30 Day Gratitude Challenge – Part 1

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I’m participating in the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge on Instagram.  It’s such a great way to think about many of the things I’m thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.  I thought I’d expand on a few of my favorites so far!

Day 1 – Home

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My entire life I’ve called the small southeastern corner of the Jersey Shore home, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else!  There’s a bike path that runs through my town and several others.  No matter the day of the week or the time of day, you’ll always pass a friendly face – children riding their bikes to school, parents pushing their little ones in a stroller, and retirees enjoying a nice stroll.  The bike path promotes such a wonderful sense of community.  I’m so thankful for a welcoming place to run and walk with Baby D.

Day 8 – Family & Friends

When I think of my family and friends, my heart just bursts with love and joy.  As much as I like to think I have a way with words, I’m always at a lost when I try to articulate what they mean to me.  The walls of my house are filled with pictures of all our loved ones, and I smile and count my blessings every time I walk past them.

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Day 15 – Music

Oh, how I love Christmas music!  While I typically try to hold off until the week of Thanksgiving to start listening, this year has been a little different.  Since I’ve been home on maternity leave with Baby D, I’ve gotten the festive holiday bug to start listening a bit earlier than usual!  As a kid, my parents would play songs by Dean Martin and Perry Como so my playlist has some of their classics along with my new favorites by Straight No Chaser, Carrie Underwood, and Kelly Clarkson.  With every song, I reminisce about how lucky I was to have wonderful Christmases as a kid and look forward to watching Baby D make memories each year that includes some of my favorite songs!

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Are you participating in the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge?  What are you thankful for?

Update…

It’s time for a little update.  While I didn’t make a huge announcement, I dropped little hints here and there on Twitter and Instagram that I was expecting my first child.  Baby D, as I refer to him on social media, arrived at the end of summer, and it’s been such an exciting and joyous whirlwind ever since!

With that being said, I’ll be honest.  Ideally, I wanted book #2 to be released this December, but that’s not going to happen.  I thought I may be able to write while I was on maternity leave.  And while I’ve had the time while Baby D naps, I’ve had terrible writer’s block about 90% of the times I’ve sat down to write.  With Baby D turning 9 weeks this week (seriously, where did the time go?!?), I’ve decided I need to get to try to get the creative juices flowing again.  I had every intention of having a blog post ready to go on November 1st, but again, writer’s block hit.  But then I found a great challenge on Instagram – 30 Day Gratitude Challenge.

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I thought it was such a great way to reflect on the things I’m most thankful for each day.  While I’ll post a picture every day on Instagram, each week, I’m going to write a post and expand a little bit here.  I’m hoping the prompts for each day help me get out of my writing slump.

I hope you’ll follow along and share the things you’re most thankful for too!