Material Girl

Not everything I'm thankful for can be quite so touchy feely. Here is my list of material possessions I'm thankful for this year!

• My iphone. I'm not sure what I would do without this little gadget. It was love at first sight. After loosing two cell phones in 6 months I resorted to toting around Nate's old ghetto phone circa 1999 (not really but you'd think it was). Nate purchased this little gem for my birthday almost 4 months ago and it hasn't left my side since. We go shopping together, to dinner together. It even has an app for taking care of Ben. I should bungie this thing to me permanently.
• My gym membership. So this isn't exactly a material possession but I love it. My parents must have seen how badly I needed to whip my butt into shape because they bought Nate and me a year's membership for my birthday. As a side note, while working out at said gym I watch movies on my iphone. Bestill my heart.
• My camera and computer. These two pretty much go hand and hand. I am in love with taking pictures. Not only of my son, but of any poor soul who gets in my way. I then love to spend hours on my computer pouring over said pictures and getting them ready for you all to see here. P.S. my iphone takes pictures and video.

There you have it. I have to say I've been racking my brain for even more material possessions to rave about and I'm coming up short. I must say I'm proud of myself. Material possessions have nothing on me.

Healthy as a Horse

With all the craziness going on it's easy to forget it's the little things to be thankful for. This year I'm remembering back to a little over a year ago when I was knocked up and not allowed off the couch. It's actually sounding pretty good right about now.

There was a time our family use to have surgery wars. I had knee surgery so Nate had to one up me by getting surgery on his spine. Cooper's the really hard core one though. He went and had his toe amputated. That's commitment.

This year we are all healthy (despite the occasional runny nose by Ben). Nate and I have lost over 40 pounds combined since we moved back to Oregon (one of us more than the other but I'm not naming names). My blood pressure is awesome. We both have realized how scary this time last year really was (luckily we realize it more after the fact or my blood pressure might have been even higher than it was). We have a sweet and healthy baby boy and all the pregnancy health problems in the world would be worth it for him.

Deep in the Heart.

If you are a regular reader of this blog (all 3 of you) you probably wouldn't be surprised to hear I love Oregon. However, despite my love for my home state I am thankful for the 2 brief years we lived in Texas.

Texas is a pretty bada** state. It's one of the only states you can recognize from it's outline. There's also Florida and California. Maybe Alaska and Hawaii- it's the only island. I guess also Louisiana because it's shaped like an L but all those states could fit inside Texas (besides Alaska of course but put the people of Alaska in a battle against the people of Texas and I guarantee the Texas people will win every time).

Jordan and I at the Alamo

Nate and I definitely lived deep in the heart of Texas and while I love Oregon (in case you forgot) there is no place I would choose over Texas for second place. Nate and I wanted an experience as far from Oregon as we could find and I think we found it in Texas (it was a little like living in Mexico if you're curious). I am thankful that Nate and I had those two years to live on our own. We relied only on each other. We made new friends (with the help of a little something I like to call the internets). I for one become much more outgoing and independent.

The Texas friends

Though we are no longer "doing it Texas style" (though we did do it Texas style and got a Texas baby out of it) I will forever be thankful for those two years. Nate, Cooper and I (and Ben) will never be the same! You can take the Lyons out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the Lyons.