Thankful for Grace Church

Ok - so I was thinking, what am I thankful for today and I thought: Grace and the people there and then I thought, shoot, I'm totally copying Sari...oh well :)

Why I love Grace Church:
It's such a unique place. It feels like a family, even as it grows. And the youth group has been so wonderful and welcoming. We just love those kids so much. I feel like a half mother, half sister to like 30 girls :) :)
It is the first church that I have ever been at long term where my dad wasn't the pastor and that was hard at first, but now I can't really picture being anywhere else.
Everyone is so generous. With their time, talents, treasure, everything and they are always offering one of those things in our direction, whether for youth group needs or for us personally.
We are just so grateful - God has been so good to lead Joe's family there 18 or 19 years ago and to keep Joe and I there through college and now.
Our Marriage Builders Group last year

The fam outside the church

Thankful for Friends

Ok, so here's a little photo tribute to "friends." I realize it's leaving a lot of people out, but it's what I was able to grab off of facebook fast :)
I feel so very blessed to have friends from so many walks of life - friends that I share a lot of past memories with, get together with occasionally or regularly, see at work, chat on the phone with, see at reunions once a year, email or message here and there or throughout the day or week :)... All of you are so special to me and have impacted me greatly! LOVE YOU FRIENDS!! :)

Hooray for the House!!

Sorry for not posting the thankful posts (Sari), but I just got an email and have to share my thankfulness!!
We were approved for our loan and are good to go for our November 18 closing!!! Thank you Lord!! We are so excited and thankful and cannot wait to move into our new little place :)

23 Weeks!

How far along? 23 weeks!

How am I feeling? Good! had a bad cold, but am on the mend and feeling pretty normal.

Movement: Getting a lot more regular and normal feeling to me. I think I saw movement from the outside for the first time yesterday. Not entirely sure but my stomach isn't known to move on its own!

Doctor’s Appointment? Had one yesterday - it was confirmed that March 4 is my due date and that everything from the appt and from my ultrasound looks great. PTL!

Workouts? hmmm...so I was walking Molly this a.m. just around the block and found a halloween candy bag of M&M's in my pocket and naturally started eating them. Then a lady ran by me and I'm laughing to myself...oh the life and norms of a pregnant lady... :)

Sleep? Sleeping ok without the cold. Can't really sleep on my back at all anymore. So I'm doing side sleeping with a body pillow mostly

Weight Gain? I think I'm around 10-12 lbs since maybe 10-12 weeks since that was my lowest weight point.

Baby Preparation? Not much, just trying to get ready to move!

Likes/Dislikes? Craving snack pack jello, soft pretzels and turkey sandwiches and fruit and juice still too

Milestones: Baby is over a pound and over 10 inches long!!

With all that said, I'm thankful today for this little one. Took us a little while to get to this point and it's just made us all the more thankful to be here. We know and trust that God is in control of this little life and ours and everyones. We just want to rest in that and know that no matter what happens, He will see us through it.

22 week pics



23 week photos - event Friday night at Hotel Arista

Thankful for...Parents

Was at my boss's dad's funeral today. He was 87 and had lived a very full life, but it's never easy to say goodbye.
Just made me thankful for my parents. My dad was diagnosed with Leukemia when I was 6 years old, it's crazy just thinking how different life would have been without him. I'm so thankful the Lord choose to heal him and that he's been able to raise me and love me for the past 26 years and shepard his churches and love the body of Christ for the past 31 years.
Feel very blessed and thankful for their influence in my life.

November = Thankful

A friend of mine is posting things she is thankful for each day and encouraged her friends to do the same...So here I go.

I am stressed with house, loan and moving stuff - it is becoming very overwhelming. And I'm very tired with working these 10 hour + days and not having many evenings to recover and not getting enough sleep for what I need.
So with that said...I am off tomorrow (the only perk of working four-10 hour days...)
and I'm so thankful to have Thursday to be with Joe, sleep in (hopefully), pack up more, figure out any remaining loan details and cuddle on the couch with Molly who is staying with us for 2 weeks while my parents are out of the country.

*Also, could you pray for safety for my parents as they travel and that despite the fact that my dad will be teaching for a week, that it will be a restful and renewing time for them since the last two weeks have been really crazy for them with three deaths of my dad's church people. So that not only meant 3 funerals for my dad, but three personal losses - just a big toll on them physically and emotionally.

Applesauce!!

Well, we had a great (but quick) weekend with my parents making applesauce - a year's supply!! :) It's SOOOO good - thankful to have a large sweet corn and applesauce supply, especially as we are moving into our house soon and we will be able to store it all!

Here are some photos documenting the day (which includes cutting apples, boiling them, put them through the squeez-o - Joe and Dad's job, then putting them in cans and then boiling the cans in a canner to seal them. Wow! :) Went pretty fast with four people and was enjoyable!