365 Days of Thanksgiving

I recently shared about working on my 2014 New Year's resolutions, and one of the things I was planning to do was to take time every day to stop and be thankful for something in my life.  The more I thought about this, the more I thought that I should find some way to plan and document it.  Thus was born the "365 Days of Thanksgiving" project.

I am hoping to get others to join me in this journey throughout 2014.  It is so easy to forget all of our conveniences and focus instead on what we do not have, but I have found that the more I stop and thank God for all the good in my life, the more I recognize and remember how wonderfully blessed I really am.  In 2014, I plan to do this every single day, and I hope that my readers will join me.

Each day next year, I will share what I am grateful for on the blog and invite readers to comment with what they are grateful for or with a link to a blog post of their own.  The more we see what others are grateful for, the more we will all realize how much good there is in our lives if we simply take time to acknowledge it.  (If you do a blog post, please label it with "365 Days of Thanksgiving" and include a link to my blog, as well.)  Let's see how far we can make the chain of thanksgiving go.

I encourage everyone to participate even if you only do so in private.  Take a moment to thank God out loud for something every day, and you will recognize your blessings and realize new blessings throughout the year.

Getting started on those New Year's resolutions

Okay, so everyone is worked up over how all the stores have "skipped" Thanksgiving and gone right to Christmas, but I am going to take it one step further and start talking about the new year.  (On a side note, people need to just settle down about skipping Thanksgiving.  The reason the stores go right into Christmas stuff is because at Christmas, most of us buy stuff for other people, and it turns out those stores have to make money in order to continue operating and paying their employees.  No one complains when the grocery stores "take advantage" of us by selling turkeys.)

I have been thinking a lot about New Year's resolutions, and changes I would like to make in the coming year.  One major one is cleaning the house.  I have never been a neat person, but I love the feel of being in a house that is neat and clean.  Even before I had my son, I had a heck of a time keeping things clean, but other people do it, so there is no reason that I shouldn't be able to do it, too.  So, in 2014, getting the house clean and maintaining it in that state is one of my big goals.  I want to be able to invite someone to come into my house without 3 or 4 days notice.

Since I am terrible at keeping the house clean, I am working on developing a good cleaning plan, which I will share when it is complete.  I get overwhelmed if I try to tackle everything at once, so I want to find a way to just do a little at a time without letting the sheer volume of it make me give up.  Once things are clean, I also want to use this plan to maintain the house with daily, weekly, and monthly chores.

Another thing I want to do in 2014 is finally learn to sew.  I have had a sewing machine for several years, but I have only used it a few times.  I would love to take a class, but I just do not have the time (especially if I also plan to have a clean house).  I have found several instructional videos on YouTube to help me get the basics down, so that will be a good start.  I have to get the house clean first and then set up a good work space.

I also want to take time every single day to be thankful for what I have.  I am so often reminded of how good I have it and how blessed my life is.  I want to make a point to do that every day.

Those are a good start, but I'm sure as the end of the year sneaks closer, I will have more.  What are your resolutions for the New Year?