Welcome to 30 Days of Thankful

Welcome to "30 Days of Thankful", an Instagram photo challenge among friends that begins tomorrow. It's easy and fun and we hope you'll join us in a month of appreciating a few of the things that we sometimes take for granted. Of course, there are plenty more wonderful things in our lives, but this list will get us started noticing the little things around us.

The rules for the challenge are quite simple: There really aren't any. Each morning (hopefully), you will receive an email prompt of something to be thankful for. As you go about your daily activities, keep your eyes open for opportunities to interpret the prompt with your camera. I personally use only my phone camera for these challenges, but you are welcome to use whatever you wish. Sometimes, I will give you an example to get you thinking, while other times, I may just list the prompt as a reminder. I plan to post the prompt here on the blog each morning, so if for some reason the email fails us, just check here.

I know that sometimes life gets way too busy and other things are much more important than an Instagram post, so if that happens, don't despair. It's fine! You can catch up later, or not at all. Like I said, there really aren't any rules.

Well, actually, there is one rule---please be sure to tag your posts with the hashtag #30DaysOfThankful2014. I generally try to list the prompt itself in ALL CAPS in the caption, along with the hashtag. Many of you already know each other, but others live in other parts of the country or are "friends of friends". But, we now all have something in common---this challenge--so click on the hashtag from time to time and see how others are interpreting the prompts. You might even find a new friend to follow! (There are several people that I follow and have never actually met)

And for those of you that like to know what is coming up so you can plan ahead, here is a list of the prompts for November. I actually write the emails and posts so far ahead of the time that I can't remember when they are going to actually be posted, so each morning is a surprise to me!