Thank you! Thank you!

My first-ever award! Ever!

I would like to thank Amy for giving me this lovely award, although I'm sure the only reason she did is because I'm her friend. But that's okay too! So I'm assuming by following along that now it's my turn to tell you about some things that I love:

1. My little family. Bryan and I have been through so much together already, I feel like all the struggles we've faced has made our relationship stronger. People laugh when I tell them I married him only because he can make me laugh - but it's totally the truth. We were friends before anything else, and I think that is always important. And there are just no words to describe Gracie and what she means to me. I think I've expressed much of that here, or at least I hope I have.

2. God. There is no way to describe the feeling of that love and what He gave for us. So much of how I learned about that love was when I became Gracie's mother, and I could understand how you would lay your own life on the line for your children. There is nothing better than knowing that there is always someone there with me to hold my hand, to hold me up, and to wrap me in His loving arms that the love of Christ.

3. Music. I could go on and on about this and why I love it, but it's not something that can be explained easily unless you have that same passion. I have always loved singing. I believe it was one of the most important gifts that God blessed me with, and I want to use that to spread the gospel to others. But there is something in a song that tells a story or sends a message, and when you connect with that message...Wow. That's about the best way I can describe it!

4. Popcorn. Maybe not Amy's lime and salt (ew!!) but popcorn. Just, in general. I could eat it all day long if I would let myself. I eat at least 3-4 bags a week. If we go out to dinner and then to a movie, I will STILL order a large popcorn - even if I end up taking it home with me. I don't know why exactly, but it's the best thing since white bread. Yum. And I just had a bag if you were wondering.

5. Bring the Rain. I might be stealing this from Amy, but she and I have had many a conversation about this blog. We even had a phone chain (ok, just the two of us) going when Audrey was born. It takes someone with very strong faith to share their story in the way that Angie has done, sharing intimate feelings so openly on her blog. But I don't know of any other blog I can go to that I can come away with some kind of perspective on anything. Her storytelling is absolutely amazing, and how she applies it to Christ or just to Bible stories is wonderful. I heart this blog, too, Amy!

6. Other fellow blog sites like Confessions of a CF Husband. The fact that Gwyneth is cute as a button aside, Nate and Tricia (like Angie) have opened their lives up to help others. I knew a little bit about cystic fibrosis before finding this bog, but am so much more appreciative after hearing Tricia's story - and the way Nate shares their day to day life.

7. Friends. I am blessed to call some of the best people in the world my friends. They have been there for me repeatedly, and I just feel so lucky to have them in my life.

8. My church family. Some of these people have become extended family, and I do not know of a better group of people when you need prayer or just someone to lean on. They are THE best.

9. Olive Garden.

10. Jeff Dunham. The language is a little much, but if you can get past that - some of his skits are hysterical.

I am such a bad mom...

I failed to take even one picture of my daughter during our Thanksgiving festivities. Wait, I am lying. I took one of her in my Granny's van yesterday when we were sitting in the car eating Hardee's for breakfast because 1) it was too flipping hot INSIDE Hardee's to eat and 2) it was also too flipping crowded!

Wednesday night we went to visit with my Granny and Pawpaw for a few hours, since I knew we wouldn't see them Thursday. It's nice to see them when I don't make time to go and see them. They don't live that far away, so I don't really have any excuses! But it was nice to visit and have pre-Thanksgiving dinner with them. Then when Bryan got home from work, we managed to drag my mom's artificial tree out of the attic and get the lights on it. Now if we could just make time to hang our ornaments....

Thursday I worked for about three hours, got off and went home to pick up Bryan and Gracie. When Bryan stopped at Entec, we found a "Black Friday" newspaper (yeah!) after searching since 6AM. We got to his Aunt Cathy's house around 10 that morning, and just got to hang out and chat with her while she cooked. (Okay, I napped. In front of the big roaring fire place in a cozy chair.)
After we enjoyed lunch with Bryan's family and Gracie took about an hour nap, we headed off to run home to make some sausage balls before going to my Aunt Gail's house. I never knew sausage balls were so easy! I also packed up the cupcakes leftover from my Girl's Night on Tuesday, and some butterscotch bark I made and was not at all impressed with.

We got to my Aunt Gail's about 5 that evening, and hung out. We also managed to stuff in some more food (ugh!) but had to call it quits before I cleaned my plate. However, I did pack up some food to bring home and our refrigerator is still overflowing with stuff!

Then at 5 Friday morning, my Granny calls to make sure I am up and ready. We had decided over the phone Thursday evening that we would hit Target first. My sole purpose for going there was that they had some awesomely good movies for $3.98 and $5.98 and were just not deals I wanted to pass up!
Being that this was my first EVER Black Friday experience, I felt a little overwhelmed. But because I wasn't like most of the gadget-hungry masses, I found literally everything I was shopping for. After Target we stopped at Hardee's for breakfast and then hit JC Penney's, Bath and Body Works, and Wal-mart. I spent most of my money at Target and JC Penney's, but also found some nice things at Bath and Body Works. If you haven't tried their holiday line - particularly the scented oils - you should try the Frosted Cranberry. My whole house smells like holiday! (If that makes any sense).

Today was a lazy, dreary day spent at work. Gracie requested that we watch Polar Express tonight so that is exactly what we are going to do after a dinner of spaghetti casserole! I am off, I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday! More posts to come!

Countdown to Mawmaw: 10 Days!!!

Thankful Day

Just wanted to drop in for a quick second and wish everyone a Happy Turkey Day. I hope you are thankful for everything in your life, good or bad. I know I am.

I am thankful for good friends, my wonderful family, and for the love of our Lord and Savior.

I am also thankful for my fellow bloggers.

Have a good day and don't eat too much!

Cradled

Hhm. So either I've been overly emotional lately (given a lot of circumstances) or maybe I'm having one of those "heart-to-heart" moments.
Standing in Karen's house today while I was cleaning gave me the opportunity to think as I cleaned. Sometimes it's good for me, sometimes not. Today was one of those days where it became kind of a toss up.

Have you ever heard "Word of God Speak" by MercyMe? If you haven't you should look it up. As I'm driving home from Karen's, I am absolutely overcome by this strong sense of thankfulness that it's hard to find words to explain it. So much of my life I've spent being angry, holding grudges, and I guess God has taken this opportunity this last year to work really hard at opening my eyes to how wrong that is. So much of my life was lived as I struggled with Poor Me Syndrome. Something about being saved and accepting Christ changed all that for me, and I think it has just slowly begun to become apparent to me.

When I was driving to the pediatrician's office this morning, it was as if I put myself in His shoes. Gracie is in the backseat, unaware of what to expect. And here I am - knowing that a flu shot is looming, know how terrified she will be. And yet, I just continue on my merry way to the pediatrician's office.

After the routine nurse/doctor check up, Gracie asks one last time if she has to get a shot. Not skipping a beat I tell her yes. I see her eyes brimming with tears as she argues me. "I'm not sick," she says. "I don't need a shot."

It's that simple for her to rationalize. But I know that this flu shot - no matter how painful - can be good for her. It can protect her from harm. "It will hurt for a little while, but then you'll be okay." I assure her.

Isn't it funny how I totally took how I was feeling at that moment and related it to the way our Heavenly Father feels about us? He knows what lies in the road ahead of us and sometimes - no matter how painful the situation - he will let us walk into the fire and come out on the other side. We might have battle wounds (or in Gracie's case, a bandaid) and it might hurt for a little while, but the pain doesn't always linger.

And just like I did in that room at the pediatrician's office, He will be waiting with his arms open to comfort and assure us that He's never too far from us anyway.

More prayers, please

In no particular order....

Please pray for one of my oldest (and by oldest I don't mean she's old, I mean we've been friends since seventh grade!!!) Carolyn who just found out in October that she and her husband, Scott, are expecting a baby. I am excited for them - having a child can be nerve wracking and exciting all at the same time!
Oh and Carolyn if you are reading this: I agree with what you said on your blog. People can tell you everything they know about pregnancy and childbirth, and yet every single pregnancy is different. Just keep whatever you are told or what you learn in a little bank in your memory for later use. You'll learn what you need to know as you go through this! I'm excited for you guys And I know your Dad is too.... :)

Also please continue to be in prayer for my brother-in-law Joe and his family. His father died unexpectedly on Saturday and the funeral is late this morning. My mother-in-law says everyone seems to be doing well. They are all strong Christian people but I am sure, as with any loss, while they know he is in heaven it is still a sudden loss to learn to cope with.

Prayers

Please be in prayer for my brother-in-law Joe's family. As I sat here getting ready to type this, I was going to ask for prayer for Joe's father, John. He went to the ER this morning with chest pains and they ran some tests and discovered a tear in his aortic valve. They took him be helicopter (?) to Birmingham.

I was on the phone with my mother-in-law just seconds ago, and John passed away after arriving at the hospital in Birmingham.

Please be in prayer for his family.

Praise report and well wishes

So Gracie's quarantine is almost over, and she's venturing out tonight to spend the night with Nana Kay. I know she will be excited to go to church Sunday morning, given how ticked she was with me Wednesday when I told her she couldn't go. She is not enjoying this antibiotic, but it's doing it's job.
So far this week she and I have made Christmas cookies and eaten them all (maybe six total) and have watched Garfield and the Grinch repeatedly. She seems to be on her way to a full recovery!

With Thanksgiving staring us in the face next week, I doubt that it will be very likely I'll have any updates these next several days. So I wanted to wish all of you a safe and happy weekend. Bryan and I are dropping Gracie off at Nana Kay's tonight and then heading to Chili's for dinner: just the two of us. This doesn't happen very often, but is a special treat we've begun to look forward to.

While I'm here, I wanted you guys to know how excited I am for Nate and Tricia. If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know I've been asking for prayer requests for Tricia's lymphoma diagnosis and test results. They got their results and it (to quote Nate) APPEARS that the lymphoma is gone. PTL!

So take care of yourselves and I'm sure I'll post turkey day pics next week!