Gratitude Challenge Week 2

Week 2 - Spouse

Well if you know me, read my blog, see my occasional facebook posts, then you'll know how much I love this guy I married. He's amazing. So I'm definitely thankful, greatful, and blessed to have this man in my life.

He makes me laugh, he makes me feel safe, he encourages me, he inspires me, he makes me want to be a better person. He's an amazing dad. He won't admit it, but he likes our kitties. One of the biggest pieces of advice when you are dating a guy is to watch how he treats his mom. And one of the things that first attracted me to him was how much he loved and respected his mom. He's incredibly smart. But it isn't just IQ, although that's pretty high. He can figure anything out with a little work or research. He's patient, way more tolerant that I could ever hope to be, a great teacher, and an amazing listener. I also love his quiet faith. He's not the type to preach, but all you have to do is watch him to know that he loves God and has amazing ethics.

Can you tell yet how great this guy is?! 

So today I'm thankful for my husband, Jon.

On a date - even though it's blurry, I kept this one because of the fun memories we made that night.

Remember me mentioning the kitties?! =)



He loves his kids.

Gratitude Challenge Week 1

I saw a list on Pinterest. It was called 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge. I have no idea whether the challenge was related to blog writing, but I miss writing. 

Week 1 - Why Start This Challenge

I thought this would be a great way to prompt myself to write every week and also to encourage thankfulness. Everyone has something to be thankful for. And if we look for the things that are a blessing to us, we will be more likely to not only notice them, but have a more positive attitude. 

I didn't really want to leave the challenge with just why I wanted to start. If it's truly 52 weeks of gratitude then I need to start today. So today I am thankful for the Sabbath. It's God's way of helping us take a break and relax.

Thankful!

This fall has been wild and crazy for Jon and I. We've had some major business decisions to make, some pretty packed weeks, family drama, and more "jobs" than we had time for. But God has richly blessed us throughout and we started this Thanksgiving week feeling very thankful for everything we have.

I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;

I will sing your praises before the gods.

I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.

I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; 

for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.

Psalm 138:1-2

God Moments

Have you ever had a moment where you knew that it was a complete miracle or a huge blessing? One of my friends recently called it a God Moment.

Well I've had two God moments this week.

Several months ago we received a free oil change from the dealership that we've taken our vehicles to for body work. Jon always changes the oil, but you can't really pass up free. So I took the truck in on Tuesday. After a few moments the guy came back out and asked me to come into the work area with him. When they put the truck up on the pedestal it allowed them to see a piece of the axle beside the back wheel had been improperly welded together. He told me that I could have done something as simple as hit a small pot hole and the tire would have blown, the break lines possibly snap, and the truck would wreck. If I happened to be going very fast it would have been a major wreck. It was something that would never have been noticed if I hadn't taken the truck in for that free oil change. God knew that issue was there and had them give us that coupon.

Today I was at Coffee Girls for our usual Thursday get-together. Several of the kids were playing under the table and I squealed because one of the little girls had grabbed my toes. The girls laughed at me and a few minutes later the mom asked where her daughter was. I thought she was still at my feet, so when we noticed she wasn't, none of us really panicked. A few minutes later after searching the yard and entire house we were starting to panic. One of the neighbors happened to be out in her yard and heard us shouting. She told the mom to check out another neighbor's pool. The baby girl had gone four houses down and was in the pool. Thanks to the neighbor, friends, and a quick response from the emergency people, she is going to be fine. If the mom hadn't thought to check on her daughter right then or if the neighbor hadn't been in the yard and told the mom about the pool, today would have had a very different outcome. It was definitely a God moment that had us all responding so quickly and efficiently.

Crazy!

Remember I said this wasn't my month. Here is further proof.

Today I went to Walmart after dropping off little man at school. I had gone to the grocery store yesterday, but both stores were either out of things or I forgot to get them.

I get to the checkout with an almost full buggy. As I placed the last item on the conveyer belt I reached into my purse for my wallet. It wasn't there.

I put everything back into the cart, reassured the clerk I would return soon and rushed home to get my wallet. Since it was Coffee Girls I decided to get the things that I needed from home and just put my one bag of cold stuff in Wendy's frig. But I ran into the house, grabbed the wallet and returned to Walmart. It wasn't until I was leaving the store that I realized I hadn't gotten anything from home and would need to return AGAIN. I returned to pick up my coffee cake that I was taking and realized that I'd left it on the top of the toaster oven this morning when I'd heated up the waffles. The plastic container was completely warped and wouldn't snap shut. So I had to wrap it in plastic just to keep the stuff from coming out in my truck.

The vet called with an update on our dog. She had surgery this morning to remove something that looked like a plastic screw from her intestines. Turns out it was the dog version of her appendix that was growing inside her intestines (they are supposed to be on the outside) and blocking off her food supply from giving her nutrients. It was caused by the large amounts of non-food items she inhales daily. So now we need to purchase a muzzle for her so she can't eat anything without our consent. She will need to stay there over the weekend to be under observation since intestine surgery is risky. Sigh!

So often it's easy to be depressed and frustrated with the way life is dealing your hand. Are there not any breaks in sight? Why me?

But this past month has really shown me how amazing and wonderful my friends are. It's shown me that I'm not all alone and that people really do care. Life is survivable. It's often the little things that help - An article about mothering, a blog about life being hard, Coffee girls giving my mom a breast cancer key chain or taking pictures with a friend.

So while life can have some sucky* parts right now, it also has some really awesome parts. And that's what I'm going to try to concentrate on and be thankful for.

*Spell check says this isn't a word, but I disagree!

Blessings

It's been a while since I counted my blessings on my blog.

So here is a list of sweet and wonderful things that I'm thankful for.

My family.

I have the sweetest kids and most amazing husband. 

I thank God every day for them.

 My new floors. I love them so much.

The beautiful fall weather we've had this week.

My friends. 

It's always scary to move to a new place. But I've been here a year now and I can truly say that I have some of the coolest friends. I miss my "old" friends, but am blessed to have some wonderful new ones.

My books. 

Reflections

This time last year* was so totally different. Jon and I had stepped back and had decided to wait and see what God had planned for us. And then the phone started ringing with all of these recruiters while we were at camp meeting. By the time we had returned home we were pretty sure that Jon would have an interview in Cookeville, TN and were unsure of what the future would hold. I remember writing this post and at times wishing for a crystal ball to tell me the future. Well I guess I'm in the future and I can tell you - it looks pretty good.

God wanted us to move. But it had to be in His time and not our own. We needed to take a break from being in control and let Him handle it. And it's amazing how well He handles things when we let Him. =)

As I sat listening to Dominic sing tonight at the main auditorium I thought back to exactly a year ago when I heard a woman talking to the people behind me about Cookeville, TN and how ironic I thought it was that Jon had just spoken to a recruiter about a job in that very town. Even more ironic is that Tennessee has their own campmeeting and it ISN'T here in NC. What are the chances that on the night after we'd heard about this job, we would sit directly in front of people from another conference and that very town.

They were friendly and helpful and we exchanged info. I never dreamed that I was talking to future friends of mine. As I sat there tonight I looked around me and didn't see one Cookeville person within shouting distance even though about 10 families came this year.

Isn't God amazing?!

 

*I am posting this after I return from camp meeting because I don't want to let anyone know that I am not in my home. Paranoid, I know. But better safe than sorry.

My dream job

I found an old notebook recently. It was from when I was a pre-teen. I'd made up a survey and had taken this survey about myself every year. The surveys ended a couple of years after I married.

It was very interesting to see how some of my tastes changed over the years, but some were always the same. I will probably always consider daffodils to be my favorite flower and I will ALWAYS love books.

One of the questions that I asked my self was what my dream job would be. There were several answers - librarian, book store owner, editor, etc. It's pretty obvious that my dream job involved reading if at all possible.

Several months ago I noticed that a blogger friend had posted several book reviews on her blog. I hit the link and immediately signed up to receive free books in exchange for my honest opinion on my blog.

But this wasn't enough. Oh no, I had to google book reviews and see what else I could find. I hit a gold mine. There was a blogger who'd written a blog on all of the sites he knew that sent books to bloggers in exchange for their honest opinions. I emailed every one of them. Only one responded right away and I loved the publisher. I sort of forgot about the other sites. Two of them have since contacted me and somehow this put me on the book reviewer radar. I've had two authors contact me and another publisher. 

Yesterday I finished up a book review and when I checked my mail I found four more books to review. Wow! Between the publishers, authors and two book clubs I felt a little overwhelmed. I started to complain to Jon and then I stopped. I remembered that notebook from long ago and I realized that I'm living my dream. I owned a bookstore before Dominic was born, for about three years, and realized that I couldn't have a store and children so I gave it up. I felt a little sad, but figured I could start again when they were gone. I waited a long time and prayed a ton for these kids. It wasn't really a hard decision. And now I'd been given an opportunity to have both of my dream jobs at once. 

As with all dreams, this one has some rough edges. Last night I had to email an author and give him my review that I'd posted on several sites. It was very difficult to write that review. I HATED that book. The author did a great job, but I wasn't fond of the subject matter or the style it had been written in. But there are others out there that will love the book. My review is supposed to be honest. How could I be honest and not hurt his feelings. People love to complain and have no problem blasting a person they can't see. It feels "safe". You would be amazed at the things that some people write. It's malicious and evil. As a amateur writer I know how it feels to receive feedback and even when we have tough skin it can still hurt. So I had to really put effort into not putting my own dislike into the review. My review needs to be honest, but not hateful or hurtful. And it somehow needs to convey to others a true sense of what the book is like so that people like me will realize by reading my review that it might not be the book for them. I wasn't prepared for how hard that would be.

So yes, I'm living a dream. It's hard work, but how many people can say that they read books and play with kids all day long for the fun of it? Life just doesn't get much better than this!

Mentors

Several weeks ago when I was writing the blog about my mom I thought about all of the other people who "mothered" me over the years. There are so many women that have impacted my life in some way. So this is a tribute to some of the other "mothers" in my life.

They are in no particular order.

Lynn

Lynn is a very dear friend of mine. She lived next door to some friends and then her daughter was in my first book club. My family has shared many meals and experiences with her family. Over the years I've thought many times how thankful I am to have her as a friend. She has been a great example to me as a Christian and as a mother. She inspires me to be a better person. If everyone could be half as gracious, loving, and unselfish as Lynn, the world would be a better place.

Aunt Linda

My first memories of her are, naturally, when I was very small. I think the first major one was when I was in her wedding at the age of five. I grew to love and admire my aunt very much. She (and her husband) gave unselfishly of their time as missionaries. Aunt Linda told me stories, helped with book reports and fostered my love of books. After I married we moved closer and Jon and I spent many weekends reading books, watching movies and eating good food. I could talk to her about things that I probably never spoke about with other people. My aunt doesn't have any children of her own, but I always felt like she treated me as her own and I certainly thought of her as my second mother.

My Grandmas

My grandmothers are the very, very best. Growing up I lived within a few hours of my grandparents most of the time, so thankfully I saw them often. They were like most grandmothers, I'm guessing, with the gifts and love. But some of the things that I remember the most were the times that I went alone (or with my sister) to spend time with them. They were both excellent cooks and both loved to read. 

My Grandma P would let me come and stay for several weeks all by myself. She got piles of books for me to read while I was there and allowed me to "help" in her ceramic business.

My Grandma G would have pity on me when the younger cousins and siblings were piling up in the house and would let me hide out in her bedroom with the bookcases full of books. Every year I could count on getting books for Christmas. 

My grandmothers gave me an appreciation for family, a love of books and by their love they showed me a glimpse of my heavenly Father.

Sally

I have had several amazing teachers over the years, but one that really stands out is my 9th grade teacher.

For reasons that will take too long to explain, I was very, very behind when I hit the 9th grade. I had started first grade at the age of 7 (due to a previous school policy) and so was being allowed to skip 8th grade to catch back up with my age group. But scholastically I was NOT ready to enter 9th grade. My teacher had the most amazing patience. I tend to get frustrated and throw up a mental block if I can't figure something out. Yet she pulled me from a 6th grade level in math to where I belonged and did it all without stressing me out (at least not too much). She was and will always be an amazing teacher. And I am so thankful that God put her there when I needed her.

There have been many amazing people in my life. People that God has placed there to bless me, people who have impacted who I am today. There is no way that I can mention them all. But these women are the first who come to mind and I just wanted to say how thankful I am for them and everything they did/do for me.

Massage

Several years ago when I was pregnant with Dominic a chiropractor came to a dental auxiliary meeting and talked to us about the benefits of chiropractic care. I'd always thought that chiropractors were quacks. But when she mentioned that she could eliminate or lessen heart burn I decided to give her a try. I had acid reflux and had to go off my medications once I found out I was pregnant. So I was downing the Tums.

Turned out she could. I had a much easier pregnancy after that.

I continued to go to her and after I had Dominic she discovered (through x-rays) that one of my legs was longer than the other. This caused my hips to be out of align and that was causing the pain in my legs. She recommended a lift in my shoe. I was amazed to discover that the pain I'd been having in my knees since I was a teenager was now gone.

When we moved I just fell out of the habit of going to the chiropractor. My doctor wasn't here and finding a new one is sometimes a bit of trial and error.

My knees have started to hurt again because I need a new lift and a couple of months ago my neck started bothering me. So I complained for a while =) until Jon came home with a recommendation from a person at work. I ditched book club to make an appointment. That should give you a clue to how bad I was feeling. I feel so much better already.

But the reason I'm so excited and writing this post is because I found out that I get unlimited free chiropractors visits and two free massages a month. I've lived here for 8 months and I'm just now going to start benefiting from this. If only I'd known I could have put a lot less Aleve in my poor little body.

But now that I know let the fun begin. =)

Some days

Some days I am unmotivated and not thinking clearly.

Today is one of those days.

I'm not getting anything accomplished and can't seem to focus for any length of time.

But in spite of my listlessness I have several things to be thankful for today.

Coffee girls!

Every Thursday we meet at Wendy's house to talk, eat and relax.

We bring breakfast food and visit into the afternoon.

I showed up today without doing my hair and with Walmart food instead of making something.

My hair was complimented and my food was enjoyed.

I love these girls and am so thankful that they've included me in their circle.

 

I got my first Scentsy order today.

Man alive that stuff smells good.

My yard is completely full of beauty and we've been enjoying the outside.

Desires of my heart

 "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." Epicurus

I saw this on a facebook status and it made me think of several things that I'm thankful for.

In a direct or indirect way, all of these are things that I used to wish for and dream about.

So this quote made me stop and remember how thankful I am for them.

My wonderful family.

As a little girl and then a teenager I used to dream about the wonderful man I would meet and someday marry. The reality is even better than my dreams.

 I didn't dream as much about my kids. But I did picture myself have a boy and then a girl if I ever did have children. Amazing how God gives us the very desires of our heart.

My library!

I have ALWAYS loved books and wanted a library. I'm living my dream.

My beautiful yard!

I love flowers and use to wish that I had the time & money to have flower gardens and a beautiful lawn. I now live in a place that makes this a reality.

Slowing down

I'm the impatient type. Pretty sure I've mentioned that a few times before.

Life is to be enjoyed for sure, but I'm always looking forward to something that is going to happen in the future. Anticipation is half of the fun.

My library is coming along nicely (more on that later.). And I can hardly wait to start decorating it.

After the library is finished Jon will start putting down the hardwood floors.

And I'm so sick of this carpet that I'm dying to have that done already.

We are taking some really fun trips this year. Can't wait!

Spring and summer can't get here soon enough.

And the list goes on. . .

But last week I went to a funeral of a great, great aunt.

My grandpa is the 2nd in a family of 13. So this aunt was only about 15 years older than my grandparents.

She was 98 when she died and had a great long life.

Her husband and son (who died at 13 yrs old) had already left her. 

So she was alone except for her nieces and nephews.

At her funeral she had a few church members and her extended family.

If she hadn't cultivated friendships with her extended family there would have been no funeral and no one coming to say good bye.

This funeral was one of the "nice" ones. She was sick before she died and heading towards 100. So it wasn't unexpected. And since I now live closer I was able to go and spend several hours with all of my family, some who I hadn't seen in a long time.

 Above: Great Uncle Steve, Great Aunt Ann, Great Aunt Rita

Below: My grandpa, mom, grandma

The funeral accomplished a few things for me.

1. I am so very, very thankful to be living closer to my family. I've missed them.

2. I'm more in love with my husband and kids and so glad that Jon and I have those two little monkeys.

3. I am going to be thankful for each moment of my life and try harder to savor it. When life is close to the end, I won't have as much to look forward to and will have more to look back on. I don't want to be so primed at anticipating things that I don't have anything to look back on - no memories to savor.

So here is to savoring each and every moment of life, to enjoying the simple things, to savoring my blessings!

My birthday present

Jon got me the coolest birthday present.

It is an iPod Touch Next Generation.

Whatever that is supposed to mean.

To me it means that I now have an even better something 

than my palm and my MP3 player in one device.

The camera isn't bad either.

I had no idea how to use this thing.
So I'm learning as I go.

But regardless, I'm in love.

Wow!

Jon called me today to let me know that BSH had made an announcement.

They are closing the laundry plant in New Bern.

So not only is Jon's consulting work ending, but all of our friends are either moving to Germany or finding other jobs.

It's amazing how God works. I can't imagine how we would be feeling right now if we thought Jon had to have another job by April. The stress would be unbelievable and we certainly couldn't have sold our house so quickly to Jon's co-worker. (Hmm, wonder what he's going to do now? He's just purchased a home.)

So here is yet another reason why I'm glad we are in Cookeville now.

We aren't looking for a job or heading to Germany.

On a side note:

Jon's old boss is selling us her truck. She is one of the ones relocating to Germany.

We had been wanting a truck for quite some time. 

Jon wanted a Toyota Tundra and I wanted the Tacoma.

Paige has a 04 Tacoma that she is selling to us. She is the type that really babies her vehicles. So Jon is happy because we are getting a truck that is in excellent condition for a really great price.

We will be heading to New Bern this spring to buy a truck.

It's put a few things on hold that we had been planning since we aren't willing to go into debt, but this is the perfect opportunity and then we can check that off of Jon's wish list. =)

And I get the one that I want. =)

Winter Blues

Yesterday Jon commented on how high the electric bill was.

I commented on how tired and unmotivated I felt.

I could have explained both of those.

Winter can be gloomy. It rains (or snows) a lot and we are housebound. There aren't as many things to do outside of the house and we get bored. The kids are more restless.

I like lots of light so that is why the electric bill is high. 

What nature isn't providing the electric company can.

Also I was tired of staying in the house doing the same old things over and over again.

I think even the kids were getting bored.

So today I tried to think of things that made the winter months more enjoyable.

I love candles. And I rarely burn them during the spring and summer.

The Christmas candy must be eaten.

Waste is not acceptable.

I spent the entire afternoon with my amazing son making hearts.

(see other blog)

Thanks to efforts on all our parts (the kids were actually a great help) my house is very clean.

This always makes me feel better.

Now it's on to supper. But I will continue to look for cheery things this winter to keep my spirits up.

Learning

When I first moved back to Tennessee I had to re-learn quite a few things.

I had to re-learn how to start on a hill while driving a manual transmission.

I had to re-learn "the language". 

Because TN redneck is different than NC redneck. =)

There are quite a few other things as well.

But this winter I've been learning how to drive in snow again.

Snow in NC meant at most 3 inches on perfectly flat roads.

Snow here means icy roads with snow on top, 

while starting on a hill driving a manual transmission.

They keep the roads well salted and plowed.

But today was a fun (learning) experience.

Below are a few pictures I took while out in the snow today.

Our road.

This is the flat section.

I love this tree. It's a few blocks from our house.

 

This fountain was on the way home.

The temperatures was not cold enough to completely freeze it. But it was working on it.

 

 

Some pictures of the trees outside our home.

 

 

I love snow. And I love living in a place that doesn't shut down (entirely) when it snows like this. We went sledding and then Jon went to work. We met him in town for lunch at a local restaurant.
The place wasn't super crowded, but all of the staff were there.
All of the stores are open and there isn't a shortage of milk or bread.
Love, love where I live!

Life is Sweet!!!

My life is wonderful! I have so many things to be thankful for.

To start off the new year I thought I'd blog about some of the sweet things in my life.

In no particular order - 

Dominic is now reading simple books.

I'm thankful that I was able to be a part of this and 

thankful that the world of reading is now available to him.

My husband is pretty sweet!

 My children are super sweet as well.

My library gives me thrills every time I walk into it.

My really cool leather chair is a close second.

I'm enjoying all of the snow that we've gotten this year.

It's the perfect kind. Huge flakes that slowly float down.

Then it's gone within a day or two.

My husband and I are enjoying the financial ability to help some people and it feels really, really great.

I live close enough to my family that I get to see them often.

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed that until we moved closer again.

I'm still in awe of how God lead us so clearly to Cookeville. 

He performed so many miracles.

And the sweetest thing of all is my God who gives me these things to enrich and bless my life.