Thankful Thursday - Shealynn Benner

Does it still count if I post a "Thankful Thursday" on a Tuesday?? For me, THIS WEEK, yes!! When I worked at the restaurant, the kitchen guys and I were always getting our "Tuesdays" and "Thursdays" mixed up. In the Spanish language there is no "TH" sound....so to them, Tuesday sounds just like "Tursday"....It took me a good year before I learned my lesson and started clarifying Martes and Jueves so that I didn't end up without a cook or a dishwasher at 6AM. I'll just consider this an extention of all that confusion and give myself props for even finding my laptop in the midst of coughing up a lung and sweating out a fever for the 5th day in a row.

My GP said that since I am a normal, healthy, adult and not a part of any "At Risk" category....aka not pregnant, elderly or under 5 years old....that I wasn't eliglible for a blood test to confirm her suspicion that I have Swine Flu or a Tamiflu prescription to combat the crappy effects of said suspicion.

Pssshh!! I laugh in the face of medicine!! Who needs Tamiflu anyway? Tonight we went to dinner with Matt's parents for his birthday and I had a Sapphire Martini...okay, maybe two (which if you've ever clicked on "About Me" you know they're my #1 weakness.) And let me tell you....Tamiflu ain't got nothin' on Gin. I haven't had this much energy or clarity all week!

So here I am on Tuesday night....finally getting to my Thankful Thursday post from LAST WEEK. God Bless my guest. Shealynn has got to be the most patient, gracious person I know. Working late into the night to get me all her answers on time, and then never batting a {virtual} eyelash when I fail to post her awesomeness for the next 5 days!!  Thank you SheaB. I owe you big.

For those of you new to Bringing Up Burns, let me re-introduce "Thankful Thursdays." It is a blog series I began last year in hopes of fostering Thankfulness in my heart and home all year through. Giving thanks for one's blessings on Thanksgiving is traditional. Feeling grateful every day is an attitude and a way of experiencing life. One of my goals is to cultivate this attitude in myself and my children more and more. What better way to learn how to do this, than from some of you? Daily readers I admire so much!

So today begins the second annual edition of  "Thankful Thursdays" at Bringing Up Burns. Each Thursday in the month of November we will meet a new, awesome woman who is working hard to keep Thanksgiving in her heart and home all year through. Some of them I know personally, some are family, some are my blogging buddies. All of them I consider friends.

Today I am blessed to introduce Shealynn Benner. I came to know SheaB through Twitter...originally through my Twilight sister Denise, aka Polka Dot Moon. Shealynn is a perfect example of why I blog and why I love Twitter. My life has been enriched by her happiness, her perspective, her love of books, her humor, her whit, her creativity, her spunk, her drive, her honesty. In the past 5 days, when I have been dead to the world, Shealynn has checked in on me on several occasions. Asking about me, my children, my blog, my well being. It is both a weird and comforting reality to know a beautiful woman in Arizona...one I have never met...is thinking about me and wishing me well. Daily I get asked questions about the opaqueness I display here at Bringing Up Burns. "How do you know WHO is really reading it all?" "Aren't you worried that just ANYONE has access to your kids?" "Who are all these people who comment?" "Do you feel safe being so open to the world wide web?"

Shealynn, you are a perfect example...and my answer to all of the above. If I chose to lock my tweets, or protect my blog, you and I would have never met. And I would be less of a complete woman, mother, friend, and blogger. I am so THANKFUL for you and the friendship we have found here in our little space on the World Wide Web! 

So - with no further ado, I give you Shealynn....and her answers as to how she works to keep Thanksgiving in her heart and home all year through.

How do you try and give thanks every day?

"Sometimes my mornings just begin so abruptly in the mornings that I don't count my thanks right away.  It's always my kids or husband that remind me how thankful I am for this life God has blessed me with.  My girls truly are good at helping me remember why I am thankful.  And it truly doesn't matter what mood they're in.  One minute my youngest is crying because she can't find her shoe, and I am thinking how Thankful I am to have such a stubborn, I-will-not-leave-without-my-shoes kinda girl and the next she is hugging me and telling me she "Luds me too." Or my oldest, when she smiles at me.  That's enough for me to count my blessings.  I just try to look at the bright side of things.  I can tend to be a tad bit dramatic, but at the end of the day, it's the little things that remind me.  A complaint from my husband when I didn't give him a kiss good-bye yet, or a quiet moment with my kids before bedtime."

What do you take for granted that you might express more thanks for?

"Oh gosh!  What don't I?  I am human.  I think there are times I take too much for granted.  Living with my freedom to love God.  I take that for granted a lot.  I also take for granted sometimes that I have this sweet life that I do.  My life truly rocks, but I feel like I don't communicate the thankfulness I feel for it all the time.  So many times I am more focused on how stinkin' hot it is here in Arizona, or what I am going to make for dinner, or my iPhone breaking.  The fact is.  My life is fabulous, and I am truly thankful for it!  Which doesn't mean this life is perfect!  I assure you it's not, but I am thankful for the imperfections too.  That's what makes life, life."

What attributes do you possess that you are thankful for?

"I am giving. I think that's why I love Christmas so much.  I love to give gifts, and watch faces light up with excitement.  Getting gifts for me is not nearly as good as giving them. I don't really think that describes me that well, but I am thankful for my giving side.  I like to give of my time if I have it, and if I can help in any way, I will.  I am thankful for the giving side of myself sometimes, because I feel like a lot of times giving is thrown to the wayside.  I struggle a lot with my girls when it comes to giving instead of receiving.  I think it's important to teach our children to give and to not expect to receive.  Don't get me wrong...being on the receiving end is great too, but for me giving is just so much better.  :)"

Who has treated you with kindness and generosity, and how would you like to thank that person?

Not to be cheesy, but this person would have to be my husband.  I feel like sometimes I cause so much drama in our life.  For instance... today.  I dropped my iPhone on our tile floor... I do not recommend this by the way... anyway.  I dropped my iPhone on the tile floor, and it cracked.  I can no longer use it.  Instead of being calm about it, I freaked out, started crying, and then ran to tell my husband in an incredibly dramatic way that MY iPHONE BROKE, AND WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?! He just laughed it off, and said, he'd give me his and he'd get a new one.  Easy as that.  Ha ha!  My husband is stoic and the calm to my storm.  I love this about him.  I know that when I am being super drama queen he will be the polar opposite, which makes me realize how lame I am being.   Plus, can I mention that my husband works so incredibly hard to make it possible for me to stay at home with our girls?  Because he does.  He has 2 jobs, and works 12-14 hour days.  Not only that, but he makes time to coach our 7 year old's soccer team, he takes her out to breakfast on Friday mornings on the way to school, he takes our youngest on errands anywhere or just stays at home with the kids when I need some ME time.  He is completely amazing!  Thank you Mike for being my everything!"

What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

"My husband's grandmother taught me how to make the best sweet potatoes EVER when she was alive.  After she passed away I took over making them.  It's sorta of my way of remembering her.  And it's funny because while we are eating we talk about her a lot and remember her.  Thanksgiving is not right without "Mum's Sweet Potatoes!" Thanksgiving for us is traditionally a time to just be with each other.  We relax and pretty much do nothing.  Just play games, laugh together, and just love one another."

THANK YOU Shealynn for sharing with all of us your thoughts on Thanksgiving and why being Thankful is something we can all work at being more of! Be sure and visit SheaB and her beautiful family at The Benner Daily.