Thankful Thursday-Recipes like this one!

Photo credit and recipe

Occasionally, I miss my days as a barista. I had a 2 year stint at the large coffee chain, while I was deciding what I wanted to do with my Real Estate career.

Being a barista had it's good days, and bad days, just like any job. I especially loved the days where every drink I made came out absolutely perfect. I would often get customers coming back to me after they finished the rest of their shopping, to let me know "..the foam was perfect", "It wasn't too sweet, I loved it",

I truly enjoyed making a good drink that was appreciated. And I still do.

I was so happy to see all of these pumpkin spice latte recipes show up on my Facebook news feed yesterday and this morning. For me, there's not much else that is more relaxing than a delicious hot latte. Especially if it's less than $4.50 a cup!

I haven't made one yet, but the coffee is brewing right now. I can't wait to invite a few friends over one morning, and serve them a homemade pumpkin spice latte. Maybe I'll serve it with some pumpkin scones?

I am thankful that others take the time to perfect recipes like this so that we can enjoy the fruits of their labor (because I'm *sure* testing out a drink like this is probably really hard!). I'm thankful that there are recipes like this out there, that can save us money and give is one more way we can reach out to our neighbors.

What are you thankful for today?

*Just a quick note, I did make this and try it now. For any of you who are planning on making it, this recipe states 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar. I tried it with just one, and it wasn't very good at all. Too much unsweetened pumpkin flavor for me. I added in 1 packet of splenda and it was perfect.

Thankful Thursday-Morning Preparations

My daughter doesn't sleep at night. She's not a huge fan of that whole sleeping thing at all, but she is particularly against nighttime sleeping. It's just too boring for her.

She just turned 1. I am just assuming that she doesn't want to sleep because I am such a fun mom that she doesn't want to miss a moment with me. I can't think of any other reason for our usual midnight play dates.

I have been reading the updates from Inspired to Action, about the upcoming Maximize Your Mornings challenge, and this morning, after getting up multiple times with my daughter, I decided to go downstairs at almost 5 am, and make a pot of coffee. I am never, ever up before the kids. They are usually both up by 6, sometimes earlier.

While the coffee was brewing, I picked up some toys, put some dishes away, wiped the kitchen counters...I knew if I sat down,I would fall back to sleep.

Once my coffee was finished, I sat down with a nice hot mug of coffee, my bible, and The Power of a Positive Wife (book). I kept checking the time, waiting for one of the kids to start wailing any minute.

I was able to sit and not only read through one whole chapter of the book, but I was able to review the highlights at the end of the chapter, and read the scripture passages that went along with them!

I pulled out the prayer calendars that I printed off of the Inspired to Action site, and prayed for my kids, my husband, and their day.

I am thankful that I was able to get up this morning, and through prayer, prepare the day for my family. It helped that my husband had already said last night that he was making breakfast; I got to scratch one more thing off my list :0)

What are you thankful for today?

For more Thankful Thursday posts, visit The Marathon Mom.

Thankful Thursday-A time for rest

My mother-in-law has been visiting for 11 days. Last weekend, we celebrated my daughter's first birthday. A week before that, I had a family reunion. The week before that, my 2 nieces had a huge joint birthday party. July was a busy month, and August is passing pretty fast too.

After our picnic at the park today, I put on Yogi Bear so that the kids could relax. My son fell asleep on the couch, my nephew fell asleep on the floor, my mother-in-law fell asleep on the love seat, and my daughter fell asleep in my lap.

After the anxious "I need to get up and do something" feeling passed, I relaxed. My daughter is sleeping peacefully in my lap, I got a chance to catch up on some e-mails, look up a few recipes, and blog.

Today, I am thankful that I have been giving at least 20 minutes to rest and recharge without feeling anxious. I know we all need a little break every now and then, but for me, making "me" time is really hard.

I encourage you to take advantage of the next nap; sit and do nothing for a few minutes. Leave the dishes in the sink, and the toys on the floor. Grab a cup of coffee, tea or water, and enjoy it.

What are you thankful for today?