Thankful Thursday - Who's coming with us!?!?

Last week, Mandi had a great post about thankfulness that we really wanted to build off of and continue this week. We can't stress enough how important we feel it is in our own lives that we remember to slow down when things seem to be getting a "fast" and just think about the little things that we're thankful for. Many of you expressed a similar sentiment last week and sounded interested in joining us in highlighting stuff throughout the week that we're thankful for and sharing them on our respective blogs or through the comment section of this blog. I have a little "Linky Tools" at the end of this post in which you can link your thankfulness post up to (I hope it works). Feel free to spread this around to anyone you know that may like to participate.

We all have GREAT things going on in our lives and sometimes it's just a matter of sitting down and putting it to paper before we realize how good we really have it.

Mandi's List:

1. As some of you may have seen, we're doing a 12 Days of Christmas Campaign with CysticLife...where we're sending out daily emails featuring articles by some of the incredible members of the CF community. It has been my job to create the emails and send them. And let me tell you, I couldn't help but think how thankful I am for technology and MailChimp.com (and no, this is not a sponsored plug. I do in fact just think it's the coolest thing)!! It has been a breeze to put the emails together, update the mailing list, hit send, and that so cool to be able to track the number of opens, clicks, etc. Technology blows my mind sometimes!

2. Thankful for insurance. We have incredible insurance and are SO blessed to have the insurance that we have. And in assessing potential baby makin' cost (all of which are out of pocket because I think it's one of the only things our insurance doesn't pay) I couldn't help but think about how blessed we are to not have to worry about medical costs with all of Ronnie's meds, hospital stays, clinic visits, etc. Insurance can be a headache at times, but man oh man, what a blessing it is to have a $4000/month med become a $10 co pay!

3. I am so thankful for the fact that we got our patio furniture this week, and it's all in good shape, no issues, fit perfectly on the patio, and is as comfortable as Ronnie required furniture to be. We ordered our patio furniture 6 weeks ago (it was brutal waiting 6 weeks to get it, as I'm sure you can imagine), and got it on Monday. I was nervous to see it in person and in the space, because there were a lot of variables we weren't sure about (color of the iron, color of the cushions, size, etc). But it all turned out perfect, which leads me to:

4. I'm thankful for arizona weather. It's been in the 70s the last few days (gotta love Arizona - it's December and in the high 70s). We have been able to sit outside on our new patio furniture quite a bit. It's been incredible to enjoy some meals and just spend time together outside, and really enjoy our yard and the weather.

5. I'm thankful for 2 legs that work. As many of you know, I'm training for the Phoenix Half marathon in January, so I am now needing to get in some longer runs. I feel so blessed to be able to run. Don't get me wrong, I hate running and I'm not really built to run (my body naturally moves slow, I have short, stubby legs, and my knees and ankles generally like to act up), but I am thrilled that I have the ability to stand up on two legs and exercise - whether it's for a run, a walk, or just a quick bike ride.

6. I'm thankful for my hubby (was this on my list last week too? I'm feeling like this may be a trend). Yesterday I went with Ronnie to a respiratory college to listen to him speak about CF, and I sat there the whole time feeling so blessed to be his wife. There's something about watching Ronnie speak that takes him out of the context of "oh that's just my husband Ronnie" and helps put into perspective so many of the traits I take for granted or don't notice all the time - like his sense of humor, compassion, passion, and intelligence. These are all traits I know he possesses, but seeing them from a different lens always makes me feel so blessed to get to call him "mine". (I know I know, CHEESY)!

Ronnie's List:

1. We're so blessed to live in a neighborhood we love with neighbors who we like. Recently we've had a chance to talk with some of our neighbors for an extended period of time (not your standard hi and bye talk) and come to find out, they're really cool! They're both young families who have quite a bit going on, but both guys love to talk sports. Sold!

2. Speaking of neighbors, I'm thankful for the little "bromance" (as Mandi calls it) brewing with my next door neighbor Rob. We spent the whole weekend doing projects on each others' houses and were able to really bond over some DYI stuff around the house. He's quite the handyman and really took the time to teach as we went along.

3. I'm thankful for good groups at our church. We're part of a group called "After I do" that's made up of couples who have been married for less than 5 years. Tonight we went to a small group which spun off of that group and enjoyed ourselves very much.

4. I have such a helpful wife. She's willing to do whatever it takes to assist me in getting into the best position for better lung function. Whether it's cheer me on , hold me accountable, move around my treatments or pound my back; she'll do it and won't complain. She's actually convinced me that she'd like me to be around for a very long time :)

5. I got a really good deal at a yard sale last week. I paid 20 bucks for an electric scooter, and guess what, it actually works!! I'm going to have to replace the battery for optimal performance, but for 20 bucks, I'll take it.

So there you have it. We could both probably go on and on, but that ought to do it for tonight. I hope to see many blogs shared or comments posted telling us what your thankful for today or this past week. It seems the positivity breeds positivity, and in my opinion, you can never have too much of that!