My Saving Grace

Gatorade and Saltines.

Why in the world would that be my saving grace? I have two words for you.

Stomach. Virus.

Why must the stomach virus even exist? I could seriously be happy for the rest of my life if I never had that again. It’s my second go around with this in my lifetime. Really? Once was enough.

This weekend was all planned out with Christmas shopping with my sister, but that plan was cancelled last night. Maybe I can get what I need Monday evening with Colby!

It will be nice to finally see him and spend some time with him after all the working he’s been doing lately. I miss him terribly, but I’m thankful for him having such a wonderful job that cares so much about them and their families.

For now though, I’m going to rest up for the rest of the night and watch Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood.

Hope you all are having a terrific weekend!

My Take On It

I’ve been looking for some inspiration for Christmas, and while I’ve already started decorating, I put my own take on these bits of inspiration. I can’t wait to share all of it with you! In the mean time, I’ll just share with you my inspiration!

All of these bits of inspiration come from none other than Southern Living!

So, go get your Christmas on!

I Am Thankful: Part II

Today has been a steady reminder of all that I am thankful for. I got up this morning to get ready to spend my first Thanksgiving with my husband. Since he had to work though {booooo}, I had to go to him.

Don’t you worry though. We ate just like we would at my grandmother’s house {if not better}. The food was amazing!!! Everyone pitched in and brought something. I am so thankful that Colby works for a fire department that is so family friendly and really cares about their workers.

I am also thankful for these little Indians.

This was my first Thanksgiving experience with my kids at school. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT!!! However, I have to say that it went pretty well. Next year, I think I’ll be able to prepare a little bit better.

I am so very thankful for the job I have. I would have never pictured myself teaching kindergarten, but it is so much more than I imagined it would be. Kindergarten is not what is used to  be folks! I feel blessed to even have a job because I know there were so many out there competing to get the same jobs I applied for. I work with outstanding people, and I feel truly blessed to enjoy my job.

As for the little things I’m thankful for:

• A good campfire
• Hot chocolate
• Having my Christmas tree up
• Financial stability
• A house to give me shelter
• Terrific friends
• Home cooked meals
• Cooler weather
• Spending every moment I can with my wonderful husband

I hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving! I’ll have more to share later, but my pictures aren’t quite ready.

I Am Thankful…

I have so much to be thankful for this year. This year has been so eventful and full of happiness that it would be ridiculous of me to not express my thanks for all of the blessings in my life.

To begin, I’m thankful for the abiding love that God has for me. A self-less man gave his life for our sins so that we would have eternal life with God in the riches of heaven. I sit in amazement each and every time I read the Easter story and imagine the pain he faced all for us. If we all could be so selfless…

Second, I’m thankful for this man….

He is the most amazing husband and best friend to me. He pushes me to do my best and gives tough love to me when I feel like I can’t go anymore. Yet, he loves me unconditionally and is always there to make me smile and laugh to brighten my day. He gives me attention that no one else could fulfill and knows just when to give a little extra. Events in the past few months have really brought to life how lucky I am to have him by my side each and every day. It has truly made me aware to not take for granted a simple “I love you.” It may be the last.

I’m also thankful for these people…

My family. My immediate family. My in-laws.

They are all absolutely wonderful. They always provide insight into the unknown and share their experiences to light the way for me. I couldn’t ask for a better family or in-laws. Amazing! That’s exactly what they are.

For the rest of the week, I’ll be sharing what I’m thankful for. I really have so much. It can’t fit into one post. I encourage you to do the same. What are you thankful? Think past the negative and focus on the positive.

A Change…

So, I’m venturing out again to try to attempt updating the look of my blog. I want bigger photos! I’m tired of those tiny things! Not to mention that I hate the new template designer on Blogger.

After finally searching and trying to figure out a way to get what I want, I have finally found it. I’m aware that the header is WAY too big. Give me time. It is a work in progress.

As for me, I’ve been trying to get this house clean. The Christmas party for my friends is at my house this year, and I would like for things to look presentable. I know what you’re thinking. Brenna, it’s not even Thanksgiving. Yes, but if I don’t get a start now while I have a break from school, it is very unlikely to get done.

I must say I’m thoroughly enjoying my Thanksgiving break. It’s been nice to knock out some projects that I’ve been wanting to do, but have just simply been too exhausted to do.

I’ve also been able to do some reading of blogs, and I found this great idea from a friend of mine over at Walking By Faith. Her blog post led me to discover the wonderful world of Sips and Strokes. I, however, do not live near one of these places, and I have no artistic ability to do something like this no matter how much they say ANYONE can do it. Theirs, however, turned out great!

This is what I’m thinking I want one lovely person I know to paint me {with her own personal touch of course}! You’ll have to check it out here though.

I’ll be giving you a peek into what I’m thinking for Christmas this year! Oh, I can’t wait!

No Rest for Me

It is officially Thanksgiving holidays! Major break from school! I cannot tell you how happy I am to see this break. I am SO EXHAUSTED it is ridiculous.

Tonight I’ve been trying to finish some things for school that are super important, so my ultimate goal of cleaning the house right when I got home did not happen.

Three rooms are all I have done in the house. I am at the point where I feel like a bit of failure for not being able to get everything done and KEEP a clean house. I suppose it is all just wishful thinking, but I’m sure there are some people out there who can make it happen.

I can’t imagine what it is going to be like one day when I have kids. Craziness!

Now, I’m sitting on my couch, and I’m hardly able to move. My whole body seems to ache. I’m trying to figure out how in the world I’m going to get things done and rest since we’re going out of town tomorrow to celebrate a wedding. And, I’m trying to hold these eyes of mine open, so I can talk to my husband again to find out the plans.

You know when you feel like you’ve gone and gone and gone until you can’t go anymore??? That’s me. I’m so far beyond exhaustion that I can hardly stand anyone or anything.

Silence right now is actually a joy.

Now that I’ve typed this though, I’m not actually proud of this. I shouldn’t be complaining. I should just be thankful for having a job, a roof over my head, and great friends.

Sorry for being a downer and for my rant. Just keeping it real.

Moo!

For the first time in a very long time it seems, I actually had a day off on a day that Colby was not working at the fire department. For some reason, that seems to seldom happen.

Veteran’s Day broke the trend we had going on though, and I had the opportunity to keep my niece, Aly, that whole day. Surprisingly, it was a pretty easy day.

She’s really taken a liking to her Uncle Colby and lights up when she sees him or knows that he’s going to take her somewhere.

For the most part of the day, we stuck around the house only to leave for some BBQ for lunch. We watched Uncle Colby fix some things, we played with the cat, and we argued about having to go back inside to take a nap.

With a little coaxing and deal making, she very easily went down for a nap. It went a little something like “if you want to go see the cows, you have to take a nap.” Nice, huh?

Aunt B on one end of the couch and Sis on the other. She was asleep in a matter of minutes.

She woke up just in time for Uncle Colby to take us out to my parents’ farm. Since they’re out of town, their cow feeding, mail-checking, dog-feeding duties were passed along to us.

Sis didn’t mind though. It was the highlight of her day.

She has her very own feed bucket thanks to Nana and Pop Pop.

She had a terrific day with Aunt B and Uncle Colby! I can’t wait to give her a try in an overnight stay. That should be interesting =)

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!