This is only the second time I’ve participated in TToT but I can still celebrate its big milestone, right?
Several months ago I started my own private thankfulness practice in my prayer life (that sounds way more holy than it is–we’re talking praying in bed before dropping off to sleep at night). I resolved to begin my prayers by thanking God for each day’s blessings, start to finish, before I started asking Him for things. Y’all, most of the time I fall asleep before I get to the asking part. And I find myself excited to reflect on the good things that happen each day. Because there are ALWAYS good things. And doing this has improved my outlook on life–so simply, so easily.
So without further ado, here are ten things I am thankful for this week:
1. Teddy has been home all week! it’s a short visit because he is heading to Chicago for most of the summer to intern and Kirkland & Ellis. I’m thankful that we got to spend a little time with him as well as for his achievements.
2. Teddy wanted to watch all of the Lord of the Rings movies while he was home, so I spent a lot of time in front of the t.v. over the weekend–very unusual for me. I enjoy sharing things I love with my children, and I was inspired to read the books once again.
3. I had another post featured on BlogHer! After never ever being published anywhere, now it’s happened twice in two weeks. Could it be a sign? I hope so!
4. The weather is glorious and my garden is blooming. Yesterday I took a nap in the front yard among the clover blossoms. They smelled wonderful and I didn’t even care that they made my nose run.
5. I was nominated for another blogging award!
6. I scored some free tickets (another blogging perk) to some fun attractions for our next visit to the D.C./Baltimore area!
7. The whole family was able to share Mother’s Day Brunch.
8. Emily and I made some major progress cleaning out our garage, with more to come this weekend. This was long overdue and made me happy.
9. Via blogging, I have become part of a lovely group of women and we really bonded this week! Virtual friends are REAL friends!
10. The school year is winding down! We are tired and ready for sleeping later and not worrying about homework for awhile.
Just like my prayers, coming up with ten things to be thankful for is an exercise in gratitude that can benefit anyone! Check out the posts in the linkup, and consider joining in!
Pink Salt Riot
Catholics Online
Life in Every Limb on Facebook
What I like to remember on September 11.
September 11: Remember the Love | Life in Every Limb
lifeineverylimb.com
Everyone who’s old enough to remember has a 9/11 story. Mine is probably fairly typical of those of us with no personal connection to the events, and I’ve never written about it because it feels t...
And now the post you've all been waiting for--a belated review of 2022 in 12 pictures!
12 in 2022: A Year in Pictures | Life in Every Limb
lifeineverylimb.com
Ten years ago, I joined a link up to post 12 pictures, one for each month of the previous year. When that link up ended, I found another one. Now that one no longer exists, but I’m still doing this ...
It's an annual tradition, very late, and it's a great way to learn more about me and my blog.
2022 in Review: Your Favorites, My Favorites | Life in Every Limb
lifeineverylimb.com
I present to you an annual tradition that is happening later and later: the best/favorite posts from the prior year, as picked by you (my readers) and me. YOUR favorites are simply the posts that got ...
Is a faith nurtured primarily by media slanted in one direction or the other likely to bear good fruit, like humility and love, or rotten fruit, like pride and hatred?
By Their Fruits | Life in Every Limb
lifeineverylimb.com
“By their fruits you will know them,” we read in the Gospel. “ . . .[E]very good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tre...
We are all called to evangelize but there are many ways to go about it!
A Tale of Three Evangelists | Life in Every Limb
lifeineverylimb.com
I have mentioned before that my favorite Gospel stories involve Peter, my favorite saint. I love Peter because he is relatable. He is human and makes mistakes, some bigger than others. Yet Jesus chose...
I think I am going to consider joining! Its a great idea!! Thank you for sharing with us, sounds like you have a lot to be thankful for 🙂 I am glad you are so blessed!!
I wish you would! It’s a really special hop!
Awe this is lovely. You most definitely have a lot to be grateful for this week! Congratulations for being featured on BlogHer again!!
Thanks, Kim!
Sounds like a great week!
Yes, it was!
What a fantastic week! Somethings to be grateful for, and we in turn are blessed to have you in our lives! When we ever get together, we’ll have to schedule in some LOTRs time! I became a big fan through my son!
Oh, that would be cool!! And I hope that get-together happens sooner rather than later!
Congratulations on being featured on blogher! Very nice article.
Thanks! I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
What a fantastic idea! it’s so easy to forget about all the little things we can be thankful for
It really is. And then when you start trying to think of them, you discover more and more.
Sounds like a bunch of simply WONDERFUL things to be thankful for. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, April!
I love the idea of recording gratitude lists. Feeling thankful always helps me when I need a lift.
Me too, Amy.
What a great idea!! This really makes one appreciate all the little things in our lives … I will have to join in next week 🙂
Please do! You will love it.
Such beautiful flowers! And congrats on the blog award. #FridayBlogBooster
Thanks, Debbie!
Very Inspiring! Sounds like you have a lot to be thankful for. I need to make a list too!
I think everyone should!
I do believe that living with a thankful attitude can change ones whole outlook and result in a much happier person. I love that you shared that to remind us all Leslie.
Kathleen
Fridays Blog Booster Party
Thanks, Kathleen, and I should add that I am grateful for you and your encouragement!
So glad you decided to join in the celebration! Your garden looks lovely. I can smell the roses from here. 🙂
Thanks, Kristi!
That’s a beautiful ritual to remind yourself of all the good things that happened the whole day!
Congratulations on the blog feature!
Thanks, Roshni! It has truly made a difference for me. I probably should try to do it throughout the day!
My Hub and I watched all of the LOTR movies on our honeymoon. Neither of us was feeling too well and we were SO tired. It was perfectly lovely to curl up on a big sofa in our suite and watch them and nap.
Your garden is beautiful! I don’t know if I could sleep among the flowers – too many allergies there! But what a lovely idea for a warm spring day!
The blogging relationships you’ll find are indeed a wonderful thing.
Glad you’re with us again for TToT!
That sounds like a most excellent honeymoon! I read LOTR aloud to my husband. 🙂
Soooooooo ready for school to be done! Everyone there is hot and crabby.
Congrats on your BlogHer features. That is great!
Thank you!! We have four days of school left and I cannot wait because homework!!
What a fantastic list! I’ve done this with my family a couple of times for dinner conversation. It really helps to keep focused on the blessings in life. Thanks for sharing!! And congrats on being featured on Blogher!
We do it at Thanksgiving but it would be good to remember to do it other times as well!
You can celebrate with us whether it’s your second week or hundredth week! I do the same prayer thing you do, only I do it in the morning, while I’m putting off getting out of bed (I can’t get up yet, I’m PRAYING). My son does occasional old movie marathons. He re-watched his Land Before Time movies a couple of years ago, and it was very sweet to see him do it.
Oh, that IS so sweet. My kids used to love those movies. Now that they are big though they have a joke: Land Before Time 100: Big Rock from the Sky! I like your idea of doing the praying in the morning . . . at the very least I ought to do a morning offering or something like that, if I’m awake enough to remember.
welcome back! WOW two posts on blogher is not easy especially in such a short time… maybe it IS a sign! Good luck to your son on his internship… I love Chicago!
Thank you! He’s leaving tomorrow. I’ve heard it’s a great city, and we are looking forward to visiting him up there!
You have such a lovely garden.
Hard to believe, but I’ve never read the LOTR books or seen the movies. I really need to do that one of these days.
Chicago is a fun city. Congrats to your son!
Glad you chose to join us this week!
Thanks, Christine! At the very least you should watch the movies. They are the best book-to-movie adaptations I’ve seen and it’s hard to imagine that anyone wouldn’t enjoy them!
Ohhhh GORGEOUS roses! Wow! They’re so vibrant! I’m very impressed – it reminds me of the cottage gardens in England in the little villages.
So happy you’re here again, and that you have such wonderful things on your list. It sounds like life has been going really well for you, so YAY!
Thanks, Lizzi . . . cottage garden is sort of what I’m going for, as out of place as it will be in the front yard of my subdivision. Believe me when I tell you that no one else’s yard looks ANYTHING like this! I’m happy to be back with y’all this week!
It’s lovely 🙂
Your garden looks so lovely, you are quite a bit ahead of me – here our spring bulbs are just winding down.
I find it so fun to see different photos on Facebook of friends’ gardens from all around to see what is blooming where. Here in Tennessee the crocuses start as early as January and the daffodils bloom in March. I wish they lasted longer.
Your garden is so lovely you could count it as all ten for the week of thankfuls. (I’m sure that there is a rule in the BoSR/SBoR somewhere!) Congratulations on being featured on BlogHer!
Thank you! Maybe next week I should just post ten garden photos and call it a day. 😉
This is great. I should really start doing this because it’s so important to stop and appreciate the good things in life. Btw your garden is beautiful! And congrats on getting featured!
Thanks so much! And you really should join in. It’s not just a blog hop–it’s a supportive community as well.
Wonderful way to make new friends. LOTR is a great set of books – and your read of them changes as you get older. It’s my second TToT today too!
It’s funny–when I was a little girl I would skip the battle parts and only read the parts about Sam and Frodo. Now I like the other parts better. And that’s only one difference, of course.
I say #9 all the time! Congrats on your BlogHer posts, and your flowers are simply beautiful!
Oh, thank you so much!
You most certainly can celebrate! Doesn’t matter how many times you’ve participated, you’re welcome regardless of posting 1x or 100 😀
Congratulations on the Blogher x 2! How exciting!
Those blooms are gorgeous. Would love to think one day I’d have not only a vegetable garden but a flower garden as well.
Thank you! And I’m honored to be a part of this–hope to be around for the next 100 weeks!
What a great idea, Leslie! Can we do a link-up to this?
Absolutely! The more who join in the better!
Practicing gratitude is such a simple yet rewarding thing. It always makes me feel so much better, so for the life of me I can’t understand why I always forget to do it! BTW-Congrats to your son, that is such an amazing opportunity!
The kids and I started a Gratitude Journal as part of our nightly prayer. I should mention that we’ve only remembered to write in it once in the past month, but we did *start* it and it’s there for us to keep working on at some point!
Congratulations on your blog publishings. Spending time with adult children is always fun and your flowers are lovely. I kept a gratitude journal for a long time and then I hooked up here about a year ago. It is like changing and wonderful.
I’m finally making it to your post! Love your garden, can that be said? It’s gorgeous. And I’m all about the attitude of gratitude, so I’d also like to agree that school is almost over, and this is a good thing! Thanks for all your support, congratulations on your blog-accomplishments!
Thanks, Randi! It’s a good thing there are only two more days of school . . . he is getting harder and harder to wake up!!