is it ok to steal ideas from someone else's blog?

Well, I hope it is.

A "friend" of mine (and I say "friend" because I haven't actually met her yet, she married a childhood friend of mine, and I'm close with all of her inlaw family, but just haven't met her yet because she lives in WA) keeps a very entertaining blog about her two children. In her blog she does something really great, she blogs on Fridays about what she's grateful for. I read it and think, I should do that too!

so, I'm going to copy her "Gratitude Friday" even if it's not good blog etiquette to do so!

Gratitude Friday

Family
I will not say that there is no drama in my family life, certainly there can be. However, I am so blessed with a great family. My parents are two of the most supportive people I have ever met. My sister is the most dedicated sister I could ever have asked for. She would do anything for me, seriously. My husband is the most amazing man I've ever met (even in the moments where he ticks me off, I still am amazed at how he handles my temper and moodiness). Maddie, although she is tough and has the temperament of... well... me... is so loving and such a blessing (that we could even have her!) My cousins are all so close - in fact Blackwell Family Fun night is tomorrow night (yes, all of our cousins and our kids get together for a night to play games etc.) And then I married into a family that is just amazing too! My in laws would seriously give us everything they had if we needed it. Ryan's cousins and aunts and uncles are wonderful too.

Job
I have a job that I love. I really do. I love working with college students, I love the development of the college student and watching it happen and fostering it along the way. I love the people I work with, that we're all here for the same reason but we all want to have fun too. I love right now, that my job provides us with an apartment so I don't have to worry about rent or utilities or repairs. I love that even in this economy, I know my job is safe.
Mainly, and this might make me sound like a bad mother... but... I know I am not cut out to be a stay at home mom... so I love that I can leave for work, be who I am at work, and then go home and be a mom. (those of you that are stay at homes, I have more respect for you than I ever did. And I realize that to be a stay at home, you MUST have more patience than ever known, you must be able to put your own needs aside at all times. And honestly, I am almost too selfish to be a good stay at home mom. I really applaud those of you that do it and think that it should absolutely be a paid job!)

Good Friends
We have a few really good friends. A lot of acquaintances, but some very close and really good friends. Tonight we're having Matt and Teresa over and I have been friends with Matt since birth. Our parents are best friends and have ALWAYS lived 2 miles down the road from each other (not intentionally either, they lived in Attleboro, and were 2 miles away... then Matt's parents moved to the cape for job reasons. Mine parents retired like a year later and moved to the cape and bought a house a little more than 2 miles down the road from Matt's parents - completely unplanned and unintentionally)... so they're very close and Matt and I have pretty much vowed to always be close friends!
Our best friends Mike and Tricia moved to Tennessee last year, and we're still very close to them!
My very best friend, Amber, whom I have been best friends with since about 7 years old and I are very close still. And although there has been drama or space between us as we were teens and adolescents, she and I know that ultimately, we are the best of friends. The friends that last and will be there for each other through thick and thin. (so cliche' but so true).
Clearly, these are not our only good friends, but they are a really good example of how time or distance do not distract us from the true friendships that God has given us.

Date Night
We have decided that when things get stressful, we need to force ourselves to have a date night and just go anywhere together. Last night, Ryan's parents watched Maddie and we had a date night. It was so fun. I felt like we were in high school again. What was even better is that our date night was free! We had movie tickets that were given to us as a gift way back in like February or March and then because I had emailed the owner after a bad experience at Not Your Average Joe's, we had a $50 gift card to their restaurant! We went to see that Hangover, which is sooo Ryan's humor. And had a great meal afterwards!
Its funny to go out to dinner and not have to worry about what is on the kids menu, is the high chair tall enough, is she going to scream once she's done with dinner and we're not... it was just very relaxing!

Ryan
I know I mentioned him in my family section... but.. .he's incredible. In every way. Firstly, he is home with Maddie all day for the summer (perk of being a teacher) so he's a stay at home dad. He's got more patience than I could ever dream up...
Its the little things too that he does that I am so grateful for. He makes sure the coffee is set to go off just before I get out of the shower in the morning, so its ready for me to take to work. He makes me lunch almost every day. He gets dinner ready when I get home. He even does laundry on some days.
And... he's so great with everything that is going on with my dad. He can almost sense when I'm thinking about it all and he'll just say, "you need anything?" To see if I want to talk about it or whatever. And, randomly, he'll ask if I want to go visit them.

And... he's just great.

the sun
it just makes me happy! I love sunny days, I love the way it feels on my face. I love it.