"What is to give light must endure burning." ~Viktor Frankl

thanksgiving weekend

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Hope you have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING weekend

So it’s the Thanksgiving weekend. While I should be thinking about all the things & people I am thankful for – instead I am wishing I had a few of the people who make my life a happy one around.
-- i really wish i could be home in Oklahoma Right NOW…
I think i might go next year. This is the time of year when I want most to be around lots of the people I care & love. So being alone makes it seem worse.

Yesterday, on Thanksgiving Day - in the morning i made breakfast & watched the Parade & cooked for Dinner. We went out to don's parent’s house around 230 - & ate dinner with his family.
After MUCH debate & discussion Don did go to the Beach –
... i didn't think he really cared to go & Don didn’t want to leave Me here alone.
I don’t mind that he is going . i didn't particularly care to go & didn't have any childcare so it wasn’t an option.
Caleb Patteson really wanted Don to go & convinced him to come. Since Caleb was making the effort coming from KY - I thought Don should as well. & Caleb called to beg Don to go. Ryan really thought he should go too. I thought he should go since he wasn’t missing anything here & had the time off work.
So don left this morning with Ryan after Shopping – of course!
so i guess they will be back sometime on Sunday
but now I am a bit lonely here with just the kids.

So here I am at home bored with nothing but cleaning & laundry to do… so while the kids watch a Disney movie I rented for them – I am cleaning the kitchen & listening to NPR & now writing this.
I do hate being unproductive… Lets see what did I do today?
I got up & cleaned up messes the kids had already made
– since they woke up several hours before me!
I got out some Christmas decorations & put up a few lights outside. I do LOVE Christmas lights! I watched some College football then we went out to rent some movies & look around Target… that was the highlight of the day.
Basically it’s like any other week day to me.. but it is already a long boring weekend – two more days to go…
so for now i will try to focus on Giving Thanks to God for all the things & times i have been blessed with & the Kids that i have around me right now.

Bob Dylan Quotes

“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.”
“People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.”

“There is nothing so stable as change.”

“Yesterday's just a memory, tomorrow is never what it's supposed to be.”

“Jesus tapped me on the shoulder and said, Bob, why are you resisting me? I said, I'm not resisting you! He said, You gonna follow me? I said, I've never thought about that before! He said, When you're not following me, you're resisting me.” ~Bob Dylan

I Don't Want to...

i LOVE this SONG!! it's a GOOD ONE!!

I could go out tonight and find some stranger
It wouldn't be wrong
No, It wouldn't be wrong
Cause it ain't no crime, no felony
There ain't no chains here holding me down
Holding me down
There ain't no place here on this earth I'd rather be
So why would I leave?

I could want somebody else
I could need somebody else
I could love somebody other than you, but I don't want to

There is no good out there for me now
There’s nothing I can't do without
I can't live without
You make me feel like heavens pouring down on me
I know I'm free

I could want somebody else
I could need somebody else
I could love somebody other than you but I don't want to
I could dream somebody else, be treated like a queen by someone else
I could love somebody other than you but I don't want to

I don't want you to leave

I could want somebody else (I could want somebody)
I could need somebody else (I could need somebody)
I could love somebody other than you but I don't want to
I could dream somebody else, be treated like a queen by somebody else
I could love somebody other than you but I don't want to
I don't want to (I don't want to)
I don't want to...
I don't want to...

Sung by Ashley Monroe
with Ronnie Dunn

it's a....

We found out that my next child is a BOY!
It’s always exciting to see the tiny growing baby.
We didn’t really mind either way since we already have one of each. Jadyn is quite upset about it; she was really hoping for a little sister. Caleb is thrilled. I do think that Jadyn won’t care so much once she sees it’s just a little baby and will be happy. I am in the process of trying to make room for the little one as well as organize and clean things that I’ve put off for awhile. So off to clean I go!

happy night

  

It's what you do...

You can say or feel that you love someone but, “What you feel only matters to you. It's what you do to the people you love.
That's what matters. That's the only thing that counts.”
~Memorable Quotes from
The Last Kiss (2006)

in anticipation

In one week I get to find out the gender of my 3rd child.
While it doesn't really matter to me & am anxious to find out!
Mainly because whether it is a boy or girl will affect how we arrange bedrooms and so many other things effecting our daily lives.
I will finally get to talk to don & pressure him about deciding on a name.
He would much rather not be concerned about it till the very last moment.
But Hey! This IS a big deal… something to be mulled over more than just a week!

I want to say I a looking forward to having a baby. I can say, I am finally mentally prepared this time around! While I am excited I am also so thrilled to have time without my kids & I even cherish the evenings after I put the kids to bed & can sit back & relax ( in mostly quietness). I get to read and watch TV without some little one demanding constant attention. & Now I am so thankful to actually sleep through the night; this will end the day the baby is born.

So while I am in anticipation, I am also very grateful for the time I have now with my two older children and husband and even the time I have alone & the peace and quiet that comes with it.

"Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of yourself." ( Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Cascade Falls

  

November sunset

  

learning to breathe

Some days the details of life just seem to smother me.
I feel like I can’t even breathe!
What I have to do and what I am, suffocates who I want to be
& who I want to become.
Everyday seems like it is full of challenges, struggles and transitions.
This is true for most people I am sure… That is reality.
No one can expect a life free of those things.
I seem to let myself get bogged down and allow misery to take over.
Yet I know I can & need to change my perspective.
I have to think, “I can Breathe!”
I will get through this day, these struggles with God’s help and grace.
I have to choose to recognize and accept these challenges and accept them with grace – to prioritize them rather than letting them prioritize me.
I wish to enjoy the journey. During some of my worst days, I have found the rarest of moments almost overlooked and lost. With grace and choosing, I know I can find the courage to take deep breaths and enjoy life and even the struggles & challenges.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else" - C.S. Lewis

Go OSU!

 
dressed up for Halloween 2006 

“somehow we manage it: to like our friends, to tolerate not only their little ways but their huge neuroses, their monumental oddness: "oh well," we smile, "it's one of her funny days." -fleur adcock