Thanksgiving

It's the best feeling in the world when you have your big family around you and everyone loves each other. I really love my family, and that's not an exaggeration. They're the best. I'm so thankful that the Lord has given them to me and allowed me to be a part of their lives.

Our Thanksgiving vacation has been absolutely wonderful. Last Saturday we drove down to Yreka for a wedding of two of our former high school students. It was beautiful and fun to see lots of people from our past. Then we spent Sunday with my parents. My Mom and I watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers while we knitted/crocheted and Andy and my Dad went out to dinner with some guys. Some people from my parents' church dropped off a pheasant they had shot for us, so my Mom and I had to figure out how to clean it. Thank goodness for youtube! We cleaned and dressed it, then froze it to eat for dinner on Wednesday night.

Monday morning Andy and I drove to San Francisco (pictures to follow). It was a very fun date day. We drove down Lombard Street, took pictures at the Golden Gate bridge, walked on the beach, drove around the expensive houses neighborhood, and ended up in Union Square where we ate at a fabulous Italian restaurant for happy hour. I guess it was an early celebration of our 4th anniversary coming up next week.

Then Tuesday we spent some time with Andy's Grandmother who is at a Convalescent Hospital with Parkinson's and had dinner with his Aunts and a cousin. Then we drove back up to Grenada on Wednesday, picking up my brother on the way through Sacramento. Then on to making tons of food and seeing my extended family for Thanksgiving today. I have so much to be thankful for!!!

1 Choronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.

It's the little things in life...

After a year and a half of washing lots and lots of dishes by hand, we finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a portable dishwasher.

I LOVE IT!!! It has changed my stress level completely. Before, I'd get home from work at 5, make a quick dinner, then pile the dishes next to the sink while we rushed off to the next thing. And the next day we'd do the same thing until... we had piles and piles of dishes. It's really hard to get motivated to wash piles of dishes.

But since we got our new dishwasher, our counters and sink have been absolutely spic and span, and my stress level has gone way down. So happy :)

The Word

I've been reading through the Bible this year (OT once, NT twice). I've always tried to do it and I've gotten to February or March and have given up because of the time it takes to read three to four chapters a day. This year is different. I now have an iPhone that has a Bible reading program on it; it's amazing. I read first thing in the morning before I even get out of bed and it's working!!

The first part of the year reading through the Pentateuch and the Psalms and the Gospels was great. I was very into it every day and got a lot out of each reading. As the year has progressed, I've gotten more toward the history books and the prophets. I catch myself glazing over sometimes and not knowing what I just read. It's frustrating, but I have to admit that sometimes I just keep reading anyway instead of going back and re-reading it. The point is just reading it, right?

Not exactly. James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." It's not that I'm not doing what the Word says, I'm not really even listening when my eyes just pass by the words. I need to be paying attention to what God has to say through the Scriptures. My goal for the remainder of the year is to try to get something out of each chapter each day. But I'm also excited to start reading the Bible through again next year and pay attention!