Week 1 of Thankfulness

     It's become somewhat of a tradition in the Facebook world to have 30 days of being thankful in November. If I can successfully post something each day then it will be the first time I've followed through completely :) Here's a look at the first week:

I'm thankful for 1) parents who are willing to bring/trade furniture in my apartment and 2) that Hallmark is playing a wonderful selection of holiday movies today as I work to check things off the to-do list!

3) Today I'm thankful for the ability to make an awesome cup of hot chocolate :)

4) Thankful my aunt thought ahead twenty years and bought me savings bonds as a toddler...they've saved my life more than once!

5) Thankful that even though it's going to cost me some money, I get to have surgery #2 in the implant process come December..

6) Watching/listening to what this uneducated gentleman thinks of the agricultural industry makes me so incredibly thankful to have been raised on a farm, where I was taught exactly where my food comes from, how to have good work ethics, and what the impact of our small farm truly is to this world. 
To see the video follow the link: http://peteholmes.com/video/daylight-savings-monologue

7) Tonight I am thankful for the wind resistance built into my system from being raised in the Kittitas Valley :)

8) As weird as this may sound coming from me, I'm thankful you can take the girl off the farm but not the farm outta the girl...enjoying tap water and will enjoy a shower with hot water that lasts more than two minutes! It's good to be home (: only 14 days E!

9) Thankful for my daddy who doesn't "need to read the instructions" because he's "an expert" of course!

10) Thankful I can enjoy John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara on dvd (:

And tomorrow, I'm thankful for all of our troops who have fought, are fighting and will fight to keep our nation free. In DC I've stood at the entrance to the WWII Memorial countless times, and the Wall of Stars never fails to make me speechless as I walk by. The 58,000 names at the Vietnam Wall now have a new meaning, thanks to one of my 4-H kids' family who could make that walk more personal. The 38 Korean War soldiers always make that conflict so real as they watch me pass them. And each time I see a funeral procession in Arlington my heart breaks, but as I watch a Changing of the Guard my pride to be an American is at one of its highest levels. 

What truly makes me proud, and thankful, to be an American is knowing a few of those who have, are or will fight for our country. My grandpa was a part of the Air Force for four years, my great uncles and grandfather fought and I have many friends who have joined the military and some who have been deployed over seas. The most recent of those friends is one of the 4-H kids who made his intentions known early on, and as hard as a few of us tried to talk him out of it, there was no way he wasn't going. His boot camp/army engineer school graduation was just a couple weeks ago, and we at home are so incredibly proud of him! 

Thank you thank you thank you to any one who has served and is reading this!! Our country wouldn't be the same without your sacrifices. 

This is Grandpa Edd's plaque at the Veteran's Memorial in Eburg.