So Much To Be Thankful For

I've heard a lot of arguments about Christmas taking over Thanksgiving. Should we put up the Christmas lights while the weather is still good, or hold out for the day after Thanksgiving? Should radio stations start playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving? Should I start listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving?

Part of the problem is that there is not a lot of recognizable Thanksgiving music. There are the good old hymns, like Now Thank We All Our God, that have been around forever. But most radio stations (other than BYU Radio) are not going to play old church hymns on a regular basis.

So in my campaign to keep Thanksgiving from being overshadowed, I went searching for more popular songs about thanks and gratitude. I came up with a surprisingly long list, ranging from pop to rock to gospel to country. But one of the best is found on Josh Groban's Christmas album Noel. (Go, Josh! Way to sneak one in there!) Here it is for your listening pleasure, with a really nice video by SavannahLime.com. (Keep reading below the video for the rest of my Thanksgiving song list.)



Now some of these songs on my list are religious, and some are not.

Thank You - Led Zeppelin
Thank You - Sly and the Family Stone
Thank You - Dido
Thank You - Alanis Morisette
Thank You for Being a Friend - Andrew Gold
Thank You - Keith Urban
I Thank You - Sam and Dave
Thank You for Sending Me An Angel - Talking Heads
Thank You Girl - The Beatles
Thank You for the Music - ABBA
Thank You Song - Linvingston Taylor
Thank You Friends - Big Star
I Thank You - ZZ Top
Thank You - Ashanti
Thank You - Boyz II Men
Thank You for Loving Me - Bon Jovi
Kind and Generous - Natalie Merchant
Thank You - Simple Plan
Thank God I Found You - Mariah Carey
Thank You - Bleach
Thank You - Jamelia
Thank You Baby - Shania Twain
Thanks for the Memories - Bob Hope
Thanks for the Memories - Fall Out Boys
Gratitude - Paul McCartney
Thank You for Hearing Me - Sinead O'Connor
Thank You - Jay Z
Give Thanks and Praises - Bob Marley
A Thousand suns - Hey Rosetta
Be Thankful for What You've Got - William DeVaughn
Let the Day Begin - The Call
Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
Because You Loved Me - Celine Dione
Thankful Man - Trace Adkins
If Tomorrow Never Comes - Garth Brooks
Lucky Man - Montgomery Gentry
It's Good to Be Us - Bucky Covington
Last Day of My Life - Phil Vassar
I Hate Everything - George Straight
Good to Go - Jason Aldean
Blessed - Martina McBride
God Bless the Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
Thank God for the Road - The Flatlanders
Thank You for a Life - Kris Kristofferson
Lucky Stars - J. P. McDermott
Lucky - Pat Green
Happy to Be Here - Todd Snyder
Thanks - Chatham County Line
Everything is Fine - Josh Turner
But for the Grace of God - Keith Urban
Thank You World - The Statler Brothers
These Are the Good Old Days - Roy Rogers
I'll Thank You All My Life - Jean Shepard
Thanking the Good Lord - Merle Haggard
Thank God for Believers - Mark Chestnut
Thank God I'm A Country Boy - John Denver
Unanswered Prayers - Garth Brooks
It's a Great Day to Be Alive - Travis Tritt
A Satisfied Mind - Vince Gill
Thankful - Mary Mary
Thankful - Johnny Long (with Michael McDonald)
We Have Overcome - Israel Houghton and New Breed
The Color Green - Rich Mullins
Gratitude - Nichole Nordeman
Blessed and Highly Favored - The Clark Sisters
Thankful Boys and Girls - Billy Crockett
A Grateful People - Watermark
Thankful - Kelly Clarkson
You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban
For Good - Kristen Chenoweth

100 Things For Which I Am Thankful

Here's a new Thanksgiving meme. List 100 things for which you are thankful. Then tag 5 more bloggers to do the same. Here's my list.

1. The gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. My mother, who didn't just read to me. She showed me that she loved to read.
3. My father, who told me I could have anything I wanted, if I worked hard enough.
4. My husband, who tells me I look pretty even when I am at my worst.
5. My son, the genius.
6. My daughter, the other genius.
7. I live in an area some people dream of visiting at least once in their lives.
8. Chocolate. Duh!
9. Seven sisters.
10. One brother (poor, long-suffering guy).
11. The spouses of numbers 9 (most of the time) and 10 (always).
12. My 48 nieces and nephews.
13. My numerous great nieces and nephews, who are multiplying exponentially. I've lost count lately.
14. 5 great-great nieces and nephews. No, I'm not that old. My niece Vai is.
15. Attention deficit disorder. I am a master of brainstorming.
16. ADD meds, so I can get something done once in a while.
17. My day planner (which keeps me sort of organized, when I remember to use it).
18. Electricity.
19. Smooth pens.
20. Mechanical pencils.
21. LDS General Conference.
22. The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
23. The Holy Bible.
24. Genealogy.
25. Yak Tracks.
26. Modern medicine, without which I would not have a day job.
27. The internet, also without which I would not have a day job.
28. Personal computers, which are very useful when accessing the internet, and writing.
29. Blogging, wherein I give everyone my opinion, whether they want it or not.
30. Castle.
31. The new Hawaii 5-0.
32. The right to vote.
34. LDStorymakers annual writers conference, my right brain spa vacation.
35. David Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants.
36. Wood stoves and radiant heat.
37. Four seasons.
38. Especially summer.
39. Books.
40. Libraries.
41. Bookstores.
42. Internal combustion engines.
43. Words. They are so fun to play with.
44. The English language. It is so versatile. If you can't find a word to express what you mean, make up a new one (or just steal it from another language).
45. The French language. Vous ne pouvez pas inventer de nouveaux mots, mais qui s'en soucie. Parce que même le plus laid des mots sonnent si beau en français.
46. Vicks Nyquil.
47. Vicks Dayquil.
48. Puffs facial tissues with aloe and Vicks Vaporub. (Why yes, I recently had a bad cold. Why do you ask?)
49. Ibuprofen.
50. Excedrine.
51. A good night's sleep.
52. Facebook. It's a love/hate relationship.
53. Farmers.
54. Supermarkets.
55. Duct tape.
56. Macaroni and cheese.
57. Lasagna.
58. Pizza.
59. Edited movies.
60. Good friends I may not see for ages, but when we get together again it's like we were never apart.
61. Shadow the Cat.
62. Scoopable cat litter.
63. A decent WiFi connection.
64. Good music.
65. Specifically Journey (old incarnation).
66. And Mozart.
67. Dancing.
68. Zumba!
69. Holidays.
70. Snow days.
71. Cell phones. How did we survive without them?
72. MP3 players. Remember vinyl records? 8-track tapes? cassettes? CDs?
73. Jump drives. Remember floppy disks when they really were floppy?
74. Old Faithful.
75. Waterfalls.
76. Lavender aromatherapy.
77. Yerba mate.
78. Blue Delft.
79. Pretty much anything blue.
80. Big chunky sweaters.
81. Family reunions.
82. Meeting cousins I didn't know I had.
83. Automatic washings machines.
84. Peaches.
85. Wildflowers.
86. I can breathe without thinking about it.
87. Mostly good vision.
88. Reading glasses.
89. Other people who are willing to do the icky jobs.
90. Talents, mine and other people's.
91. Good neighbors.
92. Unbiased journalism. (That could be an oxymoron.)
93. A really good story.
94. Snow tires.
95. 100 watt incandescent light bulbs.
96. Daffodils.
97. Teachers who really care about their students.
98. Clean humor (like Ryan Hamilton and Humor U).
99. Digital cameras.
100. Indoor plumbing.

I tag:
Sue at MyEyeQ
Wendy at Goddess of the Corn
Danyelle at Queen of the Clan
Christine at Day Dreamer
Debbie at Debbie's Inkspectations

Veteran's Day - In Gratitude

In the month of November we celebrate Thanksgiving. This month, I'm trying to ignore all the early Christmas merchandising, and think of what I am thankful for.

On my list of blessings I am thankful for are all the things that come as a benefit of being a citizen of the United States. I can belong to whatever religion I choose, or no religion at all. I can say whatever I want to say, write what I want to write, read what I want to read.

But all of these privileges have a price. It is the soldiers of the U.S. Military who have paid that price, from the Revolutionary War, right up to the war against terrorism that is going on now. So to all veterans, past, present, and future, I give thanks to you and for you.



In memory of PFC Jacob Hamilton Allcott. Born July 26, 1984, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Killed in the line of duty April 22, 2006, Baghdad, Iraq.