dear friends

Tonight I got to visit with my lovely friend Hillary. We hangout every Thanksgiving and Christmas, sometimes other times as well. Hillary goes to school in Nashville, TN. But before she transferred out there, we lived across the hall from each other as baby freshies at Point Loma. We instantly became good friends, and despite the distance, we've been good friends ever since. Even though we don't get to talk much between visits, hanging out with Hillary always feels like there's never been any time apart. She is one of the sweetest people I know. On the rainy, night drive home I was thinking about how spending time with quality best friends just feeds my soul. To know that someone really gets you, and loves you, to laugh about things, catch up, bond over a cup of coffee, or a favorite store. Today I am truly grateful for the close and dear friends that I do have. Here are the friends that have fed my soul lately. Thank you. :)

This is an old picture of Hillary and I on one of our hangouts at Victoria Gardens.

This is my one of my oldest and dearest friends Lauren right before she got married.

This is my sweet sister.

Chalk walls and Polaroid coasters...

I can't wait for the day when I have my own place to decorate. I think it would be so neat to have a chalkboard wall like one of the ones below. Wouldn't that be neat in a kitchen or a child's room? Or even an office. The other pictures are just images of decor/house items that call out my name. Someday....

SO Blessed

Today I am grateful for my love of over two years, Alan. He is my best friend, my partner in crime, and an amazing boyfriend. Boyfriend does not even sound like an appropriate word for the depth of our relationship at this point. Whether we are off on adventures or, more often than not, sitting around watching endless movies, I cherish every minute I get with this guy. I admire how hard he works even when he's running on fumes. Even though we have our differences, like his passion for sports and my complete lack of athletic enthusiasm, we just click. And the days we don't always click, it doesn't matter, because of these three things that are my favorite things about him: (1) His love and passion for God and desire to live his life for God, (2) His extremely committed and loyal nature that I too often take for granted, and (3) How much he cares about me and loves me. I hope to spend the rest of my life growing with him and trying to make him happy, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for him. This is us. (I'm obviously ketchup and he's obviously mustard).

My Sissy

I won't be sharing all of my thoughts of gratitude, but I will share some of them. Today is my sister Cheri's 18th birthday! Happy Birthday Cheri! Today my thought of gratitude is how grateful I am for her and the friendship that has developed and that we've been able to foster since I've been at home. She has become not just a sister, but a best friend. She puts up with the incessant amount of talking I do when I'm with her, and lets me use her as a model for my personal photography projects. She is mature for her age, is so much fun to be with, and just gets me. Thank you God for the friendship that continues to grow with her. This is her. Is she gorgeous?!

Entering an Attitude of Gratitude

It's been awhile since I've posted something. I've been pretty busy with work and whatnot lately. I was thinking yesterday, after talking with my best friend about life and our outlooks on life. I thought about how the last few years when Thanksgiving rolls around, I never feel like I fully spend enough time focusing on what I'm grateful for in my life. I think that we ought to be continually and daily living a life of gratitude, but it's far too easy to get caught up in the "busy-ness" of our lives and dwell on the things in our life that aren't the way we want them to be. I think this affects our outlook on life and gets in the way of the peace and joy that God has intended for our lives. At least I know this can be true for me.

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
-Colossians 2:6 & 7

I've decided that every day for the rest of the month I am going to think about one thing that I really, truly grateful for in my life. Hopefully this way I can enter into a mindset of gratitude as this year's Thanksgiving approaches, and develop an attitude that hopefully lasts much longer than that. I want to overflow with thankfulness. I would encourage anyone else to do this as well. Let's give thanks to the Lord where thanks is due, and let in the peace and joy that God has in store for our lives.

I'll share today's thought with you. I am so grateful to be working in a place that I enjoy working, with people that are enjoyable to work with, and that allows me to have a flexible schedule. It feels good to know that even though I'm doing 5 million minor things, I am working with a group of people that are working to create a community that seeks and glorifies God. Here's a picture of the people I work with :)