Giving Thanks

Well, I'm going to be cliche for a moment.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year.

I love fall, cooler weather, sweaters, and all that.

I love spending time with people I love, like my super awesome husband.

Being in Texas has made me realize how blessed I have been and still am today.

While I am far from my family and most of my friends, God gave me Stephen.

And even though it's been a tough almost-year for the two of us, I would not trade our first year of marriage for anything.

I am thankful for computers and Internet-- thanks to Skype, I was able to see my family and talk to them yesterday. My mom, my Nanny, and my 2 sisters (Dad was sleeping off the turkey)

I am thankful for airplanes-- Stephen's parents were able to come visit and we got to share an early Thanksgiving with them.

I am thankful for cell phones-- Though I am many miles from my closest friends, I can text and talk to them regularly.

I am thankful for the people that we have met here in Texas-- it was very lonely our first few months in Waco, without a church family or friends. But now we have both! And Stephen and I both have good jobs, working with good people.

God has been so faithful and I am confident that He will continue to be faithful.

To all of my friends and family, I love you!

And I hope you all had happy Thanksgivings!

I wanna go backwards

Here's the thing:

Being an adult blows.

Bills, jobs, and responsibility.

The only good thing I got out of becoming an adult was Stephen.

So that is why I've decided I want to go back. Back to high school.

I'm sure some of you are staring at your computer screen with mouths agape.

I'm sure some of you are saying, "WHAT?!?!?" with a very incredulous tone.

The question on every one's mind is undoubtedly, "Who wants to go back to high school?"

I do.

And here's why:
Before I turned 18, my responsibilities were pretty limited. I helped around the house. I did my homework. Yep, that was about it. Now, not only am I responsible for a job, an apartment, and etc, but I'm also taking care of another fully grown human. We do share the responsibilities, but still. It's a lot.

I took for granted all the things my parents did for me. They fed me, clothed me, let me drive their cars, let me spend their money, talked to me, counseled me, loved me, and let me move to Missouri after I graduated. If I went back, I could thank them more and make sure they knew they were appreciated.

In high school, "money" was something I took from my mom and dad. I did not earn it or budget it or save it. I spent it. Now that I have pesky things like bills zipping into my mailbox every couple days, I think I'd rather go back to not caring about monies.


No one ever went anywhere. I mean, I think a few of my friends moved away in elementary school, but by the time I went to jr. high, I pretty much knew every one. I had the same group of friends from 9th grade until graduation. It was awesome. There was none of this moving to different states nonsense, like I have to deal with now. (BTW: I MISS MY FRIENDS)

Innocence. Bliss. This was high school.

Was it all candy mountain and rose petals?

No!

Most of the time, I hated high school. It was awkward and weird and... well, high school.


But it was a simpler time. And these days, with adulthood stretching endlessly before me, I long for the simpler days.

True story.

Hello children!

Well, look at me, blogging again.

I just can't stay away.

Also, I've had many a request for a new blog.

Apparently, ya'll can't stay away either!

(Yes, I said ya'll, I live in Texas and my parents are from Tennessee! Don't judge.)

So as some of you may know, last week I got to go to my little hometown of Federal Way, Washington!

It was a delightful trip, even though I had to leave my Husby behind.

We survived; thank you for your concern.

Like I said, the trip was super amazing. We did a whole lot of shopping, went walking round the block, took partial family photos (partial because Stephen wasn't there), went to Rachael's graduation, ate way too much food at Mongolian Grill, and basically just spent a whole lot of time together.

I love my family. They are amazing people and I wish that Stephen and I did not live so far away from them.

However, I feel completely blessed that I was able to spend 6 days with them (and I am VERY grateful that my parents paid for my plane ticket; without that, I would not have been able to go).

Still, it was not all fun and games. I had some pretty trying moments also. And because my downfalls are usually very amusing, I will choose to share one of these moments with you!

We took partial family photos in a little park near downtown Seattle. It was a beautiful day: 70 degrees, sunny, a few wispy clouds, a gentle breeze- basically the perfect Seattle summer day.

Stupidly, I wore heels.

This may not seem that stupid, but keep in mind that we were in a PARK!

And also, it's been several months since I've worn heels and I am not practiced in wearing heels.

So the photographer found this really cool looking, low-branched tree for us to pose under, and I was having a hard time balancing on my heels.

Then, as I headed to the tree to pose for my pictures, I was looking at the ground to try and step lightly, and my heel went all crooked.

In my haste, I over-compensated and ran head-first into a low-hanging tree branch.

I saw those little stars flying round my head, like in the cartoons.

A lump formed almost immediately.

I cried.

And laughed a little too.

And feel verrrrrrry sheepish.

So that is my story. It doesn't sound as funny told in blog form, but I'm sure ya'll chuckled a little anyway.

I miss my fam a ton already. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will live close enough so that we can see each other every few days instead of every 6 months or so.

The End.

(maybe I'll be back)

**Special Mother's Day Weekend Listing**

Today, my loving husband and I went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart.

We basically had no groceries in the house, so we piled items high on the rolly-register thing.

I think the cashier woman felt like she needed to talk to us, maybe because we had so much stuff or maybe because she is just a friendly person, but at any rate, the first thing she said to me was, "Are you a mother?"

AHHHHHHHHH!
That's what happened in my head.

I think I blushed and sputtered until Stephen said, no we've only been married about 5 months; if she was a mom, we'd be in trouble!

Then we all awkwardly laughed.

But it made me think:

Though I am not a mother, I am very thankful for mine and for Stephen's and for all my friends mothers, because without them I wouldn't have me, my husband, or any of my friends!

So, in honor of my mother, Juanita Lewis, who is, in my opinion, a truly amazing momma, this Sunday my weekend listing is a tribute to her awesomeness:

Top 10 reasons my mom is awesome:
10. She has aged gracefully, so I know that as I get older I'll look good.

9. She is the smartest person I know. Any time I have a problem or a question, I go to her first... (After I've talked to Stephen.)

8. Somehow she finds time to be a great mother, wife, daughter, friend and supervisor at work. (I don't know how she does it!)

7. She is an encourager. To everyone. Not just me, but to EVERYONE. She writes me little notes or calls and leaves me messages to let me know I'm loved and she's proud of me and she's praying for me. She does it for Stephen now too.

6. She used to scratch my back while I was going to sleep. :)

5. She always has time for me. Even if it's not right at that moment, she'll make time
for me later.

4. The only way she will jump into water is if she can do a somersault.

3. She made up a song to sing to us at night.

2. She has the greatest and most contagious laugh ever.

And the number 1 reason my mom is awesome is:
She loves me soooooooooooo much!

There are at least a bazillion other things I could list, so this is just a short summary.

I love you Mom! And to all mothers, Happy Mother's Day.

And to those of you who aren't yet mothers, I plan on staying that way for a while...
How 'bout you?