1,000 Gifts

I struggle with remembering the gradituted and joy in life.  I am sure there are several folks, who follow Ann Voskamp's 1000 gifts, and are way into the 1,000's by now.  I am making a bigger push to remember these things.  Between this list, and the one on on Joy Discovered, I have barely scratched the surface, but it is a start.

1. finding a $1.00 Guitar Cake Pan at a yard sale ~ 09/05/09
2. Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants  ~ 09/05/09
3. colors of fall on a crisp morning ~ 10/31/09
4. lap desk for my computer when hooked up to the t.v. ~ 11/08/10
5. receiving a picture, of a child that I knit a blanket for, loving it ~ 02/03/11
6. first attempt at sourdough bread ~ 11/23/11
7. breakfast with the family ~ 11/23/11
8. a quiet morning to knit ~ 11/23/11
9. being able to record "The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" so we can watch it later ~ 11/24/11
10. the Spirit checking an attitude ~ 12/6/11
11. finding a recipe, in a favorite cook book, that we have all the ingredients in the house ~  12/7/11
12. afternoon with Christmas lights on and candles lite ~ 12/7/11
13. a warm house ~ 1/16/12
14. one kid happily playing by himself; the other is hanging out with Dad ~ 1/16/12
15. a child celebrating 12 years ~ 1/16/12
16. food to eat ~ 1/16/12
17. long hikes through the woods ~ 05/01/2012
18. husband who loves his boys ~ 05/01/2012
19. getting a kid off to camp ~ 07/01/12
20. seeing tomatoes turning orange ~ 07/01/12
21. kid going tubing with junior high youth group ~ 07/11/12
22. going biking with BOTH boys, what a huge blessing to be able to go with both at the same time now ~ 07/12/12
23. seeing a friend after a long while and promising to do coffee soon ~ 8/8/12
24. dinner made my hubby, two nights in a row (Monday and Tuesday of this week) 8/9/12
25. church youth group for our oldest and hanging out with the moms who stayed to pull dinner together ~ 8/9/12
26. road trip through Skyline drive ~ 10/7/12
27. smell of a wood fire hanging on the clouds (from an overlook on Skyline drive) ~ 10/7/12
28. time to read ~ 10/8/12
29. a home to clean ~ 10/8/12 
30. morning bird of a child sleeping in ~ 10/8/12 
31. getting to a marathon session of therapy, to find out 10:30 appt. has been moved to 10:00 AM; sweet, we'll be home a half hour early!!!!!!!! ~ 10/9/12
32.  finishing 16 chapter books with the boys through audio books and actual books since July 2012!  All for pleasure reading! ~ 10/10/12
33.  dough rising beautifully ~ 10/10/12
34. yellow stoneware bowl ~ 10/10/12
35. mom's birthday ~ 10/12/12
36. oldest getting two strips on his advanced green belt today ~ 10/13/12
37. being able to pass on baby stuff to a friend ~ 10/13/12
38. homemade fried chicken ~ 10/14/12
39. brownies to cover the lingering smell of fried grease ~ 10/14/12 
40. birth of a friend's long awaited son ~ 10/15/12 
41. Dad's birthday ~ 10/15/12
42. boy/child becoming man/child in the style of medicine taken for colds  ~ 10/16/12
43. Thing Two thankful for brand new sweat pants ~ 10/16/12
44. grace to cover the rough patches in life ~ 10/17/12
45. son taking over a minute off his mile run ~ 10/18/12
46. awesome school pictures ~ 10/18/12
47. bread and pizza rolls rising ~ 10/22/12
48. laundry moving along ~ 10/22/12
49. child requesting to read aloud ~ 10/22/12 
50. on a dreary fall day, the vibrant colors of trees in our neighborhood ~ lots of red, orange, and yellow ~ 10/25/12
51. cold breaking and head not hurting so much ~ 10/25/12
52. happy dog wagging a tail ~ 10/25/12 
53. hubby playing ball with son ~ 10/25/12
54. getting ahead on laundry ~ 10/28/12
55. baked chocolate chip cookies and I didn't make them ~ 10/29/12
56. only loosing power for 15 hours (most of which was overnight) ~ 10/30/12
57. sunshine after Hurricane Sandy came through ~ 10/31/12
58. other church communities still hosting alternatives to trick or treating ~ 10/31/12 
59. Presidential Fitness and our boys making an effort to improve ~ 11/1/12
60. small group, at Grace Group, a group of women to pray with ~ 11/1/12
61. a not rushed dinner ~ 11/2/12
62. a Saturday with not much to do out side of the home ~ 11/3/12
63. time to get part way caught up on old chores ~ 11/4/12
64. rest to begin the week ~ 11/5/12
65.  being totally checked by the Holy Spirit and being okay with it ~ 11/6/12
66. child saying "Batman gets the cool toys" while watching Batman and Superman ~ 11/6/12
67. husband and son off to Scouts ~ 11/6/12
68. seeing a friend from my neighborhood (at the polls); she was beaming as her son got to vote and has his Eagle Court of Honor this Wednesday or next (that wasn't clear) ~ 11/6/12
69. beautiful sunset tonight ~ 11/6/12
70. time to read when boys are sleeping ~ 11/7/12
71. cooking breakfast with oldest ~ 11/7/12
72. stolen moments with youngest, while waking him up for the day ~ 11/7/12
73. realized I DID receive my discounted Starbucks gift card ~ 11/9/12
74. rescheduled Harvest Festival at church ~ 11/9/12
75. baby shower for a friend ~ 11/10/12
76. Pampered Chef, all three big boxes, showing up at your door! ~ 11/16/12
77. date night with the hubster, at the Museum of American History ~ 11/17/12
78. just the four of us for Thanksgiving ~ 11/22/12
79. getting "The Grinch", in the mail, the day after Thanksgiving ~ 11/23/12
80. creating a travel battleship game for my son ~ 11/27/12
81. laughter during co-op Mom's portion, wonderful feeling ~ 11/29/12
82. getting the last of this season's leaves dealt with ~ 12/1/12
83. Thing Two singing well, during solo, at church today ~ 12/2/12
84. watching Polar Express with the family ~ 12/2/12 
85. child letting me sleep on couch and trying not to wake me up ~ 12/4/12
86. husband, stepping into my shoes, so I can try to get over cold ~ 12/4/12
87. other child waking up happy ~ 12/4/12 
88. family, all together, fairly healthy and happy ~ 12/4/12 
89. take and bake pizza from Costco ~ 12/6/12
90. Frosty the Snowman ~ 12/6/12
91. phone call with mom ~ 12/6/12
92. boy turning into teenager ~ 1/13/13
93. another boy hitting double digits ~ 1/20/13
94. patience in dealing with major car issues ~ 1/29/13
95. testing for blue belts in TKD and passing ~ 2/2/13
96. received blue belts in TKD ~ 2/12/13
97. celebrating 16 years of marriage ~ 2/14/13
98. first "paid" knitting project delivered ~ 3/15/13 
99.  got bread to rise and bake without falling ~ 3/18/13
100. basil plants just breaking the earth ~ 3/19/13
101. totally homemade ice cream sandwiches ~ 3/30/13 
102. oldest earning First Class in Boy Scouts ~ 4/1/13
103. pottery canister to hold wooden and bamboo spoons, found at Salvation Army for only $3.99 ~ 4/6/13
104. cool weather, windows open, breeze blowing the curtains ~ 4/7/13 
105. early morning walk with the dog ~ 4/8/13
106. first sip of coffee ~ 4/8/13
107. God answering a why question quickly ~ 4/9/13
108. purchasing tomato plants and flowers ~ 4/9/13
109. son sleeping in, after wanting to read last night ~ 4/10/13 
110. child's appetite returning ~ 4/10/13
111. dare to slow down, appreciate the moment ~ 4/11/13
112. son's baseball team winning their first game ~ 5/1/13
113. sister and her husband celebrating 27 years of marriage (so surreal, I can remember our folks 27th) ~ 5/3/13
114. son's baseball coach having an awesome attitude despite ample opportunity to be not so nice ~ 5/4/13 
115. funny phrases being shared ~ almost 3.14159 time ~ 5/5/13
116. ladies bible study ~ 5/5/13
117. Vacation Bible School and the guys in my life being excited to go and learn or go and serve ~ 7/15/2013
118. going out for milkshakes ~ 7/15/2013
119. capturing precious moments with the phone camera (why is that one better than the "stand alone one"?) ~ 7/15/2013
120. being able to pinpoint why a part of me aches and fix it ~ 7/18/2013
121. having a husband who is able to work from home to allow me to volunteer, for long stretches of time, and not have to pay for a sitter or arrange a play date ~ 7/18/2013
122. son finishing a book and telling me we need to go to the library soon ~ 7/7/13
123. boys enjoying the slip and slide at the end of VBS this week ~ 7/19/2013
124. boys seem to be enjoying Institute for Excellence in Writing ~ 7/22/2013
125. son making pie as part of O/T today ~ 7/23/2013
126. other son saying, "please may I have some 3.14?" 7/23/13
127. quiet moments, at home alone, to get paperwork done ~ 7/24/13
128. friend sending knitting things my way (photo's of cute things, books, etc.) because she knows I like to knit ~ 7/24/13
129. hearing the guys laugh over arm wrestling and other funny boy stuff ~ 7/25/13
130. kid kayaked 10 miles ~ 7/26/13
131. ice maker working again, on it's own ~ 7/28/13
132. oldest staying up late to read ~ 7/29/13 
133. mohawk hair cuts ~ 7/30/13
134. no cavity dentist appointment ~ 8/14/13
135. BEEEEEEEEEEing a part of a bee skit that didn't go quite as planned ~ 8/26/13
136. Going out for lunch, as a family, on the first day of public school ~ 9/2/13
137. Wednesday night bible studies ~ 9/12/13
138. finding "Mariette on the Highwire" for $0.50 at the local library ~ 9/14/13 
139. birthday parties ~ 9/14/13
140. ease of making 10yo laugh ~ 9/18/13
141. son biking 18 miles with Boy Scout Troop ~ 9/22/13
142. first batch of homemade vanilla extract made ~ 11/3/13
143. finding Lego Advent Calendars for boys ~ 11/23/13
144. using new ice cream maker for the first time ~ 12/23/13
145. blogging all the way through Advent, 24 entries in a row, new record for me ~ 12/24/13
146. Kevin and Ian jamming on acoustic guitar and acoustic bass ~ 12/25/13
147. Advanced Blue belts in tkd for both boys ~ 12/28/13
148. blank calendars ~ 1/5/14
149. boys pulling out costumes from 5 or 6 years ago - way to small - but loving it anyway ~ 1/9/14
150. son saying he slept in because he stayed up till 11:09 to finish reading a book ~ 1/10/14
151. celebrating life ~ 1/13/14
152. ingredients to make ice cream and cake ~ 1/13/14
153. strength to clean ~ 1/13/14
154. sunset hitting the pantry door ~ 1/14/14
155. baking cupcakes for some Boy Scouts ~ 1/14/14
156. spray bleach, paper towels, and not gagging ~ 1/14/14