Being Grateful

Today I am feeling gratitude more than usual so I thought I would take a minute to say a few words about what I am grateful for.
1) My generous kind husband that turned 52 today and the fact that after 16 years of marriage we are still a loving couple that works to keep our marriage alive, in love, and joyful.
2) My four wonderful kids, each with their own personality, generosity, and baggage (cause who would we be without baggage?)
3) That I have a loving mother and our relationship is just getting better and better and she no longer feels childless and I no longer feel like an orphan.
4) A mother-in-law that I love and it's easy to be kind to her.
5). My loyal and loving bff, my dog King. He's my go to when I am feeling down or lonely, he's there when I am happy and joyful, and he is there when I or my children need to be protected. He's a great dog!
6) In these tough economic times, I have a family that pulls together and we still have a roof over our heads, the lights are still on and the cable rarely gets shut off.
7) I have not one but two cars to drive, I don't have to depend on my feet or the bus. It will be really great when the one car is paid off but until it is, I am grateful for whenever I get the payment made.
8). Opportunities to improve our life. Though they take pursuing to no end and they aren't guaranteed, they are there and we just need to reach out and grab them.
9) My wonderful friends. Some from the very distant past, like Diana, some from the more recent past, like Amy and Donna, and some very new ones, like Theresa who is a very awesome person.
10) Not last but most import, a loving God that helps us learn lessons along the way, some joyful and others full of pain but all have some kind of lesson. Some you don't understand right away, others you won't understand until your gone but knowing that he is a loving and kind God makes everything worth while.