Today I am thankful for peaceful moments. Just when I think I am about to reach my breaking point, something kicks in and carries me through until I can find that moment to breathe.

Today I am thankful for the windows that open when doors close. Without fail.

Right now I feel hungry. Today I am thankful for plentiful food... enough to spare and wear on our faces.

Today I am thankful for my family. You guys are my whole world and you couldn't make me happier.

I'm officially making an attempt to cross off another item on the list: to maintain a journal or blog well- writing at least weekly. I can't promise an extensive entry every day but my plan is to at least post new pictures and a minimum of one line (every day? I hope...) to say what I am feeling thankful for at the moment. I mentioned in my last entry that I was feeling guilty about not taking the time frequently enough to count my blessings. I am taking this step to change that. I am sick of the world bombarding us with negativity and messages of gloom and doom. I am choosing to be happy, no matter how unhappy some of life's everyday occurrences may feel. The economy sucks. Our savings account sucks. People are losing their jobs.

But today the sun is shining and it is a great day to be alive. The flowers are blooming and the world is still turning. Lets enjoy that and love each other, shall we? I am heading out to do something positive. Caelan and I will go to the chiropractor and take a walk with the sun shining on our faces. Then we'll come home, eat lunch and play all afternoon together. Today, I am thankful for the beauty and renewal of springtime.

The List, at last.

I am feeling guilty tonight. I have been so absorbed by our financial struggles and trying to figure out how we are going to make it through the summer with zero income that I have neglected to pause and appreciate everything that I do have... and in such great abundance. I need to be thankful for every single person in my life and remember that I truly have everything that I could possibly need and much more. I have love in overflowing abundance. I have a roof over my head and food in the cupboard. I have a healthy, happy family and I am living my dream of motherhood with a husband who is willing to support me in every decision that I make. What a fool I am for not taking time out every day to count my blessings.

I have been having major pangs of grief lately. It is approaching the anniversary of a dear friend's death, so maybe that's why. I have lost too many friends too soon in this life. I think of them all daily and miss them terribly. What a shame it is that we rarely appreciate anything until it is gone. When my friend Heather passed away a few months ago I promised to post a Bucket List here. I have avoided doing so because I feel like I will actually be held accountable for accomplishing the goals set forth on said list once I make it public. I'm ready. I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about this and I imagine that I will continue editing and adding to the list as time goes by. For my children who will someday read this: Don't take the list too seriously. If I die tomorrow and nothing on the list has been crossed out, know that you and your father are my greatest points of pride and nothing will ever be more important than how proud I am of nurturing our amazing little family. If I could accomplish most of what I list here as well, then I will die a wife, mother and woman who did a lot of stuff she always wanted to do. That's all. Some things listed are of greater consequence than others and they aren't listed in any particular order. Without further ado, here it is:

The Bucket List.

· Travel 6 continents

Get a brave haircut--- Done!!

· Climb an active volcano

· Visit every capital city in Europe

· Write a book, try to have it published

· Run a full or half marathon

· Maintain a journal or blog WELL, write at least weekly

· Learn sign language

· Learn to play piano

· Take a Mediterranean cruise

· Spend my 25^th wedding anniversary at Disney World

· Learn to juggle

· Grow a vegetable garden

· Master calligraphy

· Make a list of 100 books to read and read them

· Make a list of 100 movies to watch and watch them

· Practice deliberate random acts of kindness weekly for at least a year

· Give blood

· Sleep in a castle

· Be a great mom

· Meditate every day for a least a year

· Practice yoga every day for at least a year

· Spend one whole day reading (books, magazines, whatever)

· Spend one whole day writing

· Become a reiki master

· Love my family, deeply. Make sure that my children understand that love is more important than ANYTHING else.

· Learn another language well enough to hold a conversation

· Handwrite thank-you letters to the people in my life that have had the biggest impact

· Stop sweating the small stuff

· Rescue an animal

· Donate my body to science.

That's all for now, I guess. I love this blog. Its like being your own therapist.