We Got Lost & I’m Thankful For It

First off...i'm sharing a little bit of my heart over at my friend Kelly's blog today!  Go check it out and read a little about her!  I promise you will enjoy her so much!!!

And next...

Lisa is a friend I've had since almost the time I moved here.  We clicked pretty quickly and no matter how much time goes by between visits we always have good heart to heart talks and enjoy each other’s company.  We always joke that we are grateful for each other since we are both “normal”.  Hm…guess you have to be there but if you knew our convos you’d understand…

We had the chance to go hiking together on Sunday and towards the end of our hike we must have missed a turn somewhere because about as soon as we started questioning where we were we came to this:

…SO not the end of the trail at the shelter house like we were expecting.

So we had no choice but to do this:

The GOOD thing is we DID know where we were and fortunately we just had a little extra time to spend together to get to where we “should have” come out.

Heck if we hadn't gotten off the “blue trail” we wouldn't of seen this suckerin the middle of nowhere!  I mean seriously odd placing but STILL cool!

We agreed it had to be SUPER creepy at night.  It IS in the middle of the woods…

...ok the woods by the side of the road…but STILL…AND it totally looks like a headstone.

I am thankful for the time outdoors with a good friend.

I am thankful for the exercise and therapy session.

I am thankful for getting lost so I could see a little slice of history I wouldn't of otherwise gotten to see.

I am thankful for BIG water pumps.

I am thankful for the freedom to be a bit random with my writing.

THANKFUL to be linking up with Tico & Tina & From Awkward To Art for BLESSED this week.  

PS:  I am BLESSED to call both of them my friends!!!  LOVE you Christina & Julie!

Ohio in Photos #1

Hi everyone!!!  

As many of you know I took the kids to visit my parents in Ohio last week!

The kids had SUCH a blast!!! It was a lot of fun seeing them enjoy some of the same things I did as a kid! 

And I KNOW my parents were SO happy to spend all that extra time with the kids!!

This post is the first installment of photos from our trip!

Enjoy!

 More photos to come another day!

Thankful Thursday - Little Feet

Little tiny squishy feet that don’t smell yet.  

Just another seemingly small portion of my life I want to freeze in time and be forever THANKFUL for.

Thankful Thursday: I’m thankful for the mistakes

Last week Sarah @ The Fontenot Four said something on her vlog for Andi & Ashley's Girl Behind the Blog series that I can’t stop thinking about.

Sarah was talking about what it really means to give thanks.  

She reminds us how important it is to be thankful in ALL things…to be thankful for the hard times…the really challenging times.  

She challenges us to think about that particular hard season we may be in right now and ask ourselves what we can be thankful for in that situation.  

She reminds us that God has equipped us to get through that particular situation and to come out on the other side.   

give thanks in all circumstances, 

for this is God's will for you 

in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

I think often that I’m thankful for my kids, my AWESOME husband, my family & friends.  But what about the things that got me to this place?  

What about the “mistakes” that I made along the way?  Perhaps those “mistakes” got me here.  

Where would I be if that road was easier or I did things differently?

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I think back to my first love.  He taught me what being loved looked like.  I think back to my broken heart when it ended.  I am grateful that I learned that true feeling even through heartbreak so I recognized it clearly when I met the man who would become my husband.

I am grateful for a…shall we say…unsavory character for a boyfriend a bit later down the road.  He showed me what I will never stand for again and what to look out for as my daughter gets older. 

I am thankful I came home from the “typical” college experience and went to night school instead.  During that time I learned what it was like to balance working in an adult office environment, study for college classes and pay my own bills.  I know that if God forbid I ever need to “do it all myself” again I am capable.

Moving away from everything and everyone I’ve ever known when I married my husband was one of the hardest if not the hardest thing I've ever done.  I thought I was independent and strong before that but what I realized is that it is easy to be independent and strong when you are surrounded by close friends and your entire family.  What proves it is when you can persevere when you feel more alone than you ever have. 

Thank you God for all the hard things…they brought me to this moment with this life with these people.  

I am so beyond thankful.  

I am so beyond blessed. 

Thankful Thursday – My little loves

They make me laugh harder than I ever have. 

They scare me more than anything ever has. 

They make me aware of my shortcomings with greater clarity than I ever could have thought possible.

Their kisses are a balm for all my hurts.

They are everything I could never have imagined. 

They are better than anything I’ve ever dreamed. 

They are my little loves.

It’s a bright bright bright bright sunshiny day!!!!

Just look around there’s nothing but BLUE skies!!! 

Beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Look at those boys!  SO CUTE!

Those BLUE skies and WARM temperatures are just the icing on the cake for all of THESE things:

1)   My husband who stays up to give our 7 week old baby girl her last feeding

2)   To be able to take my children to the park and not worry about our safety here in the ‘burbs

3)     My newly developing freckles because that means I’ve been outside in the sun!

4)   A newly discovered yummy snack:  CLIF MOJO Peanut Butter Pretzel Bar found here.   SOOOO GOOD!!!!

5)   Cell phones because it means I can text my bestie ANYTIME!

6)   Flip flops

7)   Automatic doors on our minivan

8)   The Fresh Beat Band (click here) – ALWAYS makes the kids happy without fail if it’s been one of THOSE days

9) Washable Markers

10)           A cup of green tea and some quite time this afternoon

Linking up with...

blessings…

I have LOTS and LOTS to be thankful for!

…a husband who strongly believes it’s his mission to take care of his family in every way.

…a 2 ½ year old little boy who is and always has been so loving to all of us…that’s just his way.

…our twins!  Funny that God saw fit to give us 2 at once!! 

…our sweet little lady.  Mama needs a shopping buddy!

And REALLY WHAT would life be without…

the Monteray Salad from Sweetwater (delicious menu link found here), 

Scotcheroos (will DEFINITELY share this recipe in a later post!),

source

a crisp fall day,

source

The Zac Brown Band

http://www.zacbrownband.com/

OR

Diet Coke... 

Did you know there is an "I Love Diet Coke" facebook fan page?   

here's the link

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How are you blessed?