[January 31, 2012] Thankful for...warm weather!  I know a lot of people who are wishing there was snow, and yes, it's true that it really hasn't felt like Winter yet because every time the snow comes, it seems to melt in a couple days, but.........it's okay with me! :)  53 degrees for a high at our house today - crazy!

[January 30, 2012] Thankful for...going in late to work.  Today, I worked in the afternoon because I don't have any kiddos this week (their regular teachers are doing home visits).  I had a meeting at 4:00, so instead of having to be there the whole day, I just went in mid-morning and worked through the afternoon, letting me have a little bit extra sleep and leave my house at 10:45am instead of 7:30am. :)

[January 29, 2012] Thankful for...baking.  I made some Almond Bars this afternoon.  We all had one shortly after they came out of the oven, so they were nice and warm... :)

[January 28, 2012] Thankful for...the library!  I worked at the library all day today.  We weren't sure how busy it would be because in the morning, it was really snowy and windy, but as the day went on, the sun came out, and so did the people!  It was really busy, but it made the day go faster...

[January 27, 2012] Thankful for...the Grand Rapids Auto Show!  I went with my Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle Dan to see all the nice, new cars.  The favorites were definitely the new Fords! :)

[January 26, 2012] Thankful for...my book again!  I didn't have much time to read it yesterday, but had lots of time today!  I had to stop reading right when it got good too!  I'm about halfway through now, up to about page 200...hopefully I will be done by the weekend. :)

[January 25, 2012] Thankful for...my new book, Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins.  This is book #2 in the Hunger Games series (you should read them if you haven't already!!)...I'm excited to get it started!  The first one was really good - it wasn't something I would normally read, but I read it for the book club I'm a part of, and we really enjoyed it.  I have to get this book done soon because I have the 3rd one waiting at the library! :)

[January 24, 2012] Thankful for...breakfast as supper!  It's so fun to have pancakes or waffles for supper...it's usually super easy and yummy too!  A little syrup from Cracker Barrel doesn't hurt either... :)  All these calories got worked off at Zumba and volleyball tonight!

[January 23, 2012] Thankful for...my MSU basketball poster.  My mom and dad gave this to me for Christmas, and I just put it up on my door.  It makes me excited for March Madness - they are good this year, currently ranked #10 in the AP Top 25, woot woot! :) 

p.s. #13, Austin Thornton, is from Cedar Springs...I remember seeing him play in high school.  He is playing a lot more this year, and is doing really well too. :)

[January 22, 2012] Thankful for...Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  Today is the day that our church celebrated all the babies born in our church in 2011.  It is also the day that we remember those who did not get a chance to live their lives.  In front of church this morning, there was a basket full of 3,000 rose petals, representing the approximately 3,000 babies that were aborted in Grand Rapids, MI last year...three thousand in one city...unimaginable.  Towards the end of the service, those rose petals were sprinkled on the front steps of the church, and to see them was heartbreaking.  I'm thankful that we have days like today so that we can remember this is happening and that it is our responsibility to help by supporting ministries like Right to Life and Family LIFE Center of West Michigan.  "Anyone who welcomes the little child in my name, welcomes Me." Matthew 18:5

[January 21, 2012] Thankful for...giving surprise presents!  I wrapped this gift for my Aunt Joan today to give to her tonight. :)

[January 20, 2012] Thankful for...basketball.  Tonight Unity played South, and I sat with my friend Katie for the girl's game, and my Aunt Joan for the boy's game.  The boys won 67-46!

[January 19, 2012] Thankful for...my Macbook.  Being able to have my school computer be a laptop is EXTREMELY helpful when getting progress reports and report cards done because I can work on them at home!

[January 18, 2012] Thankful for...singing!!  My mom and I started watching American Idol together last year (we like these judges better!), so we've started watching again this year.  Some of the people are so good, and it's neat to hear some of their background stories.

p.s. There was a 20-year-old guy that auditioned tonight named Phillip Phillips...not only is that an awesome name, but he was SUPER good! :)

[January 17, 2012] Thankful for...water.  Tonight my friend Katie and I went to Zumba (so much fun!), and I was filling up my water bottle (thanks for pouring the water mom, so I could take the picture!).  Water is something that a lot of us take for granted because it is so accessible to us, but to many people around the world, it's not...I've heard many testimonies and stories about people in countries like Africa who have to walk several miles for clean water, and hearing those things make me all the more grateful for "little" things, like water, that we have here in our country.

[January 16, 2012] Thankful for...new restaurants!  Tonight I went to a new restaurant (to me!) named Goog's Pub and Grub...it was so yummy!  I went there with my mentor teacher and a teacher with whom I had student taught with three years ago...I love spending time with them because they have so much good advice and I can really see their love for teaching, inspiring me to be a better teacher too! :)

[January 15, 2012] Thankful for...lazy Sunday afternoons.  Sunday afternoons are perfect to chill out and watch movies...today I watched "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  I really liked it and it had a great message about not giving into your temptations, but focusing on what's important in your life. :)

[January 14, 2012] Thankful for...snow (again!).  It's snowed quite a bit since a couple of days ago, and it's still snowing now!  It was soooo pretty today, especially on the trees, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture until later at night, but it's still pretty! :)

[January 13, 2012] Thankful for...poinsettias.  I went over to my friend Kelly's house today, and she had these beautiful, red poinsettias on the table.  I absolutely love poinsettias and the brightness they bring during the winter when we don't get to see the grass and flowers outside.

[January 12, 2012] Thankful for...snow.  I can't believe I'm saying that!  I normally don't like snow that much, but it really has not felt like Winter yet.  God gives us the four seasons for a purpose, so that we can see his creation in different ways.  It just started snowing tonight, and the weather guys say we will have 4 - 8 inches by tomorrow afternoon...we'll see what happens! :)

[January 11, 2012] Thankful for...clouds. I told you I would have more sunset pictures, and here I am, puting one up only 6 days later! :) I absolutely couldn't help it, the clouds and sun were SO PRETTY tonight...

[January 10, 2012] Thankful for...the Golden Girls - our volleyball team won all three games tonight!  And of course we had to go out for coffee and goodies afterwards! :)

[January 9, 2012] Thankful for...a cup of hot cocoa. I watched a little bit of the Bachelor and of course the BCS Championship game with LSU v. Alabama...pretty boring game though with 5 field goals and 1 touchdown...all by the same team! :(  Oh well, it was still football though!

[January 8, 2012] Thankful for...games with the family. It was Scott's last night home before he went back to school, so we played a game called "Boxers or Briefs?"  It was super fun, and we had some great laughs! :)

[January 7, 2012] Thankful for...football with the family!  We went over to my Aunt Joan and Uncle Bear's house to watch the Lions play the Saints.  The Lions did well for a while (even leading at half), but ending up losing...oh well, they had a good season though!

[January 6, 2012] Thankful for...baking!  I love baking, and thought I'd make these football cookies for the Lions-Saints game tomorrow...yum!

[January 5, 2012] Thankful for...sunsets.  I'm sure I will be posting many more of these throughout the year!  We have a great view out of our backyard, so all I have to do is walk about 20 feet, and I'm able to see this!!

[January 4, 2012] Thankful for...Christmas gifts!  Scott and I love the show "Psych" and we now have all the seasons, thanks to my Christmas present from Scott!  We have been trying to watch all the episodes from this season before he goes back to school, and today we got 2 closer to the end!

[January 3, 2012] Thankful for...my job.  I love my job at the Holland Early Childhood Center - the people I work with are wonderful, and the kids are amazing!  Today was our first day back from Christmas break...

[January 2, 2012] Thankful for...MSU football.  If you know me well enough you know that I am an MSU fanatic...I love anything MSU (for Christmas, I received an MSU pillowpet, MSU Basketball poster, and MSU coasters for my car!)  Today was the Outback Bowl between MSU and Georgia - it was such an exciting game, going into triple OT, with MSU winning 23-20...whew! :)  Now on to MSU basketball...

[January 1, 2012] Thankful for...photo albums.  Today I put away a bunch of pictures into my photo albums - I had been procrastinating for quite a while as I had to put away about a year's worth of them! :)  I love looking through my photo albums and seeing all the different things my family and I have been able to do and go see.

Alrighty, here we go! Here are the first few pictures from this year so far...I'm excited to share these pictures with you, and I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I like taking them! :) Thanking God for the ability to capture these little pieces of each day...