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(Google provided the picture)

I'm thankful for ice cream.

Such a delicious treat that I can never seem to get enough of.

When I was younger, I'd come home from school and go straight to the kitchen for my snack. I was telling my sister about this a few weeks ago and she couldn't believe my mom allowed me to do the following:

I got one of our medium sized mixing bowls, one of our large mixing spoons, filled the bowl with ice cream, if we had cookies, I'd add about 4 or 5, maybe added some caramel or nuts, mixed it all together, went into my parents room and watched tv while enjoying every bite.

How I didn't end up being the fattest kid in the world, I don't know.

Do I have a favorite flavor? No. But I really don't like Rocky Road (did you just pretend to be Sloth from Goonies?! Me too!). It's the marshmallows.

And don't you love the picture I found? Thrifty ice cream is iconic. The square scoop! I'd always get the rainbow sherbet. Did you just pronounce that like "sherbeRt"? Me too!

I think I may just go get one of my mixing bowls and spoons...

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I'm grateful for heroes.

We went out to dinner last weekend and there happened to be some sort of Military get together at the restaurant.

I've made it a goal of mine to thank any man or woman I see in their uniform, for their sacrifice in serving our country.

Turns out we were seated right next to this party and I wanted to stand on my chair and shout out to everyone how blessed we were! But to save myself from embarrassment, I passed on that idea. I did, although, thank 3 of them individually for their service. One man almost brought me to tears.

My sister, her family, The Lime and I went to San Jose to celebrate Veterans Day. Every year, I wish to attend some sort of parade or celebration but have never gotten around to it. I text messaged my brother-in-law last night and asked if he knew of anything and my sister just so happened to be looking events up online. Turns out the San Francisco parade was last Sunday (what the heck?!?!) so we opted for San Jose.

I brought our little flag so The Lime could wave it proudly! He waved it for a second and chewed on it the rest of the time.


I hope all Veterans know that they're heroes. Whether they were sent abroad or served in the United States, whether it was 3 years or 30 years, service is service and I'm grateful.

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I'm thankful for gasoline.

And not just any gasoline but Safeway's gasoline. I secretly get excited when I know I have a 10 cent discount.

And don't be fooled. This picture was not taken at our local Safeway. I can't remember when I saw prices that low. Imagine the 10 cent discount on $2.52! I'd be in gasoline heaven!

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I'm grateful for friendship.

I like to believe that we were friends in the pre-existence. You know when an elderly couple has spent 60 years together and one of the two passes away? It doesn't seem long before the other one goes.

It seems as though Katie and I have done the opposite. We started out together, just 6 weeks apart. I think it was only 6 weeks because we couldn't stand to not be with one another.

We've literally grown up together.

From Kindergarten...

...to Weddings.

We were blessed to live just across a park from each other. Each grade in elementary school, we had the same teacher. Once we got to middle school, we only saw each other at break and lunch but that was OK. After our 6th grade year, she moved to Southern California and I thought my life was over. What would I do without my best friend?! My fear was that we'd not talk as much, rarely see each other and our 12 years of friendship would fizzle out.

Thank goodness, I was wrong!

After 14 years of not living across the park from each other, we're still best friends. A state or a country can't come between Katie May and I.

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I'm grateful for entertainment.

en·ter·tain·ment

2) something affording pleasure, diversion, or amusement, esp. a performance of some kind: The highlight of the ball was an elaborate entertainment.

LaVor didn't find the following news clip very entertaining but I did. I'm not quite sure what it is about "Janice" that I find so entertaining. Is it her accent? Is it her enthusiasm for baseball? Is it the quick "Go Giants!" that she threw in at the very end? I don't know but it sure kept me amused.

I also think this little dude is quite the entertainer.

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I'm thankful for dogs.

It's expected that in the next few weeks or even days, my family will have to put down our dog that we've had for almost 14 years. I've mentioned him before.

Indy Doo no longer looks this young and handsome. He's now an old man with a white beard, is on the verge of being completely blind and is having a hard time roaming the backyard. It's difficult to see him like that.

I'm especially grateful for the companionship, protection and love that he's provided over his lifetime. Do I dare mention that I used to sleep on the kitchen floor with him, while he was recovering from being hit by a car?

He bit people, even snapped at LaVor once. Do I also dare mention that I took the dog's side and LaVor and I got in a huge fight about it? To make a long story short, Indy had bit people in the past, I warned LaVor not to try and pet him, he tried, Indy snapped at him, LaVor got mad, I defended the dog because I had warned him, we didn't talk for a couple days, now we're married.

So thank you, Indiana, for being the best Christmas present ever. I cried when I got you and I'll cry when I have to let you go.

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I'm grateful for cake.

Some people work with clay, others chalk, some even cameras. I've never considered myself artistic but I suppose cake is my medium.

Cakes was my favorite class in school, as I think I've mentioned before. Being able to take flour, sugar, eggs and butter and make it look like this → is pretty amazing.