day 28: traveling with my mom

You all know I love to travel.  I've already blogged about traveling and traveling with friends.  I thought now I should blog about how thankful I am to travel with my mom.  There are tons of people around me that tell me how great it is that I get to travel with my mom.  I know I've been blessed with a mom who loves to explore the world and she has passed that on to me.  I love that I get to go on trips with her and I don't have to share her with anyone.  I'm thankful that she wants me to travel with her.  I'm also thankful for those mornings that she doesn't make me get up really early and go gallavanting around town or around the cruise ship.  I know that sometimes I have to get up early to go places, but she lets me take my time getting ready and doesn't rush me.  She lets me see the things I want to see (and I let her see the things she wants to see).  Maybe that's why we make such a great pair.  I know it's a blessing to spend these years with my mom and I do cherish all the moments we get to spend seeing the world!

day 23-27

I missed a few days of my thankfulness posts so I'm making them up today. I know you are also waiting on my trip blog to hear all about NYC. That will have to wait until I don't have to blog on my iPhone. Tomorrow I'll have q normal computer to blog on and pictures to upload so I'll do that tomorrow. Until then I'm thankful for:

day 23: email: it's a great way for me to check on people and keep in touch. Of course I love snail mail but it's not used as much as email.
day 24: pinterest: It brings out the crafty side in me and gives me new ideas of things to cook, make, photograph, etc.
day 25: airplanes: They take me places far from home and allow me to experience parts of the world that I wouldn't have the opportunity to otherwise.
day 26: sunshine and rain equally but not at the same time: I love sunshine but ibalso love the rain when the time is right. They can both make for equally wonderful days but depending on what the plans are for the day.
day 27: football: It keeps me occupied when I'm at home on the weekends. I've probably learned more about football during the last few months than when I had cable.

9/11 Memorial and Balloon Inflation

Today we went on the water taxi to the 9/11 Memorial. It was surreal being there and imagining that day 10 years ago. We tried to catch the next taxi to the next stop but we missed it just barely. That was ok because we hot some of the tasty nuts they sell in NYC. As I was standing there eating my nuts a squirrel came right up to me begging for nuts. I'm not sure I've ever been so close to a squirrel before. I finally gave him a few nuts but not before snapping a few photos. Check fb for those in a week or so. It started raining (again) while we waited. We stayed on the taxi until our final stop with a picture shot in the rain but it was all good.

We rested a little at the hotel after we got back. Then we made our way to central park to watch the balloons being inflated. So neat!!! It rained a little but I didn't melt. We also went to times square and ate at a little pub that I'll write more about later.

In the morning it's up early to get our frontbrow spots for the pardade. Exciting!!!

"Should we stay or should we go???"

We arrived in NYC today around noon. We decided to take a taxi rather than try to figure out public transportation. We wanted to get to our hotel ASAP because we were hungry. Here are a few things we managed to squeeze in today.

1. Check in to our tiny hotel room and settle in.
2. Walk a few miles or maybe more.
3. Ate pizza at Angelo's. I'm not sure if it was the one that people recommended but it's where we ate.
4. Found our way around the subways and didn't get lost.
5. Went to Chinatown and haggled.
6. Had a Canoli in Little Italy.
7. Went in circles around Rockefeller Center.
8. Watched the Rockettes 3D Christmas Spectacular. It was wonderful! Just as I remembered from years ago when they were in Dallas.
9. Did most of this in the rain. Yes, it rained most of the day and my jeans were pretty soaked when we got back to the hotel but we still had a good time.

Hopefully the rain will let up earlier tomorrow so we can enjoy our day at the 9/11 Memorial and the balloons being inflated for the parade.

More updates later!

day 22: traveling with friends

I'm so thankful to have friends that want to and like (at least I think)travel with me. I've been fortunate enough to take a few trips with some very good friends, those that I would consider my best friends. I love the way that we can always pick a fun place and plan some things that we want to make sure to do but then other things we just decide to do when we get there. I love that they bring out the foodie in me and don't judge me for the food I consume while I'm on vacation. There are no calories on vacation right? It's always something I look forward to! Traveling with my mom is coming at a later date :)

day 21: free Christmas cards

I'm thankful that for the 2nd year in a row I am going to get free photo Christmas cards.  This year they are from Tiny Prints.  I got my code today through email so when I get back from NYC I am going to narrow down my photo selections and Christmas cards and decide who to send cards to.  Send me your address if you want a card!

day 20: friends

I'm extremely thankful for my friends that I have from work. They know what I put up with a deal with on a daily basis. They sympathize with me when I have a tough day. They encourage me when I get discouraged. I'm thankful for them and glad I have such supportive friends who would do anything for me (legal of course).

day 19: breaks from school

I'm so thankful that I get time off from work to relax and recharge myself. It's nice to be able to be able to take care of myself and do things I would like to do.

day 18: laughing children

I love the sound of laughing children in my classroom. I'm thankful for the times I can laugh with them and the times when I can make them laugh and smile if they are in a sad mood. They make my day. When a child smiles their eyes light up. I love when we play a game and they get an answer right and score a point. They think that is the greatest thing ever. I'm thankful when a child walks out of my classroom and says, "I had the best day ever!" I have much to be thankful for but this is something I get to experience and appreciate many times during the week :) It makes my days enjoyable!

Tiny Prints Christmas Cards

This will be my 2nd year to make and send out Christmas cards.  Last year someone had a promotion where you could blog about their cards and then get 50 free ones.  Sadly, they aren't doing that same promotion again this year.  However I happened upon a blog that reported that Tiny Prints is doing a similar promotion this year.  I haven't bought much from Tiny Prints but I am excited about what they have to offer.  Their line of Christmas cards is wonderful and they have some really creative cards.  You can find them here at their website.  I already have all my pictures picked out to put on my card.  I am planning to take a few more in NYC this Thanksgiving to add to my collection of optional pictures.  I know I don't have a cute little family or a sweet little puppy to show everyone but I have done a lot in the past year and I think it's a great reason to send out Christmas cards so I'm sending them out. 

I love cards that have a lot of space for pictures....I can never pick just one.  These are some of my favorites because they have space for more than one picture on them.  I also love the folded cards because I love writing a little bit about things that have happened throughout the year.

Once I have gathered all of my fun pictures, I will decide on the card I want to choose.  You really should check out their cards.  After you blog about their cards on your blog, you go fill out this form.  You can thank me later! :)

Another thing I plan to try this year with all of my Christmas cards is something I saw on Pinterest.  People have posted the idea or putting all of their Photo Christmas cards that they get in the mail on a metal ring and putting that on their coffee table each year as a holiday photo book.  I never know what to do with my Christmas cards at the end of the season and some of them are just too nice to throw out so I'm trying it out this year. 

If you are lucky, you will get a Christmas card in the mail :)

day 17: sky ranch

Oh how I love that place! It started with me wanting to work at a summer camp with kids in college. The summer after my freshman year I chose to take summer classes so they would be easier. Science wasn't(and still isn't) my thing so community college was the right thing and much easier than science at OBU. Moving on, all that first summer I researched summer camps. Somehow I learned about Sky. I also learned about pine cove. It might have been the fact that they both were at obu recruiting. Regardless, I applied at both and from what I remembered I interviewed at both. I was ecstatic when I got the job at Sky. I was so excited! I knew a few other people that got a job there too so it wasn't just me. Of course when I first got there I was super quiet but quickly warmed up. It's amazing how fast you become yourself when you spend 24 hrs a day with people in the sane room and very little alone time. I was blessed with an amazing group of counselors that I was so fortunate to work with that first year. We had so much fun with out cabin full of 8 year olds. My most favorite part of sky besides meeting some great friends was getting to lead sweet children to Christ. I'll never forget one little girl who had a puzzled look on her face. She didn't understand while people were so mean to Jesus on the cross. She asked, "will you help me ask Jesus into my heart." I still get goosebumps thinking about that sweet moment and many other that are similar to that. I not only worked there that summer but the next summer as well and the the summer after my first year of teaching. I am thankful for what sky did in my life and how it taught me to be selfless. I'm also thankful that they trusted me enough to teach children about the love of God. I won't lie, there were many tough moments but in all honesty it was completely worth all the late nights, sweating, sunburns, lice checks, weekend duty, camper homesickness, and lifeguard certification (uggh). I am forever grateful for it all!

day 16: music

I love music! I'm not necessarily good with names of singers but music makes me happy. I love singing in the car when no one is around. I was singing a song today in class and one little girl in my class said "you sing pretty." According to her everything I do, say, or wear is pretty, haha! I also love piano music. It's probably my favorite thing to listen to during the day and after school. It's so peaceful and I love it. So I'm adding music to my list of things I'm thankful for.

day 15: my brother

I know I already posted about being thankful for the rest of my family but I thought I'd dedicate this entire post to my thankfulness for my brother. We've grown up together getting along, fighting, making secret plans to catch Santa, business plans, plans to visit cool places and even spent a year together in college. Growing up people(teachers) were always surprised that we were related. We were very different. He's always been the outgoing one. Of course he gets his good looks from and and his smartness too :) One of my favorite memories of my brother is when we traveled through parts of Europe together with a friend of mine. We had a lot of fun and I will always remember that trip. I'll also always remember our Tiger Tunes experience at OBU. It was neat spending a year at college together. I always ask him for financial advise because he's part of the business world and knows way more about the business type stuff than I do. Anyways, I'm thankful that we can still be friends even though we are both adults and lead our own lives and don't see each other as much as we used to. He's an important part of my life and I hope he has a pretty great birthday!!!

day 14: traveling

I'm certainly thankful for traveling and getting to experience different parts of the world. I love visiting new places and finding my favorites and going back again. I love that I am disciplined enough to save up to go on fun trips each year. I've definitely got a few favorite places and a ton of places on my "I wanna visit these places one day...sooner rather than later" list. I love the excitement of researching and packing and counting down. Planning and not planning equally excite me. I love to have things to look forward to on trips. At the same time I love the "do what I want when I want to" mentality. I love traveling with different types of people whether it's my mom, my travel buddy, or old college friends they all make me happy. Traveling is part of who I am and it's a blessing I am very thankful for.

day 13: photography

My camera is part of me and photography is one my most favorite hobbies besides traveling. I love seeing something and capturing the perfect image. It makes me happy. I love photographing sweet children and exciting events. I love when people see my photos and think they are great. I'm hoping to get some great photos in New York at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I love the way I can capture priceless vacation moments with my camera that become souvenirs that I keep forever. Photography is part of life's great adventure!

day 12: food

Yes I'm going to go ahead and say I'm thankful for food. I'm not just thankful for food in general. I'm thankful for my favorites....those being donuts, chick fil a, cookies, cake, brownies, strawberries, and basically anything delicious. Because I'm a foodie at heart I have a great appreciation for food of all kinds whether it is fast food, regular food prepared at home, fancy food from a fancy restaurant, baked yumminess, or cruise ship food.....I love it all. I'm thankful that I have the money to buy the food that I like and enjoy rather than settling for the very inexpensive ramen noodles. I'm thankful also that I'm adventurous enough to try a wide variety of interesting edible creations when I encounter them throughout my day to day adventures.

day 11: my golden girls

I'm so thankful for these girls.  Elise, Kara, Ruth, Kaylan, and Whitney are some of my dearest friends from college.  They are the closest thing to sisters as I've ever had.  None of us live in the same city but they are still just as dear as they were when we lived down the hall from each other orlived an apartment complex over.  They mean a lot to me.  I've had the chance to travel to Europe with two of them and we had the best time.  When we get together, it's just like old times, except now we are grown up and have jobs and live adult lives.  I love these girls and wish we lived closer.  However, because of the distance, our time together is just that much sweeter.  I miss them dearly but I know that God will continue to keep our friendship strong even though we don't see each other as often as we would like.  Girls, I love you all dearly and I miss you all like crazy!  I pray for you all the time and I always look forward to the time we get to spend together.   

day 10: airmiles

I know it sounds silly, but I am very thankful for airmiles.  They allow me to go places that I wouldn't necessarily want to pay the money for at the time.  They make a plane ticket seem inexpensive and allow me to visit new places and frequent my the old favorites.  I'm a saver when it comes to airmiles.  I like to save them up and decide where to go.  I recently redeemed some to help pay for my airline ticket to NYC coming up.  I also had enough to pay for my friends airline ticket.  She paid the hotel and I took care of the airfare and we both came out ahead.  Otherwise, we would have both been paying $500 plus for airfare.  They are a great thing to save up by using credit cards and paying them off each month if you are disciplined enough to pay them off each month.  That is how I earn most of my airmiles.  Anyways, regardless of how I earn them (as long as it's legal) I am thankful that I am able to earn them and love saving and using them!

day 9: my job

I could go on and on about how thankful I am for my job. I'm not only thankful that I have a job but that I have such an incredible job that allows me to make such an impact on kids at an early age. So many people view kindergarten as the grade that kids play all day, take naps, and make new friends. Yes they do make new friends (some that are friends for life) and get to play (but not all day) but we do not nap. Instead of napping I am teaching children how to read, how to be independent, and how to think for themselves and be problem solvers. Who doesn't remember their kindergarten teacher??? I know mine and if you asked anyone around you they can most likely tell you their kindergarten teachers name. I love the fact that at the age of 5 and 6 they think you are the best person in the world besides mom and dad. I love that they love me no matter what. I am thankful that I can act silly with them and teach them to love learning at the same time. I won't lie, my job can be very stressful and filled with long hours and a ton of paperwork but I get to do what I love. Also I get a break in the summer to travel the world!

day 8: fake mustaches

I know this seems like something silly to be thankful for but I have finally found something that can quickly change the mood of one of my most challenging students (ever). I don't know what it is about it. In all seriousness though, I'm thankful that I have that ability to have a little fun with my students to make them laugh. When I see laughing and hear snorting, it just makes my day even if it does mean I have to wear a crazy fake mustache. I wouldn't have it any other way.

day 7: my education

I'm thankful for the education I have that can never be taken from me. I appreciate the sacrifices that ny parents made so that I could have a quality education throughout all of my years in school. Not only do I value my college education but I value the people I met there and the experiences I had. I'm thankful that I had a dredger to go on and get my MEd after my Undergraduate degree. I hope to go on and start my doctorate sometime in the next few years. I definitely value education and I see myself as a lifelong learner.

day 6: being a homeowner

I'm thankful that I am at a place in life that I am able to own my own home. It's nice to know that the money that I pay each month goes towards something that is mine. It's hard being disciplined at times and paying a mortgage but I know years down the road I wil be so glad that I was wise and made that step when I decided to make the big purchase.

day 5: lazy saturdays

I'm thankful for Saturday's that I can sleep late and don't have early morning plans. It's such a nice feeling to go to sleep Friday night and not have to set an alarm for the morning. I love taking my time and lounging for a while and just relaxing on Saturday mornings. It's such a great way to start some weekends.

day 4: the divas

I am thankful for 3 very dear friends that are like family.  They love me the way I am, do not try to change me, support and encourage me, and pray for me.  I met these girls in college in the ever so lovely freshman dorm FCE.  Two of them lived on my hall and one lived upstairs and she went to high school with my roommate.  We've been out of college for about 9 years now and most of my college friends have gone their separate ways and we don't see each other as much as we would like.  However, these 3 girls that I graduated with became some of my best friends in college.  I call them the Divas.  I am lucky that they have allowed me to become one of them :)  Moving on, we decided that there was too much time in between visits with each other and we lived entirely too close for location to be an issue.  Therefore, we decided that once a month we were going to get together for dinner.  We switch off on who hosts each month and it has worked well.  Of course we have missed months because it is very hard to get together with all of our schedules at times.  We've also had to skip some months in the summer once or twice because of traveling and summer plans.  For the most part we have stuck with our goal of meeting up once a month to catch up, vent, share our lives, and spend time together.  We never skip a beat and we have a great time together.  I love those girls so much and they mean everything to me!  I'm so glad that we decided to have our monthly dinner dates...I look forward to them each month!

day 3: the rest of my family

I'm thankful for the rest of my family. That includes my brothers, sis in law, cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandmother, and anyone else I might have forgotten. I'm thankful that they all care about me and help me celebrate life. I also am thankful that I get to share exciting trips with some of them. They accept me the way I am, love me, and they do not try to change me.

Day 2: My Parents

My Parents! How could I not be thankful for them? They were there the day I was born and did everything in their power to give me the best life they could possibly give me. They didn't give me everything I wanted but they taught me how to be successful and work hard. They worked hard to make sure I had a quality education and to make sure my needs were met. They were at all of my drill team performances in highschool (from what I remember). They supported me and my dreams in college and encouraged me along the way. They always reminded me of how proud they were of me and they still do. They have done more for me than I deserve and for that I am eternally grateful!

Thankfulness

I'm going to step away from travel talk and blog for the next month about a different topic......Being Thankful!

It's something I don't talk about as much as I should. Sometimes I take for granted all that I have been blessed with including the people I am surrounded by and the opportunities I have had. I've seen people that have challenged themselves to post 30 Days of Thankfulness this November and I wanted to challenge myself to do the same and really reflect on the blessings in my life. So here I am on November 1st to start sharing things I am thankful for. I will do my best to post for the next 30 days but if I don't, I will double/triple up some. I challenge you to do the same if you blog. If you don't, why not write it down and put it in a safe place that you can pull out when you are feeling a little down. Just a thought :)

Day 1: I'm thankful most importantly for my faith. How great it is to live in a place where I can worship God and not be ridiculed because of it. I'm thankful that God loves me enough to forgive me for all of the mistakes I've made and continues to be there when I come running back to Him. He knows my heart and my desires and has such an incredible and perfect plan for me that I see unfolding before my eyes each day.