#novemberthanks

one of my favorite blogs

(one of the few that i regularly "follow")

is Sheena's blog

it's full of funny little stories, amazing recipes, gorgeous photography...you get the picture

i stumbled upon it one day 5 or 6 years ago

and just kept coming back day after day

in fact, if you've followed my blog for some time, 

you might have noticed a few links back to her blog from time to time

now, you may be wondering why on earth i'm randomly talking about another blog

and what on earth that has to do with my bizarre hashtag title

...allow me me string it all together for you:

one of the things i love about Sheena is how conversational and interactive she is on her blog

and one way she does that is by inviting her readers to "play along" when she's up to something

last year (at least i think it was last year), 

she came up with the idea to share something you are thankful for everyday of november on instagram

and use the hashtag #novemberthanks

then, if you wanted, you could see what everyone else was thankful for too

i thought it was a fun idea so i played along

and it turned out to be so much more encouraging than i ever expected

i think when we are intentional about being thankful, 

we begin to realize just how blessed we are

...at least i did!

and when november came to an end, 

i actually felt a little sad having to wait till this november to use the hashtag again, for reals!

these have been my #novemberthanks so far

(please excuse the crappy quality...my phone camera is on it's last leg!)

November 1st:  my girlies watching Alice in Wonderland for the first time...this was my favorite movie as a kid, and i am super thankful to have the opportunity to spend my days at home with them, sharing little moments like this one

November 2nd:  i'm thankful that although our saturdays go by in a total blur, that blur includes these two and their daddy

November 3rd:  this was a legit conversation we had in church...so thankful to get to do life with Daniel; he makes me laugh, even when he's not trying to, and you can never have too much laughter in your life, right?

November 4th:  my old, beat-up espresso machine - i got this thing for $2 at an estate sale when we were still in university.  we didn't even know if it worked, but we figured we'd take the chance and it definitely paid off.  the only reason we even pulled over was because they were giving out free hotdogs and when you're in school, free = awesome...actually, that's the case most of the time, but it's especially true when you're a student!  

and now, every time i use this thing, i can't help but smile and think back to garage sale-ing on a sunny afternoon and giggling with Daniel as we perused all they had out, munching on our hot dogs as we went... :)

now it's your turn - what are you thankful for?

feel free to use the hashtag on instagram 

or write up a blog post and share the link in the comments - i'd love to see it!  :)

i'll try and share my #novemberthanks on here as well as my instagram, 

but if you want to follow me there as well, have at 'er!