Thanks Tank #9

As always, I have many things to be thankful for and like I said last week I'm trying to slowly jump out of my "predictable box". Let's see what has touched my heart this week and please take time today to think on things that have made your heart thankful as well. I would love for you to share them with me! My thankful verse for this week is II Corinthians 2:14, But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

1. Technology and all that it affords - I've said it before and I'm sure that I'll say it again but I am so thankful for the opportunity to keep in contact with people through "blogland". The other day as I was visiting a couple different blogs I started clicking on the NEXT BLOG link that is in the bar that runs across the top of your blog at blogspot.com. I couldn't even tell you how many blogs I went through before finding one that was actually written in English. As I scanned the blog I was amazed to realize that this blog was from a newly married couple who were serving as missionaries in Haiti. Over and over again they talked about their desire to show the people they were working with the love of the Lord and what a difference He can make in their lives. It seemed to fit perfectly with my 'thankful verse' for this week. I've also added a cluster map to my blog page and it amazes me the different states and countries and continents that have access to my blog.
2. Moving boxes - This is a bit of a stretch for me but I'm really trying to be thankful for the moving boxes that are crammed into every nook and cranny in my house and blocking walkways to and from rooms. It's definitely been an eye opener that we have so much more than we need and, even at times, than we want.
3. Independent children - We have had some sickness this week at the house and it is very nice to have children that are old enough to leave unattended while I take a nap or spend a couple of hours outside helping to build our back deck. (Not that I'm opposed to having dependent children - just saying I'm thankful in this moment for kiddo's who can fend for themselves for awhile.)
4. Birthdays - and the chance they give to celebrate those special people in our lives!
5. Photographs - I love taking pictures and then spending hour upon hour looking back over them. This past weekend my sisters and mom and I spent time going thru our NYC/DC pictures and deciding which ones we wanted printed to put into books (since printing 2000 pics isn't very cost effective). I've also started getting some of my older photos from before digital out of the diaper boxes they've been inhabiting and into photo-safe boxes. The fact that they are in diaper boxes will give you a clue as to how old these pictures are. It's so much fun looking back. I've even decided that at some point I'm going to post pictures of us with each of our blogging "buddies". Since I've known some of you for quite some time - these pictures could definitely lead to some serious laughter!

Back up, I think she's gonna blow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AGAIN!!!!

And again and again and again!


Poor thing was kept up Monday night by her puking sister but gets herself up and ready for school the next morning without complaining or incident (and without much help from Mom who was up much of the night). She rides the bus to and from school all by herself, which she really doesn't like to do w/o her sister. She brings home her sisters school work. She does two pages of homework and reads for 45 minutes. She was able to watch some Scooby Doo with her sister and have Top Ramen for dinner - a favorite of the girls. It's off to bed for the both of them. Before I head to bed Sammy has already been up using the restroom 3-4 times. I should've known that didn't bode well. Sure enough, I'd only been asleep for about 20 minutes the first time Sammy came into the bedroom saying her stomach hurt really bad. Once again we try out the Pepto. It only takes another 30 minutes till we see that again. And once again, Anah is the go-between coming to get me each time Sammy is throwing up. We didn't fair as well last night as the night before. Sammy was puking about every 20-30 minutes until 3:30 or so. If she was up after that, I don't know. No one came and got me. I got out of bed about 7:30 this morning thinking, I don't hear the girls up at all. Anah should be getting ready for school by now. I walk into their bedroom and she is sound asleep with her alarm blaring right by her head. It's been going off for 30 MINUTES! She is so tired this morning and very grumpy about the fact that Sammy kept her up all night and now is sleeping in while she has to go to school. Where is the fairness in that? I totally agree with her.

Round 2

More pictures from Times Square of Janeen, my mom and myself.

Thanksgiving Day in Central Park!

Posing in Central Park!

Riding the Double-Decker tour buses was a lot of fun. The view is so incredibly different. But it was so freezing cold up there that finally I couldn't take it any longer and ended up down below where I proceeded to take a little nap!

Sweetened through the ages just like wine!

I just happen to have my sister's computer which just happens to have half of our pictures from our trip this past fall to New York City and Washington DC. I've always meant to post more stories and pictures but with my own computer being down and the craziness of the holidays and our remodel project just never got around to it. So this past weekend us girls got together to go through our pictures because in this day and age of digital photography most of our pictures are in one of two places - our cameras/SD cards or our computers. As we spent time going over all of our pictures and reliving some of our adventures, I think it was pretty unanimous that we would go back in a heartbeat! And what took us so long to go in the first place? So enjoy the few photos and be thankful that I can only post a limited amount of pictures per post. We had, between the four of us girls, over 2,000 pictures.

Mom and I on our first full day in New York. We spent much of this rainy day seeing the island from the water. We took a 3 hour cruise with Circle Line. Their sense of humor was strongly lacking. No one even cracked a smile when us girls got on the boat singing about a 3 hour tour (a 3 hour tour).



My baby sister, Rene', with her favorite Today show host, Ann Curry. (We were actually on TV!)






Rene', myself and my mom taking pictures in Times Square!









Yeah, that's me with Bon Jovi!!!
Well the wax model of Bon Jovi, anyway!
We had a blast going through Madame Tussauds!

I should've known!

Really, I should have known! I'm not sure why the puke covering the hallway floor and throw rug was my first clue. The signs had been there all day long!
Monday morning started out like most other Mondays - mAd!!!! Samantha decided to turn the shower on and let the water warm up before she got in. But she didn't get in for almost 10 minutes. Both the girls come running into my bedroom, where I am still blissfully sleeping away. They're 7 3/4 and 9 - they can pretty much manage in the morning w/o my supervision. And a rested Momma is a happy Momma! Anyway, the tub is almost 2/3's full of water but they hadn't plugged it so they were all panicky about what was going on. I'm trying to wake up and figure out what they are talking about. I rush to the bathroom to make sure we aren't about to flood the bathroom floor. This is when I realize both the girls still have their pj's on. Why is this I ask? The shower is running - someone should have been in here. Sam says - I was letting it warm up. By the time Anah gets in the shower - ice cold water!!!! And mAd MoNdAY has started! Samantha then dumps her bowl of cereal all over herself, the table, the chair and the floor. I don't do well with these kind of things. I try to keep my patience and bite my tongue and don't say anything while I clean up the mess and she changes clothes. She is extremely apologetic and keeps crying about the situation. I'm trying to show "mercy" but really I just want to yell. I tell her - it was an accident lets move on.
I enjoy the time, while my girls are in school, at my parents house going through New York and DC pictures with my Mom. We have a really nice day! I leave to pick up the girls and head to a Dr's appt for Sam. Right away something is a little fishy with her. Her attitude appears fine but her breath is so stinky and smelly that I can smell her from some distance away. I check her teeth, they look fine. Has she been brushing twice a day? YES! Okay, have a piece of gum. WOW! I can still really smell that breath. Maybe we should talk to the doctor about this. That would be good Mom. While we are waiting for Dr. Husarik to come in and take a look at the wart on her foot she starts complaining of a stomachache. Do you need to go to the bathroom? No, my stomach just hurts. Okay. She did incredibly well while having her wart froze off. No tears, no flinching. Dr. Husarik was thoroughly impressed and kept telling her what a great job she was doing. He even thought there was a possibility that even though it was so big that he might have got it all with one "dose" because she let him "burn" it for so long! I'm very proud of how well she has done so instead of suckers from the dr's office we head to Wendy's for a frosty! Yum! From there I need to pick up a few things at Walmart. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!
I swear the minute we walked through those doors a monster entered my child. The whining, complaining, arguing with me and her sister, the moodiness, the tears, tears and more tears were almost more than I could handle. It didn't help when Savanah started playing with her Frosty that was only half way finished and ended up dumping the cup and all onto the floor! CLEAN UP ON AISLE 9 - CLEAN UP ON AISLE 9!!! At this point, I have literally forgotten everything I needed to purchase at Walmart but I knew I had at least a dozen items on my list. All that is in the cart is a gallon of milk and two bags of frozen tater tots, which weren't on the list. I'm trying to collect my thoughts and sanity, I might add. What was on that stupid list? As we walk thru the aisles trying to spark some recollection of what I needed, Sam trails behind me crying and fighting with her sister. What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this? I can't believe the way you are behaving! What is going on? At this point, I am almost in tears myself. Isn't shopping with the kids supposed to get easier the older they get? How could have I been so misguided on this issue? That's it - it's homework, dinner and bed for you the minute we get home. Lots, lots more tears!
We stop and pick up KFC/Taco Bell on the way home. By the time, homework and dinner is over it's almost 8:00pm. Bedtime! That's great, I'm so glad we got you in bed early! ARGH!!!!!
All is well, finally. My hubbie and I are watching TV together enjoying the silence of upset children. We head to bed - him long before me. At 3:00am I hear a little voice say, Mommy my tummy hurts really, really bad. I'm so sorry I woke you up. It's okay baby. Let's find the pepto. Do you need a puke bucket? Yes. Have you went to the bathroom? Just got done, but my tummy stills really hurts. 20 minutes later she's tucked back in bed with a towel covering her pillow, a bowl next to her head in case she has to barf and instructions that if she can, she should try and make it to the toilet to throw-up!
And this is how I come to find myself staring at the vomit covering the hallway floor and throw rug in between the girls bedroom door and the bathroom door at 4am this morning. Why aren't you using your bowl, Sam? I thought I could make it to the bathroom. Let's get you cleaned up.
My precious baby is still sleeping on the floor of my bedroom in her Daddy's old sleeping bag. I can't even count how many times she apologized to her Daddy and I for waking us up. What a sweetheart!

I should have seen that throw-up coming from about 21 hours away!!!!!

Thursday Thanks #8

Thursday Thanks Tank

Once again, here are just a few of the things that I am thankful for this week. Sometimes I feel like the list is just a repeat over and over again of the same things. So I am going to try thinking outside of the box starting with this post. Now I won't jump out of the box completely today but maybe eventually you might find me there.

1. Typing - I am so thankful for the typing classes I took in high school and for my ability to type. I think that if I was a "pecker" at the keyboards I would give up on this whole blogging thing and emailing thing, which would mean I'd miss out on keeping in contact with so many people. So a big huge thanks goes out to my two typing teachers - Mr. Santi and Mr. Pagett, for making me the mad typer that I am today!

2. Soccer - I am thankful for both the BEGINNING and the ENDING of soccer season. Since this was the first time either of the girls have played any sort of sport it has been a complete learning process for us. I think that the girls have enjoyed it for the most part; Sammy probably more than Anah. I also think that more soccer is definitely in our future. But as we are gearing down on our last week of soccer, I can't help but feeling big relief that at least for a little while we won't have any practices or games to be rushing off to 2 - 3 times a week.

3. Opinions - So often as I am talking with my girls about inconsequential things, I find myself ignoring or not even paying attention to some of their opinions. I guess I've gotten this "I'm the Mom" complex going on and so I've really started trying to pay better attention to what they are saying and what they are trying to tell me. I'm thankful that God has made each one of us uniquely and given us different thoughts and opinions. I'm also thankful for the people in my life, especially when I was young, who took the time to listen to MY opinions and didn't crush all my little girl dreams. I'm also thankful that my girls have been forgiving when I haven't responded the way I should and that I'm getting a second chance to support them and their dreams while they are still little.

4. Understanding - I'm thankful for the understanding of friends. One of my closest friends, who was my maid of honor, called me this week to see if we would be available for company this next week. Since we really would love to see their family I told her sure, knowing that it really wasn't the most opportune of times. She called me back a couple days later and said that she just really got the feeling that it wasn't what was best for us at the time and we could post-pone. I'm so thankful that she was open to postponing and that I could be honest with her without hurting her feelings. Her response was very encouraging and loving, she said we've been friends for a long time and went through many things together. We should be able to tell each other if something isn't going to work out and know the other person won't hold that against us. It was wonderful having a number of conversations with her this week and getting caught up on each other's lives.

5. Lazy days - I'm thankful for a number of the lazy days that I myself have enjoyed since moving into our home plus the couple of lazy days that we've spent together as a family. Now laziness is definitely a big problem of mine and I've really tried to keep up on my household "chores" since that is my "job". I'm thankful that my husband is so understanding on those days when he comes home and it's obvious that I've not done much. He is definitely a K.I.S.A!

6. Tax Day - I'm thankful that tax day has come and gone. I'm thankful for some very great advice from "the brother i never had" that let me go ahead and get my taxes done without having to purchase a second Turbo Tax when I couldn't find the first one I had bought. I'm thankful for my parents letting me come out on the 15th and borrow their computer when mine didn't want to co-operate with me. I'm thankful that we don't owe any money. I'm thankful that at least for the next ten months I don't have to worry about "TAX DAY"!

7. Back porch dreams - I'm thankful that I can see progress on our back porch and that the dream of a back porch is very soon going to become a reality!

8. Sanity - Sanity is highly overrated but I'm still doing all that I can to maintain at least some of mine! =) Luckily, in this absolutely crazy week of ours, I can confidently say that mine is still intact. I think?!?

My verse of thankfulness for this week is Colossians 2:6&7: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Blessings to you all!

Getting to know ME, getting to know all about ME!

Stole this off of Jane Anne's blog! I love doing these trivia question/email thingys. After awhile though, all the friends I usually send them to quit replying. I've yet to meet someone who loves trivia as much as I do. Now I've definitely met people who are better at trivia but who love it to the extent that I do? Nope. The only one that comes close is my sister. And sometimes I think she just humors me!
So enjoy learning a little about me and please leave comments sharing about yourself, or better yet, steal this and put it on your own blog (with your own answers of course)!


Have You Ever:
-Gone on a blind date: Nope.
-Skipped school: Oh yes! More times than I could count but the most memorable was when my parents caught me and I was grounded for a LONG, LONG TIME!
-Watched someone die: Yes
-Been to Canada: Yes, I went with my girlfriends from Ecola the first time and then went back with a couple friends from Ecola, Ryan Peterson, Dave Baughman, my sister and Keith to watch the Clumsy Lovers, while there our car was broken into. We've not went back since!!!
-Been to Mexico: Yes, twice. We walked over the border on a family vacation right after I graduated from high school. Then our family took a vacation to Puerto Vallarta in September 2003.
-Been to Florida: No. But my sister is doing her darnedest to get us to go to Walt Disney World instead of Disneyland for vacation this year!
-Been on a plane: Yes and I hate it!!! But interestingly enough, the best flight I've ever been on was the one back East just this past November!
-Been lost: Yep! Gotta say I love having Mrs. Carlson in the Rang, Rang!
-Been on the opposite side of the country From where you live: Yes, just this past Thanksgiving I went to New York and Washington DC with my mom and sisters. It was SO MUCH FUN! Before that the farthest I'd ever been East was Colorado.
-Been to the capital of your country: Yes. See above comment.
-Swam in the ocean or waded: Yes. But only the Pacific Ocean. I actually almost drowned when I was younger while swimming off the Southern Callie coast. The lifeguard couldn't get to me so my dad and uncle ended up rescuing me!
-Cried yourself to sleep: Oh my yes! I've cried over boys, friends, pets, lost babies and lost loved ones. I'm a crier!
-Played cops and robbers: I'm not sure. ???? I have no boys and I had no brothers growing up. I can't specifically remember playing cops and robbers. That's a great question!
-Recently colored with crayons: How recently is recent?
-Sang Karaoke: Yes, yes, yes! Love it, love it, love it! (JA - absolutely boring? No! Absolutely missing out? Definitely!!!)
-Paid for a meal with coins only? I'm sure I did back in the days when you could literally scrape your change together for enough gas to get you into town and then get yourself a taco or two at Taco Bell for $.59 a piece!
-Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Unfortunately!
-Made prank phone calls: I know who you are and I saw what you did!
-Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose: I spewed milk out my nose all over Shawn Wood, the boy of my dreams, my 6th grade year. Since then I'm sure it's happened on numerous occasions. I may be a crier but I'm also a laugher!
-Caught a snowflake on your tongue: Yes. Whenever I get the chance to see it snow the mouth automatically opens and out comes the tongue. What better way to enjoy the snowfall?!?!
-Danced in the rain: Yes
-Written a letter to Santa Claus: No. I was a deprived kid who never believed in Santa Claus and I became a Mom who deprives her kids as well. So I haven't even helped a child write a letter to Old St. Nick!
-Been kissed under the mistletoe: No and that makes me very, very sad!
-Watched the sunrise with someone you care about: Yes on more than one occasion but the best was on my honeymoon wrapped up in a blanket with my hubby!
-Blown bubbles: Yes.
-Gone ice-skating: Yes and I was able to take my girls for the first time over Spring Break. They LOVED it!
-Been skinny dipping outdoors: Amazingly, wild child that I am, I've never skinny dipped outdoors.
-Been out of North America: Is Mexico North America or Central America?
-Been in detention: Oh yes!
-Regretted something you blogged: Not that I can recall.

Taxes and WASL

Today is not a good day in the McCoy household (as my husband would say - it is a mAd MoNdAY!) I am trying to recover from a yucky flu bug that is lingering longer than I like and yet because of the total and complete procrastinator that I am find myself doing my taxes on the day before they are due! Today is also the first day of a week of WASL testing for Sammy! I can't believe that she is now in the age group of WASLers!!! She has been preparing for this for weeks now. Last night as I was tucking her in and praying with her she went over her list of things that she needed to do to be prepared for testing in the morning:

1. Get plenty of good sleep the night before testing. This meant Anah sleeping in another room so that Sam would be able to fall right to sleep w/o someone talking with her.
2. Make sure that the clothes you are wearing the day of testing are comfortable. Not too tight, not too loose. They don't want you thinking about stuff that could be bothering you. Apparently at age 9 this could include your clothing. I never realized!
3. Eat a healthy/nutritious breakfast. They don't want you coming into school hungry and then only being able to concentrate on that. As I was about to tell her she should eat a bowl of Raisin Bran for breakfast I thought twice. They probably don't want them having to rush to the bathroom with the runs either. So we will forgo the Raisin Bran for Ohs! Hopefully they won't make her need to use the restroom!
4. Be on time! Okay so we all know that isn't my strong suit! We set the alarm for 6:45 am. That will give you plenty of time to take a shower, get ready and make it to the bus stop so that there is NO WAY you can be late for school!
5. Relax! - Relax. Relax? Are you kidding, I'm wound tighter than ...? Well, whatever is wound really, really tight! I'm ready for a good stiff drink and then a couple extra hours of sleep!

So besides for the aforementioned goings-on, this week starts off our last week of soccer. And soccer season is going out with a bang at our house. We had a game this past Saturday (which much to my delight afforded me my first bit of "color"). Sam has a game tonight, Anah has practice tomorrow, Anah has a game Wednesday night, Sam has a game Thursday night, Sam has her soccer "banquet" Friday night and Anah has her last game Saturday. Plus we have overnight guests from Friday to Saturday! This week is going to be a BLAST!!!

So check back in towards the end of the week to see if I've managed to maintain a hold of at least SOME of my sanity!

mAd MoNdAY here I come . . . . . . . .

Memories, stretched between the pages of my mind

Or is that stuck between the pages or stretched between the corners? Stuck into the corners? Argh!!!!! See? It's already happening!!!

So the other day a friend and I were talking about memories. Not actual memories but the ability to remember. Now please note that the things I am about to say I do not mean in a bragging sort of way at all, it's just the way things happen to be - at the moment.

For some reason I have the uncanny ability to remember many, many things. I'm great with numbers. I can tell you so many peoples telephone #'s home and cell. I remember peoples birthdays. Sometimes to an annoying degree. I mean really - Ruby Cline. I haven't seen her since I was a sophomore in high school. Do I really need to remember that her birthday is May 19th? NO!!!!! But it's there floating around in my head like some bizzaro factoid that NO ONE cares to know! Another thing I remember rather well is people's names - their full names!!! I can remember the full name of every single guy I dated!!! Which is pretty impressive since my husband can't seem to remember the names of even half the girls he's dated!!! If I was around when any of my friends had kids - I can remember their full names! And my husband would tell you that I seem to remember exactly what was said by whom during an argument and then I bring it back up later when he no longer remembers anything about said argument. So all of this to say, because I remember things so well right now, I'm terrified that I will start losing my memory as I get older. And not just the little things but big important things. So far my family has been blessed to not have Alzheimer's in the family tree. And I truly realize that Alzheimer's is a serious disease and not something to joke about. In all honesty, this is really something I fear getting as I get older. But because I am who I am I will joke about it and poke fun at myself.

So my question is this, how will I know if I am in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's?

Last night I was up rather late making sure my husband had clean undershorts for today. As I was walking towards the laundry room through the kitchen I saw my half drunk latte' sitting there from earlier. Like 6 hours earlier. Very much still in the realm of drinkable. So I pour it into a mug that is microwavable and go to stick it in the microwave. When I opened the door I found my carton of Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream sitting there! Not because I had decided to warm up my ice cream was it sitting in there. No apparently 3 hours earlier when I was putting my ice cream away I put it in the microwave INSTEAD OF THE FREEZER!!!!!!!

So has it started?????

Thursday Thanks #7

Thursday Thanks Tank

1. Our "broken" computer - Most of you who know me well know that our computer crashed almost 9 months ago. That hasn't been much of a problem as we were able to use my parents computer whenever we wanted since we were living there with them. Now that we have been officially "moved in", for just one day short of 3 weeks, we are having to rely on our "broken" computer. But I am so thankful that in it's brokenness it still on occasion works well enough that I can check my email, all the blogs I frequent and the girls even have a chance once in awhile to get on http://www.webkinz.com/.
2. Spring Break - Spring Break couldn't have come at a better time for our family. After about 6 months of some very intense remodeling where the girls were often shelled out to one babysitter or another, we have finally been able to truly enjoy some great "family time". We've watched movies together as a family. I have been able to take the girls to do some very fun things. To date (in the past three days) we have ate out at Azteca, Olive Garden, and KFC. We have gotten ice cream from Cold Stone. Watched Alvin and the Chipmunks at the cheap theater in Federal Way. Had sleepovers with Auntie Janeen and Brook and swapped houses with cousins Katie and Maddie. Went putt-putt golfing and ice skating. We have a day of scrapbooking planned for tomorrow with family with a slumber party afterwards to celebrate Sammy's very belated b-day. And a visit to Franks Donuts (the BEST DONUTS IN THE WORLD) for breakfast Saturday morning and then dinner at the Rainforest Cafe' that night. And to cap off our wonderful week (or start off our next week right) we will be going to church together as a family on Sunday. I don't think we could fit more in and I'm so thankful that we have had such a blast. I would love to share pictures as I have been trying to document each momentous occasion but with the "broken computer" I don't dare stick my SD card into that slot. I can imagine in it's "brokenness" it might just decide to wipe the card clean.
3. Texting - To those of you who get texts from me regularly, thank you for letting that be a form of communication between us. I remember when I used to spend hours upon hours of time on the phone when I was younger. Apparently you can actually wear out your "phone abilities" because I no longer have the desire or inclination to spend any amount of time on the phone. But I love being able to quickly send out a text to someone; whether it's to tell them something funny that has just happened, to let them know I'm thinking about them, or to ask them to pick up milk (and a Starbucks) on the way home from work. Texting is my friend and it helps me stay "connected" in my own bizarro way!
4. Husbands that support their wives - I am so thankful for the chance I have to stay home with my girls. That is only possible because my husband believes that it is important for our family. Not only does he go to work Monday - Friday and work long hours away from home so that I can stay home but all that work he does allows me to go do fun things with the girls that he can't do with us. His unselfishness and giving are incredible to me. So thank you, baby, for all you do for your family. YOU AMAZE ME!
5. Chances to pray and then see God's helping hand - Over the past couple of days/weeks, we've had a number of chances to pray for some specific things together as a family (not just immediate but extended as well). I'm so thankful that my girls, especially, have been able to see some immediate responses to our prayers. I'm thankful for the growth that these situations are producing in their faith and in mine!
6. Out of town guests and closer-than-close friends - I am so very thankful for the time we were able to spend with our friends the Owens this past week. We have been blessed a number of times in the past 11 1/2 years to have very close friends that God has placed in our lives. People who we just connect with, mainly through our shared love of the Lord. I'm thankful for a continued friendship with them even though distance separates us. (BTW - Jeff you should really buy JA the EnV phone for Mother's Day. She would love it and I would love it cause then she could quit cheating at her texting! =})

Though this post isn't as "colorful" as my last thanks posts, I'm so excited to be able to post some of the things that have made me so thankful this week. I hope that you are able to look back on each day and see ways that God has richly blessed your life, whether they are "big" or "small". Thanks for taking the time to read what I've written! Blessings to you and yours!