Thankful Thursday! (89)

"Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

~Colossians 2:7

Today, I am thankful for:

1)  Fun times with friends at Chet's Santa pictures event, and one of the more entertaining conversations I've witnessed lately between Steve and Sarah Y. lol =)

2) Getting to catch up with Angie for a few hours over dinner at Los Cabos... fun times and great food!  And snowman pics. =)

3) A fun night playing Phase 10 and catching up with the Woodlake Fam Group at Braums (Starbucks was crazy packed due to finals week). My Christmasy-looking cards made me happy!

4) My job, which I accepted 12 years ago today!  (Fun fact: Next year starts my 15th year as a CR, and if I'm still in this field, I can retire with full benefits 20 years from now at age 55!)

5) God's power to bring change when things feel stagnant!

6) The Harry Potter book series - I would sooo be besties with Neville!  There are a bazillion things I love about these characters and this book especially.  (Hence listening to another 16 minutes as I was in bed around 1:00 am.  Not my wisest choice. lol)

7) My beloved niece and nephews, who I'm praying for more than usual lately.  At such young ages, they're facing some things I never had to endure, things I cannot stop or control and I would not wish on any child, especially the kids I love most in the world. Their childlike reactions each make sense with their unique personalities and sibling order: feeling distraught and fearful, shutting down all emotion, becoming extra defiant, and feeling guilt and self-blame. I know God can heal and redeem what has been broken in and around them, and He can guard their hearts and minds with peace and hopeful determination (and mine as well). So that's the prayer!

In the meantime, I'm excited to get to watch them in CHA's Christmas program tonight, where Carter has a key role in the Christmas play! ❤

And that's all I've got for today.  Happy Thursday!

Reminiscing

Here's a happy look back at this December day over the past 11 years!  Today should be a fairly normal Monday at work + the board game group at Starbucks with Woodlake friends tonight! =)
(Click on the year to link to the blog post from that year.)

2017 = The day after I got Ruby Claire. =)  Went to Woodlake Church, had nachos for lunch with Jon and Kristin, then hanging out with Chet Lee at an open house!  (Switch the Fosters for Tiffany, and I had pretty much the same day yesterday! lol)  Also, this was 3 days after I'd seen The Greatest Showman for the first time, and I made a Flipagram (oh, how I miss it!) for the song I'd loved since I saw the previews for it! ❤

2016 = The day I first met Penny Moss, our women's group sang carols at the nursing home, and took the girlfranz for a private training lesson! lol

2015 =  The day after Sarah's apartment break-in. =(  It was a regular workday Thursday for me, the day before this Sam n' Ella's road trip on Friday! =)

2014 = Don't know many details other than writing about feeling tenderhearted and emotional, so maybe that's becoming a Christmas trend for me.  (This was the month I wrote a post to really let go of a long-term friendship, so it kinda makes sense.)

2013 = Writing snarky, confused poetry whilst in rejection-recovery mode.

2012 = Filing plea transcripts Mom and I had worked through the weekend to finish; getting ready for my 12-12-12 Christmas party! =)

2011 = Taking the day off work to be at the hospital and take care of Mom after one of her many debridement surgeries following their wreck and her staph infection!  (I do remember that prayer moment more than the rest of it, so yay God for that.)

2010 = No idea what I was doing this exact day, but it was four days after this memorable Christmas NYC trip (before Tom helped me see the beauty of that city). lol

2009 = Wrote this tribute to Morgan Elizabeth (four years before the crazy prayer ministry that created an awkward division in our friendship).

2008 = A MySpace-style Christmas survey post! ❤

And this is one of the main reasons I love having the blog:  the ability to look back and reminisce and see the changing seasons and similar patterns in life!! =)  

* * * * * * *

This weekend, Mom and I finished the cookbook we've been working on since September... a happy Christmas gift for the DeBusk fam! =)

We used lots of family pictures for the cover and the section dividers and on recipe pages.  These are a few of my favs. =)

Aside from that, I had a super relaxing Saturday and a really good weekend overall.  I made some peanut butter fudge topped with Heath bar - YUM!!  That'll be my new go-to holiday treat - I may make it again and bring some for the Convivial Cozy Christmas party on Friday! =)

I had Sunday lunch with Tiffany at Bricktown Brewery, then caught up with Chettles at his open house - always fun!  I'm feeling more rested and more joyful now and ready for the busy week ahead! =)  Happy Monday, friends and fam!!

Photo Friday!

Happy Friday, gang!  It appears the predicted snowstorm is going to miss the Tulsa area completely now - huzzah!!  Although I may still spend tomorrow having a stay-at-home, chili and cornbread and movie watching kind of day! =)  Yusss, please!

And now, a few pics from this week... I've been caught up since Thanksgiving, so I spent my work hours decorating my Christmas card envelopes. =)  It was super fun at first, then I started doing what was fastest and easiest on all of them! lol

The Ring doorbell has been nice.  I'm guessing this lady was at the wrong house since the people who named the streets in my neighborhood decided to use Willow thrice, but still, peering in my window seems a bit creepy; right!?

 This pic and the commentary from his mother-in-law made me pretty happy!

Last night was the Christmas Gala to celebrate Judge Vassar's retirement! =)

We love Judge Hammers and Dana!!

This = Vicki (Judge Vassar's court reporter) and Carla (attorney who planned all this), then this hilarious pic of him atop a tiny Christmas tree as the table centerpieces, then our parting gift bags with rice krispie treats (his fav dessert)! =)

Well, five out of the six speakers kept things pretty appropriate and clean, so it went much better than Laura and I had feared and expected.

Vicki did a wonderful job with her speech - yay for the court reporters getting to talk! lol  Several attorneys and judges were there, as well as the Chief Justice, and of course, me and Laura feeling socially awkward together! ;-)

How awesome are Carla's glittery pink heels!?  I need these in my life! lol

They made these JSV fans for us, which cracked me up!

A selfie with the real and the cut-out Judge Vassars - his head is cut off, but you can see the top of his head at the bottom of the pic. lol

I set up a photo slideshow to be my screensaver when I pause the TV for a while - makes me happy!

The flags outside my office at half mast in honor of George H.W. Bush's passing.

Watching George W. deliver the eulogy for his dad had me awkwardly tearing up and crying at my desk at work.  He did a wonderful job!  (I've kinda been a hot mess this week, crying about that speech, about Grandad being sick, while thinking about my book, listening to Harry Potter audiobooks, during A Million Little Things, and having an emotional breakdown of sorts while watching the final episode of The Wonder Years. My gosh, I lost it when they finally acknowledge that they're not going to be together forever, then Winnie quietly says, "I don't want it to end."  Then when he scrolls through the future and mentions his dad dying two years later - it's all too much.  Maybe it reminded me of relationships I wrongly assumed would last forever, or maybe I'm sadder about the lifegroup ending than I thought, or maybe it's just TTOTM.  Probably all of the above factor in.)  I'm fighting lingering cold and sinus issues, and to be honest, the time change and early darkness have had a generally melancholy/lazy effect on me that I'm not loving, but I'm gonna buckle down and push myself to finish the year strong (...starting next week. lol)  For now, a relaxing, curled-up-in-a-blanket weekend watching light and fluffy things and eating comfort food sounds just lovely!! ❤

Hope you're doing well and hope you have a happy Friday!

Diving Deeper

This year marks the tenth anniversary of several important friendships for me... and on a very related note, it marks my tenth (and final!!) year of meeting with the Diving Deeper Lifegroup and the two other groups that branched out of that one (the south location and the women's group)!! #tinfinity 

Original Diving Deeper LifeGroup Co-Leaders!  Hooray! =)

The three of us (Kristin, Bobbi, and I) founded the Diving Deeper LifeGroup for singles when the Changie group we had been in started coupling up (Chad & Angie, Mark & Natalie, Scott & Kim, etc.).  Eventually, our Diving Deeper group grew and then divided, (or to use the church lingo, "multiplied") into a Midtown and a South location.  At different points along the way, the group was led by me, Kristin, Bobbi, Carl, Amanda, Karli, Chet, Nathan, Steve, Caleb, and I'm sure several others I'm forgetting.  In 2013, the South group began to couple up and dissolve, at which point I joined the Diving Deeper women's group, led by Bobbi then Talhia and then Kelly Marie, who has been our faithful leader for the past five years!  

Tonight marked the final meeting of that women's group.  The end of an era.  (After being a part of over ten small groups like this, you learn to sense when the end is near and to accept it with grace.)  People move on as life seasons change, which is both healthy and hard. I'm big on comfort and routine, so God has had to force change on me here and there... sometimes it's gentle and sometimes it is gut wrenching, but there is no stopping it when it's His will.  This ending is a gentle change for me, one I could see coming and prepare to embrace, and one that will not destroy or critically alter any of my core relationships.

This is the end of my direct involvement with Diving Deeper groups, (although I believe the midtown group is actually still going, and I hope it's going well).  But the friendships I have formed through these small groups will impact my life FOREVER... it overwhelms me to even think about it.  Attending lifegroups is where I first met and got to know Kristin Foster, Chet Lee, Kyle Brandon, Kelly Marie, Karli Marie, Tiffany Joanne, Bobbi, Mindi, Cassie, Elizabeth, Angie, etc., etc.

And the relational impact tree seems to just branch off endlessly from there... a ripple effect that will continue to grow.  Through Kristin, I met Laura and Tara and Jon and now the whole Woodlake Connect Group.  Through Chet Lee, Jeffrey Edward and Sarah Elizabeth and the whole Wilson family (and approximately a thousand other people). lol  Through Kyle, Emily and Jenna and Sarah. Through Bobbi, Dentist Neil and Chet and several others. Through Cassie, Natalie and Megan and the whole CLS crew, including my last best friend. Through Kelly, Tiffany and Angie and Elizabeth and all the girls I met through her women's group.  Through Karli, her family and the whole FBC crew.  And now baby Tate. ;-)  It just keeps going and growing and changing!

Whilst chatting with Bobbi and Kristin at Starbucks over ten years ago about whether we should try to form and lead a singles group, I had NO IDEA what God had in store.  No idea how much that decision would impact my life and so many others.  I remember throwing out several group name ideas, and Bobbi and Kristin both liked "Diving Deeper" best, so we went with that and started the DDLG.  A couple months later, Bobbi invited her host team friend, Chet, to join us.  I distinctly remember feeling irritated when I got stuck driving the newbies around at the 2008 New Year's Eve party... and I would never have predicted back then that they would be two of my closest friends ten years down the road. lol  God is funny like that!

A few of my favorite DDLG events and memories include the bonfire, the Eugene Field summer cookout, Bobbi's first Christmas Shenanigans party, my 2009 Thanksgiving Feast, hosting the 12-12-12 Christmas party with Mindi, fun times at Bobbi's house, Carl's going away party, the annual Operation Christmas Child party with the women's group, and our Galentine's party! ❤  Of course, nearly all my favorite events and memories with my friends over the past ten years have been with people I would not have known outside of this group.  (That is particularly true in my case because my original Tulsa friend group had discarded me and the new lifegroup I had joined became the only friends I had left here.)

People are not perfect, and forming new relationships is messy and hard.  Building trust and depth and a foundation of shared memories and beliefs takes time and effort, and sometimes it all falls apart anyway. #sadtruth #builditanyway  But community matters so much, and it is worth fighting for in spite of all that can go wrong!

I really don't even know how to end this post.  Looking back, I am awed and thankful for all God has done here, for His faithfulness and His protective hand over all of my relationships, the healthy and the broken ones.  He is always at work bringing people in and out of my life as needed; remixing things when I am resistant to change; strengthening my connection to Him; and building me up through the encouragement, wisdom, prayers, and joy that comes from having wonderful friends who seek Him and "dive deep" together.  So may the positive ripple effects of this group continue to impact and connect people, and may we be bold in forming new connections and trusting God's plan moving forward!!

A Mockey Little Christmas!

*Post Title by Jeffrey Edward!

**("Mockey" became my nickname after Nater-tot's unique mispronounciation of my last name!) lol

After months of texting back and forth about it, we finally found a day (December 1st) when the Wilsons and Mosses were free at the same time to come over for a movie!  They both had evening plans, so we did lunch and a movie, which was kinda random but still fun! =)

Here's our group selfie pic - Tate was asleep so we all gathered around Karli's chair, but he woke up in the course of us trying to maneuver the camera to get the picture! lol

These Ring doorbell pics are just fun for me - I'm making everyone pose for them now! lol

(This = how they look late at night, taken on Josh's bday a couple weeks back.)

My guest bathroom toilet had been broken since the fam came on Josh's b-day.  The plumber I had texted fell through multiple times, then Chet said he thought they could fix it, and he was right!  (I spent less than $10 for what they needed at Lowes, and it was a very quick fix for them - so yay for not paying a plumber who clearly didn't want my business anyway!)  When JEM called the event "a Mockey little Christmas," Chet suggested I call it "a flushable Christmas" ...I def opted out on that one, but it's quotable! lol  Anyway, hooray for my awesome guy friends, and hooray for this epic celebratory picture!! =)  I can't even...

The Mosses grabbed Zoe's and we grabbed Chick-Fil-A after our Lowes run, then we all met at my house to eat lunch!  Chet also brought some of his famous cookies he'd made for an L2L thing the day before - YUM!  When he walked in with the bag of cookies and the giant Chick-Fil-A sack, JEM said, "So the diet's going well!?" lolol

We watched The Greatest Showman after lunch, singing along and talking about how we all love it!

This makes me happy! ❤

A Tater-tot collage!! lol  He was happy and in a good mood the whole time! =)

JEM and Kelly pulled out some of the scrapbooks, then Tate wanted to hold one.  I realized that cover pic was the five of us plus Laura (who was celebrating her birthday in Houston this weekend), and that made me happy!!

Feel the "JOY" of a Mockey Christmas! lol ;-)

'Twas a fun and lighthearted day with fun friends I'm very thankful for!  I'm already considering it the first annual Mockey Christmas. lol  Anyway, hope your Monday is off to a great start, friends!!

Weekend Update

This pic makes me happy - the cat looks less than amused about being photographed! lol  I got to meet precious baby Samuel and catch up with Elizabeth last week when I brought dinner for her and Shawn! =)

Her mom made this adorable owl quilt for their nursery - I love it! =)

Seeing the poster below in the theater lobby annoyed me - a lovely animated movie to teach kids about evolution.  Not sure I would've noticed it if not for the torrential downpour + lightning and thunder that kept me at AMC an extra 30 minutes waiting for it to clear a bit. I grabbed an Icee and hung out in the lobby for a while. lol  (After seeing Instant Family, which I liked!)

After feeling on edge about the thunderstorm, I got home and settled in, then had my alarm go off for the first time with two messages saying "Security Alert!"  I can't even explain the immediate irrational panic I felt thinking someone was in my house, nor how irrationally relieved I felt when I opened the message to find the words "Tornado Warning."  Only in Oklahoma.  I'll take that any day over a break-in!!  I'm gonna need the Protection1 Team to go ahead and differentiate between Security Alerts and Weather Emergencies! WOW.  It never did that with all the tornado watches and warnings in May.  At least now I'll be more prepared for it.

Yesterday was Laura's birthday... Happy Birthday, LB!!

This Office meme will always make me happy!

Yesterday was also my "Mockey Christmas" lunch with two of my fav couples, but that gets its own post tomorrow! =)

Facetime with the Jaceman is always an adventure... I have to remind him to let me see his face after staring at the ceiling as he walks around for a while. lol

My happy "Cashmere Hair" extentions (as seen on SharkTank, bought on sale on Cyber Monday) came in, and I'm pretty happy with the color match (scary to guess on that buying them online)!  They're clip-ins, so I can wear them whenever I want a little extra volume and length, and skip it when I'd rather not bother with them.  (This = with and without them below, although the lighting is also in my favor on the left pic. lol)

  
I went to see Tiffany and buy some BBW candles during their big sale yesterday - yay! =)  We met for dinner tonight and caught up on life, so that was fun!

Rach used some of our old school ornaments and let the kids help more with Christmas decorating this year... this text made me laugh!  Sad day for Snow White!

I'm super excited about sending out my first ever photo Christmas cards this year - (this is just the back side) - so thanks to Annie Downs for sparking that idea in my mind.  I love it!!  Once I started designing them, I had to wonder why I hadn't thought of or tried this before - I just assumed it to be a family thing, but it doesn't have to be!  #framily #singlelivesmatter =)

This morning was Woodlake... I got there at 11:10, thinking I was 10 minutes late, but I was actually 20 minutes early for the 11:30 service... which meant I got to chat around in the lobby and get this pic with Kristin and Audrey! =)

Love this verse - it's the end of Beth's Identity Declaration, and an encouraging promise!

The Connect Group has a Marco Polo group chat where everyone shares little video snippets, so I caught up on that this afternoon before my Sunday nap, and it made me happy! =)

Mmkay, that's all for today.  Hope you've had a lovely weekend!!