This blog is my attempt to stay in touch with all my family and friends. I don’t see many of you, with us living in the middle of nowhere in Southern Oregon, but you are all too precious to me to lose touch. So, I will try to share some of our daily lives with you, including some of the craziness of the last couple of years during the move and building the house.

Just as importantly, I want to make an effort to record what I am thankful for. Especially in the past three years, our family, like many others, has dealt with tons of financial upheaval due to the craziness of the world we live in. But I have realized that mindful thankfulness can change everything. Life can be tough, very tough, and I’m challenging myself to always—yes, always—find something to be thankful for.

For our family of seven, this has included moving states, moving house four times in two years, living in a travel trailer for nine months, and finishing up building our home with our own only semi-skillful and rather bruised hands!

Lots of crazy moments come to mind, but finding something to be thankful for was life-changing. I wish I could have blogged through the whole three years—but then I didn’t always have a keyboard in my hand—just a hammer, my baby’s hand, or a moving box!

So stay tuned as I blog, cook, live, laugh, and most of all, GIVE THANKS.