Giving Thanks Installment 1 (LONG)

It appears as if the stress resulting from an across country move has left me feeling little to no holiday spirit. I commented to my mom the other day that in many ways I'd just like to ignore Christmas completely, just skip it this year. And truthfully I've thought it through and I think I could pull it off with the kids. This is very unlike me, and I don't want to be this way. I really don't. So, I'm starting now to try and change this bah-humbug attitude I am having.

I decided there was no better way to do this than just to immerse myself in the true meaning of the holidays. So, since Thanksgiving is coming up (and I have alot of recent blessings to be thankful for) I thought I would begin this journey to a joy filled and meaningful holiday with a public expression of thanks. I also plan on doing this at least once a week on this blog for the remainder of the holiday season.

In the long hours driving from Oklahoma to Florida I wrote many a blog post and/or facebook status in my mind. Alot of these thoughts revolved around an abundance of blessings that I feel has been poured out onto my family in the last month. I thought about the many times I have felt, seen or maybe even not recognized God's hand guiding us until afterwards.

So, in list form here are some things that I have been thanking Heavenly Father for the past month:

1. Anthony was able to find us a home in less than 24 hours. And its not a dump either! :)

2. Anthony traveled without incident to Florida, then to Utah, to Idaho, and home.

3. I was able to sleep in my own bed, with little to no problems while he was away. When Anthony is gone I don't sleep. It was a major concern of mine when I found out we would be apart for 3 weeks. How on earth was I going to get all I needed to do done with no sleep? But, I slept, like a baby.

4. Monetary blessings. Even though a move is always hard on a family financially (even when the company pays for the majority of the expenses) there were several times that a financial need arose and the dollar amount was provided (almost to the penny) in some way or another. The best story I have of this was the day my glass storm door broke in OK. I opened the front door and shattered glass filled my entry way, other than cleaning it up I didn't worry too much b/c I assumed our lease would cover that repair. Wrong. We were told we were responsible for the repair costs. Great. We cleaned up the mess and about 10 minutes later there was a knock on my front door. It was my neighbor. "Are you still selling that entertainment center for $35?" She asked. I told her yes, but I offered it to her for free - she insisted, "Here is 35 dollars." Her husband and my dad moved it out of my garage and we went about the day without much thought to it. Then later that night I was trying to solve the problem of repairing the door. I was calling around and it appeared the repair would cost a couple hundred dollars. I was stressed out. Then I decided to call Lowes instead of Home Depot and see what they said. In the first conversation they said that they could order the glass but truthfully a new door would be the same or cheaper. I was still stressed, hung up the phone to call Anthony. He had another question for the lowes guy so I ended up calling back, "Wait!" the clerk said, "I think I have a glass insert for the door right here. Your door was made to be interchangeable between glass and screen so we sell the panels here. What are your measurements again just to be sure." We confirmed that he was indeed looking at what I needed "And the cost?" I asked...."Its just $32.50 ma'am." Amazing. That $35 had been provided minutes after the need arose. It was nothing short of a miracle.

5. Help. My mom came and stayed with me for 1 week and really jump started the packing. A neighbor invited the kids and I over to dinner which really saved us from the boredom we were experiencing. My brother and his family hosted Anthony while he was doing his training in Utah. A kind friend stopped what he was doing (caring for his wife who had just had surgery) to come and vacuum up the glass in my entry way. My dad spent his Saturday mowing my lawn and emptying my attic. People took my children for the afternoon so I could work and they could play. Meals were brought in just when I thought I couldn't eat anymore cold cereal or Little Caesars Pizza. Phone calls, emails, and facebook messages were made to check on me. Friends came and stayed much longer than they had anticipated to help load up our moving truck. Hugs were given, tears were shared, congratulations and best wishes were made.

6. Our vehicles made the drive just fine. I honestly didn't anticipate any problems, but the first day there were some events that made this blessing seem very significant to me. I don't know if any of you Okies remember a week ago this past Thursday (I think it was the 29th of October) but at about 5:30am it was pouring. Hard. It rained 1 inch in 30 minutes (according to the radio later that morning). What you might not have known is Anthony and I were trying to finish loading up the cars and get on the road during that time. A few times during the down pour we would have to abandon the car and run for the garage, only to look back and realize we had left one (or more) doors open. One of us would run out and close it (yes, in hindsight we should have just waited completely until later). When we finally left 2.5 hours later than planned we were soaked, through to our undies. I didn't dry completely out until about 8pm that night. It was awful. When we left it was still raining (infact it rained for about 85% of that first day) and about 20 minutes into our drive - while we sat in the very same rush hour traffic we had planed to avoid - my windshield wipers went crazy. First they wouldn't turn off, and my car doors randomly would lock and unlock. Then they wouldn't come back on. Then they would only wipe intermittently. And eventually they ended up being able to either wipe or not wipe. I lost my intermittent, and my super fast wipe - both of which would have been helpful during the day, but if I had to pick a way for it to end up the best choice was what I got. Several times I thought, I may not know why my wipers had to malfunction today, but I DO know why they're working the way they are. I was certain it was a direct answer to the prayer we had prayed as a family that morning for safety. The rain was so terrible several times that day that I prayed aloud for eyes to see the road as my wipers struggled to keep up with the rain, and again, and again that prayer was answered. (Coincidentally my wipers recovered and are now working fine. The only explanation we can come up with is in the down pour something in the dash got soaked when a door was opened that shorted a wire and when it dried out it repaired itself.)

7. My kids. They have been completely awesome during this whole adventure. From the time Daddy was gone and I was furiously packing, to the drive to Florida. They have been great. Not hardly a complaint out of any of them, even when the toys were all packed a week before we left and the car rides got unbearably long. They are amazing.

8. Anthony's new job. It is a HUGE blessing. Anthony has been unhappy in his career basically since graduating from law school. He wasn't happy with the job he had, he wasn't doing what he envisioned himself doing when he was in school. He wanted to be in a court room, and to be helping people. Since completing his training and arriving in Florida he has appeared before a judge 5 times. He is helping people with things they cannot do on their own, and he has the autonomy to make his own decisions without being micromanaged every minute of his day. Despite the fact that his past week has been super busy and somewhat stressful for him I can tell that he is so much happier with the direction of his career now, and that makes us all happier. I am so proud of him for not giving up on finding what he was after. I know he'll do a great job.

9. Our new church family. Within an hour of arriving here we had almost 10 people here unloading our truck. It was completely done in 1 hour's time. The next day we had a meal brought to us, and the next day we had visitors. I already feel that if I were to really need something I could call someone and they would help me in a heart beat.

10. Skype. Before moving we got a webcam. We have skyped several times this week with Nana and Grandma and look forward to doing it more and more. Friday we even gave Grandma a tour of our new house via skype, the girls ask all the time to skype with Nana or Grandma. I think this is a favorite new thing of theirs.

11. Safety. I wasn't going to mention this one, because I do not think we would have ever been in real danger, but the avoidance of the whole situation completely is something that I am extremely grateful for. Friday morning around 10am I loaded up the kids and headed to downtown Orlando. I was leaving a tad bit later than I had hoped, and I almost waited and went after an early lunch but I decided it would be better to do it right then so Ethan's nap wouldn't be bothered. We had to go to the state comptroller's office for something to complete Isabella's registration at school. Anyway, me and all 3 kids went and came home without incident. I didn't think much of it but did think how beautiful and nice downtown Orlando is. An hour later I sat on the couch with my lunch and was watching Martha Stewart on TV when the local news interrupted with a breaking news story. If you haven't heard there was a shooting rampage in down town Orlando about 1 hour after I returned from there. It wasn't in the building we were in, so we wouldn't have been in real danger, BUT it was in the area we were at. Had I been there we would have been in lock down in a building for hours and seeing what those who were interviewed afterward on the news saw would have terrified my children (i.e. police running through buildings with machine guns). At best we would have been sitting in a parking lot on a shut down highway because they were searching for the shooter. But thankfully we avoided the whole situation. My heart and prayers go to those who were affected by this and the Fort Hood shootings from the day before.

I'll end here for today. See...I have so much to be thankful for, and I really am feeling more in the holiday spirit after reflecting on these things. If you're still reading, I challenge you to do the same and reflect on all you have to be thankful for in your own life.

Oh...and share with me any of your Thanksgiving traditions. I want to here them. I want to start some of my own.