It's November Again!

I can't believe it's already this time of year!

And can you believe that I'm actually posting when I said I would?!

That being said, this will be a short post. I still have a billion projects in my head from when my mom was here. I need to get them finished before I go crazy! But I'm loving every minute of it. Almost every minute. I'm not enjoying the repeat trips to JoAnn's or Lowe's, or anywhere else for that matter.

So, back to November. Those of you that have been reading this blog all along may remember that we focused on Gratitude for all of last November, in honor of Thanksgiving.

I hope it doesn't fee repetitive, but we're going to do that again. I just think Gratitude is essential in living a life of Abiding Joy and we can't emphasize it too much.

To start with, I want to share something my sister-in-law passed along to me this morning. It's focused on families with children at home, but I think you can easily adapt it to work for anyone in any situation.

The idea is to get you thinking about gratitude every day in a sort of countdown to Thanksgiving. My s-i-l had it done on cute little labels. Unfortunately, I don't know how to copy that over to this site and my computer really struggles with Adobe Acrobat (the format it was in). Because my computer is dying.

HH seems pretty gung ho about replacing my humble laptop with a pretty cool upgrade. That is something I'd be very grateful (and excited) for!

But I digress. Back to daily gratitude.

Print off the daily ideas. Feel free to design your own cute little labels for them. Then cut them out individually. Place them in a cute jar. Pull one strip from the jar each day and you MUST do what it says that day.

We're totally going to do this. I'm so excited about it! Thanks, Mel!

• I am Thankful for My Family! Play a game together, inside or outside! (board game, hike, chalk art, etc.)
• I am Thankful for Pies! Make some Pumpkin Pies to deliver to anyone! (unless you're delivering it to me--please, make it pecan.)
• I am Thankful for Grandparents! Call and tell them "I love you" "I am grateful for you"!
• I am Thankful for Prayer! Say a prayer only using the words "I thank Thee for..." and don't ask for anything.
• I am Thankful for Computers! Send an email to someone you love, and a photo!
• I am Thankful for my Toys! Give some of your toys to Goodwill to give to other kids. (Grown-ups--you know you have toys you can give up too).
• I am Thankful for my Teachers! Make a plate of cookies and/or a card for your piano, Primary (church), or school teacher.
• I am Thankful for our Car! Clean out the car, and go get ice cream cones in it!
• I am Thankful for Turkeys! Art project: Make paper turkeys
• I am Thankful for Neighbors! Do a secret service for your neighbor! (rake leaves, pull weeds, leave a treat, etc.)
• I am Thankful for my Heavenly Father! Write in you journal and say a prayer expressing your love and gratitude!
• I am Thankful for my Cousins! Call or write a letter to one of your cousins!
• I am Thankful for the Scriptures! Have a Family Home Evening on a favorite scripture story--memorize a scripture!
• I am Thankful for Sisters! Do something nice for her! (make her bed, do her job, play a game with her, etc.)
• I am Thankful for Food! Go to the store and pick out a food that you haven't tried yet!
• I am Thankful for our Kitchen! Bake something fun together in the kitchen!
• I am Thankful for my Ears! Close your eyes and listen to music! Play some music. Enjoy it all day!
• I am Thankful for my Dad! Do something nice for Dad! (run give him a hug when he gets home from work, write him a note, shine his shoes, clean his closet, organize the garage, etc.)
• I am Thankful for my Hands! Art Project: Finger painting, or drawing.
• I am Thankful for my Eyes! Watch a special movie with your family!
• I am Thankful for my Brother! Do something nice for your brother! (make his bed, do his job, play a game with him, etc.)
• I am Thankful for my Legs! Go outside--run and jump or ride your bike!
• I am Thankful for my Mom! Do something nice for mom! (write her a note, good chocolate, cook and clean up dinner, do the laundry, clean any room, etc.)
• I am Thankful for Books! Go to the library and pick out some Thanksgiving books!
• I am Thankful for the Seasons! Go on a walk, enjoy nature, the colors, etc.
• I am Thankful for my Teeth! Give Mom & Dad some Halloween candy and brush & floss
• I am Thankful for a Prophet! Read a Conference talk or article in the church magazine by him! (If you are of a faith other than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, feel free to pick a different leader of a church or state).
• I am Thankful for my Home! Clean out a hall, bedroom, or upstairs closet together--play music and have fun!

I am so grateful for this fun idea, too! I encourage all of you to take the challenge and do it. You better get started--it's already November 2nd!