Thankful [Part 2]

As I mentioned in my post, Thankful [Part 1], I was glad to see that people actually take the time to celebrate Thanksgiving and don't ignore it in light of the Christmas craze.  Just today, when I went to our bank to deposit a check, I was pleasantly surprised to see that each bank teller's counter was decorated with gourds of different colors and sizes.  And as I was leaving, I noticed that strings of orange and purple lights were hanging from the front desk, intertwined with a tinsel fall leaf garland.  Now that's what I'm talkin' about!  And it was so refreshing on Monday night, when I went to the house that hosts our Mom Heart Group (inspired by Sally Clarkson), to see fall leaf decorations up on the kitchen wall and a homemade sewn "Give Thanks" fabric garland hanging from the fireplace mantel.

Check out these great Thanksgiving garland ideas (and a kindred spirit who has found creative ways to not overlook this important holiday)!

I've discovered that this bulletin board has been an inexpensive, interchangeable way to decorate!  I love looking at this Fall collage from the dining room table when I sit down with my family for our meals.  It's made up of old greeting cards that I keep in a box, favorite verses I've jotted down on index cards over the years, and freshly picked Fall leaves from outside.

One of the cards in the collage is actually a new one we received in the mail this month from the sweet Seniors group from our church.  I really liked this quote in it: 

"The most important ingredient for happiness is not fortunate circumstances or great possessions, but a heart that knows how to be grateful.  Gratefulness is the root of contentment and peace."

{Scott Walker}

It reminds me of the "Happiness vs. Joy" sermon our pastor just taught on Sunday from his "Key to Unlocking Joy" series.

Alright, so here are more things I'm thankful for for each day of November from the last list I posted on the 11th.

12. 75 FREE prints from Shutterfly!

13. This Advent calender idea.  I seriously was just thinking yesterday about what I could do with old toilet paper and paper towel rolls.  I want to implement this idea for making a Thanksgiving Advent calendar for next year.  I think it would be cool for my family to write down what we're each thankful for every day, put those scraps of paper in the numbered pocket for that day, and then on Thanksgiving, take all the pieces of paper out and read them.  Maybe to make it more fun, we could put quotes we find about being thankful in the pockets too!

14. FINALLY getting to check out this book!  A lady from my Bible study group earlier this year mentioned it and said the pastor from the church my family used to go to, highly recommended it.  The subject of Heaven has always made me curious.  And I figure since I'm going to spend an infinite amount of my existence there compared to Earth, why wouldn't I learn as much as I could about it?  So anyway, I've tried checking this book out from the library since the summer, but apparently it's a hot item!  Well, my patience paid off (and particularly since I made myself not buy a copy and waited until it was available to borrow)!  By the way, this video about Colton Burpo brought tears to my eyes (the good kind). 

15. Getting a Ribbon gift card from Gregg's work!  We get to pick a gift from the Ribbon gift catalog and this Safety 1st Sounds 'n' Lights Activity Walker is what I think Gregg and I agreed upon.  Adella seems like she is going to be quite an active one when she's able to start walking, so we think this will be a great way for her to get around and yet contain her enough so that I'll be free to get things done around the house.

16. Getting the idea to make a "Sleepy Sounds" CD.  So one of my top picks from the Ribbon gift catalog was a First Years Sounds for Silence machine.  What I liked about this Premium one was that it included a MP3 player connection cable.  Talking it over with Gregg, he suggested that I just find some white noise audio I could download online and make my own CD to play in Leala's room on our CD player.  So I went on iTunes and was surprised that there are whole CD's of just white noise and nature sounds.  So I purchased one of rain and then got some cool lullaby renditions of some of my favorite songs from artists like Johnny Cash, Third Day, Jars of Clay, and Chris Tomlin! 

17. Finding a couple recipes online so I can start making my own blended frappes (I'll tell you how that goes in a future post with links to the recipes if I end up liking them).

18. My dad being available and willing to watch Leala for me the past few weeks so it was easier to go to each of the girl's doctor's appointments and mine.