March 10

When all else goes wrong, I can turn to my daughter and know I've achieved one major feat.

February 6

Thank you for getting me home safely.

January 29

It's all going to work out somehow. I'm glad we have so many family and friends to count on... we'd be lost without them.

January 20

He got a job, thank God.

Not exactly what we were hoping for, but he's excited to learn, and doing something new, and if he's good at it, as I know he can be, there are some definite perks in our future.

January 3

She's had a long, good life. We've tried to keep her as happy as possible, well fed, unmolested by the baby and the dogs. If it's time to let her go, I'm grateful for having had her in my life for 13 years.

January 1

A new year. A new start. Everything will not be different, but I'm grateful for the opportunity that I've been given to make a difference in my own life. One day at a time.

December 26

I am so grateful that my husband is home safe, my Baby is sleeping well again knowing her Papa is home, and we had the family together for the holidays, if only for a few minutes.

November 16

I found out today that Taryn has been accepted for Kaiser Kids. I am so relieved and so grateful that I can stop worrying about how to get her medical insurance.

November 7

We received our visas back 1 week after we mailed our passports, gift shopping is almost complete. I'm so thankful we started all this early so it'll be less stress travelling this time.

October 27

I'm starting to see myself in Taryn again. She's an amazing girl.

September 27

We're on the mend. The sickness is slowly being banished from the house, and there have been promising job leads this week. Yay for progress!

August 29

There are few things more enjoyable than picking blackberries with your toddler, blowing on them to clean the dirt off and simultaneously eliciting a deep belly laugh so engrossing that blackberry juice and drool drip down her face because she is crackinmg up so hard she can't keep it in her mouth. We ruined an entire outfit, but it was so worth it.

August 28

I’m not feeling very appreciative lately. There are a lot of bad things going on, but I do feel grateful to be able to handle them, as unpleasant as they are. A few years ago I would have given up, making myself suffer more than absolutely necessary, but now I feel strong enough to do what I need to for Taryn’s sake

August 5

He didn't clean a single thing today, not even himself, but I appreciate that he cooked some awesome BBQ: ribs, eggplant, corn and garlic bread, for Taryn and I.

August 1

I really appreciate that I can stick my foot so far down my throat that my toes are peeking out of my butt, and I can still apologize to my friends. And they TOTALLY understand what I was meaning to say, even though it came out completely wrong.

July 26

I'm thankful that I have enough room on my credit card to buy our plane tickets. I'll be paying them all off for the next two years, but these memories will last forever. Not only for us, but for the great-grandparents as well.

July 18

Even though I don't get it now, I'm compiling a list or resources and skills. One day I'll get it right.

July 12

I'm grateful that Taryn has the good sense that when she puts a dog treat in her mouth when I'm not watching, she spits it out, squinches up her nose and does her baby "yeck" to show her unappreciation for that particular taste. A foodie in training?

July 8

I'm glad I had the foresight to start teaching Taryn sign language. She only knows a few words, but it has made feeding her so much easier. And for that, today I am grateful.

July 3

It's 9:17am, and I have nothing to do at work. I am super grateful to have the time to blog, take care of personal stuff, appointments, thank you cards, etc, and still make $0.36 per minute. Ha.