My 28 Thankful Days Up To Thanksgiving

So the countdown begins.

I am thankful for.......

28. God. No more words need to be said than, "how cool is He?!". Yes. I went there.
27. Schooling. Most days seem long, boring, and useless, but it will pay off in the long run.
26. Jobs. Without jobs, life would be much more stressful.
25. Birthdays and special holidays. This may seem funny, I know, but I love having a reason to go out and buy someone a gift or to get together as a family. It's so much fun.
24. Snow. Everything looks so pretty outside now and it keeps dirt from being tracked in now. :) I'll take water clean-up over dirt any day!
23. Health. With so much loss during this month, it is hard to forget how important good health is. Often, we take it for granted and think little of it, but it is so important. Take care of yourself!!
22. My grandma. She is the best. Seriously though, how many grandmas do you know that can shoot 11 point bucks, bake buns and bread, fry lefse, drive grandpa's yacht, and catch massive fish? Yeah, that's what I thought. :)
21. My aunts and uncles. They're hilarious. Sometimes I feel like I couldn't take them anywhere without being embarrassed, and other times I can't help but laugh. They sure are some special people.
20. My dog. She's so sweet and precious. I'm pretty sure she misses me when I'm gone, because as soon as I turn into the driveway, she takes off running for the house and meets me at my door. Gully, I miss her.
19. My family in Illinois. We made a quick trip down to Rockford a couple weeks ago to see Frank and Lois, Harriet and Kent, Helen, Denise and Dale, and Andrea, Heath, and Trent. After some hustle and bustle, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad that I could make it.
18. Friends. Even though I might not get to seem them as much as I would like to, I love my friends. They're always great to help whenever they're needed or to just sit and visit for awhile. I got lucky with the ones I chose.
17. Housing and food. I've been thinking lately that it isn't always how much you have, but rather how you utilize what you have. I don't need the most. I don't need the biggest. I certainly don't need the best. All that I need is a roof over my head and something in my tummy and I'm golden.
16. My great-grandma Gerane. She is always quick to sit and talk on the phone with my for minutes on end, and she never fails to have some good stories for me. She's pretty fun.
15. Christmas letters. As some of you may already know, I love writing Christmas letters for my family. It gives me time to use what little creativity God granted me and make our story from the year interesting for all of you to read.
14. Music. I love, love, love, love music. Without it, where would we all be? Okay, maybe I shouldn't go quite to that extreme, but I really do love it.
13. This gem. Mark gave me this for my birthday. (Ok, I accidentally found it, and he gave it to me early.) I absolutely LOVE it, and yes, that IS a diamond! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! :) If any of you had any doubt of how perfect he is, I'm sure it is all gone now. I'm so stinkin' blessed that I can hardly stand it. Thanks, God. :)

12. Gardens. Yes, I know that we are now out of season, but how cool is it that we can keep most of the veggies throughout the winter to eat?! I'm a nerd, and I know it, don't worry

11. Church. It gives me those much needed couple of hours every week to just sit and reflect. I can go there with my chest full of burdens and leave with absolutely nothing left on it. Pretty neat if you ask me.

10. Kids. They make me giggle, laugh, happy, sappy, emotional, etc. You get it. They are just so fun. Seriously, I held Cliff the whole time during the auction at church on Sunday, and I loved every single bit of it. Maybe one day I will be that lucky.

9. Blogs. It gives me a time where I can just sit and type whatever is on my heart. Often, I use it to relax or calm myself when I feel overloaded or stressed. Thank God I discovered it!

8. Sports. My brothers were lucky enough to make it to the state semi-final football game this fall. How many of you can say that you went that far? I don't think that they understand how lucky they are, or how many awesome memories they made during the process. It gave them the opportunity to play in the FargoDome and the Metrodome, to bond with their teammates even more, and play the game that they love the most. How lucky!

7. My brothers. We fight. We yell. We send sappy texts to each other. We hug. We cry. We do it all together. Whether they admit to it or not, they do love me. ;) They're pretty special men in my life, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. They're awesome!

6. Vehicles. Sometimes a girl just needs to make it home for a little while! The city can get a little overwhelming, so I am very thankful to be able to go home whenever needed.

5. Family. Whether it be my own, or Mark's, they are all so quick to offer a helping hand or words of encouragement whenever I may need it. I don't think that I can truly put into words how much they all mean to me.

4. My faith. Without my faith, I would be nothing. You may be sick of me always talking about God or church, but it's a huge part of my life, and I am so thankful that it was instilled in me when I was younger. SUPER THANKFUL!

3. My great-grandma Gloria and Betty Steen. It's right around that time of year again when my mind drifts back to last year and the year before. I can honestly say that Betty Steen was one of the greatest women that I have ever known. She babysat me for years and was my confirmation mentor for two years. She helped instill so many qualities in me that I will forever cherish. My Grandma was also one of these people. She always helped when we needed it, baked a pizza quick before we had to leave for games, cheered us on while listening to our games being broadcasted over the internet, "tried" to help us with our homework, and made sure to call the house and let the boys know that the twins were playing that night. Not long before she passed, I had a basketball game in a holiday tournament in Thief River Falls. Of course, they had the radio on so Grandma could listen to it, and I was named the player of the game that night. Grandma couldn't talk, but when Aunt Holly told her that I did so good and received that honor, she squeezed her hand tight and cracked a smile. She was always so proud of us. A couple days later, she told our pastor that she didn't know if she was "good enough" to make it to Heaven. Well guess what Grandma, you were way better than just "good enough". You were an angel on Earth just waiting to make your next move. :)

2. My parents. They make life so easy for me, and they always are there to lend a helping hand or advice when I need it. Often, I take them for granted, but they deserve so much praise for all of the stuff that I have put them through. Yet, they still love me. Now that my friends, is true love.

1. Mark, of course. I don't think that I can even put into words just how thankful I truly am for this man. He never ceases to amaze me or make me smile when I need it the most. I mean that necklace???! Come on! I cried for at least 15 minutes! haha I'm so lucky, and I hope that he doesn't change his mind. He deserves the best, and I  hope that I can give him that.  I don't know what else I can even say to get my point across of how great he is....Wow. That's saying alot if I can't find the words for something! ;)

Hunting with Dad

It's a tradition. We do it every year.

This is one way that Dad and I bond with each other. The boys aren't overly thrilled about the thought of going out to sit in a cold stand with the possibility of not seeing a deer. We love it though. I don't know how many of you watch hunting shows on television, but you know how the guys on there whisper back and forth to each other about what is happening in front of them? Well, Dad and I do that to each other, too, but we don't video tape ourselves. It's quite comical, if I must say so myself. What would I do without him?

Sunday evening we went and sat in the stand together. I tend to constantly look back and forth, checking to see if anything is creeping its way out of the woods, while Dad likes to fall asleep and take a nice little snooze. Here are some of his favorite sleeping positions.

The last picture shows his favorite pose. This makes him look like he's semi-hunting at least. ;)

No, we didn't shoot anything. No, I haven't even seen a deer yet. No, it has not been very nice weather so far, but we have had a great time together the last two days. I hope that I can have many more years left of these special moments! Love you Dad!

Today is a good day

Today is a good day.

• Last night I was able to make it to the pep-fest for the football team in Lancaster. The surprise guest, Dany Corey from WDAZ, made the trip from Grand Forks to film a portion of the festivities. Oh, and Dad got interviewed last night as well, so look for him on WDAZ news tonight at 6 and 10! There will be a segment on the football team, again. It was so fun. :)
• This morning I was forced to leave early in order to make it for my 8 AM class, but the hour and a half drive by myself was perfect. I love that time of the day where I can just sit there without any worries and relax. It's absolutely awesome.
• I made it through my first two classes flawlessly, and finished my test in my third class with ease. I love how confident I feel taking a test when I can easily hop from question to question because I know the answer right off the top of my head. It makes everything go so much nicer.
• Right now, I am looking forward to supper tonight at my grandparents house. I love spending time with them and it has been quite some time since we did it last. Lots of family and friends will join us too, I'm sure, as tomorrow is a big day for many!
• Tomorrow marks the beginning of deer season! Yay. I'm weird, I know. I like God, sports, hunting, baking, cooking, exercising, reading, blogging, small towns, etc. Whatever. ;) However, it will probably need to get pushed back a day as we will be spending the day in Bemidji cheering on my brothers in the state quarter final game. I LOVE hunting, but to be quite honest, I had forgotten about it because of all the excitement happening with football. (Just to clarify, I don't mean the Vikings.) The boys are so excited and it makes me happy seeing them that way. Here's to a BIG win tomorrow!
• Soon, I get to go home for the long weekend. There's no better place to spend three days off from college is there?
• Which brings me to another thing....Veteran's Day is on Monday, so that means no college! Yay! More time for me to do other, more fun things. :)

Oh, and one more thing. It has absolutely nothing to do with my day going well, or even today in general, but I know he will be disappointed if I do not mention it. Last Thursday, Mark bought another gun. (What can I say? He loves them.) It is a black powder pistol so it takes a little extra TLC. He thought it would be fun if we shot a couple of the hand guns together to see how good of an aim we were. However, he forced me to load the black powder by myself. I guess he helped some. It was a struggle at first, but I was able to catch on after a little while. Like everything else we do, our "fun shooting" quickly turned into a contest. Neither one of us was able to hit the target, but I think that my bullet came closer than his. ;) It was fun, though.

Here's to hoping that you all have a simply marvelous day as well!