One Thousand Gifts #176-200

176. Pain (for it is through pain that God does His most awesome work in us)
177. Grace
178. Memories of my German grandfather (maternal) singing "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" and dancing a jig on St. Patrick's Day
179. Memories of my Irish grandmother (paternal)
180. Corned Beef and potatoes
181. My daughter's fascination with a [tightly closed] tube of lotion
182. Sunshine warm on my arms
183. Hands to hold
184. A strong back to work
185. Crocuses
186. Walks in the afternoon sunlight
187. Bath-time
188. Packages in the mail
189. Playing in the yard
190. Water dripping steadily off the roof, as the sun beats down on it
191. Spinning around the living room with Avelyn
192. A little girl who puts her dirty clothes in the hamper
193. without being asked to do so
194. A husband who comes home every night
195. Erasers
196. Being Irish
197. Irish Music....always gets your toes a-tappin'
198. Cardinals flitting among the branches....chasing each other
199. "Silver white winters that melt into spring"
200. My dad

One Thousand Gifts #151-175

151. The tree outside my bedroom window
152. A change jar (a reminder that we have extra)
153. Tape
154. A working camera
155. A video camera
156. A cleaned up sewing room
157. Avelyn taking a good nap
158. The incredible-ness that is weather
159. Dancing around the living room with Avelyn
160. Colorful afghans made by my mom
161. Coloring
162. Cute cloth diapered bums
163. Finding happiness in someone else's joy
164. signing my name "Jessica M. White"
165. Listening to the river raging behind our house
166. The silence of snow fall
167. Tulips
168. Little chicks peeping
169. Companies that return phone calls (from Matt)
170. Computers that work (from Matt)
171. Sharp razors (from Matt)
172. The huge white tree in the distance (our own Tree of Gondor)
173. Warm bread with butter
174. The wind chimes "singing" in our apple orchard
175. The satisfaction of a job well-done

One Thousand Gifts #126-150

126. Catching snowflakes at night with Ave
127.The muffled silence of snow falling
128. Roller coaster arms down a bumpy back road
129. Butterfly kisses
130. Reading books together
131. Playing scrabble with Matt
135. Frost glittering in the sunrise
136. Smell of crayola crayons
137. An already unloaded dishwasher
138. Doctors
139. Pop-up books
140. Cloth diapers drying in the sun
141. Cloth diapers lined up on the line in color order (ROY G BIV)
142. Clear blue skies
143. Warmer temperatures
144. The cool side of the pillow
145. Crackers and cheese
146. Girls' clothes
147. Fresh sheets on the bed
148. Sheets that fit so tight they won't come off
149. Prayer lists
150. Smoke detectors

One Thousand Gifts #101-125

101. Church family that accepts Ave and all her boisterousness during service
102. Listening to Matt and Avelyn sing together
103. A daddy who is willing to change explosive poopie diapers
104. Toilets in our house
105. Irish Soda Bread that didn't burn
106. Enough money to pay the bills
107. People who ask "how are you?" (and mean it)
108. Freshly bathed dogs
109. Winning $50 off our next photo session in the Fall
110. That we have enough (of whatever) to share it with others
111. Locks on doors (particularly those of little ones)
112. Baby gates
113. Freshly popped popcorn (the old fashioned way)
114. Great books!
115. The ability to read
116. The ability to see
117. Clean bathtub
118. A God who loves us for who we are....flawed and sinful
119. A God who wants us to KNOW Him, to REALLY KNOW HIM!
120. Fresh Fruit
121. Naps
122. A dinner I didn't have to cook
123. Unexpected visits from my mom and sister
124. Sound machines (aka white noise)
125. Windows that let the outside in

One Thousand Gifts #76-100

76. My mom getting me my own copy of One Thousand Gifts :-)
77. Seeing more of the ground
78. Walking past my flower bed and seeing the first bit of green
79. Being able to make it from the house to the car without ice skating the whole way
80. Seeing old videos from my GRANDPARENTS' wedding
81. Wonderful In-laws
82. Vinegar: It's good for you and it cleans good!
83. Honey and all it's yum-alicious goodness
84. Cloth Diapers
85. My Dad's corned beef
86. How many of my "gifts" are food related
87. A new magazine!
88. Sitting down with Matt to talk
89. Thinking about our garden and what we'll plant
90. NOT getting flooded (we're in the clear!)
91. A shower that doesn't have a curtain attacking you
92. Finishing projects
93. A stove....because I don't have to stand outside over a wood fire to prepare dinner
94. Seeing old friends with their little ones
95. Getting me through the week (as I worked a lot more hours in the store)
96. Having all of our parents and grandparents living so close
97. Seeing the new developments Ave makes on a daily basis
98. Mechanical pencils....I always have to have a point!
99. Hot showers
100. Down-time with just me and Matt

One Thousand Gifts #51-75

51. Listening to Matt read to Ave
52. Customers that give you fantastic compliments on their dinners
53. Listening to rain on the tin roof of the porch
54. Having enough food in our house that I'm actually overweight (trying to see the bright-side here)
55. Thank you cards from special people
56. That our town hasn't flooded (yet)
57. That bears say "ach-ooo"
58. Totally random kisses
59. Finding old pictures of Matt and I
60. Tucking Avelyn in at night
61. Reading the Bible to Avelyn before nap/night
62. Actually WANTING to read the Bible
63. Mud....because it means spring is on the way
64. Washing machines...because it means I don't have to go down to the river and beat our clothes on stones
65. Baby monitors
66. Dogs that insist on curling up in your lap
67. BIG yoga balls
68. The library
69. New books to read to Ave
70. Her excitement at having new books to read
71. Having employees that you can trust to do a job
72. Employees who want the business to succeed as much as you do
73. Wash baskets.....they're great storage
74. Windows
75. Hair ties

One Thousand Gifts #26-50

Go here to check out what I'm doing :-)

26. Avocados
27. Sunshine amidst the bleak winter
28. Rose-y red cheeks from being out in the cold
29. Hearing "Mommy"
30. Listening to conversations between Matt and our little girl
31. A shelf full of foods that is always full
32. A neighbor who plows our driveway for us and refuses payment
33. Listening to my daughter talk to herself in the morning over the monitor
34. For our home to be high enough up that we don't have to worry about flooding
35. Customers who come in regardless of the weather
36. A car repair bill that was less than we feared (Thank you LORD!)
37. Sweet potato fries
38. A little voice saying "avocado"
39. Comments :-)
40. Bare ground (even if it is surrounded by ice and snow)
41. Chickens that didn't eat their own eggs today
42. Falling back to sleep for a few more hours after Matt leaves (at 5am)
43. Getting new netflixes
44. Finishing a mind-blowing book
45. A husband that is willing to deal with a screaming child that only wants mommy
46. Bananas with peanut butter
47. (from Matt) A loving and caring wife
48. Cars that run
49. A loving and supportive family
50. A roof over our heads

One Thousand Gifts

There's this book being circulated in the web-o-sphere that is getting people talking. I actually didn't even realize that what I kept seeing here-and-there was actually related to a book...I thought it was just someone's cool graphic design with a great idea: One Thousand Gifts!


I had hoped to read the book before starting my collection of gifts, but my mom hasn't finished the book yet and we're on a spending freeze in our house and the library doesn't have it. Hopefully I'll get to read the book before too long.

The general idea, or at least what I have gathered from the website and the author's blog is looking to the every day to find the numerous ways in which God has blessed us. I'm (hoping) to write down twenty-five gifts every day of Lent, which is forty days; at the end of which I will have come up with a thousand ways in which I am blessed by God's gifts.

There are two ways to find my list: 1) you can click on the tag One Thousand Gifts or 2) click on the link on the right-hand column.

Here we go!

1. A bathroom floor that is so much easier to clean
2. Mirrors that are covered with face smears and little hand prints
3. Snow that turned all the ugly brown back to shimmering white
4. A husband who works without ceasing for his family
5. Family dinners with the three of us
6. That I've been able to be a SAHM
7. Having our own chickens for eggs
8. Owning a grocery store
9. A husband who eats [almost] whatever I put on the table
10. A MIL who sews!
11. The internet
12. Credit card companies that remove a late fee, 1 time, as a courtesy
13. 30% off at Koh.ls
14. A paycheck
15. A daughter who gives the most amazing bear-hugs
16. A mom who really does try to so hard to please everyone
17. My newly repaired (AGAIN!) camera coming in the mail today
18. Birds chirping outside my window in the morning
19. Hearing the geese flying northward (spring IS coming!)
20. A quilt shop down the street
21. Running water!!
22. An oil furnace that we can run when we run out of wood
23. The skills to make our own furniture pieces
24. Babysitters that I can TRUST with my daughter
25. Friends that GET IT, whatever "IT" may be