for the amazing boost in readers NOH has had this year and that you come back on a daily and weekly basis to learn with me. I’ll be posting some info about the goals I hit this year with NOH before the New Year. But seriously, I’m so glad you’re here!
• The wonderful companies I’ve been able to reach out to who have sponsored the numerous giveaways I’ve done this year. Talk about some incredible swag for you guys — and some for me too! 🙂 I can’t wait to host more incredible giveaways next year and discover new (or at least new-to-me) products.
• My fellow bloggers who inspire me daily to add more, reach further, grow dynamically and just make NOH the place I dream of it becoming.
• Friends and family, both near and far, who are often in our hearts and minds despite the fact that we rarely get to see each other.
• God who has blessed my family and myself in so many ways over the past year and just kept us under His wings of protection throughout life.
• The amazing warmth of Florida at Christmas that we get to experience this year — something Stefan and I haven’t done since we left there 10 years ago. It’s hard to believe that so much time has already passed. But boy have our lives changed since those carefree college days!
• The internet — even though it sounds clichè. But honestly, without it, life as we know it would pretty much cease to exist. And become a much larger place since you couldn’t start making new friends from the sofa in your house, while dressed in your pajamas.
• Skilled contractors who come and make repairs to our house, leaving it better off than it was before — and grant us the exciting (albeit messy) prospect of having new windows installed in our house before we go on vacation…