Like many of us do, back in January I was thinking about the new year. We never know what the year will bring, but all of the days that go by inevitably add up to the ups and downs, the adventures and trials, and just the ordinary and extraordinary happenings of life. I wrote a post to capture and give light to some good things that were happening at that time. (If you missed it, you can catch up by clicking here.)

Well it hasn’t been a year yet, but earlier today there was a cool breeze coming in through the windows (it finally feels like fall!), the sun was shining, the warm and delicious smell of the pumpkin bread that I had baking in the oven was heavenly, “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong started playing on my Pandora app, and I knew God was telling me to be grateful and to write.

So here we are, but instead of only five good things, I’ve got seven to share with you all. Woo!

1. My awesome cousin gave me a red moto jacket last week. It’s fierce! I love it! Thank you, Jen. 🙂
2. My daughter was with her grandma today, and my husband and son were at a bowling birthday party for one of my son’s school friends, so I had the house all to myself. I watched a movie that I hadn’t seen in a while and enjoyed a mini bag of microwave popcorn (kettle corn: my favorite) without needing to share it –or the couch– with anyone.
3. A couple of weeks ago, I started working on the family photo calendar that I make every year through Shutterfly. It’s been wonderful recalling the many memories we made throughout the year.
4. I was given some tickets to a Halloween event at our local zoo, so we went and had a fun time. My kids really liked how everything looked with all of the spooky and silly Halloween decorations. They wore their costumes and got to “trick-or-treat” at various vendor booths throughout the zoo.
5. The local fair was recently held in my city. It had been a few years since we last visited the fair. (The photos I entered into the Photo Exhibition didn’t win any ribbons this time, bummer.) We pigged out on fair food, wandered around the exhibits and booths, and I devoured a huge, gooey, truly incredible cinnamon roll. It was probably a million carbs and calories, but I absolutely did not care.
6. My daughter’s 11th birthday was earlier this month, and we had the most magical Harry Potter themed birthday party for her at Defy, which is a super fun trampoline park. The whole Harry Potter series begins with Harry’s 11th birthday, receiving his invitation to attend Hogwarts, and discovering he’s a wizard. Emily’s classmates were good sports because they even dressed up in Harry Potter attire. It was great!
7. On a recent Target shopping trip, I saw an end-cap in the toy section that had all sorts of cool “retro” toys! I’m talking Pound Puppies, Lite Brite, Magna Doodle, and Lincoln Logs, just to name a few. I had saved my Pound Puppies and a Barbie from when I was a kid and gave them to my daughter when she was younger. I also have my Lite Brite from my childhood stashed away in the garage, and I think this Christmas will be as good a time as any to give it to my children. We’ll see what they think of it.

It’s been a good month so far, and I’m really thankful for God’s blessings. I could probably come up with a few more good things, but my kids are dancing around to Halloween music playing on our Echo Dot in the living room, and the need to dance to “Thriller” and “Ghost Busters” is coming over me. Time to publish this, join the fun, and enjoy another good thing for this month.

As always, thanks for stopping by. ❤