Day 30

I am thankful that November is done!  It was hard coming up with something for every day to be thankful for, even tho I have a lot to be thankful for.  It's a lot harder when you take the time to sit down and write about it!  It was fun to do this challenge (even tho I fell WAY behind!), but I don't think I will be doing it again, at least not as a blog!

Day 29

I am thankful for my family and friends.  They have all helped shape me into the person I am today and I don't know where I would be without them.  They all mean so much to me, and I cherish them all.

Day 28

I am thankful for the opportunity to be a Stay At Home Mom.  Years ago, I could never see myself as a SAHM, but I have to say, I have enjoyed the last 7 years.  It is definitely a lot different then being a working mom.  I was in the Navy when I had my older 2 kids and they went to daycare.  It was nice being with my younger two, and knowing all their first's were really their firsts.  I love spending time with them and watching them grow.  I like that I am able to take my older kids to activities that they want to do, and I can go to all the parent teacher conferences and other activities that happen at school during the day.  I am looking forward to the days whee I can chaperone my younger children's field trips.  I am very blessed that we can afford for me to stay home with my children, and even tho I get frustrated at times, I cherish every moment.

Day 27

I am thankful for Everquest, lol.  Because of that game I met my wonderful Husband, but I have also made some fabulous, lifelong friends.  Some of them I have never even met in person, but they still mean the world to me.  We had triumphs and defeats together, we worked together and formed a bond that a non-gamer may not understand, but that bond is strong.  I love seeing wonderful things happening to them, such as engagements, weddings, and new babies (a lot of these because like me they met someone online in EQ), and I cry with them when they experience a personal loss (just like they were there for me when my Dad died).  I love and cherish my EQ family, all the ones I have met, and all the ones I have yet to meet (but know I will someday down the road).

Day 26

I am thankful for my couponing blogs that I follow.  They do all the weekly ad matches for me, which makes couponing so easy for me to do.  They really do all the hard work, and I get to reap the benefits. When ever new coupons come out, they tell me about any new deals involving them too.  It takes so much less time for me to plan my shopping trips because I can just go to their blogs and see what is a good deal and what coupons I need to make it happen.

Day 25

I am thankful for my kindle.  When we went to Tennessee I took my kindle with me and I easily had a ton of books at my finger tips, without taking up a bunch of space.  I read 3 books while we were gone in Tennessee.  I still enjoy real books, but I love the convenience of the kindle.  Now that I have the new Paperwhite I also love that it has a built in light, so I can still read in the dark (no distracting lights for my hubby while he drives!).  I absolutely love my kindle and I find that I am reading a lot more often with it too since I can download free books whenever I want.

Day 24

I am thankful for college football.  On the 24th we drove 2 hours to Knoxville to watch the University of Tennessee play against the University of Kentucky, and win!  It was a great day spent with my husband, both his brothers, and one of his brother's friends.  UT is my husband's Alma Mater, and it was great to not only watch UT play, but to win also!  We went to another game a few years back which was a very disappointing loss.  After the season UT had this year it was great to end the season with a win.  My husband is a HUGE college football fanatic and it was great to spend some time together doing something that he enjoys.

Us at the game before it started

Pre game warmups, look how great our seats were!

Final score Ut 34, UK 17!

Brothers

Day 23

I am thankful for lazy days.  Sitting back, relaxing, reading, or watching TV with nothing to do and no where to go.  I don't get 100% lazy days very often, but not being in my on home I was able to relax and be lazy the day after Thanksgiving.

Day 22

I am thankful for being able to spend Thanksgiving with my Husband's family.  We got to go to his Grandma's house were we spent time with an Aunt, Uncle, and his brother's, our Sister In Law, and a bunch of the kids cousins.  Then we had a second dinner (my first time to ever have 2 Thanksgiving celebrations) with his Dad, Aunt, and 1 of his brother's again.

I am thankful that we were able to make the trip to Tennessee to spend this time with his family.  The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins too.  Hopefully this is something we will be able to do more often.  Family, Food, and Fun, all things to be thankful for.

Day 21

I am Thankful for my baby girl, Aislinn.  The 21st is her birthday and she just turned 2 years old.  The last 2 years have just flown by, she is growing and changing everyday.  Her vocabulary and what she learns just continues to amaze me.  She is our little Diva.  She takes after her Granddaddy, more then any of the other kids.  She has his temper and stubbornness and she is impatient too lol.  But she is so sweet when she looks at you with her big brown eyes (my only brown eyed child) and says Pllleeaassseee so sweetly.  I can't wait to see what adventures we will have with her as she grows up.

Day 20

I am thankful for Blogger.  It lets me write and share my blog with all my friends and family.  They made it easy to set up and easy to use, which is always a plus for me.  I may not blog as often as I would like to (sometimes it's just because I'm a serious slacker!), but I love that it is here for me whenever I want to, or get to use it.

Day 19

I am thankful for airplanes.  Airplanes made it possible for my mom to come from Arizona, and my In-Laws to come from Hawaii for my little ones birthday parties.  It was awesome that Grandparents from both sides of the family were able to be there for Riley and Aislinn's 4th and 2nd birthday party.  We don't get to see them that often, so we cherish the time that we do get, and Airplanes make it all possible.

Page 18

I am thankful for GPT sites.  GPT stands for Get Paid To, these are the sites that pay me to do survey's offers, searches, etc.  I have earned literally hundreds of dollars through them, which has resulted in buying myself and my family numerous items for free.  I have spent almost $200 of free money on Christmas so far this year, I got my husband a kindle touch for free, and I got myself a Samsung galaxy tab2 10.1 for free, all because of my GPT sites.  I spend time on them when I want to and I can do as little or as much as I want, how much I earn is up to me.

Day 17

I am thankful for my car.  For several months after I had Aislinn we had to drive 2 cars when we went anywhere as a family.  My Traverse fits 7, so it is perfect for our family of 6.  We paid a bit extra to have the captain seating in the 2nd row, vices a bench seat and 8 person seating, and I love it.  We may be still paying on it, but we got a great financing deal and a huge chunk of it is paid off already.  I will be driving this car long after it is paid off, so we can continue to fit our large family in it.

Day 16

I am thankful for my Stockpile.  Because of my stockpile I have saved so much money.  I love that anytime we run out of something, or run low on something we can just run out to our stockpile and grab a new item.  Over 50% of my stockpile is made up of items I got for free.

Day 15

Day 15 I am thankful for my camera.  It lets me catch so many memories that I can cherish down the road.  I am the picture taking queen, just ask my hubby.  There are times my older kids look at me and say "seriously? you want to take more pictures?".  I absolutely love my DSLR, the pictures have such an amazing quality to them.  My kids may complain, and my hubby may roll his eyes at me at times, but I will continue to take hundreds of pictures at a time, so I can fondly look back at all the memories we have made together as a family.

Day 14

I am thankful for our Realtor.  She was AMAZING! Seriously!  We met up with her on a Tuesday and by Friday when we boarded the plan to come home we had put in an offer on a house and had already been to the bank to submit paperwork for our loan.  She dedicated almost all of her time to helping us find the perfect house in a short period of time.  We absolutely love our house.  We know we found it and bought it pretty quickly, but we truly feel like it is the perfect house for us and we don't feel like we settled at all.

If anyone wants to buy a house in North Carolina, I will gladly pass on her name to you!

Day 13

I am thankful for my 4 yr old son Riley.  I am thankful for all my children, every day, but the 13th of Nov is his birthday, so it's a special day just for him.  He has such a crazy, spunky personality, he makes me laugh ALL the time.  I just love him to pieces and am so thankful that he is my son.  I couldn't imagine my life without him in it.

The Birthday Boy on his birthday :)

Day 12

I am thankful for Pinterest.  Silly?  Maybe!  But it's true!  I have gotten SO many ideas for recipes, crafts, and my home that I never would have thought of on my own.  At one point I was severely addicted to Pinterest, but I have been able to curb my addiction and I don't spend as much time on there as I use to, but I still enjoy it.  I love that there is now an android app for it, so I can browse it from my tablet as we watch TV.

Do you follow me on Pinterest?  If not click on the "follow me on Pinterest" button on the top right of my blog!

Day 11

I am thankful for my husband's job.  We got very lucky and he has a great job working for a great company.

His old company got bought out, so we decided to move back to Arizona back in 06.  We wound up living off his severance pay and our credit cards, and we racked up a lot of debt during the 3 months it took for him to find a job.  When he got offered the job with Mclane we jumped at it.  They have treated us so great.  He started as a senior accountant in Dec of 06.  6 years later and they have promoted him to controller, moved us to California to be a controller and have now moved us to North Carolina to be one.  We have been able to pay off ALL of our CC debt and buy a house.  We are financially stable because of his job, and it doesn't hurt that he loves what he does too.