I’m still participating in the March Photo a Day Challenge,but because my Instagram photos feed into the blog widget about 1/3 of the way down the page for your viewing convenience, I’ve decided to post a weekly recap of photos instead of trying to post them here every day. So here are days 2-8 for this year’s challenge, and then below those are the same days for my challenge last year that I never did share on Nikki by example or on NBE’s instagram.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a wonderful day full of family and food. Today I’m thankful for everything, as cliche as it sounds. My family, my home, my health, and all of the other good fortunes I’ve had. 2016 has been very rough on us and the world so I’m choosing to focus on all the positive things, no matter how small.

Even though I was laid off from my nonprofit job this month, Nick’s work is still going strong and we still have our warm and happy home to shelter us everyday. We also still have a silly little dog that continues to light up our lives and make us laugh regularly. We still have it all together despite the hardships and for that I am thankful.

My health is in tip-top shape and my pregnancy is progressing along beautifully. I haven’t endured much of the sickness or pains that can often come along with being pregnant. I’m happy and healthy and for that I am thankful.

We have the most wonderful friends and family a person could ask for. Throughout everything we’ve been through, especially in the past year, they’ve been there for us and offered their help in any way they could. My community is the best and for that I am thankful.

Last but not least, I am very thankful to those of you who read my blog! I know the internet is inundated with life and style blogs, but you entertain my little hobby by reading and commenting and participating and for that I am thankful.

The way I see it, things could be so much worse than they are right now. For all the good fortune I’ve had and for having the ability to put in the hard work to make it all possible is something for which I will be eternally thankful.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner so I’d like to take some time ahead of the holiday to reflect on the things in my life for which I am the most thankful. Thankful Thursday is a weekly series for the month of November.

We had our pictures taken this past weekend for our annual Christmas cards. I get really excited about designing our cards every year because they always turn out so awesome, which leads to me giddily but impatiently waiting to receive everyone else’s holiday cards, photos, and letters. December is one of the best months because there’s a treat in the mailbox just about every day, and we just don’t get that anymore. So this Thursday, I’m thankful for any and all of the handwritten mail I receive all year long.

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When I was in undergrad, which was ages ago at this point, my aunt and uncle sent me a card in the mail every month. They would include family updates, news about my high school’s sports teams, and other little tidbits of information they thought I might like. I looked forward to those cards every month — and not just because they also included some cash in there 😉 Knowing that someone is thinking of me and taking time out of their busy lives to write me a letter, card, etc. is truly one of the greatest feelings in the world.

The other day I was reading an article about hobbies you could take up if you don’t have any hobbies and it listed “sending physical letters to people.” Um, why didn’t I already think of that? I love writing letters, I love getting letters, and I had several pen pals when I was kid so why not make someone else’s day by writing them a letter? I’ve been thinking about turning this into a hobby in the new year. We’ll see how I do.

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It seems like email, texting, and social media have made letters essentially obsolete, so the gift of real mail is one that I treasure and one for which I am truly thankful.