My List...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving (alright, alright, I'm a week behind), I have decided to come up with a *few* things I am grateful for...so here it goes:

1. My Parents- who have been married for 40 years (!)-how often does that happen these days?? I am so grateful to have them as examples, not only in marriage, but in life, for they are Christ followers themselves and they are the ones who initially led me towards Christ.

2. My Sisters/Brother/In-Laws- I would say in my childhood there was a bit of a disconnect with me and my older sister, Beth, which is only to be expected, I mean she is 11 years older than me!! But I'm happy to say that in my adult years, I have felt closer and closer to her and her family, including her husband, Derek. I admire her for her creativity, her faith, and her diligence. I watch how they are with their kids and am grateful for more Christ-like examples. My brother, John, has always been special to me. Maybe cause he's my only brother, maybe because we shared a room all those years, but I love him very much...even if he does live so far away! And I love his wife Karen, she is this amazing woman of God. She is an example in grace, mercy, and beauty and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful woman in our family! My sister Sarah is closest to me in age. Growing up we got to share a lot of special things together (Go Fillies!) and I treasure those memories. She was always the one I immediately looked up to, she was intelligent, witty, and I always envied her ability to talk to anyone. I am grateful that she has Jon, who is equally as witty! He is also giving and caring towards Sarah and I'm so glad she found him!

3. Niece/Nephews-it wasn't until 13 years ago when Grace was born that I ever felt like I wanted kids or, for that matter, even liked kids. In addition to Grace, I now have Grant, Matt, Andrew, and Mack. I love these kids SO much, I can't even imagine what it must be like to have your own!

4. Friends- I definitely have too many here to mention by name. Just know how grateful I am for those I've known since elementary, middle, high school, since TJC, since A&M, since The Village...I am so grateful for your friendships!! And I am so lucky to have such strong women around me who love the Lord. It feels so nice to be able to talk to my friends about Jesus, knowing that they serve the same God I do!
I love you all very much, and am thankful that many of you have wonderful husbands who don't mind hanging out with an odd number (me, you, your hubby-shout out to Jesse Bellington who takes the cake on that one!)

5. My church, The Village-I love this place. I've been going for about two years, and pretty much enjoyed it from the beginning. But I think as I've gotten plugged in, found a homegroup, served in Little Village, I've really grown to LOVE this church. I love that when we are getting ready to greet and hold doors open for people we begin in prayer. I love that in the nursery rooms with babies we have specific verses to pray over them. I love that our leadership seeks the Lord and realizes the importance of prayer. This past week has been trying for my church, we are moving, our pastor is having health issues, but when I went to church on Sunday, it wasn't about all of that. It was about Christ...it all was/is about Christ...the focus was not lost in all of the things that were and are happening around us. We still don't know what is going on with our pastor, but we pray...and as we pray we know this: Christ is all!!!

6. My job- I am grateful that I even have a job to begin with...that someone pays me to teach dance!! How lucky am I? And I even get to wear sweatpants to work everyday!! I am grateful and HOPEFUL that somewhere in the 100+ kids I have, I will make some kind of positive difference on one of them. It's the kind of job that doesn't always see immediate results, especially in areas of influence, but I hope for it. I hope for the kids I see everyday. I hope that they will know Jesus, I hope that they will be successful in school, I hope that they will gain knowledge and wisdom. And I love that the Lord shows me that my life is not defined by my job, and yet, he still allows me to have a great one and enjoy myself while doing it!

7. CHRIST- The Lord is GOOD!!! He is growing me, shaping me, molding me. It may be a slow going, but it's going. I am thankful because he lavished his grace and mercy on me and continues to do so today. I am thankful because his Son took my place. I am thankful for his love...for he is LOVE!

What I've been up to...

I haven't really written much lately. I've been so busy with school, football season (still in playoffs!), and church stuff. Our church is moving into a new place next weekend so there's been a lot of preparation and such leading up to this move. It's weird because I've only been at this church for about two years, but something about walking into the place feels like home. It's because of this, and other reasons, that the move has kind of turned bittersweet. It all seems silly because after all, it's just a building. But I think it's more about the things that happened in that building, the life change, the friendships, serving together...all of it. In the words of Monica Gellar, "It's the end of an era!"

So the seasons change and so do we. We move next weekend. And soon enough the new place will feel like home.

And perhaps soon I will have some free time to write more, cause I definitely feel like I need to write. In the meantime, here's a bit of what I've been up to...

Football Games:


A Wedding:


Thanksgiving Day/A&M vs. UT football with Mack:


Christmas Decorations are up!:

Missing...

I like to travel...a lot. And I've been lucky to do a little bit of traveling. I find now that when things get hectic, either in good or bad ways, I tend to miss the places I've traveled to most, London and New York.

I think I'm missing New York mostly because of the holidays. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas, you have no idea. It almost feels like it isn't real because they've come up so fast. And there's something about New York during the holidays...the crowds, the lights, the window displays, everything! I just love it! It truly feels magical!!



As for London...I just love London. I built it up in my head so much as a young teen, I was worried the first time I went that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. But it did. Everything was just as I had imagined. I can't really pinpoint why I love London so much, but I do. I hope to return soon...

Friday Night Lights

So I haven't written in a while, mostly because I've just been so crazy busy with football season in full swing...and now on to playoffs.

I think those of us who spend our Friday nights at football games kind of all belong to a special club of our own because it takes a lot to do what we do. We spend countless hours at the schools with our kids, sometimes we see them more than we see our own families. And why? Because we love our activity, be it football,cheerleading, or drill team. We just love it. I think that's why I love Friday nights at the football games because we are all there, excited, doing what we do best.

So here's to my fellow friends who spend their Fridays under the lights...