My 100th Post

Well, it is hard to believe I made it this far. 100 posts and it only took me four months to do it! In honor of this momentous occasion :) I thought it might be fun to come up with 100 things that I am grateful for. As Madame Blueberry learned, "A thankful heart is a happy heart!", so here goes:

1. My faith
2. My wonderful Husband
3. 20 years of (mostly) wedded bliss - we are human, afterall
4. Daughter #1
5. Daughter #2
6. Daughter #3
7. Daughter #4
8. Son #1
9. Daughter #5
10. Son #2
11. My mother - the rock in my life
12. My father - who I grow to be more like with each passing day!
13. My brother
14. My Aunt and Godmother
15. My Uncle R - who has been a blessing to our family
16. & 17. My mother-in-law and father-in-law - who have always been there to support us
18. - 24. My wonderful brothers- and sisters-in-law
25. The many wonderful friends that we have - sorry you get to all be lumped under one number!
26. Our parish
27. Our incredible priest - who unfortunately is getting transfered in July
28. The freedom to homeschool
29. Our homeschool group
30. My grandmother - who I am convinced prayed me back into the faith
31. My grandfather - who always thought the world of me
32. My friend Cheryl who I have known since I was four and has stuck by me all this time
33. Our anonymous benefactors that kept us from bankruptcy last year
34. The many trials in my life that have made me who I am today
35. My relatively good health
36. Our big blue van that gets us where we need and want to go
37. Our camper
38. The wonderful vacations we have had
39. Our business - which has allowed my husband to be around us more
40. Living from paycheck to paycheck - which I am sure has kept me from many a temptation!
41. Our spacious home
42. Our property
43. The eight barn cats that kept the mice out of the house this past winter
44. Our miracle chickens - who unfortunately were all eaten by other animals this past winter, but we were grateful for them while we had them
45. Our experience with horses
46. My blog
47. My ability to form coherent thoughts (most of the time) and put them "down on paper"
48. My camera
49. The help of the Holy Spirit when taking pictures
50. The fact that I am half-way there!
51. A love of baking - although my husband sometimes wishes I didn't have one
52. Warm weather - finally
53. Air conditioning on days like today when it is 90 and humid (although I don't have it on yet)
54. Heat in the winter
55. Our fireplace
56. A love for the outdoors
57. The ability to swim
58. My website-in-progress
59. The availability of the internet to spread the faith
60. Our Holy Father
61. Our saintly intercessors
62. Moving out to the country
63. My education
64. Good music
65. My past violin lessons
66. A good sense of rhythm
67. Good movies
68. Pirates I
69. Pirates II
70. Pirates III - I couldn't resist. Our family has had a lot of fun with these movies!
71. Good books
72. A love of reading
73. Food on our table
74. Kids who fight and cause me to grow in patience
75. Sleeping children
76. A big, soft bed
77. Seeds for our garden
78. Colorful flowers
79. The strong wind that cools our house
80. A good sense of organization
81. Garage Sales
82. Thrift stores
83. Hand-me-down clothing
84. Other people's blogs who help me grow and get me to think
85. E-mail - which allows me to tell people things at very odd hours
86. Our food co-op
87. The many people who have helped my children learn beautiful things
88. Cold lemonade
89. Hot chocolate
90. Anything chocolate!
91. A good dinner out
92. My parents' boat
93. Growing up and having a summer home on a lake to go to on weekends
94. All of our nieces and nephews
95. My extended family
96. Our annual barn party
97. The freedom to practice our faith - who knows how long we will have it!
98. The rosary - a gift from our heavenly mother
99. Beautiful churches - they are a rare jewel when you find them
100. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

There, that wasn't so tough. It didn't take me near as long as I thought it would. This is a great exercise; one that I think we should do more than once in a great while. Hope you enjoyed it, too and thanks for sticking with me. Here's to the next 100....

God Bless!