dresses from anthropologie

This is the result of browsing the internet to get some "Christmas list" ideas. I don't really want anything in particular, but of course my Mom wants to have something to go by. I don't need anything, especially not these super-cute dresses from Anthro. Just dreaming!

Thanksgiving Day 2009

I hope everyone has had a nice day off with family and friends, enjoying wonderful homemade food, and that you've had a chance to stop and feel thankful for all these things. I know I almost didn't really stop to think about giving thanks. I was pretty preoccupied most of the day with eating food and looking forward to more food and trying not to be awkward at my always-kind-of-awkward family get-togethers. But it was a good day.

Truthfully, I don't want to list out every little thing I'm thankful for. I've got to get up early tomorrow for work (black friday/iron bowl day? sadly, yes.) so I need to go to bed. But what is encouraging is this: over these past three or so days I've been trying to think of everything I'm thankful for, all that I've been blessed with, every little small delight of every day life, and downsize it in to blog form. And the truth is that there is so much to choose from...and I've realized just how much we have to be thankful for. Have I said "thankful" enough?

And, I usually don't do this, but WAR EAGLE for tomorrow!

thanks 2

I have been listening to this song: "He's Always Been Faithful" by Sara Groves. Everything in the past He has done and is doing now...isn't He so worthy of thanks?

Morning by morning I wake up to find

The power and comfort of God’s hand in mine

Season by season I watch Him, amazed

In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways

All I have need of, His hand will provide

He’s always been faithful to me.

I can’t remember a trial or a pain

He did not recycle to bring me gain

I can’t remember one single regret

In serving God only, and trusting His hand

All I have need of, His hand will provide

He’s always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song

The theme of the stories I’ve heard for so long

God has been faithful, He will be again

His loving compassion, it knows no end

All I have need of, His hand will provide

He’s always been faithful, He’s always been faithful

He’s always been faithful to me.

More things that I'm thankful for...

• My time at Auburn. College was four years long. I had eighteen previous years before attending Auburn. But most of my convictions and life perspective that I have now were shaped by those four little years. Auburn is where I really began to grow spiritually. In short, I think a whole lot differently now than I have for the greater part of my life, and it's crazy to think about what I was missing.
• Blogs. I have found over the past few months how great blogs are for keeping up with the lives of friends who are not physically right beside you. You can hear about his or her day just with a click of a mouse. I know, I know, you can call, but sometimes it's kind of hard not to get into a game of phone tag. Also, it's fun to read blogs of people you don't know. There are a lot of interesting peeps out there. As far as my blog goes, I am thankful to have it because it's kind of like a challenge for me - to be myself. I'm trying to use it to share things vulnerably for the good of others, without worrying about anyone judging how good it is or how cool I am. It's a challenge every single time.
• Good Health. I think all of us who generally have good health totally forget to be thankful for it. Or maybe it's just me. If we remember to be thankful for it, we will probably work harder on maintaining it (I'm talking to myself here). For instance - I have legs, not everybody does, so I should take joy in running! Am I being weird? It's getting late...
• Trees. What if the whole earth were desert? That would be a pretty bleak world. Trees are beautiful, and I am thankful to have so many in my back and front yards (my mom's insistence on "privacy").
• Ice cold water. I am convinced that nothing on earth is more quenching of legitimate physical thirst. It is by far my favorite beverage. And I am thankful we have clean water here, as many in the world do not.

I'm getting tired. Maybe tomorrow I will not write a paragraph about each thing I am thankful for, and just list random little ones. After all, there are endless simple things to be thankful for.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow!

thanks

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 107:1

Thanksgiving is Thursday. I think this week might be a good time to list some of the things for which I am thankful. I believe it's important, well, really essential, that we give thanks all the time, everyday, for good things and bad things. But since we have a national holiday called "Thanksgiving" and everyone has got "thanks" on the brain (or maybe just food) I think this might be fun. I'll stretch the list out over the next few days - things I'm thankful for always and things I'm especially thankful for today.

I am thankful for...

• God. That He exists, that He is good, that He sent His Son for us, that He loves us, that He talks to us, that we can talk to Him, that He is sovereign and the blessed controller of all things, that He is creative, and for all the other infinite things He is. All the rest of this list, anything I can ever be thankful for, is from Him and for Him.
• Family. I am talking blood-kin. It is really cool to think that there are people who have been around since you were born, day in and day out, who know your history and know you like no other people in the world. They have shaped you in a way that no one else has. I know family looks different for everyone. Specifically, I am thankful to have two parents who love each other and a sister and a brother-in-law who are my best friends.
• Friendship. The truth is, people need people. You can't really exist with out some connection with another. A beautiful form of this connection is friendship, something I am still learning about and appreciating. I do know that I'm thankful for every friend I've ever had - think about how many friends, even acquaintances, you've been blessed to have over the span of your life, even if you don't keep in touch anymore. They were necessary for that moment in your life.
• Food. What a gift! We have so many different kinds, so as not to grow tired of any one thing. And, it's an excuse to hang out with people (how many people did you "grab lunch" with in college?) And the fact that we have it in abundance in America when there are literally millions out there who don't, I am thankful. I am not, however, happy that we don't seem to want to share the wealth.
• Music. Music is such a mystery to me. Isn't it beautiful evidence that some invisible things are very real? The fact that sooo many different compositions can be created out of thin air, just using a few instruments and voices, or without one or the other, and that they can evoke such emotion in us, is mind-blowing - and a huge blessing.

Today, I'm thankful for...

• My bed. Bet you didn't see that one coming. But, since I have been sick, I have spent mostly all of my time in it, and it has been quite a place of solace for me. And every time I see The Blind Side trailer, it makes me very thankful that I have a bed (it's true).
• Doctors/medicine. It's a huge blessing we have the resources to make us well when we're ill, and I think I take that for granted a lot.
• C.S. Lewis. I've been rereading The Great Divorce today and will probably finish it tonight (it's a really fast read). If some of Lewis' books seem a little over your head (sometimes, I just have to refer to the dictionary way too much while reading him), you should try his fiction. They are easier and way thought-provoking.
• My mom and dad. The roommates are being especially thoughtful and helpful to me while I am under the weather. Yes, I am being babied. And yes, I enjoy it (every once in a while : ) ).
• "Shelter" by Sandra McCracken. Sarah listed this on her blog as one of her favorite songs ever, so I decided to look it up. Whoa so good. I have been listening to it pretty frequently the past couple of days. Thank you, Sarah!

More tomorrow.

sick

After about two full weeks of frequently sneezing and a bit of a runny nose (sorry if you're grossed out), I think it's official that I have contracted a pretty bad cold. I knew this for sure yesterday afternoon when my mom and I had just gotten to the beach to shop for the day. I had this sudden terrible sick feeling that hasn't left me since. So, I have been in bed all day, trying to take it easy so as not to get any worse for the work week. I really don't want to get anybody else sick, like, the public that I constantly interact with at my job...so I probably shouldn't even go. But I think work is a little different than school. You can't just miss. And I know I get time off, but I don't want to have to do that right away. And, hey, I may feel totally better by the morn!

In other news, I saw New Moon last night.

Ultra dramatic pic, eh? I want to give a real review of it after I see it again. But I will say that I really enjoyed it, possibly more than the first, and...as much as I can never decide between Edward and Jacob, I am definitely leaning more towards the wolf pack these days.

And YAY for Thanksgiving Week! Hopefully I will be making some time to do some "I'm thankful for..." posts throughout the week.

true

I know of nothing more agitating to the soul, nothing that so unsettles and disquiets, as the contemplation of the self.

Elisabeth Elliot

back to the tube

Growing up, I loved TV. Since I was little and all the way through high school, I basically had shows lined up that I could not miss most nights of the week. And I pretty much had the Disney Channel memorized 7th-9thish grade. As a college student, though, I kind of bailed on TV. I dedicated most of my watching-time to movies. I think it's because I was actually busy in college, unlike childhood and high school, where I had the routine "school in the daytime, hang out at the house/do nothing at nighttime". The college life "routine" is so unpredictable and fast-paced, is it not (in a good way, most of the time!)? Only in the last half of my college experience did I pick up on "Greek" and "The Office", both of which I still struggled to keep up with despite their goodness.

But now, as a new post-grad for the last three months, and just recently employed, having more than enough time on my hands because of the lack of an established schedule and virtually no friends in town (with very precious exceptions), I have fallen under the weekly TV line-up spell yet again! Here's what my nights look like lately:

Monday:
Greek

The best thing to come out of ABC Family, maybe ever. The season actually just ended, so come to think of it, Mondays are open again for me.

Tuesday:


The Hills The City

I am quite surprised at my new addiction to two of MTV's basically-scripted reality shows. But I cannot stop watching. I've watched "The Hills" from time to time, and have always been annoyed by it (and still kind of am). There's really no explanation for why I'm interested. There is virtually no content. "The City" is the better show of the two. There is actually a plot to each episode, not solely about relationship troubles, but rather, career issues. I really like to see how each of the girls deals with the assignments they're given and their sometimes (well, most of the time) difficult bosses and work environments. And, it all revolves around fashion, which is fun!

Wednesday:

Cougar Town

Ok, so, Courteney Cox is actually funny. Who knew? I realize she was on one of the best comedy shows ever, but she was always my least favorite Friend. When I first heard about "Cougar Town", I thought, "That show will fail." But I think it may succeed! Courteney plays a crazy Miami divorcee, Mom to a high-school senior, and date-er of men close to twenty years her junior. Her escapades, along with the witty banter with her assistant played by Busy Philipps (one of my all time favorites - see "Freaks and Geeks"), are surprisingly really entertaining to me.

Thursday:

Grey's Anatomy The Office

After a maybe three-season hiatus, I have returned to "Grey's". Plain and simple, it's a well-written show. I just got really tired of the relationship stuff, mainly that of Meredith and Derek. Luckily, this season they are probably the least shown characters and their troubles are basically resolved (so we think). Maybe that's why I like it again... Plus, tons of fresh new faces due to the Seattle Grace - Mercy West merger! (Wow, grace and mercy, just noticed that.)

And "The Office". Of course! Wedding episode - definitely my favorite of the season so far.

Friday:

Degrassi

Please don't judge. It's just funny.

Am I missing anything?

today = big step

I am employed and I really can't believe it. God is so good and has faithfully answered my almost year-long prayer of what my "next step" will be, and I am at peace. To be clear, I'm defining this next step as place of residence and employment. For me, it is Dothan and training to be a bank teller/learner of all things "bank". Neither of these was my first pick. I'm living in my parents' house...I mean, c'mon (but I do love them). Job-wise, I'm pretty much still lost as to what God wants me to "be". But I do know He wants me to be obedient to Him, to love Him, to know and be known by Him, to serve Him and people in every small way He allows. And I'm excited to get to do that in this new situation He has brought me to!

Today was my first day at work and last night, I was trying to pick out the perfect "first day" business casual outfit. I was definitely struggling. I need to do some major conservative shopping. I actually looked up "business casual attire" in Google images and the above picture was one result. Yikes. Check out that "Most Recommended" outfit (and pretty much all the rest are disturbing, too, wouldn't you say?).

a lack of blogging in my life at the moment

I miss blogging. I promise we will be friends again soon, Orchard House.