Friend Making Monday: Thanksgiving

Just thought I'd participate in this...

1. Turkey or Ham? Turkey...yummy! My mom and dad always make it and it is best smothered in gravy with cranberry sauce.
2. Favorite side dish. My Tia Yaya's potato salad. Also love Kendra's asparagus wrapped in bacon.
3. Favorite dessert. My mini cheesecakes of course!!!!
4. Black Friday: Are you going or not? Yep...want to check out the deals with all the crazies out there!
5. If so, what's on the top of your list? Have not seen the ads yet but know that Kendra is going for the computer that is 298 at Walmart. I'd really like to try and find a deal on an SLR camera :)
6. Going out of town or staying close to home? Out of town...up to Cathey's Valley and Bear Valley to be exact.
7. Hosting or helping? Helping...no desire to ever host it.
8. Name one family tradition at Thanksgiving. My own little tradition is to have the Macy's Day Parade on the TV while I fix some awesome desserts! I run back and forth between the TV and the oven!
9. What do you do after dinner? We go for a walk behind my parents property. Usually have to walk with the cows, kids, and dogs. And dodge cousins who are more interested in being pranksters (cow pie throwing..yep)
10. What are you most thankful for this year? Most importantly, that I have a relationship with my Lord and Savior. Also my health, my family, friends, church, and job!

My New Coat

Here is my new coat! It is very cute and I am so excited to have it :)

It was a steal of a deal...let me just tell you. The coat was 60% off the original price and then I was able to use a coupon for a 2 day sale and got an extra 15.00 off. So...this 200.00 coat cost me only 65.00!!

Can I just say now that I think 200.00 for a coat is WAY TOO MUCH!!!! I would never, never, never pay that much for a coat. It's note even 100% wool so I don't think that it is worth that much!

But 65.00?!....I'd say, "yes..thank you, I'll take it" :)



All righty...have a great day people...me and my coat are going to go and hope for cold weather soon so that I can wear it!

*What's the big deal with all this warm weather lately??? I don't think that I ever recall a end of November being warm enough to be out in short sleeves!

34 Things That I Am Thankful For....

Today is my 34th birthday!

I can't believe that I am near my mid 30's. Where has the time gone?
I feel like it was just yesterday that I was celebrating the accomplishment of getting my license. Then it was the excitement of graduating high school and the start of college life.
College graduation came much later than I had planned for my life, but was in perfect time with God's blueprint. The start of my career came shortly after, followed by the addition of new family and nephews and a niece..and that is where I've been ever since.

There are some things that I thought I'd have as a part of my life by this birthday like a husband and children but that is not to be. I don't know why God's plan for my life has not included a husband and a child but I've come to understand that His plans are not my plans and His will is not always what my heart desires.

But no matter what, He is ALWAYS faithful and just. And He desires good for me.

This is a hard, hard, lesson.

I don't get it....I want to accept it, but that is a work in progress.

So today, on my 34th birthday, I choose to celebrate the wonderful things and ways that God has blessed my life and focus on His amazing work in me and through me.

To Him be all glory!!!!!

What I am thankful for in 34 little ways:

1. My blessed life in Christ
2. My family
3. Cole, Evan, Isaac, and Kensley
4. My incredible friends
5. My awesome church (Big Valley Grace in Modesto :))
6. My car that weekly gets me to my amazing church
7. My health (especially in light of expose to H1N1 recently)
8. My career
9. My co-workers who've become friends
10. My curly hair
11. Products that actually work in my curly hair!
12. My cats
13. My home
14. My love for all things sweet tasting :)
15. My freedom
16. My fuzzy robe
17. My turbie twist
18. My monkey slippers
19. Netflix!
20. My dentist (seriously...he is a blessing to me because I've been in need of so much work)
21. My students
22. My love of books and the resources to attain them....
23. My comfy bed and down blanket
24. My travel coffee mug...little things warm the heart in the coldness of winter.
25. Chai tea latte at Starbucks
26. Starbucks itself!
27. God's protection over me
28. My new budget (working on the thankful aspect here!...it will come in full soon!)
29. True unconditional love
30. Music that blesses my soul
31. Words from the mouth of a child who was never expected to speak
32. Resources enough to keep me fed, clothed, and sheltered each and every day
33. The difficult things that enter the landscape of my life...because they lead me to the arms of my Savior.
34. ANOTHER YEAR OF LIFE...MAY I LIVE IT ABUNDANTLY!

The Parade of Coats....

Yeah! I am so glad that it is now October!

The fall weather is about to begin I just know....bye bye to the warmth of summer and hello to the coolness and crispness of fall.

I just love this season, first probably because it is the season of my birth (November) and secondly, because my favorite clothing is long pants/jeans, sweaters, scarves, and jackets....oh the jackets.

I must say that I have one too many jackets! Like some women have shoes...I have jackets!!!

My current selection of jackets:

My black leather jacket is similar to this one but a little shorter. I am not totally fond of it as the leather is not the really soft kind so it does not get a lot of use. I do like to use it for more formal dressing or if I have important events at school.

Sorry for the poor quality picture...it is all that I could find on the internet (should have just taken my own photo)...this is a tan rain coat that I bought years ago at Ross or TJ Maxx (can't remember which one!)....I love this coat! It is comfy and cute. Mine is a little darker in color...more brown than khaki.



My beloved Pea Coat!!!!! Mine is actually a charcoal color rather than solid black. I actually want a black one this season. What I especially love about this coat is that it is hooded. So in the coldest part of the winter as well as the windy days of spring I use the hood quite a bit. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!!!
*Sad fact: my beloved pea coat has a little hole in the back of the jacket...just there from excessive use...I need a new one this year but how will I find the perfect one???!!!!


This jacket is very similar to my green one. The only difference is that instead of having the hooks across the jacket they are around the waist to the back. The jacket has 5 buttons down the front. Almost exactly like this one though! I like this jacket for casual dress days...like jeans and sweater days....

Gotta get ready for church now so I'll show you my Jacket Wish List in the next post.

Happy Sunday Bloggies!!!!

More Beautiful You....

Love this song...just had to share!

PS. Thank you ladies for the encouragement on my last post...you are such dears!

MORE BEAUTIFUL YOU
JOHNNY DIAZ

Little girl fourteen
flipping through a magazine
Says she wants to look that way
But her hair isn't straight her body isn't fake
And she's always felt overweight

Well little girl fourteen I wish that you could see
That beauty is within your heart
And you were made with such care your skin your body and your hair
Are perfect just the way they are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

Little girl twenty-one the things that you've already done
Anything to get ahead
And you say you've got a man but he's got another plan
Only wants what you will do instead

Well little girl twenty-one you never thought that this would come
You starve yourself to play the part
But I can promise you there's a man whose love is true
And he'll treat you like the jewel you are

So turn around you're not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It's not too late you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear they can all be washed away
By the one who's strong can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light He will show you truth
And again you'll see through the eyes of a little girl

Me Today, God's Mercies Tomorrow....

I wish that I had some great idea for a new post but I just don't....this is mostly just a means to get my thoughts out.

Life has been a bit difficult lately. Family drama, relationships, and uncertainty about my future are taxing my strength, energy, patience, and joy. My emotions fluctuate between overdrive and turned off completley. Why is it that when life gets difficult, I either cleave to God more or run away from Him??? This season that I am in is marked by a running away from the Lord. Don't get me wrong...I've not lost my faith but I've just not turned to Him in complete surrender. I keep trying to run the other direction. In any direction that will give me some sense of purpose, comfort, relief, and meaning...but in the end it is those things that cause me disappoint over and over. Surrendering completely is so hard for me to do.

What exactly does total and complete surrender look like?

For me, at this stage in the game...it is dying to myself, giving up my agenda, my plans, my desires, and submitting to the mighty hand of God.

I have fears though...fear that God's hand in my life right now will hurt in some way...Fear that due to my sin, his hand will be a hand of discipline...Lord knows that I've missed the mark oh so many times and in so many ways....I just keep falling short....

But, our God is a God of second, third, and fourth chances and I'm not unreachable. Nor is he harsh or a tyrant...He is a loving God and He does desire to see me bloom in every way that He has made me to.
I need to reach out to Him....and trust his hand. Whether it be a hand of discipline or a hand of tenderness.

Lord, help me to submit to you.... I need you.....I can't do this like this much longer...I don't want to continually fall into the pit of doing my own thing Lord, I want to bring you glory and want to die to myself. I need you in a way that I've never before...come Lord Jesus and save me from myself! I submit to you today Father...to your hand in whatever fashion that you need to touch me with...I fear discipline but I choose tonight to trust you, even in discipline. Help me to understand how you love me through your discipline...remind me that your desire is not to bring me pain...you have no malicious intent, only love!

Disturb me Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

~Sir Francis Drake