My 2011 Christmas card debut.

Go Shine Brightly Religious Christmas Card

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

Today I am Thankful For - Complicated Simplicty (Day 15)

So today I was trying to think of something clever...you know, I am witty and funny, and I didn't want to disappoint my fan base...ha ha.


So as I was driving home, I realized I am thankful for the complicated simplicity that is nature. I saw a tree. The tree has  bright yellow droopy leaves. From the time it took me to get from the stop sign to the end of the block, I got to witness the tree drop most of it's leaves with the gust of the wind. At first I thought
"hey that's pretty cool"
and then as I thought about it some more, i thought
"how does the tree and it's leaves know how to do that"
and then I thought
"I am thinking about this simple act way too hard"
and then I thought
"How crazy is the complexity of the simple things in life we take for granted"

So without over analyzing, without under analyzing, I am just thankful for the complicated simple things in life....like nature and that it knows what to do with itself.

Today I am Thankful for - No Babysitting and more of my husband (Day 14)

Waking up today i felt like death! My whole and I mean whole abdoman region feel like someone is squishing all my insides with a pasta maker and stabbing me all over in a dull throbbing manner.....and I thought I was on the toilet alot yesterday today was 90 times worse. So bad so, Jason would say "wow you are still in here" and he is the king of the toilet. So during one of my sessions....i sat and thought, "Boy am I thankful that I am on a kid hiatus of sorts"
My sister (who is going through something similar - bless her heart) just had her baby so she is home with both her kids........and Ainsley's mom is in between jobs right now, and to save money Ainsley doesn't come as often (I miss that kid!) and so, I am kid free, which helps on days like today where the bed and the toilet were the only two places I wanted to be....
So with all that said, I am still ever most thankful for my husband......he has bought me soup, made me soup, makes sure I eat, make sure I have the medicine I need, and comes and loves on me because he knows that I am a baby in that manner when it comes to needing to be held and coddled when I am sick...
and tonight per my grandmothers instruction, he was even careful to select the perfect flavor of kaopectate for me.....buy it....and make me drink it......well make is not the best word, but he did check up and made sure I did it....

Pepermint seemed easier to digest than smooth vanilla.

I love my husband.

Today I am thankful for (Catchup again) day 13

2nd Corinthians 12:9-10⁹And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

On Sunday it was preached that Paul was seriously happy when he was sick.....he took pleasure in it, because without a weakness then Christ couldn't show his power, healing powers, enduring powers...

This scripture caught my ear because, I was laid out on the side of the pew d.y.i.n.g.

So I wake up Sunday morning, after having had a busy Saturday....and boom. I have to go to the bathroom.
I go, and go and go and go.......and Jason comes in asking me to take him to the church (he runs sound and had to be there early for a choir practice) and when I can't get up to take him, he leaves me telling me he would be back to pick me up later.
I finally get the gusto to get up and get ready for church..I just did the throw something on because it matched, and took my hair down and threw it back up without even brushing it.....bad I know. Then Jason had asked me to steam his suit jacket....I did try.....but as I was trying, I then got the urge that I need to eat something, knowing how my stomach was acting up I thought a glass of milk would be good for the protein.....boy was I wrong...as soon as the milk hit my stomach...I had to go  back to the bathroom.....ugh.
Jason gets home to pick me up, i make it out of the bathroom and get to church. Jason at this point is begging me to get a pregnancy test because he thinks I am preggo....I am telling him I know I am sick but I don't think it is a baby....(for the record i took a test in between poops......and no I am not)
I get to church, and that's the scripture I hear....

Then we get home from church, run a few errands with Jason and then I attempt to take one bite of subway sandwich....and back to the restroom again......after that session with the toilet, I need a nap. I go get a few minutes of shut eye before I was back up at the church for choir practice...but when I woke up from my nap, I felt worse than I did before i slept. Not only was my stomach unsettled, but now I feel weak from head to toe and completely wiped out. It was all the energy I had to practice a very enthusiastic song...whew I was wiped out!!
After church we all went to fellowship at taco bueno, and I barely ate a bow of soup and drank some sprite.
We get home and I am running a low grade temp, I went to rest and soak in the tub.....that was at 11:30pm..........at 2:00am, I wake up from my accidental nap in the tub to find Jason asleep on the couch and me freezing because i was sitting in a cold tub....(don't worry about drowning danger, I am too long for any kind of head contact to the water in the tub)
I go to sleep......again laying in bed I think, dang I forgot yesterday and today's thankful blog.......then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I was out..

So here is what I would write had I written yesterday.......

Today I am thankful for my pastors relationship with God......with him being on the level he is, he is able to provide the words of wisdom we as a congregation need at that exact moment....like when I was dead on the pew and feeling like junk....I learned that I can be thankful to be in the situation I was in because with out my moments of weakness I would not get to experience the power of God.

Today I am Thankful for Day 12 (Catch up)

Day 12 was Saturday....
I was very very busy Saturday...
I had a friends prewedding help..
Then I had to go pick up hay bales for a church youth event (did you know you can rent those things?)
Back to the church for more wedding help
Home to get ready for wedding
Wedding
Wedding reception
Run fast to the store get the finishing things needed to make dirt desert
Make dirt dessert (mess up on it, but shhhhh don't tell anyone)
Go back up to the church for youth activity
Have a Hillbilly Hoedown with the youth..
Clean up from said hoedown
Get more food (hillbilly soup wasn't enough)
Eat
Bathe
Fall asleep in the bath....
Wake up to cold water...
Go to bed.
Lay in bed and think....oh drats, I forgot Day 12.....then roll over and sleep.

So had this been Saturday, I would say the following...

Today I am thankful for being busy. I know I was thankful for the quiet before the storm, but there is also something to be said about being busy...it sometimes stresses me out, and makes me feel like a chicken with my head cut off....but it also makes me feel very important. I am needed by other people, I have the talents it takes to help with things...it feels good to be a part of something...

Ecclesiastes 10:18
By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

i don't want to be the reason the house drops through! Praise the Lord for being busy!

Today i am thankful for: military people (day 11)

My grandfathers my uncles my cousins my husbands family members all have been in the military in some form or fashion.
And without people willing to not care about the pay and risks...but choose to love and respect their country...love it's freedoms and join the military to fight....represent...love....and honor to preserve these freedoms...we may not be the power housed country we are today!
I enjoy my freedoms....and the veterans and active duty members fight for my loves! 
THANK YOU VETERANS! I am thankful for you all!

Today I am Thankful for: Realization that I am Good Enough (Day 10)

Today as I sat in a planning meeting and we were throwing around ideas about a girls conference centered around "inner beauty" I realized that I am thankful for the inner beauty I have found. There have been many many times (years and years to be exact) where I looked in the mirror and hated what i saw. I hated the fat I have always had on me. I hated the color of my hair. I hated the plain face looking back at me. I just hated the lack of beauty I thought I had.
I would love to say this hatred was "back" when I was "younger"....but honestly it was very recent. I would try to make myself different...color and cutting my hair to change what the Lord had already given me. Covering my face with makeup to hide the imperfections I saw that were haunting me. Starving myself then being so hungry I would gourge myself till I was sick trying to figure out how to quickly change my outward apperance.
I strived for male attention to just HEAR someone tell me I was pretty enough....I was always afraid I was the eternal "friend" and never marriage material....being single for the rest of my life seemed to be what would be the final result....
Something has changed.
I have found who I am when I lost the charade I was putting myself through.
I have found an inner peace where I used to be be chaotically seeking approval. I am pretty enough to love, I am skinny enough to hug, I am funny enough to keep your attention...I was always seeking the yes answer to "AM I GOOD ENOUGH"
Where did I find this inner peace that has calmed the sea of good enough??? Well that my friends is through finally seeing beyond the makeup, the weight and the personality....I worked with what the Lord has given me, and don't try to fix something he created. (Sure I am losing weight, and obviously it wasn't the Lord who made me take a bite of the food that made me fat....but he has a plan for me, and it is my job to be prepared to do the job...and I know that I am to have children, and so now my job is to lose the weight it takes for me to be healthy enough to have these kids...) I don't repaint his masterpeice anymore. I finally am breaking down my vanity brick by brick and letting Him shine though my actions, my words, my body......and I am enjoying and loving the way this looks.
It's not to say I don't have the days where I look in the mirror and sigh hoping to see a runway models body instead of the pleasently plump one that stood there looking back at me....but I don't dwell on it and get sad and depressed about it, and go and try to hide it or cover it up with something that is against the will of God.
I am letting God be God and letting me be the spiritual being living this human exsistance.....

all this talk reminds me of the scripture in Matthew.... "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven"

Today I am thankful for: Blogging (Day 9)

I HEART reading blogs. I get to peak in on peoples life, learn about other ways of cooking, parenting, styles of home decorating, diy projects etc....I follow almost 30 blogs on my google reader...and most of those people I follow on twitter as well.....I start to feel like I "know" these people, and that we are "friends" so this may be a delusional reality, but it is fun...it is almost like getting lost in a autobiography that is updated daily!!! too fun!
So there is a part of me who wants to be a "famous" blogger. Someone who has followers in the thousands, who is recognized in public for the random words I say on the Internet. A cool person who has a lot of nothing to say and gets paid to say it......but then another part of me wants to be an anonymous blogger, who can say exactly everything she wants when she wants without recourse of feelings or reputation.
but seeing as I am neither
I am thankful for this little corner of cyberspace that has my name on it. I am thankful that I have a spot in the world wide web to share my thoughts and feelings as random as they may be...I may not have a thousand people who care, but I do know that I have a spot where I can vent, praise, share, and be as vague or as detailed as I want (although because there is random people who drop by, I try to keep it as family friendly as possible)......it is mine.
So today day 9, I am thankful for blogging...the writing and reading of blogging.

Today I am Thankful for: Lapband (Day 8)

Today I am thankful for my lapband.

Like yesterday, today is also an anniversary. Today is the 1 year anniversary of our surgery date for our lapband.
So I had started on this blog my "lapband journey" a little bit. But honestly after a while I was discouraged. I wasn't losing the weight that i knew could be lost. I would go online and read posts on lapbandtalk.com and see how many people had lost so much weight in such a small time.
I knew I wasn't eating like I should, some of my choices were still high calories, but I rationalized it with me eating less.
But as of June of this year, I went to see my doctor, and he told me that i wasn't at the fill level I needed to be at to have optimal results (a fill is when they insert saline into the lapband to give restriction to how much food is passed through the band to be processed gastrically - otherwise it sits in the pouch created to continue to tease the nerves in my stomach saying it's full).
I got the fill I needed and started to lose weight like a champ!
In June I weighed 298 (only a few pounds from my 306lb presurgery weight) and right now, I am 271. With that, I am now at a spot where I know I will need more fill, for more weight loss. But with or without the fill, I can see myself making better choices, and with that, I am learning how to make this lapband a life changing experience rather than just another diet.
My goal weight is 180, however, my ultimate goal with lapband was not to lose weight for appearances. I could careless how big or small I am, I am happy with me. My goal was to lose weight enough so I can have children.
I was told by multiple doctors that if I lost 30 pounds, I would become pregnant. Well, I have lost that "30" and still nothing...no baby....but I am trusting that the Lord sees where I am with that want and will continue to bless me with my lapband to lose the weight I need to be as healthy as I need to be for carrying, birthing, and raising children.

Not sure if you can see a difference, but here is this day last year, as well as a picture of me on 10/31 of this year, as a sort of before and after pic....

So I am thankful for lapband and making new and healthy choices!!

Today I am Thankful For: My Husband (Day 7)

Today I am thankful for my husband. The reason it took me 7 days to declare my thankfulness for him is because today is a special one for us. November 7,2009 we got married. It was a stressful time because of situations leading up to the day, however, despite the before and afters, we had a magical day. I got to marry my best friend. So many people came out to celebrate with us, and we were able to share the memories with them.

We are having our 2 year wedding anniversary today.

Here I am sitting next to my husband while he is on the couch. He is plugged into his laptop on a work call. I am a lucky woman to have my husband home with me daily. He has a fantastic job, and provides well for his family and he gets to do it from home. I get to see my husband all day, he gets to take breaks and snuggle with me, talk with me, love on me. He desires to provide the best for us and he will not settle for less even if it means he does without.

He is thoughtful and caring by nature. He is always shocked when I react to something he does. He will (for no reason) buy me something, do the laundry, wash the dishes, and when I am happy and tell him it is the sweetest thing he tries to play it off.

There is a song called "Lucky" and when I hear it I always cry. I cry because I know I am so very blessed to have Jason in my life, I am blessed to have such a strong leader in my family, an example for my stepchildren as well as the children I will be blessed with in the future. He is my sanity in the crazy world we live in, he is my best friend when everyone else leaves, he is my shoulder to cry on when I have run out of tissues, he is a stronghold when chaos ensues, he is my everything on this Earth, and I can not ask for a better person!

I am thankful thankful thankful to have William Jason Weaver as my life long best friend.

Here is a little snippet of  the song "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callet

Boy i hear you in my dreams

i feel your whisper across the sea
i keep you with me in my heart
you make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
lucky to have been where i have been
lucky to be coming home again
ooh ooh ooh

They don't know how long it takes
waiting for a love like this
every time we say goodbye
i wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you i promise you, i will

Here are a few of the pictures from my favorite day ever.....

Today I am Thankful For: Fall Decorations (Day 6)

I would have said today I am thankful for Holiday decorations, but this is November, and I am thinking that Thanksgiving is on most minds right now...so I am showing the mantel of my house.

I just recently developed a love for all things Kirklands, and everything on my mantle is from Kirklands (If you hit the right sales, it can be very cheap.) But my main focus is the Fall Decorations. I have moved from having halloween based decorations to just fall decor...and I think that has stemmed from my growing decoration maturity.

Today I am Thankful for: Quiet before the storm (Day 5)

Quiet before the storm? Sounds foreboding I know...but it isn't as bad as it may first sound.

I have a busy week ahead.

1. Bridal/Personal Shower - to organize, decorate, and execute
2. A Meeting to plan an area wide "girls" event for church (which I may have to miss because of scheule conflicts)
3. Rehersal Dinner
4. Wedding
5. Youth Event

As a matter of fact I have a busy next two months ahead.

November

1. (Everything above)
2. Organize church Thanksgiving dinner
3. My time helping to serve an elderly lady at church (two or three times this month)
4. My own family thanksgiving
5. Church duties
6. Plan and organize Decembers advent calander
7. Parade of Lights in Fort Worth
8. College and Career activity (we are the leaders)
9. Organize Decembers concert, including gathering money for people who want to go and pay for the tickets
10. Create Christmas Cards (because I was the winner!!)
11. Organize Turkey Bowling with other fun Youth leaders
12. Decorate for Christmas
13. Babysitting almost daily

December

1. Plan and execute Christmas Banquet
2. Concert with College and Career
3. Plan and execute Christmas party for College and Career
4. 25 days straight of Advent events/activities/stuff for my family (should I have 25 spaces for this alone??)
5. More Youth activities with more fun youth and leaders
6. New Years Eve
7. Christmas Recovery
8. Babysitting almost daily
9. There is more I am sure just have no more mental capacity in my head to think about writting....

 And even though every single day is not planned out, I know that most weeks are jammed packed with things to do, events to be at, people to see, etc. But as of today....I have nothing on my agenda for today. It is a quiet day. I am able to put dinner in the crockpot sit back and do blogs, facebook games, snuggle with my honey, enjoy the nice weather, catch up on laundry, and dishes (the last two do not seem fun, but doing them at my leisure is better than rushing about trying to squeeze them in).
All in all, I have a busy week,and next few months.... but today is mine...to be relaxed and enjoy a Saturday!