Lucky

As I sat at Suzie Rodriguez's funeral today, I couldn't help but think how lucky I am.

Suzie was unfortunate to be stuck with the cancer demon at such a young age. She fought a tough battle. She was determined and strong willed. Very admirable. She showed her four children how to fight and taught them what's important in life. I enjoyed Suzie. She was always a good time and a good laugh.

As I listened to the pastor today, I felt guilty at my own selfish thoughts. I kept thinking how fortunate I am to have both my sisters, my grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, brother in laws, all in-laws, friends, and of course Josh alive and well! I couldn't even think of sitting at one of those funerals. Tara and I exchanged a few sad thoughts too. (She did tell me she wanted someone to add some bronzer to her face. She said, "I don't want to be pale white in there!") I told her I wanted people to tell stories, happy stories about me. It was so sad to know that four family members lost their mother today. I then couldn't bring myself to imagine how my sisters and I would handle not having our mother today. A sad thought I wish to forget.

I know my thoughts today were selfish, but it made me realize how thankful I am to have such healthy family members and friends. I will continue to pray for the Rodriguez family too. RIP Suzie.

Time well Spent

First I am thankful for our SNOW DAY!!!

Snow days gives me huge issues. I can't sleep in. I can't turn off my brain after the early morning phone call. I start a list of things to do. I plan my day minute by minute. Annoying.

However, today, I didn't let my whole day get wrapped in my to do list. I called my grandma and decided to go clear her driveway for her. She did have plans this afternoon! :)00 When I arrived, I started shoveling her deck. That crap was heavy. The neighbor came out and was shoveling her deck as well. I couldn't let her do that with the heaviness of the snow for fear she would hurt herself. I offered to clear her driveway as well. She let me use be snow blower and I completed both driveways in under and hour.

It was a little like lawn mowing. Calming and leaving me with a sense of satisfaction. I didn't take any compensation from the two ladies. It made me feel good to know I had helped them today. I'm sure I could have done many other things with my time today, but I'm thankful I helped my grandma and her her neighbor today!

Josh's Birthday

Josh and I had plans to go to dinner with some family, but the weather quickly changes that. So we did a plan B. Dinner at Slice of Spice with the Oliver's! :) The roads were horrible and leaving spring arbor was not a good idea. The place was dead. Imagine that!

We had a good dinner with Scott, Julie, Ally, and Owen tonight! I'm thankful they wanted to join us tonight.

Happy birthday to my awesome husband!

Early Monday

Today I left work at 3:13pm. That's the earliest in a long time even on a Friday! It was awesome! I actually made dinner tonight too. :)

I'm thankful for my early day out of work.

Dinner at Moms

Today, we had dinner at my moms house to celebrate Josh's birthday! I was really happy that our whole family came. Everyone was in good moods and we had a great time celebrating with Josh.

Playing with the kids was a lot of fun as well! :) They truly enjoyed chasing each other, playing puzzles together, and running around grandma and grandpas together! It was so cute to watch them all play.

I am thankful for our awesome family and our time spent together today.

Trip to Cadillac

Today we took a trip to Cadillac to celebrate Josh's birthday with his family. We hasn't seen them since Christmas. We were excited to spend some time with his nice parents, awesome sister Erin and our funny brother in law Adam. We even visited his grandpa V! It was a good adventure to the middle of no where.

We had a great dinner at his sister's to close out the day followed by some cake.

I'm thankful doe our trip to Cadillac today. We are fortunate to have such great family up north. :)

Dinner with Friends

Today I am happy we had dinner with some friends tonight after a night of basketball. It was fun and relaxing. I enjoy hanging out with our friends the Oliver's.

I'm thankful Josh joined us and the Scott and Julie bought our meal tonight! :)0

Help

Today I received a lot of help at work and during and after our basketball events tonight. Many community members pitched in to help make my night smoother. I was happy to have their help as it made my night end earlier.

I appreciate all the help from the community I received today. :)

Scholten's

Tonight we went to see our friends the Scholten's. We had dinner and visited with them. It was nice to see them. Beth and Shannon looked great. Annie was as out going as always. Max! He looked great. It was fun to hold him and feed him tonight. I'm happy he's doing better too.

The best part was Annie sung happy birthday to Josh! Bethany and Annie made him an early birthdays cake. :)

I'm thankful for our friends the Scholten's.

Cleaning

Tonight Josh and I cleaned our house. We didn't go too crazy, but we did crash out some piles and some areas that needed a little TLC. Our house feels clean. :)

I'm thankful we did some cleaning together tonight!

Morning Run

Today I had a good day day! Not just because I didn't have to work either. Mostly because I woke up and made myself run. It was cold, freaking cold, but sunny. I bundled up in layers trying to talk myself out of it and hide under the warm blanket on the couch. However, I didn't give in. :) I pushed myself to run the 3.46 mile block. Man did that feel awesome! The rest of the day, I felt proud of myself and happy I started my day off with a run!

Wahoo! I am thankful for my morning run.

Josh Grocery Shopping

I've said this before, but I hate grocery shopping. Really hate it. Ugh. I really hate spending the money. Ha!

Tonight though, as I went I catch for some pitchers and play basketball, Josh went grocery shopping for us!! Whoop whoop! He even took the bottles back too.

I'm so thankful Josh grocery shopped today and I did not have to. He's awesome.

Cousins

Today I took Paige to visit Wyatt and Eastyn, her cousins. Most the way over she kept saying their names. As soon as we pulled in, the boys were waiting in the window waving. When I set Paige down, Eastyn instantly hugged her. They kissed each other too. Then Wyatt hugged her too. Both Trisha and I thought it was so cute. They were all truly excited to see each other. We brought some strawberries and cookies for a snack.

Then Wyatt wanted us to come down to the play room. Paige was all in. They played on the slides together and chased each other around. It was great to see.

Both Trish and myself were happy to see the kids play so well and be so happen together. I'm thankful that the cousin got to hang today!

Friday Off

Today I enjoyed my Friday off. I didn't work. I didn't email. I didn't answer a phone. I slept in. I went shopping and to lunch with friends! I napped. I did go to the basketball games and I did help clean up, but I didn't officially work. Loved it!

I'm thankful for my Friday off!

Valentine's Day

I'm thankful for some good people in my life. I received some nice cards and notes today. I sent out some letters and cards to friends. That made me feel goos this morning. I received morning texts from my sister in law Erin and my friend Jenna and my mother in law. I ate some Subway for lunch from Scott. I had cookies from athletes. Josh took me to dinner. We then took my grandma some Lilly's which she loved. We visited for a while with her. We got to FaceTime with Paige!

It was a good day. I'm thankful for a good valentines day.

Softball Dedication

Today after school I had three pitchers Allyson Oliver, Mikayla Cary, and Rachel Cary stay after and pitch. And our varsity catcher Madison Cooper, cared enough to stay and catch for them. The pitchers looked good today.

Also Hannah Boyt, Hannah Repasy, Julia Zoski, and Madison Cooper all stayed after to hit too. We talked some softball and some organizing. The seniors came back to my office to talk some more softball too.

I am thankful that these girls have the drive to push themselves in the off season. I'm thankful to coach such great female athletes.

Workout Cold Running

I have said this before, but I hate running outside in the cold. I mean hate it. It's miserable. I needed to workout tonight therefore I texted my friend Julie. We planned a 7pm cold run outside. Ugh. I didn't want to, but knew I needed it. We ran over 3 miles. It was a good run! I'm thankful for Julie running and pushing a to workout tonight!

Just a Little Note

I wish I did this more. I wish I was more thankful at times. I keep striving every day to do so too.

Today I received a card. I couldn't figure out at first who it was from. I knew I hadn't done anything nice lately for anyone at work. Oh man, I DO suck. Anyways, it was from our awesome custodians Yo and Di. They are wonderful. I appreciate their communication with us and their willingness to help Jason and I through the winter season. Their card was above and beyond. They surprised me and made me realize how great it feels to receive little notes. It reminded me to do more.

I'm thankful for Yo and Di and their note and gift card today! Western is lucky to have such dedicated and hard working ladies like them.

Basketball

Tonight we finally got back to playing some full court basketball. A bunch of us ladies ages 20-...??? get together on Sunday nights to play a little full court. Some of us needed to get back into running the floor. It was a great night of some fun fast basketball. Loved it! Our group is fun and nice to play with.

I am thankful for playing Sunday night basketball!

Gym Time

Today I'm thankful for our gym time with our nephews. We took them up to the school to play games and run off some energy. My mom and larry stopped by too. We had so much fun with the nephews. I'm thankful for our gym time.