Thankful

I was gonna try to write a "credits" to for my life. Who I am thankful for, who has shaped it, and made me who I am today. But, I know I will leave some out... sheerly because I am writing this when I should be sleeping. So, I may do this differently.
God. Jesus. Holy Spirit. Without Him, how lost I would be.
Alan. Bradley. Andrew. I am so very blessed. I couldn't ask for more.
Mom. Dad. Brian. Brent. Emily. Shannon. Kids. I love how much fun we have everytime we are together. You have shaped me so much. I can never say thank you enough.
Buddy. Sandi. Abria. Angela. Jonathon. Casey. Kids. I couldn't ask for a better set of in-laws. I enjoy the time we spend together and am so thankful for the way you shaped my husband and now me and our kids.
Thomas. Mildred. Johnnie. Annie. Floyd. Inez. Claude. Gladys. Without you we wouldn't be the people we are. You shaped not only your children, but your grandchildren and great grandchildren.
My score of aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins once removed, whateever you call it. :) We have a bond as a family that many, many families don't have. Thank you all for exemplifying what extended family should be like.
My friends. Here is where I don't want to leave out names. If we have ever spent time together, had a conversation, done goofy things, laughed at stupid jokes, worked along side each other, spent time serving on mission trips or at church together, or just talked through a computer; then I am talking about you. If you are taking time to read this, then definitely you. I would not be who I am today without the league of people that I have been priveleged to call friends over the years. I may not see you all now, but thank you.
Youth group, former youth. Thank you for allowing Alan and I to serve you. I hope you are a little closer to God for the time you spent around us. I hope you have seen examples of love, of a family, of people who truly care about you. Because we do. We have. We will. I treasure getting to spend time with you and act like I'm not quite so old. ;)

I am a blessed person. I may not say it enough, but I am. I have much to be thankful for.

Just some pictures...

Thanks to Megan (I'm gonna learn how to link this) for taking some family pictures for us. I haven't seen them all yet, but am really happy with these few I have...

Life is short.

I have been reminded once again how short life is. Give your loved ones a hug. Tell them that you love them. We do not know how much more time we are promised. The time is now to make wrongs right.

Yesterday a kindergarten student at Bradley's school died. Suddenly. She came to school that morning okay and was gone hours later. Earlier this year one of our students passed away suddenly. I still miss you, Matt. You are still so much a part of what we do. I think if we truly grasped that life is but a breath, a vapor, gone in seconds, we would live life much more intentionally.

I am so thankful for each person God has put in my life. That includes you reading this. Now go LIVE LIFE!!

Dancing leaves

The weather has been amazing lately! I am so thankful for the sun and warm temperatures after the the wet, soggy October we had. I could just sit outside and soak up the sun. Today on my lunch break, I went to a local park and walked. I enjoyed the sun shining and the wind blowing. But what really caught my eye was the leaves dancing in the wind. Some were falling from the trees, while others were getting stirred up in the breeze. It was great to watch them jump and dance! It was as though God were smiling saying, "Hey, watch this..."

My deal of the day is at Walgreens. They have Clabber Girl baking powder and corn starch on sale 2/$1 in their weekly ad. If you'll go to smartsource.com there is a coupon for these that I got 65cents/1. So I got two baking powders free plus a little overage. Have another item to purchase, however as they won't ring up a negative balance.

Enjoy the beauty of our God today!

Deal of the Day

Okay, so if you know me lately, you'll know that I love finding good deals. I am discovering more and more ways to be a good steward with money. Although, I will say that in the effort of saving money, it is as easy to spend money because something is such a good deal. I am trying to find that balance.
But, I am going to occasionally post really great deals on here. So, here is my great deal from yesterday. Dollar General has their Libby's canned vegetables on sale for 50 cents each this week. I work in the same little shopping center as a DG, so I ran over after lunch yesterday and bought 4 cans, paired with a $1/4, getting 4 cans for $1. Plus, I had a $2/1 wheat thins coupon and they had wheat thins on sale for $2. So, 1 box of crackers and 4 canned veggies for less than I paid for my bottled soda. Good deal on food, not so much on soda.

I give in...

So, I have been following several friends' blogs anonymously because I really wasn't sure I had enough to say on a blog, but I give in. After a lunch with a great friend, I decided to bite the bullet and start this thing. Please excuse me as it will take me awhile to learn how to put up a cute background and upload pictures quickly. (I usually leave that up to my husband, the pictures that is) So, here goes.

I just wanted to share one of our many stories of the boys, which I am sure I will forget one day. Bradley, our 6 year old, had red ribbon week last week at school. I didn't think much about it until we ran into his counselor at Hastings last Friday. We have known her for several years, so she came to share this story with us. She was in Bradley's 1st grade class talking with the kids about drugs and alcohol. He has a class full of "leaders with something to say", so each child had his hand raised wanting to outdo the other. The kids were talking about all sorts of things, so when Bradley was called upon he said, "Me and my dad drink beer some nights." (Please realize my husband is a youth pastor at a Southern Baptist church!) The counselor laughed to herself and just went on to the next student. So, I later asked Bradley, "Have you ever drank beer?" His answer, "Yeah, remember at church." We figure out he's referring to a parent/kid game night where they had rootbeer. We quickly try to explain you have to say the root part of root beer, that beer is bad, to which he loudly answers, "But, I like beer." We had a good laugh that night, and learned to call rootbeer "a&w" or something.