Excitement and Thanksgiving

The blog title pretty much sums up my thoughts lately….This time of year is always exciting.  It’s almost like God puts something in the atmosphere to get us excited!  Corny, I know.  On top of the normal Holiday excitement, my sister is getting married next weekend and I am so excited for her!  I try and remember back to the week before my wedding (yes it has been a few years J ) and my oh my was it exciting.  If I think about it, I was really just a kid getting married!  It is crazy, you feel and think of yourself as so much older than what you are.  It is fun to look at pictures and the wedding video and reminisce about those times.  It is nuts how much things change in just 10 years!  Anyway, so it is a very exciting time in our family.  On top of that, my brother and my sister’s fiancé were able to come home for Thanksgiving (live in Washington)!  They do commercial farming and got a huge snow storm therefore they were able to leave 1 ½ weeks early to come home.  It was so nice to have them at our Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday.  Therefore, I am very thankful!  This time of year makes you realize how thankful you are for your family and those that are close to you.  It also makes you realize who really matters and , well, who doesn’t.  I am not trying to be mean but there are times that you come to realize that people you call family or that you view as being close to, really are not what you thought they were.  That they are not positive influences in your or your children’s life, they are selfish and only think of themselves.  This past weekend really opened my eyes to that and made me think.  Who do I invest my time in?  Who do I surround myself with?  How do I feel around those that I call family or friends?  How do I feel about my children being around those that I call family or close friends?  It is good to have a reality check once in awhile and to reevaluate your priorities and who you make time or go out of your way for and who you don’t.  With that said, I am very Thankful for my family, my husband, children, parents, siblings, in-laws…  I feel very blessed to have the family that I have with my blood and the ones I have inherited when I married my husband.  We are all very close and even though we may not see each other as often as we would like, we are all there for each other in a heartbeat.  Yes we are different people and have different opinions and beliefs but we respect each other and love each other for our differences.  We don’t tear each other down or leave each other hanging when in need.  Those qualities in what I call FAMILY, I have become very thankful for and cherish!

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!   

One Week Away….YIKES!!!!!!!!

Wow, I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is that close!!!!!  Where has this year gone!  People are not lying when they say that times speeds up with age… I remember as a child, the Holidays would never come it seemed and then when they did, they were over just like that and we had to wait a whole year all over again (my birthday is in January so it would be a long wait...hehehe!)  Now that I have my own children and family (very Thankful for) it seems that it is here before you know it!  There is never enough time, energy, money to go around it seems.  But there is nothing like the house being decked out, Christmas music playing, making candy and treats, the joy on children’s faces….

This week I am going to be cutting out and sewing a skirt for my mom for my sister’s wedding.  She didn’t have time or a sewing machine and I have both so I offered.  I am kind of excited!  It has been awhile since I have actually sewn something other than mending…  Plus I have some little projects I need to get finished up so hopefully it will give me a chance to do that as well!  Next Thursday we will be doing Thanksgiving with my husband’s side of the family and then taking my daughter to my cousin’s and either getting my brother to come to the house or taking my son to him.  We are going black Friday shopping!!!!!!!!  Yay!  Can’t wait.  I am not die hard about it but I think it is fun and always enjoy good deals if I can!  Saturday we are going to do our own Thanksgiving.  I think my mom and maybe sister might come up and maybe a few other, not sure yet… This will be the first that I actually do Thanksgiving at my house!  I am excited!  This is the menu so far….

Appetizers: (haven’t officially decided yet)

            Ham and pickle rolls

            Artichoke dip

            Veggie pizza bars

Main Course:

            Turkey

            Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

            Sw. Potato Soufflé

            Dressing

            Green Bean Casserole

            Relish Tray

            Deviled Eggs

            Dinner Rolls

            Corn Chip Salad

            Cranberry Salad ?

           

Dessert

            Pumpkin Torte

            Carmel Apple Cheesecake

            Maybe some pies

What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions or favorite menu items?

Friday and Snowing

Today I am thankful that it is Friday!  Woohoo!  Gotta love the weekend!  Although when I stop and think about it, we are busy every weekend from now till the end of the year.... depressing isn it?  But I am not letting that get me down!  There is a saying that keeps going thru my head lately :

God, grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference.

This is so true!  If it is out of my control, then I need to accept it and move on!  But if it is something that I have control over and can change, then I need to change it and quit complaining, right?  The kicker is having the wisdom to know the difference. 

Anyway, excited to start my weekend and it is SNOWING!

Comments are welcome! :)

Being Thankful

Although I feel you should do this on a daily basis, this season always makes me focus on everything I am thankful for and do have instead of what I don’t have.  It seems that there is so much going on lately.  So many crossroads, so many decisions to make or face…. “Why” I find myself asking…. Simple word, Satan.  It seems that we will just get thru one trial and we find ourselves in another. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 comes to mind. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;” Our pastor just taught on this verse and I have been chewing on it ever since.  If I focus on every trial that I go thru and all the bad stuff it brings or causes, I will become very depressed.  But look at what the verse says, troubled but not distressed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted not forsaken, cast down not destroyed.  If we are truly God’s people, his children, we may have troubles come our way but we are not supposed to become distressed, we are to claim the victory in Jesus Christ’s name before it ever happens because he also said we are persecuted but NOT forsaken.  God is always with us as long as we are true to Him and his calling.  As long as we are humble and obedient to His Word and Will in our lives.

So even thru all the trials that have been thrown our way lately, I am thankful!  I am thankful for my family, my wonderful, loving, hard working husband; two beautiful children that are complete blessings and miracles from God Almighty; a good, stable, flexible job that allows me to be there for my family whenever they need me since I am unable to be at home at the moment; our home, while it may need quite a bit of work, we have done so much to it in the last year without taking out any additional loans, Praise God! He provides! ; freedom to serve and worship Him; the Revelation of who He is, the perfect plan of salvation, being baptized in his Name, The Name of Jesus Christ, and being filled with his spirit, The Holy Ghost…. These are just a few things that come to my mind off the top of my head.  Although, I am unable to really get on here everyday and post, I am going to try to post several things a week this season that I am truly thankful for.  Things that pop up or come to me thru out the week.

I am curious and anxious to see what God has done for you; what you are thankful for!