Thankful Thursday (23)

"I will thank the Lord because He is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High." ~Psalm 7:17

 Today, I am thankful for...

1. All the Bradford Pear Trees!  Apparently, they stink like fish to everyone else, but I can't smell it - even when I get this close, and they're so pretty in the Spring! =) 

2. My new "Marching On" ringtone, thanks to Kristin Lamb!  Awesomeness!!
3. Forcing myself to get out of my routine a bit with Project TGO and the TLT Challenge!
4. Army Wives being back, and that my question will finally be answered this week.  Ahh, the drama and suspense...

5. "Spring Break" -- being totally caught up and getting a couple days off work this week!!
6. Hanging out with great friends at the "Kevin Gauger: Employee" celebration! =)

7. Pastor Alex explaining the Catholic cross symbol, which has strangely helped with my 'fear' of praying out loud in a crowd. (I can explain that better in person.)

Song of the Week = Cruz by Christina Aguilera

"As I'm driving, I'm captured by the view... so much beauty, the road becomes my muse."

Love Christina's voice, and this is my favorite of all her songs!

Finally, Happy Saint Patrick's Day!! =)

Winning!!

"It's oftentimes 'Unknown' but occasionally a giant marquis name comes through on your Caller ID and it's like...winning!"  ~Charlie Sheen - love it, and love his expression as he says that!
*I'm totally thinking that to myself when someone I want to talk to calls me now! :)

"I like you, Lindsey.  And I'm excited about being friends with you. ..... I know I may not EXUDE excitement, but it's in there." :)  ~K-Lamb

"You have gilded the lily of your own passion!"  ~Steven Tyler to an American Idol contestant

"I assumed there would be a corner for the new people to learn what's going on, but no, they just turn on the music and suddenly everyone starts in to, like, advanced Zumba!!"  ~Kevin, explaining his first and only Zumba experience! :)

“Where did you get those lips!?  You had me sold from the second you laid eyes on me!” ~Steven Tyler again lol

“Atomic Co-Ray [Core]!  Let’s see what this so-called button does!”  ~Conspiracy Brother Jones :)

"The fact is, sometimes it's hard to walk in a single woman's shoes. That's why we need really special ones now and then - to make our walk a little more fun."  ~Carrie Bradshaw ;)

"Sometimes in the midst of these fits I feel like a crazed artist, like in the passionate scrawling of revised budget categories I might inexplicably slice my ear off because my own genius just blew my mind." ~Ashley (my cousin, blogging about her love of budgeting)

"Whenever I start to feel sick, I just stop being sick, and I be awesome instead!"  ~Barney, How I Met Your Mother

“You can’t process me with a normal brain.”  ~Charlie Sheen

"It's set up like a Russian stockade in there."  ~Kevin, of the gym showers

"That literally blew my mind!" ~Robin

"Figuratively." ~Ted (How I Met Your Mother)

"Ahh, I've missed that smell.  That's the smell of CLEEEEAN livin' right there!"  ~Laura, entering the smoke-filled Van after a long period of absence :)

"After that, we all sat down to have our deep man-time."  ~Kevin, talking about a men's retreat... hilarious!

"Kids, you may think your only choices are to swallow your anger or throw it in someone's face, but there's a third option: You can just let it go.  And only when you do that is it really gone and you can move forward. And that, kids, was the perfect ending to a perfect love story. It just wasn't mine. Mine was still out there, waiting for me."  ~Ted, How I Met Your Mother

“Dawg, you had all the -isms jumping off!” ~Randy Jackson

“And none of the was'ms!” ~Steven Tyler

=)

Memory Monday ~ Ice Skating

Ice Skating!!  
This was sometime in December 2008... so much fun!  (These pics are what made me wanna ice skate in Central Park, but the wall-to-wall crowd would've made that far less fun.)

Bobbi, Marci, Me, and Tara Lynn...

I adore this picture and that we're all wearing hats and gloves, and I adore being pulled around by people who can really skate! :)

Aww, wintery cuteness!

Marcy, Me, and Natalie Lovenburg -- they were roommates at the time, and always the life of the party!! :)

(Sidenote:  Natalie is currently living in Japan, and she survived the major earthquakes last week, thank God!  She was on Tulsa's Fox News via skype talking about her experience.)

One of my favorite pics of K-Lamb! :)

Thankful Thursday (22)

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ."  
~I Corinthians 15:57

Today, I am thankful for...

1. God's faithfulness - always there, but lately, I'm feeling it more than normal!!
2. Big needs being met or desires being fulfilled in my own life and the lives of several friends!  Yay God... and generous friends and family! ;)
3. My friend, Kevin, getting a job (without even having to interview)!  Pic is our celebratory Freckles night! :)

4. Engagements and new relationships for a few of my friends... seeing strong, God-centered relationships refreshes my hope! :) 

5. Two fun party nights in a row this week (Jeff's party for Jay & Bethany and then Travis' Mardi Gras Party)!

6. Finally hanging this Gilmore Girls pic with my TV pictures in the exercise room.  I love it... it really is the little things. :)

7. Sweatercoats and cardigans!

Song of the Week = Amazed by James Durbin

(Really not his biggest fan so far - a bit of an Adam Lambert wannabe, but thought this was awesome last night!)

*I love how all three judges are bobbing their heads along with him at the 1:13 mark. :)

Memory Monday ~ Garage Remodel

The Great Garage Remodel of 2009!  :)

My awesome friends Chet Lee and Malori (who was also my roommate at the time) helped me clean and paint my garage, then acid wash and Quik-crete my garage floor!  Yes, I'm now the "envy of the neighborhood." ;)  (What the Quik-crete video promised us.)  This was a couple weeks before Thanksgiving 2009... during Chet's "No-shave November," Malori's last month at TU, and right before I ran my first Half-Marathon! :)

Step One:  Deep Clean (this and the painting was supervised by my Mom)

Step Two:  Paint!! ...Or pretend to paint for a posed candid shot with the cute mini-roller. ;)

Step Three:  Watch Video and Gear Up! :)  (...for Chet at least - we were just there for moral support on the acid washing)

Step Four:  Acid Wash entire floor -- a more intense process than you might think!

Step Five:  Stop for a fun dessert break at Melting Pot!! =)

Step Six:  Quik-Crete the floor in small square segments...

Pour on flakes as you go!  (Or "frolic with the flakes" as Chet called it. lol)

Step Seven:  Take a cheesy "after" photo!

In a strange way, I'm actually looking forward to repeating this process next month at Malori's new house! :)

Side note: That Saturday morning was also my last day at FT training with Levi and Danny... :)

And somewhere during the craziness of that day, Chet also managed to plant some flowers for me.  In a heart shape bc I thought that'd be fun! lol  ❤

Love it!!  =)

You live, you learn!

Randomness:

• "Kids, one thing you'll learn about relationships is that you're never done getting to know someone."  -a simple but profound quote from How I Met Your Mother... so true of every relationship we ever have, including our walk with God
• "You live, you learn... you laugh, you learn... you cry, you learn... you lose, you learn!" 
• That song is stuck in my head today - love it.  [Sidenote: "You Live; You Learn" was the original title of this blog way back in 2008. :)]
• Still loving this season of American Idol!!  Karen is my favorite at the moment:
• Jimmy Fallon impersonating Charlie Sheen = hilarious!  "Duh, winning!"
• He's also great as Robert Pattinson! :)
• The sky is overcast and looks ready to rain... and I like it.  Makes me think of Patti Griffin's Rain, and of running barefoot through the puddles at SeaWorld! :)

• I've opted out on running the full marathon, but I'm thinking the Tulsa Run might be fun again... maybe?

• "I need to incorporate more of him into my life!"  ~Laura, of Jeffrey Edward Moss :)
• "Do you have any normal way of comforting people!?" ~Malori, to me (...I can explain that one in person - it seems strange to write it out, so perhaps I should take that as a sign. lol)
• "Happy birthday, Raspberry Chuckles! I hope that didn't just ruin the whole day for you. I'm ready to celebrate good times, come on! May 27 be filled with wonder, deep belly laughs, bunny rabbits, pom puppies, jogs without dogs chasing you, twelve more viewings of "The King's Speech", a minimal amount of Tony Horton just for giggles, and general craftacular-and-awesomeness!" B-day post from Laura
• "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!  I'll explain later."  ~hilarious text from Malori :)
• "We need to remember that this is all relative... to compare ourselves to another person or another group of people to figure out whether we're being mediocre or wholehearted with God -- that is not the standard.  This (holding Bible) is our standard!  It defines excellent, it defines mediocre, and it defines horrible..."  ~Anna (I'm sure some of that is paraphrased, but when she spoke up on Monday night, it was so spot on, and really eye opening to see that we had all been using people as our main comparisons up to that point.)
• Joyce and Beth are not my standard; the standard is Jesus Christ.  Being 'better than' anyone else is not the goal; I must be obedient to God.  Living with integrity does not mean having the same set of standards as my general group of Christian friends; integrity means obeying God when He wants me to stand alone or make a sacrifice no one else understands.  Oh, so many thoughts, but it's always when I start using people as the standard that life gets off track.  Great reminder!!  Again, so thankful for this group!!
• "He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is.  And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure."  ~I John 3:2,3

Thankful Thursday! (21)

“I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with JOY; no shadow of shame will darken their faces... For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear Him, and He rescues them."  ~Psalm 34:4-7

Today, I'm thankful for...

1. Having a church that makes me want to go back and watch the sermons I miss when I'm in OKC! 
2. Chet Lee for sending out the "Word of the Day" emails... which are encouraging, convicting, and usually perfectly timed!  [...I so love this picture because the dog looks like she's rolling her eyes and sick of all the enthusiasm! :)]

3. Being the first to see Malori's new house :) and seeing how perfectly God timed it and worked every little detail out there!!  She looked at it on Friday - LOVED it, made an offer Saturday night (when we took a roadtrip to OKC), and they accepted her offer Sunday!  Intense weekend, but very exciting!  I even got a picture to commemorate it - and I love this picture because of all that and because she's using my State Farm pen.  =) 

4. That Spring is here... according to me, at least... I've always felt that it begins March 1st! =) 

5. Bravo's bread and tomato sauce -- yum!  Probably my favorite appetizer bread at any restaurant!
6. Being able to smile!!!  (Had a mini BP-scare this week, which always makes me 1,000% more thankful for that.)  =D

7. God's grace in delivering me from myself and making things new in so many areas... and the hope and determination of knowing He's ready and able to set me free from my biggest stronghold right now!!

Song of the Week = Our God by Chris Tomlin!  Love Chris Tomlin, and love the words to this song!
"Our God is greater; our God is stronger.  God, You are higher than any other.  Our God is healer, awesome in power, our God.  Our God!  ...and if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?  And if our God is with us, then what could stand against!?"