Thankful

I feel like Thanksgiving is a time for reflecting on my life, and where I'm at. So, below are 10 things I'm most thankful for this year:

1. A resurrected Savior in Jesus Christ. I feel like I've been on a roller coaster ride in my relationship with God this past year, but I know I'm headed in the right direction, now. God has given me this awesome new church and church family, which includes my true family, and for that I am beyond grateful. =.)
2. A wonderful and loving husband and best friend. Marc has been my best friend for over 10 years now, and my love for more than 8 years. I can't imagine where or who I would be without Marc in my life. He drives me nuts sometimes, but I know I do the same to him. I truly feel that he is my soul mate, the one God intended for me from the beginning.
3. My family! I'm blessed with a very close immediate family, and an even closer extended family. And they're all so close in proximity, as well! My Mama and Daddy have shown me what a true marriage is supposed to be - equal partners, who put the other first. Their love for each other and for Brock and me has taught me how to love and be loved. And our dogs, who are our family. They love unconditionally and are a comfort to us, just by being them.
4. Family! Marc's family is super special to us, as well. My family is closer (by a LOT), so we see them more often, but Marc's family is great! His mom has this great devotion to her sons, and she loves them both so much. You can tell she just wants them to be happy and successful and loved. His dad and step mom are in SC, so we don't see them nearly enough. They've been so generous to us from the beginning and we're thankful for that. Matt and Tammy - we're blessed not only to be related, but to be friends, as well, and that's awesome.
5. Nieces! I can't wait to have children of my own, but until we're ready, Marc and I get to enjoy our 3 nieces. Allie is 3 and half years old, Karleigh is 1 and half, and Ava is almost 6 months. I'm sure our brothers would love a little boy in there somewhere, but they're all thankful for their little girls, as are we.
6. Friends - Tiffany and Kelli -what would I do without you girls? Tiff - my favorite roomie! I never would have made it past freshman year without you. And the craziness we lived through (especially with other roommates)...you helped make college an unforgettable experience. I'm even more thankful for the friendship that we've shared. You've been there for me through so much, and I thank you for that. Kelli - you are just too special. One of my confidants and just awesome person. You make me laugh, and I love to hear what you have to say. Thank you for what you bring to my life, and to our CODE dinners. =.) Love, love, LOVE you girls!
7. Friends - the weekend crew. I've made so many new friends over the past year, two years - Katie H, Katie M, Krystle, Megan, Sarah - you girls are awesome! I'm glad our guys are friends and we've all gotten to know each other! And I'm ready for the next girls night. =.)
8. Job - in a time where not everyone in employed, Marc and I are both blessed to have a job to go to every day, and paycheck that continues to come in, even if the economy isn't at its best. I know that this is all God's doing, and even if we didn't have jobs, God would provide for us. He's just making it easier for us, right now.
9. Health - so many others suffer from ailments and terminal illnesses, and we're just really lucky to be healthy, and to have a healthy family. We've lost some loved ones this year, but they lived long, full lives, and they are all in a better place right now.
10. Shelter - not only shelter, but a home that is our own. We have a place we've worked hard to get to where it is now, and in a place where we love. Our little piece of heaven is ours (of course, it's on lend from God, but He's letting us use it).

Alright...I hope you've enjoyed my reflections. May God bless and keep you as you enjoy your holiday with the ones you love most.

And for those who have an unexpected opening at your table this Thanksgiving, I lift you up in prayer for comfort from above.

Prayers

My best friend, Tiffany, called this morning and was just super upset. One of her and Kevin's good friends committed suicide last night, and Tiff's just having a really hard time grasping how he could do this. So...I'm asking that you please keep them in your prayers, and all of Alex's family and friends. All we can ask for is God's comfort in a time like this.

My revelation to this is:
1. If you love someone, tell them. Don't assume they know - make sure they do.
2. Life is unexpected, and only God can comfort the soul completely.
3. People are precious and can be gone in an instant. I want to make sure I don't have regrets when I'm gone - whether it be tomorrow or 50 years from tomorrow.

So, Tiffany, I love you, and I'm here for you. My prayers are with you, Kevin, and all of your friends.

Leaves!

Oh my goodness...I love my family! Yesterday, my Dad blew all the leaves off of one of their pastures. There were so many leaves that it made up 2 huge piles. He did this 2 years ago when Paisley was just a puppy, and it's just the funniest thing to watch her with the leaves. I really hope I can figure out how to do videos, because it's just priceless. This is one of them:

This year, Allie was old enough to play in the leaves. This picture is her playing with Marc and Paisley. I've gotta ge the video of her running into the leaves...I haven't laughed this much in a long time.

We've been cleaning up in and around the house since we finished our renovations. While the contractors were working on our house, we pretty much just lived in our bedroom, and we had lawn chairs set up in our living room with a small TV. It was hard to keep things organized or do much of anything else while they were in the house. So, our spare bedroom became a catch-all for everything that wouldn't fit into our bedroom. We finally got that cleaned up (with the help of my wonderful mom) a few weekends ago. We completely moved from the original master bedroom to the new master, and got our closets transferred, etc, as well. Now we have a fully functional guest bedroom and a spare bedroom (which is really my sewing room). It's so nice to finally have everything in order. So, yesterday, we spent some time cleaning up around the house. We took a bunch of stuff to the dump, to the shop, and just tidied up. Our carport looked like a junk yard for awhile, so it's nice to have that back to normal, too.

Now, we just need to paint a few doors and window frames inside, and I think we really will be done. I'm sure that won't last long - Marc will find something else that needs to be done - but I'll be satisfied if we can get those last few things done. I would love to have it done before Marc's dad and step mom are up on Wednesday, but I think that's a bit too ambitious, so I'll just have to settle for before Christmas. =.)

Now, back to work...

"This is how God often works. He does not spare us from suffering but enables us to conquer it." ~Marie Chapian

Snow!!!

I am so excited! IT SNOWED! I was so happy to wake up, look out the bedroom window, and see beautiful, white snow all around! I haven't seen snow like this since Boone...and it's no Boone snow, let me tell you, but it's still snow! =.) I love it! =.)
I'm not so sure the dogs are thrilled about it, though. I felt so bad leaving them out this morning! Ace just keep looking at me from the carport as if to say, "What? You're leaving? But I want to go back inside!!" Paisley...she was a little more adventuresome. She was at least running around in it when we let them out first thing. This is the first snow they've seen on the ground. I kind of hope it does a bigger snow, just so we can see them play in it! =.)

Paisley didn't want to get her feet wet - she was just sitting in the driveway, looking for deer, I suppose.

Ace was even worse...he decided that he wasn't leaving the carport. I went to put out a blanket for them to lay on, and I guess he thought I was going to let him back inside, but he just sat on the blanket, looking at the door.

On a more solemn note, Marc's mom was going into surgery today to have her galbladder removed. She'd been having some abdominal pain, and went to the doctor. She has some galstones, and she was supposed to have surgery at 10:45 this morning. Shelia was really anxious about the procedure because she hadn't ever been under anesthesia before, but she did really well. I just talked to Marc, and as soon as she does her list of 'stuff', she'll get to go home. So Matt and Marc are waiting around the hospital. Hopefully she'll get through that list this afternoon, and not have to spend the night. So, please pray she does fine from here on out.

So, in June, Marc and I transferred our membership to a new church. I am so excited about Crosslink Community Church! Pastor Ken is awesome. You can tell that God just uses him and works through him constantly. So, tomorrow morning, the church is having a huge yard sale to raise money to upfit a new building that we'll be moving into. The church is only a few years old, so we don't have a "church" building. We've been meeing at a middle school in Efland for about 2 years now, and it's time that we get our own place. It'll be nice to have a place to go to ALL the time. I'm really excited to see how God is going to use this new space for His plans. So, while you're sleeping in tomorrow, I'll be helping Mama unload her dining room table at 7 a.m. in 24 degree weather. =.) This is the link to Crosslink's website, just in case you're interested. =.)

I really hope I'll be able to get some sewing done tomorrow, too. I'd love to make some Christmas presents! I think I'm gonna do some Christmas wrapping tonight, too. We usually put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving - another tradition - and I hate to see a tree with no presents underneath. So, I've got a few presents, already, so I need to get them wrapped. I've also gotta get some birthday presents. Just on my mom's side of the family, we have 6 birthdays in December, from the first day to the last. I've got some, know what I'm getting for others, but completely clueless on some. I'm so bad at buying presents for boys. For the girls - those are a piece of cake. But for little boys, unless it's a Hot Wheels, I'm lost. I need to make my list so I'll know what to get next Friday. I can't WAIT for Friday.

Okay...enough rambling...I'll leave you with this:

"[Thanksgiving] I always thank God for you because his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way - in all your speaking and in all your knowledge."
1 Corinthians 1:4-5

Perplexed... =.)

Okay, so last night after work, I went home to start my newest obsession - blogging. I was trying to get my profile set up and all that stuff, and I was shocked to find out...

I have maybe 3 recent pics of the husband and myself. I used to take pictures ALL the time...not usually of myself, granted, but still. So, I've vowed to myself that I've gotta take some...and soon!

I can't believe that it's almost Thanksgiving...just a week away. I am super excited about Black Friday shopping! Thanksgiving and Black Friday are my 2 favorite days of the year. I prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas, because it's not as busy for Marc and me as Christmas day is. Don't get me wrong...I absolutely love Christmas, but Thanksgiving is just more relaxing for us. And I'm a huge fan of tradition. I'm just a small town girl at heart, and tradition just makes me smile.

So, we'll get to see our families on Thanksgiving, and at my aunt's we'll dissect every single sales paper there is, then plan out our day. It's a girls day - with my 2 aunts, my grandma, my Mama, and 2 of my cousins. We'll start at Wal-Mart, probably around 6 am, then we go all over for the day. I know the economy is down and all that stuff...It's not so much about the buying 'stuff' as is just hanging out with my family. We spend more time together on that one day than we get to most of the year. It's about the tradition. I've been going with my girls shopping since I was 15. I remember thinking they were completely crazy before then...even that first year I went...my Mama left earlier than I did, and I slept in a little longer. My Daddy took me by Bojangle's on the way to Wal-Mart, and I met up with everyone there. That was before the new Super Wal-Mart, and it didn't open until 6 am, so they would go get in line at like 5-5:30, and wait for the doors to open. The line would be all the way through the parking lot, and the parking lot was full.

Okay...enough reminiscing...I need to work. Can't wait 'til next Friday, and my time with my family...they're just special and mine, and I'm beyond blessed to belong to them. =) Have a happy day!


"If God were small enough to be understood, he would not be big enough to be worshiped." - Evelyn Underhill

New to This...

I've been reading some other people's blogs, recommended by a friend, and it's just really made me want to start a blog of my own. Marc doesn't know it yet, but he'll be featured, as well! =.) Hopefully, I'm not too boring, although sometimes I feel my life is quite routine.

Quick background:

Marc and I got married March 25, 2006.

We dated forever before that.

We have 2 dogs - Ace, he's a Pit Bull (Marc's Dog),

and Paisley, she's a Boxer (Brittany's Dog).

Paisley & Ace are both a little over 2 years, so they're full grown in these pictures. They stay outside during the day, and are spoiled with their own room at night. They're precious!

We just finished renovating our house about 2 months ago, and we're excited to be able to use ALL of our house, and we're no longer living in lawn chairs. I'll be putting up some pictures soon.

We currently have 3 nieces, ranging in age from 3.5 years to 5 months old -Allie, Karleigh, and Ava are all adorable little girls. I'll try to get pictures of them up soon, too.

I'll be thinking of what else I might want to talk about next... =.)