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Eternal Gratitude | Thanksgiving 2015

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Cari

Categories: in MOTHERHOOD

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! If your day goes anything like mine, it will be jam-packed with good food, conversation, a little bit of travel, and (the best part) quality family time.

After seeing so many Facebook and Twitter "thankful" posts, I felt I needed to craft my own list. These last 12 months have been quite a wild ride, and I've found myself most thankful for these along the way....

My husband - This man is the backbone of our family and my biggest supporter. I can't imagine sharing this wonderful, crazy life with anyone else. When you marry your best friend, everything else about life seems to fall into place. <3
Our home - We've finally embarked on the long-awaited adventure of building our new home, and it's been a labor of love. We can't wait to see the finished product & consider ourselves incredibly lucky to be making our dream come to life.
Friendships - No matter the time or distance that life wedges between the friendships I have, I know the ones I hold the dearest are only a phone call away.
My family's health - This one. If I could make this bullet point a thousand times bigger than the others, I would. Up until last year it was something I'd always took for granted.

In late August 2015, at 22 weeks pregnant with my daughter, the doctors incidentally found a mass in my right kidney. That was the biggest blindside I'd ever experienced. Can I be honest with you? Last Fall/Winter were some of the hardest seasons of life for me. That finding introduced the possibility of my baby being a micro preemie & me doing radiation treatments. Lump all of that together with bi-monthly scans to monitor the tumor growth, closing my business for a while (I was told to be prepared to deliver anytime after 28 weeks), and medical bills piling up, I found myself really struggling with thankfulness this time last year.

Yet even though I lacked a grateful heart, the Lord continued to provide me with SO MUCH to be thankful - those weeks turned to months of scans & never yielded any tumor growth (best case scenario & answered prayers!). I was finally cleared to carry full-term. The cancerous tumor and kidney were removed a few weeks later with zero margins & no additional treatments needed (just scans/xrays every 6 months from here on out). If it were possible to jump up into the clouds and give the Lord the biggest hug, I would have done so. I've been blessed with more days to enjoy life and watch my babies grow up.

My heart is now eternally filled with gratitude.
My daughter - I strategically placed her here on the list for good reason. You see, the tumor mentioned above might not have started causing so much pain (what led to it's discovery) if I hadn't been pregnant. Who knows how much longer it would have gone undetected if it wasn't for this sweet little girl growing inside me. This little miracle may very well have saved my life, and she doesn't even know it.
My son - I am so amazed (and a little jealous) at how he faces this world so fearlessly. He is a social butterfly, always up for talking to new people and trying new things. While I can't relate to his extroverted tendencies, I admire them so much. He has me wrapped around his little finger with his sweet "please"s and "thank you"s. He's my world.
My doctors and nurses - This one is pretty self explanatory. They were instrumental in my healing process this year & I am so grateful for the level of care and compassion they've all extended to me and my family.
My clients - All of you contribute to this fun and challenging career path I've chosen for myself. You help me sustain my stay-at-home mom role. You force me to grow outside my design "comfort zone" (a good thing!) with ever-changing styles and design concepts. Meeting with each of you and watching your big day come together piece-by-piece through the planning process never loses it luster. You are all appreciated and valued. Thank you for allowing me to play a small role in one of your biggest life moments!
Parents - As I get older and dive deeper into parenthood myself, I become ever the more grateful for my mom and dad. I finally realize the extent of their love, generosity, and selflessness. When I'm up at night rocking the baby or cuddling a sick toddler, I picture my parents in the same scenario 30+ years ago. It makes me tear up thinking about all the unseen sacrifices they've given, just to make sure my sisters and I were safe, happy, and healthy. Parenthood - now that's love.

I could probably go on and on with a few dozen more things I'm thankful for this year, but these top the list. I just had to shout it from the rooftops (or at least from my blog) how thankful I am this Thanksgiving.

What are you most thankful for this season?

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I’m a country girl, small business owner, wife, mother of three, and a proud alumna of Purdue University (Boiler Up!).

Wondering what life is like for a busy mom with a graphic design & laser cutting business? My days are filled with pretty paper, blissful brides, half-finished sketchbooks, half-eaten lunches, and lots of cuddling with my little ones. I look forward to sharing with you all of life's fun happenings (both in & out of the studio) here on the blog!