The Important things in life

Every year, I try to do some sort of a daily list of things I'm thankful for. But every year I lose it after about 5 days.
So this year, I'm going to write a list of things I'm thankful for, all at once. I'll just look back at this list when I'm struggling.

I'm thankful for:

1. My husband. Josh is awesome. He supports my photo obsession/hobby/passion/career and doesn't roll his eyes when I tell him what I'm going to add to my stash.
2. Hudson. He makes me laugh, and he's incredibly insightful. He already has a gift of being able to figure out logistics, and he's only 3 1/2. What's he going to be like as an adult? I can't wait to find out.
3. Bekah. She brings such sunshine to my days. She has a serious stubborn streak, but hopefully she'll be able to steer it toward good goals. She is such a loving girl.
4. Jasmine. She's my mini-me, for better or worse. And as she gets older, she's getting more wonderful and more fun to be with. I love that I get to teach her every day.
5. Homeschooling. Now that this is our third year, I'm feeling like I have an idea of what we need to do to make school happen. We're very eclectic, mixing in unschooling with more structured workbooks, and anyone who likes schedules would go crazy. But the girls are making incredible progress and we don't have daily battles. It happens when they're ready, but it happens!

6. Photography. I love the creative outlet, and the occasional money that comes in. I love taking the pictures. I love editing the pictures. I love seeing my pictures later. Love it all.
7. Jesus. He really should have been first (*blush*). My relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in my life, and steers everything else I do. I love teaching the children about him, and I love that he's becoming the most important thing in their lives, too.
8. The ability to vote. I can't WAIT for Tuesday. Actually, I can't wait for Wednesday. I want to vote, but I want this time of unknown, this time of 100000 political posts a day on Facebook, to be over. And of course I'm praying HARD that the election will go the way we want it to go and that it will steer the country the direction that's most important to us. (for a great list of how and why I decide how to vote, read this!)
9. Thedigichick.com. It's the most awesome, drama-free, friendly scrapbooking site I've seen. I've been a member since January 2006, and have been a creative team member, an admin, and now a designer (and admin). I got to meet a bunch of the staff a couple years ago in Orlando, and another bunch last month in San Antonio. They're as wonderful in real life as online!

10. My online life. I should really spend less time on the computer, but I'm very thankful for how connected I can be to my friends and family, thanks to the internet.
11. Second chances. And third. And fourth. I'm working on yet another 6-week challenge on a fitness "game" for the Wii. I finished one back in the spring, but then got off track, so hopefully I can stick with it this time!
12. Crocheting. It's an awesome thing to keep my hands busy when I'm chatting or watching movies, and I'm making things that bless others (including my own kids!)
13. Swagbucks. If you haven't heard of it, it's a search engine that gives you points for doing searches, and when you get a bunch of points you can get things like gift cards to Amazon. I've been doing it for a couple years now, and I've earned 46 $5 gift cards to Amazon. That's nothing to sneeze at! (wow. I had no idea I'd earned that many!!)
14. coffee. yum.
15. My friends. Local friends I can meet for coffee, long-distance friends I can email...
16. My family. I have an awesome mom and a fantastic dad. I love that I'm the oldest of 11. It made me who I am today and how I see my world, for better or worse!
17. Florida. Where I'll hopefully be celebrating NEXT year's Thanksgiving.
18. The creativity of my children. Hudson has discovered the joys of costumes (see picture). He is currently wearing Batman jammies with a cape, which means he's usually zooming around the living room. He also loves dressing up as Neo, which involves wearing my knee-high high-heeled boots because they're the only black boots.
19.  ClearPlay, the DVD player we have that cleans up all the movies we watch. Because of it, we can watch things like Matrix (thus the Neo costume) and know the kids aren't seeing the gruesome bits, hearing the swears, or seeing other inappropriate scenes.
20. Josh. If I need help putting my thoughts/beliefs/ideas into words, he's my man.
21. My tripod and remote. I love that I can take self-portraits with something other than a timer or having someone else shoot it.
22. Lists that don't have to have a certain number of numbers.
23. comments ;) hint, hint hint.