Thankful Thursday: Joy Dare Week 1

It's a new year, and I find myself taking on a new challenge. Last year, I started reading the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Since I work part-time for a Christian book publisher/online retailer, it was impossible not to be aware of this book; it landed on the bestseller list month after month. I was intrigued by the idea of counting 1000 gifts, 1000 things to be thankful for in a year.

Over the holidays I had some extra days off, some time to think, and I decided to jump in and try this DO THIS for 2013. ("Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda (right?!?)) 1000 is a lot. It's a really big number, the kind that makes me want to say, "No way I can do that...." On the other hand, noting 3 things every day sounds very manageable. I can definitely do that. (Don't tell, but I feel like even if I miss a day, thinking of 6 things once in a while to "catch up" is reasonable. Not that I'm planning to make a habit of that.)

And then I remembered that once I thought I'd post every week for Thankful Thursday. Right before I neglected my blog for months on end. Last year's decision to blog more also fell apart. New year, new resolution, new blog schedule. Yes, a schedule. I'm optimistic that by committing not to the vague "I will blog more" but to the specific, "I will blog on Thursdays", I might be able to stick to it.

The plan is that each week, I'll post on Thursday and share some of the things I've been thankful for in the week. I will be mostly focusing on writing these down, but I hope to photograph some of them. The photographs in this post is are actually from #13 on day 5, but I wanted to share the mini-journal book I put together for my year-long project right here at the beginning. Without further ado....

Things I'm thankful for:

1. watching the Rose Parade with the smell of the Christmas tree still in the air

4. lunch with a friend (a 2.5 hour lunch, but who's counting?)

8. hugs from my nephew Charlie

Photos for the week: