Gratitude Project

This past November, I did a Gratitude Project with my other blog, www.JensLoveLessons.com. Each day, I posted a reason for my gratitude on my Facebook fan page. And, I encouraged my readers to also post their thankfulness on various social media websites. In case you missed it, here's a collection of my 30 posts. You can look at all of my submissions by viewing the photo album entitled "JLL Gratitude Project ~ 2012."

Here's what the posts looked like on my page:

And here's what I wrote each day in November:

Day 1: Today, I'm grateful for having a relatively happy baby, despite the fact that he's experiencing his first fever.

Day 2: My Dad passed away six years ago today. Even though I miss him every day, I'm grateful for all of the memories we were able to make together. To me, his mantra in life was "Don't worry, be happy." So, I don't and I am. Miss you, Dad!

Day 3: Today, I'm grateful for having a supportive husband. Thank you for always believing in me and pushing me to do my best.

Day 4: Today, I'm grateful for having three healthy children. And it doesn't hurt that they're super cute, too.

Day 5: Today, I'm grateful for my amazing mom who took some awesome family photos for us this past weekend. It's pretty rare to get all five of us in a great photo, but she did it. You're the best, Mom!

Day 6: Today, I'm grateful for the right to vote. The end.

Day 7: Today, I'm grateful to be married to a man who is an incredible Daddy. Seriously, he's amazing. He has a special relationship with each one of our three children. He has his own nicknames for them and special voices that he uses to make them squeal in laughter. He also takes care of them, feeds them, cleans up after them, and sleeps with them if they're needy in the middle of the night. Love him. A lot.

Day 8: Today, I'm grateful for the food on my table. I'm so very lucky to be able to eat three full meals a day. And it doesn't hurt that I get to eat frozen yogurt every so often, too!

Day 9: Today, I'm grateful for my job. Sometimes I can't believe I get paid to do what I do. It's incredible. Being a college professor really is the greatest job in the world. And being a professor at JMU is the icing on the cake!

Day 10: Today, I'm grateful for having such a cool daughter. Little Miss Vivian is feisty, smart, creative, clever, particular, and a bit bossy. I love her to pieces.

Day 11: Today, I'm grateful for having such a great son. Mr. Gavin is confident, energetic, determined, easily-frustrated, loving, charismatic, and a tad ornery. Love that kid.

Day 12: Today, I'm grateful for having an incredibly happy baby.

Day 13: Today, I'm grateful for Oasis Preschool & Nursery. I love the activities our kids get to do and the lessons that our kids learn. But I especially love the people who work there everyday taking care of our kids. Thank you!

Day 14: Today, I'm grateful for a well lived in (i.e. messy) house. Although it makes me crazy at times, our kids had fun making it look this way. And that's what matters most.

Day 15: Today, I'm grateful for family photos. I love taking them, but I love looking at them and remembering what life was like when we took them even more.

Day 16: Today, I'm grateful for pacifiers. Thank you, Soothie company.

Day 17: Today, I'm grateful for a baby who sleeps every single time we go on a road trip.

Day 18: Today, I'm grateful for curiosity. I love watching our kids try to figure out how the world works.

Day 19: Today, I'm grateful for having such great girlfriends. I am truly blessed.


Day 20: Today, I'm grateful for my favorite iced coffee. It's a life saver.

Day 21: Today, I'm grateful for jumperoos and other baby-entertaining contraptions. I love being able to make dinner in peace.

Day 22: Today, I'm grateful that our kids love watching old movies like Mary Poppins. They LOVE this one.

Day 23: Today, I'm grateful for my family. I don't know about you, but our Thanksgiving was fabulous!

Day 24: Today, I'm grateful for my "fake family." Genetics doesn't always define family. I have a lot of fake family. Basically, they're people who I grew up calling my aunts, uncles, and cousins, but in all actuality, they're not related to me at all. When I first started dating Wes, it was difficult for him to keep up with who was in my real fam and who was in my fake fam, but I quickly explained to him that the distinction didn't matter because they all (real and fake) meant so much to me and were extremely important in my life. Love you all! Especially this one: my "youngest sister."

Day 25: Today, I'm grateful for my family traditions. I grew up having rituals for just about everything and it enriched my life in ways that I cannot describe. And I have especially loved creating new traditions with our children. Painting cookies on Black Friday is definitely one of the best newly-created traditions.

Day 26: Today, I'm gratefulf or statistical significance (I know, I'm a nerd). I've been working on a research project for the last few months and I'm happy to report that many of my hypotheses about why relationship partners engage in disrespectful communication (and the impact it has on said relationships) have been supported!

Day 27: Today, I'm grateful for a growing baby boy. At his 6 month check up, he was 20lbs 14oz and 28 inches! Go Pax, Go!

Day 28: Today, I'm grateful for imagination.

Day 29: Today, I'm grateful for laughter. I don't know how some people live without it. I know I couldn't.

Day 30: On the last of my First Annual Jen's Love Lessons Gratitude Project, I am grateful for optimism. I am definitely an optimist. And, I truly believe that I experience a wide variety of positivity outcomes in life because of it.