Project Scarves. Operation Christmas.

I love to give gifts.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  It let’s your friends and family, or maybe even complete strangers, know that you are thinking of them.  Why not give a little?  The reward you will feel on the inside is way better than anything you can receive on the outside.

However, gifts at Christmas time is a different story.  Don’t get me wrong… I still love to give.  I just don’t love to forget what the holiday is all about, ya know?  Like the Savior of the whole world’s birth.

So this year to save some moolah (we do have two mortgage payments right now) and to minimize the gift hype, I decided to make infinity scarves for all the women in my life.  And there are a lot of women in my life… so it took a few nights at the sewing machine.

In the end, I was very pleased with how the turned out and even a little inspired to sew other things.  We will see…

Merry Christmas!

I love getting Christmas cards… like a lot.  It doesn’t really make sense that I don’t send them myself.  The only excuses I have are:  stamps are 44 cent a piece, and nobody wants to see pictures of just Nate and I.  So, maybe when we are blessed with a little one, I will bite the bullet and spread some Christmas cheer ;)

Anyway, here is the “digital Christmas card” I made this year.

"I found out what the secret to life is--friends. Best friends." --Fried Green Tomatoes"

Even Frankenstein said, “Alone.  Bad.  Friends.  Good.” 

I have learned these two statements to be nothing but the truth.  I am so thankful for the wonderful friends that Nate and I have made through our twelve years together.  Some have lasted a short time, and others will last our entire lifetime.  And, in some cases, even enduring the test of living four hours apart.

Great friends quickly become like family.  It is always a great time when you can hang out.  When you don’t get to see each other, you miss your times together…. and when you do see each other, it’s like you were never gone.  Birthdays and holidays are shared.  Hugs are given in times of need.  And lots of prayers are lifted up as you go through life together.  Friends.  Just don’t know what I would do without them.  I have never had such great friends in my life and I am super thankful and blessed with all of you :)

For our birthdays this year, a few great friends surprised us with an awesome cake and a fun gift that we got to bring back to OK and enjoy.  It was super fun and I thought I would share.

This picture of Nate was just too cute.  I love that man!

Incase you couldn’t read the envelope here is a close up…

 

Our sweet friends Carmen & Andew, and Cassie gave us these two “dates.”  We weren’t allowed to open the envelope until we were actually ready to go on a date.  So…. here is what was inside date #2….

I know…. you’re jealous of our super great friends, right?  This was great for us because Nate was wanting to see that Moneyball movie.  It’s about baseball.  You know the one about the Oakland A’s with Brad Pitt.

Anyway… We went to see it and there wasn’t any yogurt close so I got this…

An icee as big as my head. haha

It was a great time and we really enjoyed the day together.

Thank you Carmen & Andrew, and Cassie for this stinking awesome gift.  You guys are among my closest friends and I love you dearly.

Thanksgiving ~ Twenty Eleven

“In all things, give thanks…”

Thanksgiving came fast and was over just as fast this year.  We were able to get together with one side of my family before going to Texas to see Nate’s family.  It was at my cousin’s house this year, and she likes to take pictures….

*Disclaimer*  I know I look like I may, in fact, be with child… but I am not :)  All these holiday goodies have not been kind to my waste line.  Come January, things will change!

Me, Nate, and Crystal

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Nana and Pops!

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Tommy and Pops

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Mom and Dad

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Me and Tommy…(missed getting to see Brain, Kim, and the boys this year)

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Nana and I

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I cannot stop thinking about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family.  I wish that we could get together a lot more than twice a year, but I guess that’s life.  With all the distractions out there… good and bad… take some time right now and thank God for your family.  And, resolve to thank God more for the people that mean the most to you this holiday season.

He holds my lot.

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you felt the enemy was totally there seeking your slaughter?  Have you ever felt like your prayers aren’t being heard?  Do you find yourself asking God why?  Are you going through such a hard time, that there seems to be no end in sight?  Are you impatient?  Unwilling to step out on faith?  Or just plain tired of life?

Thankfully, I have gone through the valleys before and have learned how to not get depressed or stressed…. and to totally put all my hope and faith in The One that can get you through.  Nate and I are, yet again, going through one of these times right now with the sell of our car/house.  God has already shown us how His hand is all over this situation and I totally expect Him to do something amazing in the next couple weeks.  I choose to believe that November 2011 will be a great month for us.  But, if God’s timing is not now…. He is still God and He is still good! 

Psalm 15:5-6 was mentioned in our Beth Moore Esther Bible Study and I love this so much I wanted to share.  We learned early on in the study about casting lots…. which is basically a gamble.  In these verses think of your portion as your destiny and your cup as what you are going through right now….. In other words:

God, You know my future and You know what I am going through right now; You take the dice of my life and make it land where You want…. There is no gamble with You… You make my life safe and give me peace.

Isn’t is comforting to know that God is already on the other side of every situation.  He is in control.  There is no need to fear or worry.  He will sustain us and if what we think should happen doesn’t….. there is another way for things to work out.  Beth Moore hit the nail on the head when she said, “when all is said and done, we will see that the portion God assigned to us was good.  Right.  Rich.  Full of purpose.”

So, when you find yourself in a dark place.  Stop, rest easy, and find wonderful peace and comfort knowing that He is in control.  He holds your lot. 

“Oh, that we would wake up to the goodness of our God and the crushing defeat of our enemy!” –Beth Moore

Happy Birthdays

Our birthdays for 2011 have come and gone and we are one year closer to 30.  Yikes!  We didn’t do anything special, but nights at home have become what we crave… so it was great.

Something that was kind of crazy this year is how many cakes we got.  It really made me feel really loved… probably because my mom has always said, “everyone deserves birthday cake on their birthday.”  First Carmen and Cassie made us one in Rogers… Then a sweet lady here at church made me a cake and Nate some mini pecan pies…. Then my awesome friend Melissa made me one and surprised me at church… Then my mom brought us another…. Nate’s mom gave us one (the same one as my mom, but we didn’t tell here that ;)... And finally the youth workers got together and gave us a huge cake on Wedesday night.

To say that I am and have been on a sugar high for the last couple weeks would be an understatement.  And… I don’t plan on skipping out on the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving…. Hope I don’t gain back those 30 lbs.  That would be bad.  I love this time of the year sooo much, but my waistline will thank me when January gets here and I get my “healthy hat” back. ha

Anyway… years 26 & 29 look to be great ones and we are excited to see what God has in store for us!

 

The Power of Being Positive

Why hello my favorite month.  I absolutely love November.  The weather is cooling off but not freezing… There is a great family holiday in the middle… It’s Nate’s birthday… It’s my birthday… It’s one month before Christmas!

Last week we went to clean up our AR house, so it was a week full of cleaning and painting.  We got home, went to sleep, and immediately got up and went to Falls Creek with some church people to do the same thing there.  We were soar and exhausted by the time Sunday rolled around….. but, I will say that we got a ton of things done.

I was a little upset when I caught my breath on Monday night because I wasted a whole week of my favorite month cleaning. Ugh.  But now, I am in my full November happy place…. as I sit here at work wearing my uggs and a fleece…. and have resolved to think positive. 

When we met with our new realtor to re-list the house (for the third time), we got some bad news.  We knew it was going to be bad, but weren’t prepared to hear that we are going to have to bring around $12,000 to the table when our house finally does sell.  I went through a crazed panic phase, a pitty party, a “why are you letting this happen, God?” phase, and an all out ugly cry when we drove away from the house a week ago today…. but since then Nate and I have really stepped back and remained positive.  I keep telling myself that November is going to be a great month.  Keeping positive about everything is key…. I learned this from the mission house.

We have resolved not to stress about this situation and just go through it.  We still have each other and as my dad says, “It’s just money.”  Our positive attitudes have been great this week (we’ll see about the next few) and it has really made a difference.  Control your mind… control your emotions… control your situation.  Beth Moore reminded me this week to make decisions out of information, not emotions. I need to etch that in my brain somewhere deep ;)

I have personally been teaching myself to wait on God for a while now and am adding this house situation to the list.  Even after all of the mess with this house the past two years, I still love it.  It will always be our first home together and we can’t wait for someone else to be just as blessed by it. 

This is a picture of us being positive :)

We are confident that God is in control and that He will come through for us…. and that November is going to be a great month!