(Belated) Thanksgiving List

I know we didn't post much about Thanksgiving, but we had a very nice long weekend. Our Dad's sister and her family came down from Delaware to spend the holiday with us, and it was super fun! We really didn't do too much, just hung out and enjoyed each other's company (and watched quite a bit of the office). Altogether a very enjoyable weekend.

However I realized that although i had posted a Christmas list I never wrote a Thanksgiving list. How backwards is that?

So here's is my thankful list:

1. God, He is amazingly faithful and has brought me so far this year. I can't begin to express how incredibly grateful I am for a God who loves me in spite of myself.
2. My family. They are awesome, and that's a fact. They help me through the hard times and rejoice with me during the good times.
3. Friends, I've got some great friends. I'm discovering (as I get older) the difference between fair weather friends and good friends and I have been blessed with several good friends that make my life richer just by knowing them.
4. Music! I'm deeply in love with music. It thrills me to no end when i realize that i will never run out of new music to discover and familiar songs to sing my heart out to.
5. Good health. Although I was sick a few times this year, altogether I have very good health. Two of my uncles have gone through really rough times health-wise in the last year, but they are both wonderfully recovered or recovering! Praise God!
6. My church. My family is incredibly blessed with an wonderful church. 

All-in-all I am a very, very blessed individual. I too often dwell on the negatives instead of the positives.

 I'm reading a book about family living in the slums of South Africa and the more I read the more I realize how incredibly blessed I am. I have food and a home and freedom.

And i did absolutely nothing to deserve everything I've been blessed with, which makes me even more thankful, I deserve nothing of what God has given me, yet he continually blesses me.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is, never take for granted what you are blessed with, never cease being thankful. Look for ways to bless others. Stop focusing on what you don't have and appreciate what you do!

~Katie

Musical Mondays

Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap 

This song was featured in the movie 500 Days of Summer which I loved! The movie comes out on DVD in December, (just in time for Christmas). Speaking of Christmas, can you believe it's only twenty-six days away? Time flies. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Happy Monday!

"If music be the food of love, play on." 

- William Shakespeare 

- Emily

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

                                              

                                                  

Happy Birthday to our splendidly superb, serenely sweet, stupendously smart, slyly sarcastic, super stunning cousin sarah!

who is so graciously sharing her birthday with the pilgrims.

we love you so much!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever!" - Psalm 107:1 

Happy Thanksgiving! There are so many things to be thankful for! Today and everyday I'm trying not to focus on the negative things in my life, but instead dwell on the Lord's blessings. My thankful list for today is:

1. God's enduring love!

2. My wonderful family

3. Lovely friends

4. A great church family

5. Provision

6. Health

7. A break from TLC (teen learning center)

8. Delicious food!

I hope everyone has a blessed day!

- Emily

i'm wishing for...

these are some of the items at the top of my christmas list this year.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

1. map of paris
2. peg bookshelves
3. holga
4. butterfly garden dress
5. 80s mini dress

i'm especially hoping for the map of paris (hint hint, mom).
i would also love a leather jacket, but i haven't found the right one yet.

~katie

Musical Mondays

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of every day life." 

- Berthold Auerbach

I've decided to start a new series on our blog: Musical Mondays. Every Monday (hopefully), I'll be sharing a song to enlighten and delight your ears! To start things off, here is a song I've been listening to constantly. Literally. As in I listened to it for two hours Saturday. And yes I do have a life, I was traveling and cleaning while it was on repeat. Enjoy!

- Emily

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

We love you,

Katie, Emily and Abby

Things.

This week has been hard for me. I feel ridiculous and stupid. After spending time in prayer, I have come to the conclusion that I need to let go of the situation and let God have complete control. For me this is easier said than done. I love my Heavenly Father and trust Him, but it is easier for me to be sad and moody than to be happy and hopeful. I'm trying though.

On a better note, Thanksgiving is coming soon, and our family from Delaware is coming in! I'm so excited, because we usually see my mom's side of the family more and we'll be getting to spend at least one holiday with some of my dad's. Don't get me wrong, I will miss my mom's family a lot, but I'm happy we'll get to see some of my extended family. Whoohoo!

 - Abigail

.

parachutes

it's rainy here today...ick
the bottom 6 inches of my pants are wet.
i'm pretty sure uncc does not want me to get into any of the classes i need.
my economics class has ceased to be even mildly interesting (which is why i'm writing this during class).
and i have a headache.


i've been in a pretty negative mood this morning. after trudging around campus in the rain all morning, going back and forth between the psychology building and the geology building trying desperately to get into the classes I need (which seem to have filled up two days before i could register) i was ready to give up, skip classes and go home. but i didn't feel like walking all the way to the parking deck where my car was (I'm not that lazy, it was miserable walking conditions). so here i am in class, where, while surfing facebook i found this:

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Often, we may overlook that this is a conditional statement. "believes" is the condition, meaning "to TRUST in". Being saved isn't an accessory like a watch you wear but more like a parachute when you jump out of a plane. Do you hold on to Jesus like a watch or a parachute?

posted by my friend kevin




it made me feel so much better, because today (and every day) i really need Jesus as my parachute.

This week I have been unusually chilly. I am ready for a fire in the fireplace (hint: dad). I love the cold, especially when I can take a mug of coffee, a book, and a blanket and curl up with my cat in front of the fire. It feels so cliche, but I don't really care. :)

Speaking of my cat, today I was told by my parents to bathe her. If you have never bathed a fifteen pound cat with flea shampoo that says on the bottle "lather and let sit on pet for five minutes," you are a very lucky person. My darling cat, Ivy thought it would be good to jump out of the bath and run around the bathroom while soaking wet.  Of course I yelled for her to come back. Which did not help, all it did was make my sister and dad run into the bathroom, because they thought some emergency was happening. I ended up soaked. Then, my dad thought it would be good to blow-dry her. Let me tell you, cats do not like the sound of a blow-dryer. In fact, they tend to claw whoever is holding them. Which in this case was me.

But, on a better note, my dad bought us chocolate last night! And hopefully this weekend half of my family (including myself) will be going out of town! Until then, I will be slaving over my school work, because I didn't get any done over the weekend.

 - Abigail

finally!

i am so incredibly glad it is friday!
this (school) week has worn me out.
i really think teachers plan it so all of my tests and papers coincide in one week.
but it's over now... thank goodness!

~katie

this week i'm loving...

fall clothes: i love cooler weather clothes; tights, layering, scarfs, jackets, boots, all of it!

(plus no one gets to walk around dressed like a super skank and blame it on the weather.)

bejeweled: every so often i get hooked on a new computer game, (it was super mario for a while), but recently i can't get enough of bejeweled.

invisible kool-aid: try it.

hot rod: hilarious and super quotable.

"I used to be legit. I was too legit. I was too legit to quit. but now I'm not legit. I'm unlegit. And for that reason, I must quit. "

see?

i also tried matte nail polish this week and was not super impressed, my nails just look kinda dusty.

 ~katie

Runny Babbit

As a child, my parents read Shel Silverstein poems to my sisters and me. Mr. Silverstein's poems never fail to make me laugh, so I thought I'd share one from his book Runny Babbit in which Runny Babbit and his friends Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Rirty Dat, Dungry Hog, Snerry Jake, and many others speak a topsy-turvy language all their own!

Kugs and Hisses

Runny said, "I'm lonesome,

I feel so glad and soomy.

I need some kugs and hisses -

Now, who's gonna give 'em to me?"

"I will," said Polly Dorkupine,"

"'Cause you're cute as a rug in a bug."

Said Runny, "Well, I'll kake the tiss,

But never hind the mug."

I hope everyone has had a great weekend!

- Emily