Thirty Days of Gratitude 2017

It’s November (!!) and that means it’s time for Thirty Days of Gratitude! If you’ve been reading this blog for a bit, you know that November is the time that I refuse to put up the first Christmas decoration and instead focus on for what I am grateful. I started this in 2012 on the blog and have done it in various ways ever since.

It started because Nordstrom posted this:

And I said, “YES!” And that was that. Thirty Days of Gratitude was born.

Here’s the idea, which I explained in the very first Thirty Days of Gratitude post in November, 2012:

I have always loved Thanksgiving.  When I was a kid, we always had two Thanksgiving dinners: one the night before Thanksgiving at my great aunt and great uncle’s house (my great aunt was like a grandmother to me) with the big family crowd, and then one with my mom, brother, aunt, uncle, and two cousins.  The food was amazing, and we always laughed a lot.

In addition, Thanksgiving is a time to express gratitude for the wonderful lives we have.  Even when facing adversity, there is comfort in being with family and friends.  I try to always express gratitude for the blessings in my life, but Thanksgiving is a day specifically set aside for just that.

So, upon being inundated with Christmas stuff before Halloween, I thought: what if I didn’t succumb to the Christmas promotions yet?  What if we took a breath after Halloween and focused on being thankful for a whole month?

This year, I have been lax in posting about the Thirty Days of Gratitude Project, let alone a post each day about what I’m grateful for. I started the first day of November on Instagram with being grateful for Elvis Parsley, because he was cracking me up that day.

But I haven’t written anything since. A soccer tournament, a kid with pink eye and an ear infection, and the other kid having his wisdom teeth out has meant that my time has been spent elsewhere.

That said, this time has shown me that I have so incredibly much to be grateful for.

So I’m just gonna start here…November 9…and tell you that I am grateful for this blog. For the opportunity to teach people, especially but not limited to women, that anyone can DIY a project to make a home beautiful. That if a short Jewish lawyer from Memphis can use power tools, pretty much anyone can. For the opportunity the blog gives me to have a flexible schedule that allows me to take care of sick kids without stressing about child care. For the chance to connect with people who rearrange the rooms in their homes nearly as much as I do.

I’m going to try to post each day for the rest of this month about something for which I am grateful. It may be a big project, it may be a cup of coffee. It may have pretty photographs or it may not. Either way, I’m going to do it. Because it’s important to me and I hope you enjoy it, too.

For what are you grateful today? Share in the comments or with someone you love.