My Gratitude List

I started Bullet Journaling in March 2023. One of the first things I added to my first Bullet Journal was a gratitude list. So here is my ever growing gratitude list (in no particular order):

• My husband, James, who literally saved my life in December 2023!

• My daughter, Jackie

• Our dog, Sammy

• Our old cat, Pepper (he passed away a year ago and I still miss him)

• Our fish (we have 3 freshwater tanks)

• Bald Eagles (we were lucky enough to witness a pair of Bald Eagles raise a hatchling from January until May 2023)

• Our second home in Maryland (where I grew up) and the amazing time with family and friends that are family we have there!

• My Mom

• My Dad

• My sister, April, and her family

• My Aunt Carla

• My cousin, Chris and Gabby

• My sister-in-law, Liz and her family

• My in-laws, Tom and ME

• Food

• Love

• Snuggles with Jackie

• Horse back riding, especially on the nights Jackie joins me at the barn, and the amazing barn where I ride!

• Kansas (the amazingly patient lesson horse at the barn)

• Ice cream

• Massages

• My health/good health

• Raptors (I am obsessed with hawks and eagles)

• Jackie's friends

• Music- especially 90s and country

• Resilience

• Perseverance

• Empathy

• Peace

• Baths

• Hugs

• Memories

• Our home in NJ

• Rocks (especially the ones in my collection). I collect a rock from most of the places we visit or when a perfect moment happens, they aren't labeled just in jars around our house.

• Sunshine

• On-time flights

• Fast security lines

• Laughter

• Belly laughs

• The Precious Present (the book and the actual present moment)

• Owls

• Bugs

• Snakes

• Periwinkles

• Forgiveness

• Challenges

• NYC and how close we are to it

• Opportunity

• Ed Sheeran Concert at MetLife Stadium

• Making a difference

• My ethics

• Partnership with others

• Julie and her family

• Caitlin

• Pushing myself to network

• Helping others

• Feedback

• Water (especially rivers and oceans)

• Animals (and the animal guessing game Jackie likes to play)

• Therapy, especially Mara

• Birds chirping

• Life!

• Anti-seizure meds

• Doctors, nurses, techs, EMTs

• Books and reading

• Dr. Chapple (my neurosurgeon)

• My work

• Time with James and Jackie

• Adventures near and far

• A wonderful trip to Mexico after I wasn't sure I could go on trips or on planes

• For figuring out that taking time off to focus on my health is worth it!

• Robbie (our second cat) who brought a wonderful energy back to our family after Pepper passed away. Sadly, Robbie passed away in July 2025, but we are so thankful for the time we had with him and how much he loved Jackie!

• Spring!

• For everything that I have

• For being ok and healthy again

• Being recruited for my expertise

• Summer!

• Going to the pool!

• Keeping in touch with friends!

• My family's health

• Optimism!

• Meditation

• Yoga!

• Jackie bath time

• Visits with our college friends- Michelle and her family, Rich and Tasha and family, Mike and Emily and family

• Time together

• New beginnings

• An amazing trip to the Big Island in Hawaii with a dolphin encounter and luau!

• Our 10-year wedding anniversary

• Toffee (the amazing horse I partial leased at the barn)

• Getting stronger

• Faux Thanksgiving (James and I moved our combined family celebration to 2 weeks before actual Thanksgiving when we started dating 15 years ago) a wonderful celebration of love and food!

• Pasta night out- Jackie is getting old enough that we can go out to dinner together!

• A wonderful Thanksgiving in MD

• Unscheduled dinners with Liz and family!

• Wonderful Christmas celebrations!

• Senator (the horse I purchased in January 2025) He has brought me so much joy! And finally figuring out his canter!

• Bracelet making with Jackie and James (Jackie and James made a lot of bracelets together when I was in the hospital, it was fun to do it together.)

• My new niece! (who would later assist in my headshot photo shoot)

• Celebrating one year post-surgery- a beautiful sunset, hearing a Great Horned Owl, a delicious glass of wine, and cake that looked like a pineapple (we are in love with Is It Cake?)!

• A great neurosurgery appointment- my MRI looked great, I won't have any long-term effects and I don't have to go back for 5 years! And the office remembered the ducks I gave them! (I got the entire neural floor at Overlook and my neurosurgeons office these rubber ducks that say "you are ducking awesome" as a Happy Valentines Day/Thank You for all they did for me. No one deserves more thank yous in this world than the nurses and techs that work on neural floors around the world!)

• Kite flying in the park and whiffle ball in the backyard

• Taking Jackie to/from the bus and the chats we have

• Play time and girls nights with Jackie

• A new morning routine! Maximizing time with Jackie and being ready for my day!

• Half day afternoon adventures with Jackie

• My amazing mental health co-panelists!

• A wonderful trip to France! We got to spend precious time with family, see a beautiful town near Nice, and Jackie got to go parasailing!

• Launching my blog! I am very proud of myself!

• All the amazing feedback I have received from my blog and my writing!

• A wonderful birthday!

• The gift of more trips around the sun!