30 Days of Thankfulness - Day 8 & 9

As I expected...there was no blogging for me yesterday! :)  But it's all good...I'll catch up as I can!

Day 8 - Today I am thankful for the life God has given me...it's not often easy, but it's full and I am most certainly blessed beyond what I deserve.

I'll just let you guys know...I wasn't feeling thankful yesterday morning.  I was feeling stressed...down...and ready to focus on the "don't haves".  But I had to re-direct my thoughts.  I don't know that many people have an "easy" life...mine is probably "easier" than I sometimes want to admit.  BUT, it is most certainly a rich, full life filled with people who love me and make me laugh.  And that is truly something to be thankful for!

Day 9 - Today I am thankful for Godly parents...my parents have been such an example of Christ to me...they have shown me grace, mercy, compassion and love.  I am so blessed they are my parents.

This is something I DEFINITELY can be thankful for.  My parents are truly the best.  They have loved me when I didn't deserve it...and have taught me how to be a good parent for Dylan.  There aren't enough words to adequately describe what they mean to me.

With that being said...

Happy Birthday to my Dad! :)  He is most certainly one of the kindest, most humble men I know!

Have a great Wednesday!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day 7

So...to start things off...don't go looking for Day's 1 through 6 of my own personal "30 Days of Thankfulness"...because you won't find them!  Yes, I continue to be a slacker in the blogging department...I have no excuses other than to say that I just haven't done it! 

A few weeks ago, I began to look into my November curriculum for our Children's Worship time (I lead this at our church).  Our "theme" for the month is gratitude...very fitting as we move towards Thanksgiving and then on into Christmas.  I began to think about my own "attitude of gratitude" and I realized that I have a great tendency to focus on what I don't have instead of what I do have. 

So...I decided to devote my daily Facebook statuses to one thing each day that I'm thankful for.  What was really cool is that others have joined in!  And I have been AMAZED at how much more happier I feel.  Now, I won't say that I don't have my moments of aniexty & self-doubt...or that I don't slip into thinking again about what I don't have, can't do and can't give.  But for the most part, taking a moment each day to focus on what I am thankful for...and reading others' notes of thankfulness...has blessed me beyond measure.

With that being said, I am going to transfer my 30 days of thankfulness right here to my blog.  I may have days where I play catch up, like today...but I hope to at least write a few short sentences every day about what I am thankful for.

Here goes! :)

Day 1: I am thankful for my job. The people I work with can drive me crazy, but I'm thankful to be able to have a job where I can laugh a lot and, for the most part, know that work will not be a drudgery every day. Mostly, I'm thankful to be part of a company that strives to serve and honor God with what we do.

Day 2: Today I am thankful for good health. Dylan & I are very rarely sick...this is most certainly a blessing!

Day 3: Today I am thankful for my warm, snuggly bed...however sometimes I like it a little too much!

Day 4: Today I am thankful for the rain...this is a tough one for me...love my sunshine! But I know that the rain is an important part of God's cycle of life for the plants, trees, flowers, etc! So I am thankful for the rain today.

Day 5: Today I am thankful for coffee...especially on a chilly morning when I have to up & out earlier than I prefer!

Day 6: Today I am thankful to have the opportunity to go to church...without fear of my safety, imprisonment or death. Plus I get to work with some great kids...which is a bonus!

Day 7: Today I am thankful for the sunshine...it not only brightens the sky, but it brightens my mood as well!

I look forward to sharing with you my next 23 days of thankfulness...and I encourage you to think about what you are thankful for as well.  You have no idea what a difference it will make in your life perspective!

Have a great Monday!

I'm Still Here!!!! :)

No…you aren't seeing things.  No one hacked my blog…

It really is me updating this thing! 

So, it's been 2 months & 2 days since my last post…but I'm like Heinz Ketchup and Cheese…worth the wait and I get better with time.

Ok - so that was cheese-y…no pun intended!

So…what has kept me occupied for the past 2 months and 2 days?  The same old, same old.  School started on August 25^th…and soccer continues…and in the month of September, Dylan was doing driver's ed.  Driver's ed.  I cannot wrap my mind around the thought that I have a child old enough to drive.

But the driver's ed class was a great source of stress…since I had to have Dylan at school at 6:45…in the morning.  And no matter how tired I was, I could NOT adjust my "going to bed time" earlier to compensate for the early mornings.  My body rebelled…and for three weeks I was exhausted.

The first week of October was the Dixie Classic Fair.  This is one of my most favorite times of the year.  I was only able to go twice this year…the first Friday with my BFF, her hubby & Dylan…and the first Saturday with my family.  As always, it was fun and fall made a guest appearance for the fair…making it so much better.  The Fair is not the Fair unless it's a little bit chilly! :)

Last weekend, our family was supposed to go camping in Fancy Gap, VA; however, my mom & dad have been battling camper issues and the camper finally won.  We improvised our camping at Mom & Dad's with a campfire in their fire pit…we roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. 

My sister & her family went ahead and camped for the weekend and we drove up on Saturday to visit and play a bit.  We went to Galax for lunch…walked around the town…hit some of the stores.  We found a bathtub full of Hot Wheels - Ayden was in HEAVEN! :)

On our way back to the campground, we stopped at one of the overlooks off the Blue Ridge Parkway…

And then we went to an Alpaca farm!

I played with the kiddos on the playground at the campground...

And then we ate dinner…had more s'mores and headed home.  What a great day!

And this sweet little boy turned TWO yesterday!  We are celebrating big time this weekend! :)

Fall decided to set in for good yesterday.  Again…the yoyo weather of NC is just fabulous.  It was in the 80's on Monday & Tuesday…today's high is 60.  But the sun is out…the skies are blue…the leaves are turning.  It really is a great time to be in NC!  I have yet to turn my heat on…my original goal was to leave it off until October 1^st…now I'm trying to make it to November 1^st…but the next few days are going to be chilly…so I may be a little short on my goal!

Work has been crazy…we are down to one "office girl"…which would be ME.  It's been nice because I've kept pretty busy.  I'd prefer to be busy than to sit here and twiddle my thumbs!  But during my lunch breaks, when I used to blog, I've needed more of a "veg" time than a time when I had to think about writing and such!  I would love to get back into this so I'm not posting monthly (or bi-monthly) updates…but we shall see.  I miss reading your lovely posts and seeing what you are up to!  Any old time you are wondering about me, please feel free to drop me a line at brwnidgrljenn@gmail.com.  I'm trying to re-enter the Twitter world too…so if you are on Twitter, you can find me - @brwnidgrljenn.

Hope you are all well!  Hope to see you again soon!

Where in the world has Jenn been???

I'm hoping there's at least one or two people out there that have been wondering where I've been!  It's been well over a month since my last blog...which was really more of a "I'm taking time off" post than anything.  Things here were stale...bo-ring...and I do somewhat have a life outside of this virtual world!  I have to watch myself...sometimes I allow myself to be sucked in to the computer world and it keeps me from investing myself deeply enough into my "real" world.

Anyway...so, what have I been up to since my last post?  Well...let's see...

 - I dog-sat my parent's sweet Basset Hound, Cookie.

She is quite possibly the most people-dependent dog I know.  She doesn't like to be left alone...and she really could be more appropriately named "Shadow"...because that's what she does!  But she was a very good house guest and we will probably have her again over Labor Day Weekend when Mom & Dad go to the beach!

 - Then...I took a trip to Florida.

We drove.

In a church bus.

With 20-some kids.

Now, normally from Winston-Salem, it would take...oh about 10 hours to get to Orlando.  Maybe 12 if you factor in bathroom breaks, traffic, meal breaks, etc.

When you factor in a broken down bus, sitting on the side of 95 for an hour and 4-5 hours sitting in a McDonalds just off 95...then the trip takes more along the lines of 18 hours.

We left at 8:30 on Sunday morning...and arrived in Orlando at 2:30 in the morning on Monday morning.

BUT, our time in Orlando was great.  We did Vacation Bible School for the children living at the Orlando Rescue Mission...got to do a few mission projects for the Mission and prepared a meal for the residents on Friday night! 

AND, on Thursday we went to Universal...which was sooooo much fun.

And then...we came home.

We had rented two 15-passenger vans at the airport in Savannah to get us to Orlando...so we had to pick up the bus in Savannah.

Which never quite worked right...

But was making it OK until we hit traffic on 85...only about 45 minutes from home...which is where the bus died AGAIN.

So...we left Orlando at 8:00am-ish...and I walked in my door at 12:45am Sunday morning.

Needless to say...traveling to Orlando on a bus is not in my plans anytime soon!

So...on to what I've been doing...

 - Dylan stayed in Orlando for another week after we left to visit with his grandparents, an aunt & uncle and his cousins.  He had a great time...and wasn't ready to come home...even though he'd been gone already for two weeks! 

And I hate to say that I think I have a Floridian on my hands...he loves Florida...the heat and all. 

So...he's scheming to go to college in Florida.

My heart is breaking...

;)

 - Dylan flew home on Saturday...and then I left on the following Wednesday after work to head to the beach for 4 glorious days with my BFF.  This was my view for most of the day on Thursday...

We had the best time...lots of time spent on the beach...lots of movie watching...just a little bit of shopping and a whole lot of good times.

Quite honestly, I didn't want to come home! :)

 - This week Dylan has started soccer again...so, we have gotten very busy...very quickly. 

Dylan is the middle guy in white with orange shoes...my phone doesn't do good long distance shots! :)

School starts again next week!  Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Dylan being done with exams and school work!  And now, I have a SOPHOMORE in high school!  I keep asking myself "How did that happen?" :)

I'm not sure where this blog is headed from here.  I'm debating.  I don't really have time to read a lot of blogs...so...I'm just not sure at this point.  So, I'll check in from to time!  Hope you are all well!

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

I am a total creature of habit.  I do the same things, in the same way, basically every day.

I have to do things in "order"...when I shower, I wash my hair...wash my face...wash my body...shave what needs to be shaved.  I have to do it in that order.  If I don't, I will forget something.

Or I will use my face wash on my hair and conditioner on my face.

It has happened.

When I get to work, I follow the same "order" every morning...get coffee, log on to my computer, start my radio station live stream, check my yahoo e-mail, check Facebook and then check my work e-mail. 

Over and over...

Just like the back of the shampoo bottle says - lather, rinse, repeat.

And sometimes things just get stale.

And that's how I feel about this blogging thing.

I've been doing the same things over and over and over...

And it's just stale for me right now.

So...for now, blogging is going to be moved to the back burner.

And if you are looking for me on Twitter, there's a good chance I won't show up there either.

For me, blogging & Twitter represent my virtual world.  I don't know the people in the blog world or the Twitter world in real life, with only a very few exceptions.

This isn't the end...

It's just "till I see you again".

Almost Wordless Wednesday...

One of my favorite twins is dealing with something no 18 year old should have to go through.  Her 19 yr old boyfriend was hit by a boat while tubing with his family in Nebraska.  His younger brother (12) died at the scene in the same accident. 

And while this whole thing is horribly sad...there is good coming out of it too.

Matt is an organ donor.  They expect for around 60 people to benefit from his organs and tissue that will be donated.  Matt was always a giving kid.  And he will continue to give, even in his death.

Please pray for the families affected here.  They will need all of the love, support & prayers they can get.

Once again this year, I am reminded of how precious life truly is.  Make sure you tell your friends & family how much they mean to you...we are not promised tomorrow.

Fifteen years later...

This sweet baby boy...

has kept me very busy for the past 15 years.

He walked at 9 1/2 months...

And ran at 9 3/4 months! :)

Today...he still keeps me busy...still runs...a lot...and I couldn't be prouder to be his mom!

Happy 15th Birthday, Dylan!