The Gratitude Project.

{Outdoor lunch in Vegas last week}

What a crazy and fun week this has been! Turning 32…Valentines Day double date with my parents at a winery in West TN…flying to Vegas a day early so we could beat the snow…a snow-filled week in Nashville… Glad to see the snow LEAVE! As a TN native, I can say with complete confidence: snow  isn't something we can deal with  for longer than a day. If it comes and stays, it's a madhouse here. Luckily I missed a lot of that by being in Vegas! Here are the things I am grateful for this week…

1. VEGAS SUNSHINE: When I walked off the plane in Vegas last Sunday, I acted like I hadn't seen sunshine in months. Well, it's probably because I hadn't….  

During my whole trip, I was in a constant state of gratitude for sunshine and the 70 degree weather! The picture above was a day that we enjoyed a 2-hour lunch outside just because it was so beautiful! We couldn't bring ourselves to leave, even though we were done eating. Due to the baseball lifestyle, we were usually gone to FL or AZ by the beginning of February. So I kind of "forgot" how long and cold these couple of months can be. Being here in TN this whole winter,  I was reminded that it's just down-right COLD here during January and February. I was so happy and grateful for sunshine and flip-flops last week! It made such a difference in my mood! Needless to say, I am very ready for spring! 

2. Baseball Friends - I was never the "new kid" in school. I started school in the same town - and with the same people - that I graduated. So the concept of "new kid" was foreign to me… Until I married a baseball player. I hadn't thought too much about that part of my life lately, until a friend from our baseball days posted a picture with me in it for #throwbackthursday. The picture captured 4 friends, smiling widely, at a baseball game. Friends that were complete strangers just weeks before that picture was taken. If you put the baseball world under a microscope, you will find that it's bizarre, hard, and trying. You will also find that it's extremely fun and rewarding. That is because of the people we meet and the friends we make. Each season (and sometimes multiple times during a season), there's a new team and new people to meet. Everyone at some point is "the new kid." I am incredibly thankful for all of the amazing friends I met during that time. Girls that I still keep in contact with today, be it through phone calls, texts, emails, Christmas cards, or even getting together in person when possible! I love each of them for reasons tough to convey on a little ol' blog. God put such amazing women in my life during each baseball season, and even when I was "the new kid," I didn't feel like it for long because of those amazing women from all over this great country.

3. Men & Women Who Serve Our Country: Last night when watching the Oscars, I was really hoping American Snipper would win for Best Picture. Not because the other movies weren't great. Not because the actors in the other movies didn't give incredibly moving performances. But because American Snipper shows the reality of what it's like to truly serve our country (over and over and over again) and the horrors & sacrifices that go along with doing so. I saw the movie and was extremely moved by the bravery of Chris Kyle and ALL the military men and women who serve. I cannot begin to image leaving your spouse, your family, and your home to go to war. It takes bravery beyond belief to serve our country, and last night I was so grateful we have men and women who are doing that right now for YOU and for ME.

{The picture my friend posted of our baseball days in Seattle.}