Jonathan is out of town for the next two weeks {I’ll explain more later this week}. And frankly, when my husband is gone long periods of time I get a little whiny. I don’t know about other wives/moms, but life doesn’t function quite the same for me without Jonathan around.

Despite Jonathan being gone, I resolved to make these two weeks as joyful as ever. Will we miss Jonathan? Yes. Will there be hard times? I have three small kids, does that need an answer?. But can we still be grateful? Of course!

Here are ten wonderful things I am grateful for ::

1. Our family vacation to Colorado {more on this later this week} ::

2. Having my brother along for the 16 hour road trip home. I think if he hadn’t been with me, we would have had our own version of Oregon Trail, where we all got dysentery and died.

3. Having all three kids sleep until 8 am our first morning home. Thank you Jesus!

4. Our gym membership. The place I am now frequent on a daily basis because I can get 2 hours of kid free time. Best summer investment ever.

5. Friends who text you as soon as they know you’re home, ask how to help, invite you over for swimming, home cooked meal and adult conversation.

6. Taking up the whole bed at night. Let’s face it, having a big bed all to yourself is kind of a luxury as a mom. Or at least having it to yourself until all the kids piling in around 3 am.

7. We get to see Jesse, Shelly and my nieces this weekend. The girls and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

8. Not only was I in a wedding this past weekend, I’m going to be in a wedding next week. Celebrating marriage with friends brings me such joy. It’s going to be super fun. I get to wear a sari and dance at a Mehndi {though this last part has me freaking out a bit}.

9. I’m letting go of a lot of household responsibilities these next two weeks and just focusing on having fun with the kids {and conserving my energy to last me the whole time}. Frankly, being a mom is pretty sweet and fun.

10. Skype, G-chat, text messages and any other form of communication is my BFF right now. Whatever I can do to talk to Jonathan, even for a minute or two, is something I am super grateful for.

What are you grateful for {big or small}?

Visit Angie at Many Little Blessings for more Top Ten Tuesday.