I’m thankful for girls’ nights out. For the past couple of years, a small group of us has set aside one night a month to go to dinner and catch up. It’s nice.

I don’t have any girls’ night photos, but here’s my dessert from Wednesday night. #goodenough

Today I’m thankful for dance, even if I did come home with a giant hole in the ball of my foot.

I find it hard to express exactly how dance makes me feel and what it means to me. It was something I did growing up. I didn’t start until I was 11, and I was never great at it, but I loved doing it. This is my sixth year in the young adults class at the same studio I attended while growing up. The dynamic has totally changed, but I don’t love doing it any less. In fact, I think dancing as an adult is more enjoyable than a teenager, because instead of it being something I have to do instead of… well, whatever ’90s teenagers did, it’s something I get to do. For 90 minutes, I get to forget about everything outside that studio. I get to challenge myself to learn something new or perfect something old. I get to don shoes with metal on the bottom and make beautiful floor music.

Sure sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes I can’t walk the next day. Sometimes I sprain things. Sometimes I rip giant holes in my feet. None of that is going to stop me.

Getting older isn’t going to stop me either. I understand now what adults had meant when they talked about things getting harder as we age. Some things are harder now, but you know what? It was hard back then too, just a different kind of hard. I notice the differences, but I don’t let that limit me.

This reminds me of the lyrics to a Toby Keith song: I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.

I wish I had some pictures to post here, past and present, but I unfortunately don’t have any handy.

Today I was “reminded” that I made it another month without getting knocked up.

For that I’m very thankful.

#TMIblogpostisTMI

As with most Sundays, Nick and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. I am thankful for all the things that make my time in the kitchen a little more convenient and a little less stressful. There are so many things, I could fill up the entire month doing only kitchen gadgets and appliances, but what fun is that? I’ll do a brief summary. I’m sorry to all of the things I forget to mention. It doesn’t mean I love them any less.

Appliances are fantastic. Dishwashers, refrigerators (sometimes two), freezers (sometimes two), etc. These are all fantastic things. I know you’re thinking, really, Jill? You’re thankful for your fridge? Yes, yes I am. We recently replaced our fridge. Do you know what it’s like to have an ice maker after not having an ice maker after having an ice maker? It’s a slice of heaven. But even more pleasing than the new ice maker is the new sink. For years our sink has been a piece of shit. There was a fine line between ice cold and molten lava hot with no in between, the sprayer didn’t work, and the faucet leaked. I’m pleased to say all the ducks are in order now, and it makes me hate doing dishes that much less.

Small appliances also rock. I love my Keurig coffee pot. I also love our new food processor. Look at what it did to this onion in about 3 seconds!

Crock pots, the pressure cooker, mixer, blender, etc. Then there’s all the small gadgets. I bought a microplane grater that I rarely use, but whenever I need one I’m glad I have it. Knives, bowls, shears, pots, pans—the list never ends.

Here are some pics from the past couple weekends because… well, why not?

Wine. I love me some red wine. In fact, I love it so much that if I could only drink one kind of alcohol for the rest of my life, that’s what I would choose.

Wine drunk is the best kind of drunk. It makes me all warm and fuzzy and numbish but not numb like hard liquor does. And happy. Verry happy. My favorite is a mild, sweet red, like Pinot noir or Lambrusco.

All this talk about wine makes me want some. Maybe I’ll have a glass tonight.