Good shit

I know, I know, I’m unoriginal and completely cliché and ordinary. But here is what I’m thankful for this year: 

Adoption – that my wonderful daughter is being raised by loving parents (and that there is this beautiful alternative to the other two choices in surprise pregnancies)
Books and baths. Couldn’t choose. Plus they go together so well.
Coffee (Crane Coffee particularly!)
Donuts (shout out to you too, LaMar’s!)
Etsy – for all the homemade things in my house that constantly remind me of what I can’t make myself
Fantasy Football – I love it and I hate it. But I’m guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, so today I love it.
Groom (aka, Stephen. All the other letters that might have worked were already taken). For loving me as I am, as I was, and as I will be. It’s awesome to be loved 360 degrees.
Home – I love my little nest where I am safe and warm and happy
Instagram – sometimes I just hashtag Pacific Northwest when I’m feeling homesick. It’s amazing that anything you want to see is there, and not in the creepy Google Images kind of way
Jigsaw puzzles – and to you, Charles Wysocki for puzzles that aren’t just cats, flags, or beer cans
Kids – they test me and completely love me at the same time. I love them for it.
Library – I think they’re getting pretty sick of my mug around there by now. But they ain’t getting rid of me (until I have too many fines on my card, of course)
Music – instant mood lifter. And the boys dancing around is an added bonus.
NikePlus app – for motivating me to run and to PR. Not that those little motivating voices do anything for me, but the record and PRs and trophies are what a geek like me needs to push herself beyond her treadmill runs.
Ob/gyn – I know this is a bit unorthodox, but mine kept me and my baby safe eight months ago on the scariest day of my life. 
Parents – and not just my parents for being my parents – for the way they parented me: I appreciate it so much now that I have kids of my own. My morals and work ethic I credit to them growing those alongside me. 
Quality Time – the time I spend with my family when we are fully engaged in each other – at the children’s museum or the zoo, or playing together in the toy room. Sometimes I catch myself smiling that this is my life and these boys are mine.
Running – not just because I lost 60 pounds. But also for the mind clearing and mellowing it provided me. We all know I need as much of that as I can get.
Siblings – ah, the people who know me best. Seeing Joel last weekend was good for the ol’ soul. We reminisced about how tight we were that dreadful summer in 2005. He got me through a hard patch and we’re laughing about it now nearly ten years later.
Therapy – not the lying on a couch kind, but the kind I get for much cheaper: happy hour with friends where we vent and chat about things we didn’t even know mattered to us until our cheeks get flushed
Uninterrupted free time – this might sound like the opposite of Q, but I believe everyone needs space to be themselves. The time I get to exercise or read or take baths or write is much appreciated. I am still mom, but I’m also Holly.
Vacation – I love the little breaks we get from our routine. And then returning to our blessed routine.
Writing – even if it’s just mushy scribblings and incoherent ramblings, it pauses a moment of mine that I can forever relive.
Xmas – tomorrow we trim our tree and make hot cocoa and listen to Bing Crosby! And mom, I know, you taught us against writing Christmas this way and I don’t, it’s just for my list because I thought “Excel spreadsheets” was too much of a stretch.
Yoga – thanks for my new muscles. And I’m glad I can do this while Brandon is awake (half-hearted parenting at it’s best, be sure)
Zorinsky – my favorite running trail. Again, I know, how cliché.