Thankful Thursday!! (58)

"But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors Me. If you keep to My path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God."  ~Psalm 50:23

Today, I am thankful:

1.  That I cannot out-dream God! :)  That there is great hope for redemption, both in this life and in the coming kingdom!!  (Eldredge's Hope in the Coming Kingdom CDs = brilliant so far!  He does metaphors like no one else.)
2.  For the familiar joy of connecting in a Christian community - I tried the midtown Lifegroup last night and was amazed to realize how much I had missed that.  There was depth and fun, tears and laughter, listening/learning and speaking up/teaching, new people and old friends - it was much better than I'd expected, and I will definitely go back!
3.  For Craig's quote: "We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions."  Good reminder to be merciful!
4.  For my old purple Bible (1995 through 2004).  It's falling apart now - [sad] - but I love to look back through it and my notes and who I was then.  (I really went highlight crazy the first week I got it - there are several pages in the middle of Psalms that look like that top middle picture - then I calmed down a bit. lol)

5.  For epiphanies and fresh starts!
6.  For who God is... that He is good, He is for me, and He is there when no one else is!

7.  That my heart attitude has begun to turn around this February - decreasing stress and increasing peace and hope!  Yay, God!!

(Sorry if that all sounded vague and intangible.  I'm also thankful for my job, my friends, my family, my house, fun memories, good food, good music, etc.  But God's doing something in me that I can really feel right now, so that's where my heart goes first on thankfulness!)

One Year!!

One year ago today, I started back to school at SNU!

I'm so thankful that I listened to God and finally stepped out.  I have learned so much over the past year, both through the classes and through relationships with my classmates!!

Picture: Me, Megan M., Annora, Joan

Kelly, Amber, Jessica, Megan L.

Mike H., Gary, Bev, and MJ

(We started and ended with 11... we lost MJ and picked up Megan L. along the way.)
We have gotten to know each other really well, as you might imagine in a small group of Psychology/Counseling students!  Hearing their stories and being listened to as I share my own... I really have loved that.  I know that God brought us together for a reason, and I love that people were open and it was immediately deeper than small talk.  I love the connections and seeing the way God has brought other people through different things.  Everyone is at different places spiritually, but it's obvious that God is working in each person's life, and it's exciting!  I also love that we pray together as a group.  We've had several great professors, but Dr. Frisbie is still my personal favorite.  Every subject has been interesting to me, and I have learned something new from every professor and every paper I've had to write.  I'm finally FINISHED with all of my Life Learning Papers, and my Practicum hours will come from the CISM course (which I start on Friday), so it should be smooth sailing until the end in June!! =)

P.S.  It's snowing today... and it's the massive, awesomely beautiful snowflakes! :)  I love it so much.  I had breakfast with Brittany Bolt and on my way into Panera one caught my eyelash, and I immediately thought of "snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes."  =)

So I've had My Favorite Things in my head ever since...

Top 10 Tuesday

Here's ten random things that make me feel old. lol

1.  Titanic was re-released for its 15-year anniversary last year!!

2.  And this is what Leo looks like toasting today. lol  Sadness.

3.  Kids born today will never get to enjoy Hostess deliciousness! (Out of business now.)

4.  The cast of Full House had their 25-year reunion last year... I still watch the show whenever I can catch it on TV, and I still think Uncle Jesse is hot today!

 5.  The babies (Megan & George) born in Father of the Bride 2 would be graduating from high school this year!  (It came out in 1995, and I totally remember seeing it in theaters.)

6.  Today, Monica & Chandler's twins would be 9, Phoebe's triplets would be 14, Ben 18, and Emma 11

7.  My high school senior year was 11 years ago!  (And I still own and wear that gray Harvard hoodie! lol)

8.  My younger sister is now married with a family of three kids and one more on the way!

9.  The first season of American Idol was also 11 years ago... I watched the finale in my OBU dorm room after dinner at Garfield's with Mom, Rach, Mark, and Jordan Law! lol  Yes, I remember that day strangely well. :)  I still adore Kelly Clarkson, but have finally stopped watching AI now...

10. I will be 30 this time next year!!

..."To making it count!"  ;-)

Birthday ~ 29

Well, friends, today I have officially entered the last year of my 20's!  ...get excited?

A few pictures to recap my birthday weekend:

Road trip to Sam and Ella's on Friday

One of two glittery T-Swift cards I received this birthday (from Laura & Malori)

Cookiecake and a beautiful new Coach purse from Mom and Dad

Lunch after church today at Ted's (Jace with his happy spoons)

Zio's dinner with Laura and Kristin

Then cake + Downton Abbey finale at Kristin's house

And being the recipient of the first text message Grandad's ever sent - LOVE it!

Baby Anthony's 1st Birthday Party!! ❤  
(Last year on my birthday, we were on edge because the doctors were not sure if he would make it through the first 48 hours of his life, and since then, he has survived multiple surgeries, so it was really great to be there and help out a bit with this party!)

My first trip to the gun range and first time shooting a gun!!  It was super-loud and intense, but exciting!  (I shot Rach's .380 and Josh's .45 - still not sure what I'm getting.)  Also, I was pretty happy when they gave us lane #7! :)

Message from Laura:

"What do Michael Jordan, Paris Hilton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larry the Cable Guy have in common?  They all share your birthday.  Also, they're all less awesome than you.  Happy Birthday!" lol

So, happy birthday to me.  Very thankful for my family and friends who made me feel special, and also thankful to go back to not-about-me normal tomorrow. =)

Thankful Thursday (57) ~ Valentine's Edition

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!  =)

I'm probably one of very few single girls who can honestly say I've always enjoyed this holiday!  It's a time of fun cards and chocolate candy and red and pink hearts and flowers... and it's really about celebrating and appreciating the people and things you love, so that's what I'm going to do today!! :)

This Valentine's Day, I'm thankful for:

1.  God's Love and PEACE -- "Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You! I will seek You in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways. And step by step, You'll lead me, and I will follow You all of my days!"

2.  My Delightful Nephews! -- Triston, Carter, & Jace; and now there's another baby on the way!

3.  New Creative Projects -- For my birthday, Malori got me a quality sketch book, charcoal pencils, oil pastels, & the book pictured below that teaches how to use a grid to sketch faces, flowers, animals, etc.  I've wanted to learn faces for a long time, and I figured it was appropriate to start with Malori, since she bought me the book. lol  (Odds are good I'll go through most of my friends and family as I practice this.)  I don't have the right materials and I definitely rushed into this because I get impatient - so I'm sure I'll get better as I go along, but I'm happy with this for my first real person sketch! =)

4.  Laura Allison -- For listening without judgment, for praying and being encouraging, and for gently speaking truth in love when necessary!!   #thankful  ...#butistillreallyhatehashtags

5.  New Friendships -- The women's group has been good so far, and I know I have at least one new genuine friend in Kelly Hall! :)  We met for Panera last night, and I'm seeing a movie with her and a few other girls tonight... (so hooray for having Valentine's day plans!)
6.  February Birthdays --  Jace (Feb. 2nd) - Blake (3rd) - Rachael (11th) - Anthony (16th) - and ME (17th)!  Lots of parties and so much cookie cake this month!!  Also, I'm thankful that my birth-date has a 7 in it. lol
7.  Colder Weather -- Love the Zac Brown Band song, and love the real thing in winter! ;)  It's been annoyingly summer-like lately, but the cold days where a scarf, coat, and hot chocolate make an appearance - those days make me very happy! :)

8. John and Joyce -- Finishing his latest book on holiness today - so fantastic and critically important!  And I finally found and ordered the first CD set I ever heard of Joyce's teaching (called "Beside the Still Waters") - it was life-changing for me back in 2007, and I am so excited for that shipment to get here!

9.  SNU -- I'm very close to the one-year mark (Feb. 20th), and I'm ultra-thankful for this program -- for all I am learning and for the friendships and support of my classmates!
10.  Blog Readers! =) -- It's true ...I appreciate you reading (and always appreciate comments, as well).  I like feeling "heard" and I usually have more luck communicating through writing.

Side note:  The blog is less than 300 "pageviews" away from 25,000, so get excited!  

Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!!  

One final thing I'm thankful for... I have the day off and get to sleeeeeep in tomorrow, and Monday is President's Day, which makes this a 4-day birthday weekend!  =)

Nothing will ever exhaust Me

So thankful for these girls... they invited me to hang out at Tara's last night and we had a great talk and they prayed over me.  It was really wonderful (and needed) and something I will remember and count as a timely gift from God!

Someone posted this on FB today, and I immediately recognized it as a quote from Eat Pray Love.  Several things about her view of God in that book were far from the truth, but this quote is not one of them.  Particularly those last five words are wonderfully comforting.  

Photo Friday ~ Boo & Buddy! :)

My good friend Chet Lee mentioned that I hadn't done a Boo update in a while, so I thought I would take "Photo Friday" to remedy that! lol  Here is what Boo and Buddy have been up to lately.  What's in quotes is the captions from Facebook.

Happy car trips to the groomer:

"Our message to the weekend:  Bring it!" lol  Love it!!

"We can smile if we want to, but we don't like being told what to do. Plus, we like the drama of the cold stare."
=)

"Express yourself!"  Ahhhh, cuteness!

Brushing up on their studies. :)

"Starting off 2013 with some exercise!  Stay fit.  Eat more cookies!" :)

And cheering up kids at a Children's Hospital!!

So all in all, Boo and Buddy's 2013 is off to a great start! =)

God vs. Dagon

Today, I need patience.  
I know there is a pattern.  I know God is trying to show me something.
And it's obvious to me that I'm still not getting it... 

"So cradle your head in your hands and breathe, just breathe."


Short Bible story that I find pretty awesome:
"They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon.  But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord!  So they took Dagon and put him in his place again.  But the next morning the same thing happened - Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again.  This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway.  Only the trunk of his body was left intact."  
~I Samuel 5:2-4

Ha, I really love it!! :)  

I think God is the same way when we put Him next to any idol in our hearts.  He will try to gently show us the truth and put things back in proper balance, but if we continue to prop up our idols and try to put them on level with Him, He will make sure it is destroyed forever.  That is so powerful, and I think that is at least a portion of what God is pounding through my head lately.  That "No other gods before Me" is a command, not a polite suggestion.

I've been resistant and moronic sometimes, but all the pain is there for a reason, and I know that He hasn't given up on me!  "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within me, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns!" (Phil. 1:6)

Top 10 Tuesday - Jace's 1st Birthday

The details on my top 10 pictures from Jace's 1st Birthday! =)

This first one is cheating a bit since it's a collage, but whatever.  It was his first haircut that morning (Mom took these - the haircut was at 8am and I was definitely still sleeping!)  My favorites are the two at the bottom left -- he's crying and so distraught, but then he grabs the mirror from Rach and seeing himself cheers him right back up... ahh, life is good again. lol  He loves looking at himself in a mirror, and that just really makes me laugh! :)  And for whatever reason, I also love that he's in his bright and cozy little PJs.

T & C were excited to help him blow out his one candle! lol  I love this pic because it's a candid 'action shot' that their whole family is in, plus the cute cake and all the fun birthday hats!

Jace and his "smash cake" - I love it that he was so disgusted by the texture of the icing.  He did not care much for the taste of it either.

 Just a random pic of him chewing on the edge of the coffee table - I love his blue eyes and that I was able to get him to look up at me, and that his face is reflected in the table. =)

Possibly a strange choice, but this is Kristin's tattoo for her son (baby Anthony) who suffers with heart problems, so I asked if I could take a picture of it.  Obviously, I'm not a tattoo person, but I think this one is pretty meaningful and I love the heart and heartbeat design!

I tried about 10 times to get a good picture of all the boys jumping at the same time!  Fail... my camera was being hesitant and super-irritating.  This is one of my favorites, though.  The boys were very willing to participate in this photo op - I love that Ethan grabbed a pirate sword and that Kaden looks like he's about to dive into a pool here! :)

My bells palsy eye was in fine form that day - I could feel it being abnormal, and there are 3 pics that I cropped myself right out of - but in this one, I was looking down at Jace, which makes the picture more genuine and better all around.  (Also, I'd gotten my hair done two days before, and I'm pretty happy with the red/blond/brown combo, so that helps too! lol) 

Halfway through Rach opening Jace's birthday presents, Emily pointed out (with the perfect amount of sarcasm) that with all the kids running around the party, JoBug and Babah were the only ones there still wearing their party hats!  :)  Soooo funny! 

I like this back-to-back shot of Rach holding Jace and Ariel holding Jasmine.  (Captioning that on FB was the first time I realized they both have Disney princess names, which made me laugh!  It's cute, but I know I would feel cheesy.)

And finally, this was just part of the party decor that I really liked - bright and colorful and fun and cute!  Everyone was able to take some gumballs as a parting gift. lol

There are plenty of other great pics, but these are my "top 10."  

And now, wish me luck as I finish writing my last LLP for school today!! =)