Gratitude Challenge - Day 2

10 Material Possessions You are Grateful for:

1. Minivan - Once upon a time, as a dumb teenager, I said I would never be a minivan mom.  Then I had kids and practicality hit me over the head.  And now I have a minivan and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love being a minivan mom.  And I really love MY minivan, in particular.  Leather with heated seats, awesome JBL sound system, automatic everything.  It's pretty awesome.

I also love that we paid 4,000 less than blue book for it and 2,000 less even than all the other comparable vans we looked at that were standard, no nothin' special at all included, minivans.  The best part?  It's technically paid off.  We took out a loan on it to build our "I Love Debt Score" (yeah, we are Dave Ramsey nuts) credit score because we will be buying a house next year and our credit score will make a huge difference in our mortgage interest rate.  So, just for the van purchase we created a minivan savings account that will pay toward the loan for a year when it will be paid off.  So I love my minivan and I really love not having to worry about how to pay for it.

2. Bosch Mixer - Oh man, my mixer.  We have quite a few kitchen appliances, most of which I truly love and would be sad to cook/bake without.  But of all of them, the one I am sooooooo grateful for is my mixer.  Now, if you don't know what a Bosch even is, just imagine your top-of-the-line Kitchenaid and then imagine waaaaaay better than that.  Because it is.

I grew up with a Bosch and you could say we are a Bosch family.  I'm sure having any stand mixer is better than none, but for a foodie, the Bosch is the way to go.  It will last FOR-EV-ER.  Whereas, just regularly making bread in a Kitchenaid will wear it out FAST!  My mom's Bosch is old, like really old, but still works like a dream.  I make bread almost every week in it and will continue to until I decide I don't like homemade bread as much as store-bought anymore (like that will ever happen).  It's amazing for cookies and brownies and cakes and frosting and all sorts of delicious things too (even non-desserts -- but why would I make any of those?).  I plan on mine lasting me till I'm a grandma and then I can pass it down to my grandchildren.

3. Comfy Bed - I'm truly grateful for all the "stuff" I own and grateful just to have a place to sleep in general.  But every time I sleep in a bed that isn't my own, I'm am reminded just how comfortable my bed is.  It's just a Sam's Club mattress, nothing special, I suppose, but it is so comfy.  I love it.  And it has a nice, worn-in quilt on the top (more on that in a second) that makes it dreamy to sleep in.

4. Quilts - I mentioned yesterday that I was raised by a quilter, but there is just something so cozy and comforting about sleeping or snuggling with a quilt instead of a duvet/comforter/blanket/whatever.  Once you have, you will never want to go back.  Plus, there is just something so sweet about being wrapped up in something someone worked so hard on and put so much love into.  One of my visiting teachers made a snarky comment to me one time that she just couldn't understand why someone would take so much time to cut fabric up into little pieces just to sew it all together again.  She obviously doesn't understand the heritage of a quilt.  Each piece is carefully cut, sometimes out of special (occasionally even heirloom) fabric, then arranged artistically to create a new picture, then quilted and bound and gifted to someone with love.  See, if you meet a quilter, you will find that while they do keep a fair amount of the quilts they make, they usually gift quite a few too because quilting is about the love poured into it, not just about sewing little pieces of cut up fabric together.  Phew, off my quilting soapbox.  Find yourself a quilt (or better yet, make one) and then snuggle up with it and tell me it is better than your store-bought one.  I dare you.

5. Crafting Tools - This was too hard of a category for me to narrow down, so I'm just including it all.  I guess if I was forced to pick JUST ONE thing, I would go with my sewing machine.  But I love my Silhouette (electronic cutter) and all the other little things that help bring my creativity to life.  My fabric stash, my 20 types of glue, markers, crayons, pastels, oils, paint, paper, thread, yarn, ribbons, ric rac.  Oh, I could go on.  It is so nice to have when I'm working on a project because I can just grab parts and pieces and get my projects done fast.  If I have to go to the store to buy something to fix or finish a project, it seriously slows down my progress...and motivation.

6. Washer and Dryer - I may complain about having piles of laundry on occasion, but really, I have it so good.  I don't have to go down to the river to scrub my clothes on a rock, or have to boil water and wash them by hand on a washboard and ring them through that ringer outer thingy.  I just throw them in, add some soap and turn it on and voila! it's done.  I'm am so blessed.

7. Computer - I have a love/hate relationship with the computer.  I hate it because I don't fully understand it and it is frustrating to use a tool that doesn't always work how you think you told it to.  I also hate it because it can be a huge time sucker.  There is a lot of good available through computers too and I'm grateful for those aspects.  I try to use the computer for good and wise purposes only to make sure I am using my time the best way possible.  Reading blogs used to make it tough for me, so I cut out a bunch of blogs and now only read good friends, family and a few crafty blogs.  Facebook used to make it hard too, so I got rid of it.  Now, Pinterest makes it difficult for me to stay in the "only choosing the best" game of life, but I justify it because I get so many great ideas and am able to organize them so efficiently.  But I still often wonder "at what cost?"  Am I giving myself idea overload?  Does being on Pinterest make it easier to be content with who I am and what I have or does encourage comparison and feelings of inadequacy?  I haven't yet come to terms with giving it up too.  So, for now, just know I am grateful for my computer, but I feel like I fight battles with it EVERY stinkin' day.

8. Books - I was raised by readers in a book-filled household.  I am a reader.  I've turned my husband into a reader.  And now I am teaching my kids to be readers by reading to them and even by teaching Miriam to read on her own.  I love the books I own and I love that I have many libraries available to get even more books to read.  There's a whole other world out there in print and I love discovering it!

9. Furniture - Owen and I have been very blessed throughout our marriage to have been given a lot of furniture.  Other than our mattress (and our girls' mattresses, come to think of it) which was brand new, every piece of furniture we own has been a hand me down or bought second hand.  And of the money we have put into furniture, we've spent under $500.  We have super comfy couches that I hope to recover in a neutral someday soon, a solid hardwood table Owen and I refinished and many fun accent pieces (bookcases, end tables, desks, etc.) that all bring a relaxing ambiance to our home.

10. Pooh Bear and Piglet - There's just something to be said about a child's comfort object.  There is no price to them.  They are soft and worn in and smell just right.  If lost, it would be hard to duplicate a replacement that was good enough, so lets just hope that never happens.  Miriam received Pooh Bear as a gift from Aunt Wendy when she turned 1.  We decided that having a different Pooh character would be a fun tradition for our children so we gave Liesl Piglet for her first birthday.  Each girl LOVES her animal dearly and for that I am grateful.