Thankful

Yesterday Karen and Kerry came over with Kerry's daughter Emma..

Playing hide and seek....Not sure who was seeking.....

.it was SO awesome to see them again.  Since Emma started pre-school and Karen started working part time, we don't see each other every week like we used to...and man, how I miss that!!  Miss Karen makes beautiful cakes....Check out her blog here.

THE yummiest chocolate cake with raspberry filling!!!

It was awesome.  Wonderful visit.  Plus Karen brought some meals AND made supper for us....Taco Cupcakes.  (No, not really cupcakes...)  She found the recipe on Pinterest!!

I'm so behind on my jewelry, so that's what I'm doing today...working like a madwoman. 

I will post pictures on my facebook page when I'm done.....Having a special right now (I'm going to extend it):  Buy one item at $15.00 or more, and get a second item of equal or lesser value at 50% off!!

Check it out! https://www.facebook.com/MGKerriJewelry

THANKFUL THINGS

Yah.  I'm WAAAAY behind on my 5 thankful things a day, so I need to list a BUNCH today.  Like 35.  SO. 
I am thankful for:

1. rainbows 2. butterflies 3. my new verizon data card thingy 4. Christmas 5. my mom and dad 6. my pillows, 7. FANS (like the kind that blow air) 8. friends who make me laugh 9. jewelry 10. missionaries 11. people who genuinely care for others and show it 12. medicine 13. doctors (some) 14. duct tape 15. my printer/copier (I love making copies!) 16. office supplies in general (I'm a junkie) 17. my trach (because I can breathe) 18. that I'm going to North Carolina to see my sistah from another mistah in March 19. that my husband is supportive of 90% of the things I do (well, he's not TOTALLY perfect!!  All the important stuff). 20. that even though my craft show bombed, my hubby was there to support me and make all the cool velvet covered boards for display 21. my adorable child who has infinite patience (at times) with his sick Mommy 22. almond roca 23. mousetraps 24. turkeys and chickens because they make great blog fodder AND eat lots of bugs 25. That even though my daddy is sick we are still going to bring Thanksgiving to them tomorrow 26. friends and family who are helping with Jacob while I have to get pheresis while my dad is still recovering (thanks Lori and Lynelle!!!) 27. Others who have volunteered to help 28. Leah Guis's banket.  OH MY GOODNESS. 29. Friends who share things they can't use anymore 30. that I'm FINALLY getting a really good start on my book 31. chocolate 32. people who donate plasma and blood so that I can keep getting the treatments that keep me alive 33. all the new MG friends I've made on facebook the last couple of months 34. babies in general 35. being able to blog

So I'm caught up through today.  Whew!  I really am thankful for everything, but I want to try to be specific and list 5 different things a day.  What are YOU thankful for today???  Doesn't have to be five...just one.

Crazy Busy

My gosh.  I don't know how I'm still functional....writing, jewelry, family, my dad, etc..... CRAZY.  But I have 80 pages of my book on Word.  Whoo to the Hoo.  Anywho.  Making it quick today with my 5 thankful things.

1.  I'm thankful we are having WONDERFUL friends over tonight for pizza and the Redneck Game.  I am thankful they are willing to come out here because it's SO much easier for me...thanks Kerry, Karen, Tim and Todd!

2.  I am thankful for my husband, who supports my "hobbies" and even enjoys picking things out for me that I might like to use in my jewelry. (Of course they are always from the clearance rack, but hey.  It works!)

3. I am thankful that my big boy went all night without a diaper.  Necessity is the mother of invention...AND progress....Jacob had hives last night for some reason, and around where his diaper would have been was horrible.  I couldn't put one on him...so we just went without, said a little prayer, and I woke him up to go potty at 3 AM when I woke up to go.  He just stumbled in and out and went right back to sleep. YAY!!

4.  I am thankful that it is November, and the sky is as bright blue as my darling Jacob's eyes.

5.  I am thankful that my sister is coming to visit me tomorrow to make jewelry with me!

Everyone have a BLESSED day.

Veterans Day

Today, we remember.

I am thankful:

1.  For all those who so willingly sacrificed their lives for this country, so that MY family can be safe and live in a country where we have freedoms others would literally kill or die to have.

2.  For the families of those who serve, who are also willing to make the sacrifice of having their loved one gone.  Missing birthdays.  Missing their babies being born...their first steps....they first words....their first everythings... We need to remember this every. single. day.  People are missing loved ones right now so that WE can be free.

3.  For those who have served in the past and are living among us today.  For those, especially like the veterans from Vietnam, who did not receive a hero's welcome:  YOU ARE HEROES.  You deserved so much more.  Thank you for your service.

4.  For God, who protects our service men and women, who hears our prayers.

5.  For a country in which I can write what I want to without fear of punishment.  I can talk about my faith, I can criticize the government, I can express MY opinion without hesitation because we live in a free land.  But as the saying goes, "Freedom isn't Free."  MANY have paid in blood, sweat and tears so we can have these privileges.  Let's not take that for granted.  Let's remember veterans EVERY day, not just on November 11.

God Bless Us All.

TEN things

I was so excited and out of my mind busy yesterday trying to coordinate about 17,345 things that I forgot to list my 5 things I'm thankful for...so today I am listing 9...even though there are many, many more.

1.  I am thankful that I am BUSY!  Because that means I have the strength to accomplish what I want to!

2.  I am thankful for my family of origin.  Although no family is perfect, the more I see of others' families, the more thankful I am that my own was what is was: we were loved.  We were taken care of.  A lot was expected of us (ergo we have a work ethic....a foreign concept to many these days).  We had one mom, and one dad.  We had a lot of siblings and a lot of fights but a lot of fun.

3.  I am thankful that my family of origin was a Christian one.  I don't have any jaw-dropping conversion story, because I remember asking Jesus to come into my heart when I was 8.  I don't ever remember a time God wasn't a part of my life, and for that...well, thankful just doesn't cover it.

4.  Although I don't have a jaw dropping conversion story,  I have a jaw-dropping testimony.  There have been times I have felt like Job.  And there have been times I have felt like Judas.  But ALL the time, I have known in my heart of hearts that God would never leave me or forsake me.  No matter what I did or didn't do, He loved me, and He loves me still.

5.  I am thankful for Cindy-Lou from Bugtussle.  There are so many things that I could say about her...I will just say that she is the ying to my yang...she KNOWS me...she has MG like me.  Don't get me wrong...I am thankful for ALL of my MG friends....Rachel, my cheerleader/but kicker (whom I ADORE for being EXACTLY the way she is)...Ellen, my prayer warrior....new friends, old friends...there are too many to name...just know that I love you ALL and would be lost without your prayers and support.  But my CindyLou.  There is just a special bond there.  She is my other half.  We are trying to figure out how she has a different birthday than mine because we are convinced we were separated at birth.

6.  I am thankful for lifetime friends like Joanna, who never fails to make me laugh.  She makes it her mission, I dare say.  We have shared some HILARIOUS moments, some serious moments, some not-so-shining moments, and I'm thankful for every. single. one.

7.  I am thankful for friends like Patty Ann and Joanne, one out west and one in Central America...whom I never would have met without blogging.  Whoda thunk I, little Miss Mid -West, would be sisters in the Lord with a Canadian living in Belize??  IIIIII know!  And Patty Ann....this woman does NOT have MG, but she has had her share of struggles.  Yet EVERY time I hear from her (which is usually every day in one way or another) she encourages ME and tells me how amazing I am.  EVERYONE needs a "Patty Ann" in their lives.  But you can't have mine. : )

8.  I am thankful, thankful, thankful that my Daddy is HOME!!!!  He is cancer-free and Lord willing will stay that way and just keep getting stronger every day. Thank you Jesus.

9.  And most of all, without a doubt, I am thankful for Jesus, my Lord and Savior, who willingly chose to die a vicious, brutal death to pay the price for MY ticket to heaven.  Yesterday I wrote about being a mom and how it has really deepened my understanding of God's love for me as His child...becoming a parent changes a LOT.  Everything really.  Nothing is ever about you again.  And for God, it's always been that way.  It's not about HIM....He is all about US.  Pretty amazing if you ask me.  I really don't think I could send my son across the street for a spanking to save someone else from getting one, let alone send him away for 33 years to live among people who hated him, and then murdered him....Think about that today, will you?  Whether or not you have children, imagine sacrificing a person you love more than life itself, for people who wouldn't appreciate it and certainly didn't deserve it. Powerful stuff.

Thankful Every Day

Gonna keep it short today.  I signed up for NaNoWriMo, and am very serious about it.  So I'm doing that (and I'm kicking butt on word count, I'm at 9504!!! The goal for day 3 is 5001.)  But, I've always been an overachiever.

Anyway, I'm doing that, telling people I'm still sicker than a dog (well, I can see SLIGHT improvement), Doug is now sick, but I'm still listing 5 things I'm thankful for every day this month.

1.  I am thankful that God made the sky blue and trees green and rainbows and flowers and all the beautiful colors they are.  He could have made everything in shades of gray, or yellow, or brown, we never would have known the difference.  Yet the beauty of this world is SO captivating to me.

2.  I am thankful that my Dad is doing well, and that his surgery went well, and that he is up and moving.
3.  I am thankful for pizza.  Seriously.  Whoever made the first pizza:  I love you.
4.  I am thankful for my house.  I complain about being out in the middle of nowhere, but in my mind, there is no better place for a boy to grow up.  He runs around with his dog, he catches frogs and butterflies and plays outside every possible second he can.  He doesn't play video games or moan about how bored he is, he's out and about and that's because of where we live.
5.  I am thankful for every U.S. soldier, past, present and future.  I thank you for sacrificing your time with your family.  I thank you for being willing to put your very life on the line for ME and MY family.  I am thankful for the families of the soldiers, past, present and future.  Thank you for your sacrifice of having that loved one safe at home with you.  And for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, "thanks" is the least I can give.  We ARE the land of the free, but only because we are also the home of the BRAVE.