So much to be thankful for

Today, like many of you, I am thinking about how much I have to be thankful for. 2012 has brought a whole lot of good things our way! I am thankful for:

• My wonderful husband. 2012 has been a year of building towards our future.
• My gorgeous children! 
• My children are all doing well in school.
• Fritz joined us this year and has been an incredible blessing. I am so glad he is here.
• This year we purchased a home. It is far from a dream home, but it is our future. It is currently saving us a ton of money by having a low mortgage and has a huge lot where I intend on growing our family food. It was a house and it is becoming a home.
• I have job that I feel.... well, I feel a lot of things about it. At times, it is overwhelming and so difficult and at other times it is easy and fun.... overall, it is important to me and I feel good about what I am doing.
• Joe started a new job this year. This job came with better benefits and better pay. Much, much better benefits. He enjoyed his previous job and we are thankful for that job as well! He worked there for 3 years and met lots of really good people. Now he is settling into this new job and meeting more good people and just enjoying life. Good stuff.
• We have amazing friends. Some of these friends live close and some live far away. I get to go out for drinks with some and others are a phone/coffee date away. We have these lovely people in our lives who happily help us with a wide variety of things and are up for a crazy corndog-based party..... what more could a gal want from her pals?
• I have a wonderful family. Not just my husband and kids, but parents and siblings as well. We are lucky people.
• I am thankful for the health of my family. There has been times in the past where this health was much more shaky and I am thankful (so. insanely. thankful.) that my loved ones are healthy again.
• I am thankful for the new person who will be joining my extended family very soon!
• I am thankful for my health. This last year I had a melanoma scare that has left me with only half my belly button, but there is nothing like a huge scare like that to make you appreciate the health you have.

I know there is even more that I have to be thankful for and will likely think of many things as soon as I hit "publish," but here is my list for now. Life is good!