A Year of Gratitude - February 2025 Snapshot

My word for 2024 was GRATITUDE.  To help myself keep the focus on this word all year, I started keeping a gratitude journal on January 1, 2024, and I’ve been writing at least 3-4 things I’m grateful for every single day since then.  I shared little snapshots of each month last year to hold myself accountable, and since I ended up enjoying these posts so much, I decided to continue them in 2025.

I’m only pulling one item from my gratitude journal per day to share here (okay, sometimes two or three), and some of the things are really big things like good health and good relationships, some things are humorous, and some things are the little things that most of the time go unnoticed.  Overall, though, the purpose of this whole exercise is to remember that even on the very worst of days, there is ALWAYS something for which to be grateful.

Always.

February was so hard, y’all.  So hard.  As you all know, we lost our beloved dog, Maui, towards the end, and it was a long month begging and pleading her to eat, caring for her in her last days, and saying goodbye.  Between that and everything going on in our nation/the world – whew, y’all.  That’s all I have to say. 

That said, there is always joy to be found amidst sadness and despair… they can coexist and they do every day… you just have to look for it.

In February I was grateful…

 

1. For time with my girls at our Galentine’s Day brunch… they always fill my cup!
2. For Ibuprofen because my head, neck, and jaw are in shambles from using these horrible rubber bands again.
3. That Maui ate well today.
4. For my office… it’s my favorite room in the whole house… my sanctuary.
5. That Maui ate three times today!
6. For a social media detox today… it was nice not knowing what was going on in the world, if just for a day.
7. That Brian and Olivia had the best time at her last Daddy / Daughter dance and that I made it through getting up on the microphone in front of everyone to make a sad announcement.  (I am terrified of public speaking in case you missed that post.)
8. For all of the true, lasting connections I’ve made with people in my life.
9. That Maui was getting around really well all day.
10. For Gracie Abrams’s album… I have been loving it for months, but recently Olivia and I have both become obsessed.  Beautiful music, amazing lyrics, and her voice is so lovely.
11. That my iPhone data transferred easily from my old phone to my new phone last night.
12. For my electric blanket… why oh why has this winter been so long and cold?!  We live in Georgia!
13. For Brian, for getting out of bed last night to go get chicken out of the freezer because I forgot, and I was already warm and cozy and didn’t want to get out and get it myself.  Lol.
14. For my four Valentines – Brian, Jacob, Olivia, and Maui – and a nice evening in with all of them.
15. For my new phone case… this pale pink just makes me so happy!!  It’s been my favorite color as long as I’ve been on this earth.  There weren’t any good color options the last time, so my old phone case has been bleh for the last three years.
16. That we were spared from any real damage after last night’s tornado sirens/severe weather.  We just lost a big chunk of our fence, but thankfully, that’s it.
17. That Brian found a fix online for my album artwork nightmare and it was easy to implement AND IT WORKED.
18. For a one-on-one ice cream date with Olivia while Jacob was at Velocity.
19. For a lovely field trip with my girl… I’m glad I made myself get out even though the weather was yucky, and I didn’t want to leave Maui for too long.
20. For another trip around the sun for Brian!  Happy birthday!  Also, for loving, supportive girlfriends who talked me through everything that we need to do for Maui since we know it’s time to say goodbye to her.
21. For tears of sorrow over knowing we only have a few days left with Maui… they remind me how lucky we are to have had the privilege of loving her for 15 years.
22. That Maui made it through Olivia’s sleepover… it would have been awful if she hadn’t made it through the night when we had a house full of kids for Olivia’s birthday.  For my parents for bending over backwards to cancel their plans and come to our house to be with Maui so Brian and I could get out just for a few hours.  For my last lap snuggles and my last hours with my sweet baby girl. 
23. That Maui passed away peacefully during the night between Brian and me in our bed.  That God took her so we didn’t have to… I was dreading her appointment on Monday.  That there was one cremation place open even though it was Sunday.  For the time spent together in our bed with Maui and the kids after Maui passed.  For the outpouring of love we received over losing her.  For 15 amazing years, one beautiful month, and one sweet day with our beloved girl.
24. For a big embrace and a good conversation about our beloved pets with my friend, Jeannine.
25. For eleven years with our Olivia.  Happy birthday, sweet girl!
26. For a good book (The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon) to get lost in while I continue to grieve the loss of our sweet girl.
27. For continued check-ins from loved ones.  For Maui’s little paw print on my bulletin board.  For a fun guitar lesson for Olivia with Mr. Steve that helped take my mind off of things for a while… I smiled more today than I have all week.
28. That we were able to bring Maui home today… she’s back home where she belongs (just in a different form) so now we can start to heal.  That Jacob and Olivia both have such wonderful friends.  For an evening alone with Brian so we could go to dinner since both kids were spending the night away.

 

Happy Tuesday, y’all!  What is something you’re grateful for today?