81. The fun costume party my husband threw for me Friday night. He is so sweet.

82. My hilarious friends, and their thrift store costumes.

83. My tiny bumblebee.

84. 10 years at a wonderful church.

85. New beginnings.

86. 2 of my closest friends going out on a date some night this week. I love watching young love in bloom.

87. Having no guilt about my plan to do absolutely nothing on my birthday.

88. The sweet little bald lady I am going to spend my birthday with.

74. New jeans! They fit so nicely, and I feel so good in them. It's no easy chore to find jeans that fit perfectly!

75. A sweet, napping baby. She has been going down for naps so well this week. She wakes up so happy.

76. A clean kitchen. I took everything off the counters, scrubbed them, scrubbed everything, and put it all back in a different configuration. The more I cook, the more I learn about the best way to organize our little kitchen.

77. The pumpkin that is sitting on our table. I have about a thousand pumpkin recipes that I want to try. I'm just trying to get the rest of the house cleaned up, because I know this pumpkin endeavor is going to take some time!

78. My house. It is half old, and half new. My husband has been working on it every night for almost a year now, and our renovations are coming along nicely. I am mostly looking forward to having the kitchen done, but I am being patient and enjoying everything he has done so far.

79. My job. I know I have been thankful for this before...(this and several other things on my list always seem to pop up...I'm just so thankful!) So much is changing at the salon, and it feels like a completely new job that I didn't have to interview for! The new owner has cleaned everything up, restocked the shelves, and brought in a new excitement.

80. Cloth Diapers. I know it's silly, but I just love my cloth. O had a really bad diaper rash because daddy didn't rinse all the suds out of our diapers a few washes ago...Well, it was really mommy and daddy...It was about 1 am when the washer finally beeped that it was done, and there were suds...and I knew it was bad, but Bryan said it would be okay. I KNOW I shouldn't have listened to him, lol. Anyways...a few days later we had really bad rash problems, and I couldn't figure it out...but then I remembered. I stripped all of our diapers, and her rash was gone this morning! My grandma had her in disposables, covered in Desitin ALL day yesterday, and that didn't clear it up. My grandma told me to do the same thing for over night last night, but I followed my gut and put a freshly stripped bumgenius on her with a little bit of lanolin, and she is clear today! This is turning into more of a blog than a snippet of thanks! haha...

70. 20 months of hard work, tears, and faith finally paying off...the NEW owner of my salon seems like a great gal! I am finally excited about my career again!

71. My precious 5 month old. Every day is more fun than the day before.

72. The humble $60 that my husband squeezed out of our bank account for me to buy jeans that "make me feel pretty"...after an entire painful day at the mall, I am still on the lookout.

73. My new 'do! My hair is light, light, light! I also got a few subtle red streaks...I think I am going to want more. I also got a much needed trim...I am happy!

62. Free pumpkin spice frappicinos.

63. Finally getting all of the laundry folded. I had about 10 loads laying around getting wrinkly.

64. Finding awesome fabric to make a wrap to carry my baby. My ring sling is okay, but it's kind of a rough material.

65. Autumn.

66. Cats that make us laugh hysterically all evening long.

67. A naked baby. (she has a diaper rash, and I was letting her air out)

68. Sweet friends.

69. Macaroni and cheese. I know it's horrible for us, but I keep it around for nights like tonight.

58. Fluffy mail from dear friends.

59. The joy I've found in cloth diapering our baby. I don't know if it's the fun colors, the fun of waiting for them to be done washing, or if it's stacking and re-stacking the diapers...I just love it!

60. Blonde hair! I always feel so fancy when my hair is freshly colored. haha.

61. The Cherry vanilla ice cream that we discovered.

51. Blessing a dear friend with a bridal shower.

52. The fact that said shower is finally over, and I don't have to worry about it. (10 (!!!) extra people came, that hadn't RSVP'd...which is good because my friend got more gifts, but it put me in a crunch and I was one party favor short. I felt so bad!)

53. Beautiful August days. The weather was perfect today.

54. Surprising Bryan's parents.

55. Impromptu picnics.

56. Eating gobs of mulberries straight off the tree.

57. A sleeping baby in teddy bear pajamas. The jammies even have little ears!

42. Afternoon naps with the windows open.

43. Enjoying my un-mobile baby. I know these days are short...soon she will be able to escape.

44. The smell of mini-cheesecakes baking in the oven.

45. Being invited to Bryan's aunt's house tonight. I'm excited to see family that we haven't seen for a long time.

46. Bon fires.

47. My parents.

48. My brother and his wife.

49. Nursing my baby. I cherish the moments that I get to feed her. I know the nursing days are short too.

50. When my husband realizes he has been insensitive, and he comes in and gives me kisses in the kitchen.

36. The stranger that gave us 6 bumgenius cloth diapers for free today. She also did a quick sweep of her daughter's closet and send us home with a bag of baby clothes, and a great winter coat for Liv.

37. Fun times with friends.

38. Friends that drive you home when you have a headache, and "tickle" your arms and neck so you can relax. :)

39. A hardworking husband.

40. Grass seeds. I can't wait for our grass to grow. I love baby grasses!

41. Groceries! We had to go a good 4 days with no food in the house, waiting for payday. It makes it so fun to grocery shop!

30. A clean house.

31. The exhausted, but happy feeling that comes from cleaning house all day.

32. Warm showers.

33. August nights.

34. Open windows.

35. My sleeping baby.

20. Cooking. I never really liked it until lately. I don't know what changed in me, but suddenly it's my favorite hobby.

21. The stuffed green peppers that are in the oven. I made up the recipie all by myself, and I'm excited to try them.

22. A clean house. Bryan helped me power clean yesterday afternoon - the kitchen was unbearable. I always lose control of it on the weekends.

23. Having Saturdays off for a few months. I don't have a convienient baby sitter on Saturdays, and my boss was really understanding and gave me Saturdays off for the time being.

24. My parent's cafe. I just downed a 36 oz Strawberry Breeze smoothie. It was amazing.

25. Sunday picnics at the park with our amazing church family.

26. How much our church family is in love with Olivia. It's a joy to me that other people enjoy her this much.

27. How much everyone raved about the 2 pies I brought to the picnic. Seriously, they were the talk of the day - I only wish I would have brought more. I can't wait to make pies again.

28. My Costa Rican friends. One of them lives here with his wife, and he is so crazy about Olivia. He always takes her away from me and sings to her in Spanish. It melts my heart.

29. My other Costa Rican friends that are moving here this week. They have a little girl that is 1 month younger than Livy, and I can't wait for them to be little friends.

13. My job.  Even though it sucks sometimes...I have a job, and many people in our nation can't say that right now.

14. Coming home to a baby that missed me all day while I worked.

15. Carring Olivia in a sling at Wal-Mart and getting dirty looks from people.  Baby wearing isn't very popular around here.  I love to swim against the stream.  She slept for over an hour tucked in the sling, it was so precious.

16. Taking baths with Olivia.  Even though she pooped in the tub tonight.  :)

17. My sweet, sweet husband washing my hair for me.  He randomly offers to wash it, and it just feels so good to have someone wash my hair, after I've shampooed everyone else all day.

18. Boy kitties stealing the straw out of my lemonade.

19. My mom and grandma babysitting for me when I work.  My mom messes everything up, and always irrates me, but I love her dearly, and someday I will probably drive Olivia nuts too.

The Thousand Gifts

I finally found a purpose for this blog!  I'm going to jump on The Thousand Gifts train.  I have seen quite a few people doing it, and I think it's an amazing idea.  Here I go...

1. Beautiful nights in August.

2. Going on long walks with Olivia in her stroller.

3. Living within walking distance from our church.

4. My best friend getting married soon, and moving into a house only 2 blocks from ours.

5.  The secret path we discovered between our houses that make us feel like kids again.

6. The new baby swing my grandma bought us.

7. Homemade pizza.

8. The look on Bryan's face when he saw that I had made homemade pizza.

9. Playing scrabble late at night with Bryan.

10. 2 snuggly boy cats.

11. Bedtime.

12. The sweet smell of our baby.