Where the Heart Is

Last week I got a suprise package from my mom containing a new Vera Bradley purse. The other day, when I was talking to my little sister, I laughed so hard that I cried. I am already in the Christmas mood because I am equating that with heading back east. I have lived here in beautiful San Diego for over three years now and I am finding the fourth year to be the hardest. When we were making out plans before we got married, we decided that we would start out on the West Coast and settle down back East. Fast forward 3 1/2 years and we own a home and have great jobs in our career field when both are relatively scarce and it wouldn't make any sense for us to just pick up and move somewhere else where we most likely would not have either. I love the life that we have built here, I just have to convince my family to move out here rather than the two of us moving there. Despite the fact that we will have spaces missing at our thanksgiving table on Thursday, I am thankful for my family and even for the fact that I miss them. So many people don't have a loving family or have a family that they do not love or miss and so as hard as it can be to be 3000 miles apart, I am thank for them and for the love that we have together.


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Break Glorious Break

This week I have a to do list that is about 10 miles long and I am so thankful for a few days off from work. We get the entire week off and I need it! We have a long stretch from when the kids come back to school (I've been in since that end of August) until Thanksgiving break and then we start rolling down hill. On Friday I had to kick two students out of class (the first time all year) for constant talking, singing loudly, and playing on their cell phones. I got so frustrated when I was trying to read something out loud that I flipped my book down on to my desk and told them that they had to leave. This was a sure sign that we only had 3 more periods until break - they are always a lot more wild before a break. On the good side, both students came to me before the end of the day, apologized, and told me that they would come back different next Monday. We shall see. Thanksgiving break, I am thankful that you are here and I will make good use of the time off that you are giving me!

What are you thankful for? Email me 5 things you're thankful for at modernhousewife@yahoo.com - I'd love to feature your list

image courtesy of http://czechmatediary.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/schoolteacher.jpg

Comfort Friends

What thoughts (or maybe more importantly what smells) come to mind when you think of comfort foods - home made mac and cheese? peanut butter? ice cream? apple pie? freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? Whatever it is, we all have those things that we love to eat when we are upset, overwhelmed, cold, or exhausted at the end of a long day. We often crave them and when we eat them they never disappoint.

At the end of this great weekend, I am so thankful for our 'comfort friends'. We had our very best friends over and it was such a fun night. My husband and I are blessed with best friends who are also married to one another. They are our comfort friends - the ones who fly across the country to be in your wedding and spend the entire week getting to know your family and helping out, the ones who don't bat an eye if there's still folded laundry on the back of your couch, or judge at even the most embarrassing situations or stories, and who you jump from a serious conversation to laughing so hard you can't breathe in a matter of seconds, the ones where you watch a movie and at least two out of the four of you end up asleep on the couch, and as was the case on Saturday night, the ones who think that eating homemade pizza around the dinning room table is the best way to spend a double date. As I continue to reflect this week on things that I am thankful for, I am especially thankful for my fresh-out-of-the-oven-homemade-chocolate-cookies-best-friends

what are you thankful for? Email me 5 things you are thankful for at modernhousewife@yahoo.com - I'd love to feature your list

Home of the Free, Because of the Brave

Today, and everyday, I am thanful for those brave men and women who risk their lives to keep our great country safe, as well as for those who are left behind, loving and supporting them. One of my brothers is currently stationed in Afghanistan and this week has been a particulary rough week. I found myself choking up on my way in to work on more than one ocassion this week after listening to different commentaries about Veteran's Day and the War. Last week we were lucky enough to be able to talk to him and despite the fact that he was thousands of miles away, we laughed like we were sitting around my parents table. I held it together during our conversation and thought I was fine until I was praying with my husband. I was saying a prayer of thankfulness for being able to talk to him and his safety and just lost it. I look forward to the day when not just my brother but all of our men and women are home. We are a country that is truly blessed with their willingness to defend it. Thank you to all of our veterans.

what are you thankful for? Email me 5 things that you are thankful for at modernhousewife@yahoo.com I'd love to feature your list

image courtesy of

http://mommythedre.blogspot.com/2009/11/veterans-day.html

The Morning After

Thankfulness the morning after the rain

What are you thankful for? Email me your list of 5 things you're thankful for at modernhousewife@yahoo.com - I'd love to feature it

Rainy November

This morning I woke up to a fairly foreign sound here :rain (although we've had more rain in the past 2 months than in the 3 1/2 years that I've lived here). Despite the fact that it's Monday and the rain makes it even harder to get out of bed and I now have to leave for work an extra 45 minutes early, I am so thankful for it. We desperately need it and all too often there are dangerous fires this time of year so I, along with my vegetables, flowers, and grass, am very thankful for the rain today. - Plus, we are both going to be home tonight and this makes a perfect movie-and-breakfast-for-dinner-indoor-date-night

What are you thankful for? Email me your list of 5 things you're thankful for to modernhousewife@yahoo.com I'd love to feature your list

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Hooray

Today I am thankful that it is Friday because that means 5 classes and it's the weekend! Friday is one of my favorite days of the week - it always just seems like such a hopeful and happy day, especially if it's been a long week. I woke up with a smile today and can hopefully spread that on to my students to. Have a wonderful weekend!

What are you thankful for? Email me a list of 5 things you are thankful for at modernhousewife@yahoo.com I'd love to post your list

image courtesy of picturesdepot.com

Don't blame it on the sunshine

My husband always tells people (mainly my family when they are trying to convince us to move back east) that we live in a place where millions come to vacation. While this is generally true, I do miss the fall. I miss the colors of the leaves changing and going apple picking and the cool, crisp air. What I tend to forget is that after the leaves change they fall and there is a gray cloud that tends to hang around from November to February that brings cold raw weather. This I do not miss and I was reminded today, as I was ridiculously overdressed in a sweater and long pants, how thankful I am for the sunshine and gorgeous weather. It was almost 90 degrees in Novemeber and there was not a cloud in sky. I do love the cooler weather but I am thankful for a sunny November day

What are you thankful for? Email me your list of 5 things that you are thankful for at modernhousewife@yahoo.com I'd love to feature your list

image courtesy of andthenshewokeup.blogspot.com

Let your voice be heard

This morning I woke up to work out before heading to work but didn't quite make it. I made the mistake of turning on the news and became enthralled in all of the election talk. I'm leaving early for work this morning to hit my polling site. I am so thankful that I live in a democratic country where we the people have a voice in everything from local propositions to national congress. While the system is flawed and the vote doesn't always swing my way, I am thankful for our ability to vote and to choose.

What are you thankful for? Email me 5 things that you are thankful for at modernhousewife@yahoo.com I'd love to feature your list

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Give Thanks

As much as I try to reserve the weekends for playtime, Sundays have ended up as chore day lately and I've been ok with it. Yesterday, as I was trying to get through my massive to do list, I thought about how challenging it is (for me at least) to keep up with our house. It seems that no matter how much I do there is always laundry to be done and a few stubborn dishes that pop up in my sink. I was thinking about this while I was elbow deep in soapy water but then I began to think about how grateful that I am that it takes work because I am so blessed to have a home. I am thankful that I have all of that to do because this is a time when foreclosures and homelessness is a huge issue. Looking at it this way made the work go by a little bit faster and so I began to think. It is November 1. Thanksgiving is a mere 3 1/2 weeks ago. While it can be so much easier to complain, my entire attitude changes when I look at things that I am thankful for. Rather than waitinging until Turkey Day to give thanks I am going to write each day about something that I am thankful and start Thanksgiving Month. Today I am so thankful for my home and our ability to live here. What are you thankful for? Email me 5 things you're thankful for at modernhousewife@yahoo.com I'd love to feature your list

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