This is 44

Today is my 44th birthday and I'm feeling reflective, taking stock of the last year and the people and things I'm particularly grateful for. At the risk of sounding trite, here are 44 things I'm thankful for today. 

1. My favorite three: Doug, Hope, and Kendall. 
2. Our extended family. 
3. Mom and Dad (who celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary today as well). 
4. Our church community. 
5. Friends, both old and new. It takes Doug and I a long time to form relationships but today I'm struck by the richness of our friendships. 
6. A fantastic boss. I was excited to work with him even before I took my job, but throughout the last six months, I've found myself exceedingly grateful for his leadership, competence, and love for Jesus. (I'm also currently working on a project related to youth leader burnout so I've been acutely reminded over the last few days how many youth leaders do not have the privilege of working with good leaders.) 
7. Getting paid to do the thing I love to do. Despite my initial apprehension, I am so glad to be back working in a church, living out my vocation in a way that I feel so undeniably called to do. 
8. Meaningful side hustles. I love my daily work...And I love still getting to dabble in research and writing elsewhere. 
9. Health - both mine and that of the people I love. 
10. Our house. We've lived in our house since June, 2021 and it's not an exaggeration to say that on most days, when I walk to the kitchen in the morning and see my deck I still think, "I can't believe we get to live here!"    
11. The girls' school. Both girls were counting down the days until they returned to school. They love their teachers, classmates, and their work. They're excited to go to school MOST days. I love how much they love learning and how their curiosity and learning extends to our house. 
12. National Parks. Between Washington DC, South Dakota, and Alaska, we visited several national parks this year. I love the resource they are for families and we're particularly grateful for the Jr. Ranger Programs. 
13. Homegrown tomatoes and friends who share them. Does anything taste more like summer than this? 
14. Lake Ellyn, where I walk nearly every Monday - Friday. While my role at First Pres means it's no longer the solitary time for me it once was, I'm still grateful for this. 
15. Games. Doug & I have always loved games. Now we love playing them with the girls. 
16. Travel. We've been privileged to travel a lot this year and I'm so thankful for the rich experiences travel provides us with. I'm also thankful for the ability to decompress and truly leave work behind. 
17. The Mac. It's the community college's theater and it brings in some top notch performers and shows that we've enjoyed. 
18. Children's theater. What a gift it is to share this with our girls, to see their smiles, delight, and wonder as they take in a show...And then hear them singing the songs for months afterwards. 
19. Sunset Pool, new and improved thanks to last year's renovations. It brought us so much joy this summer (although the new slides are slightly more twisty than the old ones... so much so that they leave me a bit dizzy.).  
20. Mission trips. It's been a hot second since I've done one but gosh, there's just nothing like them for discipling teenagers. 
21. Sammy the cat and his continued tolerance for the girls who cart him ALL OVER THE HOUSE. Despite this, he adores them, sitting outside their bedroom just waiting to greet them in the morning. 
22. Packages for the girls that come in the mail. 
23. Audiobooks. What a revelation these have been for me, dramatically upping my non-fiction reading game (as that's what I listen to.).  
24. Our local library. It's the best. I dare you to fight me on this one. 
25. Earrings. It's dumb, I know. And I don't care. I love quirky ones, holiday ones, dainty ones, and beautiful ones. 
26. Starbucks and my daily pink drink. 
27. An office. No one is more surprised by this than me. For the first twenty years of my career, I loved working from home. Then I had kids and there was a pandemic and Doug started working from home. Then I worked from home for 4 years...And now I'm thankful every day when I walk into my office. 
28. My deck. It's my happy place. I love working there, eating there, meeting with people there, and of course, reading there. 
29. The trail behind our house, which strangely, we use far more in the winter than in the summer. 
30. Mom and Dad's proximity to us. I'm so thankful we moved them when we did, as our life would be so much more complicated right now if they were more than 5 minutes away from us. 
31. An incredible piano teacher for the girls who's definitely become a trusted adult in their lives. 
32. Amazon prime and Target Red Cards. I know I'm supposed to root for small businesses, but gosh, I'm thankful that I can order something and have it at my door the next day. 
33. Local restaurants that are actually really good. Latest obsession: The drunken pear burger from Main Street Pub. 
34. New experiences, like taking a helicopter to mush sled dugs on a glacier while in Alaska. 
35. Massages. 
36. That on most days, I don't travel more than 10 miles. 
37. Babysitters who give us much needed breaks. 
38. The girls' independence. Oh don't get me wrong. I get frustrated by what they don't do. But mostly, I'm struck by all they CAN do. 
39. Baking. Between Doug's diabetes and the girls' pickiness, I haven't baked much in the last few years. Now that I have a staff to take food to, I find myself baking a lot. That's been good for me. 
40. Knowing myself and being content with who I am. I sat in a Myers Briggs seminar last week with our preschool team and was struck by how content I am with who I am. I no longer wish I was extroverted rather than introverted. I've accepted myself for who I am and there's a great deal of freedom that comes from that. 
41. Our fireplace...There's no place I'd rather be come fall and winter. 
42. Scrapbooks. For years, I loved making these. Now I outsource them but I'm still so thankful to be able to pull them out and relive different experiences; or share experiences with people (including the girls) who weren't part of them. 
43. Text and audio messages which give my introverted self good ways of communicating with folks. 
44. New opportunities that enable me to grow.