I'm Thankful To Be Me

I'm at a place in my life now, where I can look around and recognize the good that is there and have gratitude for these blessings. It's so easy to compare our lives to others and wish for bigger and better earthly treasures, most of which do not bring lasting happiness. So with tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I'd like to share what I'm thankful for this year.

*My children. They make life so much better and more interesting. They make me smile, laugh, and enjoy being a mother so much. I know I was meant to be their mother and that I am doing exactly what I should at this point in my life.

*A husband who works hard to provide for our family. This is a huge comfort and blessing.

*My friends. I have many different types of friends, and each one is special. They make my life better. Every woman needs to have at least one good friend she can rely on and I feel lucky to have more than one.

*My home. I feel safe, warm, and secure.

*My parents, siblings, and extended family. I feel like I really hit the jackpot in this category. I'm proud to be a daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, cousin, and granddaughter to those people.

*My church. It brings comfort to me, makes my life better, and makes me want to be a better person. I'm thankful I can be with my family eternally.

*My health. I've lead a healthy life and have been blessed with a strong body to carry me forward to do the things I needed to do.

*Books. I'm thankful that I love to read. I love reading to my children as well. I'm thankful that I have access to a library, bookstore, and other places where books are readily available. We can continually educate ourselves and stimulate our minds.

*The Internet. I have reconnected with old friends, stayed in touch with family members, and had access to innumerable amounts of information that has helped our family. It is truly an amazing thing.

*The access to grocery stores, hospitals, banks, schools, gas stations, clothing stores, and all other places that make my life easier.

I feel like the more I reflect on what I am thankful for, the clearer my blessings seem. I have everything I need in my life and then some.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Brrrr.......

*photo via

What a cold, frosty, foggy morning it is. I was hoping we'd get to keep our crisp nice days for Thanksgiving. I had to send Kendle to the bus with a hat, gloves, and scarf and I'm still worried she won't be warm enough. It's so foggy that I couldn't see her walking farther than a few houses before it swallowed her up. I remember when I was a kid how much I used to hate walking to the bus in the cold winter weather and stand there waiting. It really annoys me how far Kendle has to walk to her bus stop. It's not "five miles in the snow and uphill both ways" far, but to a little six year old it's quite the walk in the morning. And it's on the corner of a busy street, which always worries me because people drive way too fast on Wrigley in the morning. Anywho, I would love to say I'm going to curl up by the fire with a blanket, drink some hot cocoa, and relax today - but Thanksgiving is in two days! I've got to finish some laundry, make sure the bedrooms are clean, (it's always better to come home to a clean bedroom when you've been away right?), and make a last minute run to the store. I thought I was totally done, but alas, something inevitably is forgotten or needed. I'm the snack lady so I'm bringing my famous little smokie wraps, a cheese ball and crackers, and layered bean dip and chips.

*Extra credit: What's your favorite snack to take to family gatherings?

Twilight

*If you have not watched the movie yet you might not want to read this.

3 Things I disliked about the movie:

1.)Horrible hair and makeup.

2.)All of Kristen Stewart's gasps, breaths, and random pauses during her and Edward's conversations. The hospital scene at the end seriously had me digging my fingernails into the palms of my hand it was so hard to listen to.

3.)Not enough of a buildup of Edward and Bella's relationship (but for time's sake I guess they couldn't fit it all in).


3 1/2 Things I loved:

1.)Edward. The part in the movie where he picks Bella up for school and is wearing those groovy sunglasses basically sealed the deal for me.

2.)The baseball scene. Probably my favorite part of the whole movie. Maybe it's because I love sports, or maybe because it was fun to actually see the Cullen's interacting with each other and not being so serious. I loved when Edward and Emmett went for the same ball and tackled each other in the air. That was FUN to watch. Awesome.

3.)Bella's truck, house, school and the overall location shots of the forests and gloomy, rainy days. It was pretty much exactly how I imagined everything in the book.

3 1/2). Clean language for the most part, not including some stupid teenage banter. I don't remember any swear words. Correct me if I'm wrong.


3 Things that I thought were odd:

1.)Did they have some sort of sponsorship with Rainier Beer? Every scene of Charlie had a close up of his can of beer or a six-pack.

2.)Jacob Black's whiter than white teeth.

3.)All of the Cullen's looked odd, and the other vampires - James, Laurent, and Victoria looked pretty normal (as normal as being buff and extremely good looking can be). Their skin didn't look chalky and their hair looked more natural. Is it because the Cullen's are "vegetarian" vampires? Maybe we'll never know. Give me your theories.


Overall I liked the movie and Riley liked the movie. I'm glad I went with him because he has a totally different take on the books than I do, and it was fun to compare our favorite parts of the movie and what we thought of the characters. I was actually surprised at how many guys were in the theater when we went to see it. I went into it knowing it wasn't going to be the best movie ever, I knew they had a small budget and it wasn't going to be on the same level as Batman. My little sister actually compared it too something akin to an after school special on the special effects front. But in my humble opinion, I was still pretty happy with it, and I think if they are able to make the rest of the books into movies (which it sounds like they will since Twilight had the amazing opening weekend that they needed) they should most likely keep getting better. Riley and I discussed how the first Harry Potter movie was pretty cheesy when you compare it the more recent ones that have been made, and hopefully that will be the same case with the Twilight series because I could definitely take three more movies with Edward Cullen.

Friday to do list:

*Go Grocery Shopping

*Take books back to the drop off at Walmart

*Make hair appointment

*Tidy up the house

*Make cookies

*Play with the Morgster

*Do some on-line shopping

*Wipe down the piano (can you say fingerprint central?)

*Kick back and relax

*Have pizza with friends



Have a fun Friday ya'll!!!

*And this is going to have me laughing all day! Thanks Tam.