Bloom Where You're Planted {Thankful Thoughts}

For as long as I knew it was a possibility having a full time, year round job working at camp was my career goal. When I first set off to university with that goal in mind I had visions of returning to the camp I grew up at making some changes and helping it grow to it's full potential. Things changed pretty quickly, as they often do when church politics and wills get involved, and so I found myself transplanted to a place I'd never planned on planting myself. 

There were times (many times) that I didn't want to be planted there. I wanted someone to come along and pick me up and plant me somewhere else. Ideally a nice vase with fresh water where the soil wasn't so rocky. As fate would have it though that's not how things turned out.

Last spring the first opportunity to move on popped up just as I was preparing for my fifth summer, something I never thought I'd see. Parts of me were giddy with thoughts of pretty new vases but the idea of being uprooted still felt hard. I would miss certain nuances, the gophers, the sheds, eating ice cream with a fork because all the spoons had disappeared (again). As it turned out though I wasn't what they were looking for, instead of the pretty vase I was shoved back into the rocky soil on the side of a cliff (at least that's what it felt like).

Towards the end of the summer the second opportunity to move on appeared on the horizon. This time it involved a full on gold vase encrusted with diamonds. After a particularly stormy summer, in the rocky soil, on the edge of a cliff I was ready to make home in the fanciest vase that would hold me. Except I wasn't what they were looking for either, although I was closer this time. 

Fast forward a few weeks and I've found another option. Except this one doesn't feel like a vase, more like a nice terracotta pot you put on your front porch. It's sturdier than the cliff but still exposed to the elements and maybe a little rough around the edges. I have an interview the second week in December and hopefully there will be a nice terracotta pot with a red bow and my name on it under the tree. Even though I never planned on planting myself there it might just turn out okay. 

I'm thankful for the places I've been forced to grow and for the ability to look around and think that even if the view isn't perfect there's still reason to bloom. 

Stuff & Things

Thursday Things in Three

Steph over at Life According to Steph came up with a fun three things themed questionnaire. Which combines two of my favourite things; list making and blog prompts and since I'm struggling on the things to blog about front these days I'm taking all the help I can get. 

Three things I'd never give up:
Meat, Dairy, Gluten. 

Three favorite vegetables
Broccoli (preferably cooked), cucumber (raw or pickle form) and potatoes. 

Three shows I watched faithfully from beginning to end
30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Parks & Recreation. 

Three places I want to visit inside the US
US: Disney World...other than that my desire to spend a whole lot of time in the US is pretty non-existent.
Canada: As for Canada I'd like to visit Nunavut or the Yukon, make a trip to Newfoundland and visit the Corner Gas set in Saskatchewan.  

Three places I want to visit outside the US
Iceland, Australia, Thailand/Cambodia.

Three things I always have with me
Phone, bandaid, cash. 

Three things that are always in my car
Napkins, extra ketchup and sweet & sour packages and lip balm. 

Three most recent phone calls were to/from
I've been spending lots of time on the phone trying to get paperwork for the office job settled...it's just as frustrating as it sounds. All three most recent calls are related to that mess. 

Three books I read and loved in college
Last Child in the Woods is the only one that sticks out. Honestly, I didn't read a whole lot of books in university, I only took first year English courses and then I read a lot of the Bible for my minor in all my recreation classes we read research and played outside. 

Three most often used makeup products
BB Cream,  mascara and eyeliner.

Three things that make me laugh
Raccoon videos, political satire, 

Three things that make me cry
Adorable engagement videos, Jim & Pam moments, thinking about anything related to the future for more than 30 seconds. 

And because it's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada (and that last question was kind of a downer) I'm adding three things I'm thankful for to this little questionnaire. 

Three things I'm Thankful for
Grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins that live no more than 30 minutes away. 
The very best friends.
Knowing what I'm passionate about in life. 


Linking up with Stuff & Things
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Thankful Things on Thursday

The week was off to a strong start. Sunday was the perfect start to the week and Monday & Tuesday were solid days. Yesterday I hit a wall and the grumpiness returned in full force, I'm happy to report that today I'm feeling a little less crazy and a little more rational. I've also decided I need to have chicken strips & fries for lunch so that's probably also contributing to my inner peace. 

I've been joining the Stuff & Things link up with Joey and Kristin for a long time now so when I found out that the link up was going into retirement after today I knew I needed to link up one more time. And since I've been feeling more grumpy than not lately I decided it would be a good idea to dedicate the last Stuff & Things to stuff and things I'm thankful for amid the current chaos of my life. 

Last year before camp started I jumped on The Fringe Hours  by Jessica Turned bandwagon and had a genuine mind shift. I always thought that I needed large chunks of time to do things that I loved. And as a consequence of that thinking I rarely got to do those things. The whole point of the Fringe Hours is to find little pockets of time and use them. And now I've discovered that by being productive when I need to be, most days I can create a full hour that I can use to work on Project Life before work. I still prefer a full afternoon of scrapbooking but I am thankful for The Fringe Hours!

Even though there's snow in the forecast, it's still starting to feel like spring around here. Blue skies, trees that are starting to think about coming back to life, temperatures that don't involve a minus sign and sunshine are all things I've been feeling thankful for this week.

Best friends, group chats and Skype dates are all things I'm feeling overwhelmingly thankful for lately. 

In this moment I'm also pretty thankful it's Thursday and that there is a whole weekend ahead followed by the last full week on work before the end of my office contract and a little break between office life and camp life.  

Also linking up here for Thankful Thursday. 

Friday Celebrations

I'm going to pass on the Blogtember prompt for today because I'm not a vlogger and I have no interest in becoming a vlogger. #keepingitreal

It's been a weirdly depressing week around these parts, not necessarily in my personal life, but every evening when I turned on the news I was met with stories of a missing toddler, missing woman and a handful of heart wrenching court cases. And that was just the local news. It puts things into perspective though and serves as a gentle reminder to take time to enjoy the present, be thankful for the now and celebrate the ordinary. Plus, although I'm excited about my participation in Blogtember it is more tiring than I thought it would be to follow the prompts each day. I have discovered some fantastic new blogs to follow so that's a welcome bonus!

I ended up having a unexpectedly busy week. Monday I had a few errands to run and then Tuesday I had a quick breakfast date with J. before he left (he'll be away until the first of October). Wednesday I spent the day catching up with e-mails and blogging and Thursday I had an info night for Girl Guides. In between all that I've been making carving out the fringe hours and getting some post-camp scrapbooking done. Scrapbooking the photos and mementos from the summer is incredibly therapeutic. It helps me to reflect and grown and really put an end to the summer. Tonight I'm headed to a family birthday party but right now I am sipping my coffee, eating a chocolate chip muffin and blogging while I listen to Canada AM.

I've been having a really difficult time uploading photos to my blog lately and it's driving me crazy!!!

Moving on to happier things, which is supposedly the whole point of this post...

After a tortuously long winter it seems like Mother Nature is trying to make up for things by making sure summer doesn't leave us too soon. We've had a couple fall-ish days but for the most part the temperature has remained in the mid-twenties, the sun is shining and I'm still spending time near the water and on the beach.

It's almost the season for new shows! I've fallen behind in a lot of the shows I used to watch but I'm planning to watch the new seasons of Survivor and Amazing Race that start this week. The Middle also starts up again this week. I'm not as obsessed with Grey's Anatomy as I used to be but I probably will watch the premier just to see how Meredith is doing.

I've been reading! So far this month I've finished two books and I'm half way through my third. My goal was to read four, which I think is attainable. Right now I'm reading Rescuing Julia Twice. It has some pretty negative reviews on Goodreads, and I don't foresee it becoming my favourite book, but it is interesting. And having time to read is always worth celebrating!

I'm forbidding myself to buy anymore scrapbooking supplies until Christmas when I can invest in a Project Life album, inserts and maybe a core kit. I'm using all of my currently existing supplies for my camp album and it's actually been fun to challenging my creativity by eliminating the option to run off to Michael's and buy perfect matching paper and stickers.

If you haven't seen this commercial yet (and it's possible it's only being aired in Canada) you need to watch. Every time it airs I stop what I'm doing and my heart melts just a little bit.

On that note of adorable-ness I'm off to get my bathing suit on and head to the river for the afternoon!

Linking up with Karli and Andrea.

It's A Fine, Fine Life {3}

This week's edition of It's A Fine, Fine Life is brought to you by the letters A-Z.

Words.

Most of us have favourite words. 

Symmetry. Laundry. Grace. Butter. Rain. Summer. Prayer. Nap. Camp. Lime. A few of my personal favourites. 

I'm thankful for words that allow us to express our thoughts and opinions. Our dislikes and our desires. To share our feelings with others and to give encouragement when needed. As someone who is perpetually finding myself far away from my best friends, from family and in a short time from my boyfriend I rely on words a little more than your average person. 

The words I type in text messages, iMessages, e-mails and blog posts. The words I speak over FaceTime and telephone conversations. The words I write on scraps of paper, the margins of my Bible and the crisp pages of my journal. Some are chosen more carefully and some are hastily scribbled because it was the first thing that came to mind. I'm thankful for them all though and each one serves a purpose.

Next week during staff training words will be a central topic in many of our sessions. With our head counsellors we'll talk about choosing words how to teach new counsellors and correct them by using their words and not belittling them. With all the counsellors we'll discuss how to re-direct homesick campers using words that ensures they know their fears are heard and legitimate while not dwelling on those moments of homesickness. We'll talk about using respectful language including a lot of information on the 'r' word. Words are powerful.

So today, I'm taking a minute to celebrate all the words that surround us in this fine life. 

It's A Fine, Fine Life {2}

I am so excited to be joining Allie again this week to celebrate some of life's finest things. 

There were many moments this winter when I looked outside and burst into tears because there was 5 feet of snow on the ground, it was snowing, it was cold and there was nothing but snow and cold in the forecast. The four days I've woken up to sunshine. SUNSHINE! I have my windows open, there are birds chirping outside. Spring has arrived!

I could go off into some sort of deep theology moment here about how long the winter was and how frustrated, tired and hopeless I felt the snow would ever start to melt. Now that the snow is melting and the sky is blue I feel such a relief and overwhelming gratitude that spring is here. I'm sure there's a parallel there about waiting and having hope and remembering that everything has a season.

I'm thankful for seasons in all aspects of life. Weather, relationships, interests, struggles, work, family. Everything has a season, some are definitely better than others but I there is a reason for each of them. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

It's A Fine, Fine Life

Allie from Reckless is hosting a brand new link up focused on sharing what we've been liking about life lately. And the timing could not be better. Last week was rough. I'll be the first to admit I was not a nice person to be around. Without any real reason I was tired and cranky and just couldn't shake the grumpiness.

Thankfully, this is a new week.

And It's a Fine, Fine Life.

I live in an amazing country. Sometimes I wish I had easier access to Vanilla Coke, Chick-Fil-A and the mythical Cookie Butter I can't disagree with the majority of things on this list. Canada isn't perfect but I am sure am happy to live here.

I can walk into a grocery store and have thousands of food options right at my finger tips. Coffee, broccoli, chicken, bacon, spices from all over the world. And if you really stop and think about it for more than a few seconds that fact alone is absolutely incredible.

I have two amazingly phenomenal best friends. No matter how major or minor a crisis is I know I can count on them to talk me through it or give me a dose of perspective. We haven't been friends forever but they are certainly my forever friends.

I've got a wonderful boyfriend who doesn't always understand my thought processes but tries his best. Who always says good morning & good night and who goes out of his way to ease my anxious thoughts. Plus he makes me laugh, which is equally as important.

It's easy to get caught up in the anxiety. The pressure to be successful in other people's eyes and to always have answers about "what comes next" can be overwhelming. At the end of the day though I have a whole lot to be thankful about in this life. 

Thankful

It's been a strange week around these parts. I got some fabulous news and also had a few incidents that were not so fabulous which made me feel a nauseous kind of anxious. I definitely need to take a step back and focus on the things I'm thankful for over the past few weeks.

I am so thankful I have good studded winter tires on my car. I live out in the country and work in town at least once a week I find myself driving to/from work in snowy, icy and way less than ideal road conditions. It's not enjoyable, but I'm glad I have good tires because it makes me feel more secure and a little safer.

I'm thankful that my contract was extended by two weeks taking me to mid-April. It's perfect in that it gives me time to keep making good money before I go pack to camp pay cheques and it gives me enough time to prepare for camp. Last year I was in the office from February-May before living on site for the season. There was a rumour going around that our contracts could get extended until May, which wouldn't have given me zero time to prepare for staff training & camp.

I'm thankful that not only will I have some time to prepare for camp I also have time for a vacation. J. and I booked a trip! I got a passport two years ago and have never used it, so I'm excited to finally add a stamp. Not to mention soak up all the Vitamin D my body can hold! (While wearing  copious amounts of sunscreen because I'm not in the market for skin cancer.)

I'm thankful I have the ability to pick up the TV remote and change the channel when "Dr."Phil or "Dr."Oz come on. 

I'm thankful for the first few minutes in the morning when I stay in bed, slowly wake up and take time to pray about the day ahead. 

I'm thankful for the first hour of my day when I can sip coffee, watch morning news shows and start the day stress free.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to link up for the Thankful Thursday Party so I can share my thankful moments and read through others.

Called To Be Woven

I had one of the best weekends I've had in a really long time. It seems like it's been so long since I've experienced God Moments but this weekend I seemed to be surrounded. I found them in the most unexpected places, but I am so grateful that I did. 

I'm grateful for the peace of not knowing the specifics, but knowing that I need only to keep listening and watching and following 'the call'. 

I'm grateful for coffee on rainy Monday mornings.

I'm grateful for fulfilled promises.

I'm grateful for songs that give me goosebumps. 

I am full of hope, praise, celebration, faith and delight that I know there are big things ahead. 

I am grateful for passion and opportunities to use that passion to make a difference. 

'Twas The Day After Christmas

I had such a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. God is good. 

Christmas Eve we had supper at my aunt & uncle's before church then we went to church where my cousin's baby was baptized. Afterwards we all went back to my aunt & uncle's and just enjoyed each other's company. Watching the excitement of my three year old cousin A. was the absolute best. We had given baby M. a present for her baptism and didn't want A. to feel left out so we brought a little something for her too. (And by little something I mean a single Christmas ornament that we found at Wal-Mart for under $5.) When she found out she was allowed to open it then she carefully but enthusiastically tore off the pink paper and squealed with delight and yelled "A decoration!" then she ran around the room to show everyone her new "decornation" and simultaneously offering up a "sank you". I also loved watching her in church as she proudly stood up on the pew, hymn book in hand and sang her heart out. I am so thankful for her and pray with every fibre of my being someday it's my little girl keeping everyone entertained Christmas.

Christmas Day we opened presents and I was seriously blessed. My biggest surprise present was a Magic Bullet Deluxe set with a bunch of different blades and attachments for the cups! I haven't gotten a change to try it out yet but I see A LOT of smoothies in my future. And homemade salsa. And iced coffee. I may even attempt to recreate Second Cup's Frozen Hot Chocolate! 

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I also got an amazing gift from my friend who I met through church back when I was in university. We send each other a Christmas package and I was so excited when I opened this on Christmas morning. At this point you all know how much I love words of affirmation and I love how much thought went into this gift. I'm using a lot of willpower not to read all those little notes right away but I really do want to save them and read one each day in 2014. I've also been thinking about how I need to get back into journalling with a real pen & paper. The next time I'm in town I'm going to pick up a notebook and for each day of 2014 I will glue in the quote I pick from the jar each day and scribble down a few words about the day, draw a few doodles, and by the end of the year I'll have an amazing scrapbook. I think I even have a blank Smash* Book that might be perfect for this project. That's a post for another time though...back to Christmas!

I got some great new clothes including this hoodie that has been on my wish list for months! 

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I also got some new make up, a supply of body washes & lotions to last well into the new year and a few gift cards to spend once things quiet down a little. 

And of course the kitties got some new toys too. 

We enjoyed Christmas dinner with my Dad's side of the family and then spent the evening with my mom's side. I can't put into words how thankful I am to have so many aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. And that family really is a priority. I can't imagine growing up without cousins and aunts and grandparents, but I know that for so many it's hard to imagine growing up with that kind of extended family. Mine certainly isn't perfect and there was the usual arguments about how many chairs we need and the uncles probably had one too many glasses of homemade wine but that's life. 

I'm off to spend the rest of the day enjoying the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives marathon on the Food Network making homemade pizzas for supper and visiting with a family friend this evening. I hope everyone is enjoying time with family & friends! 

Merry Christmas!

It's 10:00 p.m. on Christmas Day night and I am currently snuggled in bed with a cup of hot chocolate, watching a Christmas episode of Dawson's Creek before falling asleep after a long, but wonderful day. I've spent the last 24 hours surrounded by family and through the magic of technology a few minutes with friends.  I have a very full belly and thankful heart. 

I'll be back at some point tomorrow to share my excitement over gifts and magical Christmas moments but I wanted to share this thought courtesy of Veggie Tales. 

Merry Christmas!!

Tunes & Tastes

I feel like this week has been so chaotic! I made 3 trips to town in 3 days, but I did finally get my laptop fixed! With a totally empty hard drive my first priority was to restore my iTunes to its former glory. I spent a solid two hours yesterday importing CDs but I barely made a dent. If anyone has any music/song suggestions now would be the time to share them! I listen to a lot of country but I also listen to lots of indie stuff and I'm not ashamed to admit I have a soft spot for One Direction and the Jonas Brothers. 

Pinterest

Last night I Skyped with H. & R. for three hours. I love those girls with every fiber of my being. Our friendship isn't perfect, I mean, technically I'm their boss four months of the year...and like any boss/employee relationship there are definitely times when I have to be the "bad guy"/authority figure. But we work through it. Part of what makes us so close (other than the magic that is camp) is that we learned pretty quickly on that if we wanted to be friends we needed to forgive each other and not hold grudges. It's pretty easy to get annoyed/frustrated with somebody when you live and work with them 24/7 and if you don't learn to accept apologizes, discuss disagreements, agree to disagree and respect each other by the time August comes around you cannot wait to get far away from them. I am so thankful that the three of us "clicked" almost instantly but also realize it takes effort to keep a friendship and having that kind of friendship is worth all the effort in the world.

Pinterest

I recently realized how thankful I am that I genuinely enjoy cooking! I love being in the kitchen trying a new recipe, creating something from scratch or making an old favourite, it all makes me happy. I see posts on my Facebook/Twitter almost daily from people either complaining about eating Kraft Dinner for the fourth time that week or sharing a photo their latest kitchen disaster. I'm not saying I don't have my share of kitchen disasters (someday I'll tell you the "microwave s'more" story), but I just laugh them off and move on to my next culinary adventure. I can't imagine hating cooking so much that you eat out every single meal and avoid the kitchen like the plague. I don't know if my love for cooking & baking is a product of nature or nurture but I'm sure thankful for all the hours I spent baking with my Grandma as a child and for parents who let me experiment in the kitchen (just as long as I cleaned up my mess afterwards). 

On that note I am off to start supper, import a few more CDs and catch up on last's nights episode of Survivor!

Blogging, Cooking and Remembering

I spent a lot of time this weekend browsing blogs, reading blog advice articles and pondering the blogging universe's greatest mysteries, for example: $500 a month for adspace!? I mean I totally get blogging is A LOT of work, and bloggers shouldn't undersell their products/advertising. Really I'm more surprised to learn bloggers can afford to pay that much to promote their blogs. 

*If you haven't seen this video yet you are missing out. 

Saturday night I had a wonderful Skype date with H. & R. this is becoming a weekly activity and it is so much fun. Technology has a lot of flaws and  potential for negativity but when it comes to keeping in touch and staying connected technology is my BFF. 

I've been challenging myself to expand my food comfort zone by taking little steps. Rather than jump right into trying all kinds of exotic foods, I'm trying new recipes for foods I already like. The truth is I think I'll always be a "picky eater" but I still want to try new things and open to food. I recently mastered The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Strips. They are SO good. It took me two tries to create a flour mixture with the right balance of spices but now I've figured it out and will never go back to buying frozen chicken strips/nuggets ever again. 

(Imagine a beautiful photo of crispy, golden brown chicken strips artfully arranged on a plate here.)

I seriously need to work on remembering to take pictures of things. 

And I can't click 'publish' on a post about the long weekend on November 11th without taking time to acknowledge and reflect on what this day represents. In Canada November 11 is Rememberance Day, a day to pay tribute to the men and woman who fought for and continue to fight for our freedom. Even if this isn't an official day of Rememberance where you live take some time to remember.

Linking up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans. 

Motivation Affirmation

I find inspiration and motivation in all the usual places; friends, family, Pinterest. The thing that motivates me the most though is words of affirmation. I love getting handwritten notes, sweet texts, blog comments, e-mails...words are my love language. 

We have a tradition at camp called "Warm Fuzzies", each staff member has a 'mailbox' that hangs on the wall as you go up the stairs to the counsellors' sleeping quarters. During the summer everyone writes encouraging notes to each other and drops them in the mailbox resulting in little pick me ups and acknowledgment of jobs well done randomly throughout the summer. Warm Fuzzies is one of my favourite camp traditions, I save everyone I've ever gotten. At the camp I grew up at we did Warm Fuzzies even as campers and even those are tucked away neatly in my closet. I fully admit to dumping out my envelope from time to time during the year and reading through the notes to give myself a bit of a pick me up. 

Everyday we do something called Cabin Inspection, an intense friendly competition between the cabins to keep their space neat & tidy and earn points towards Cabin of the Week. Occasionally Cabin Inspection also includes some bribery in the form of chocolate & "love notes". I proudly display most of those on the bulletin board behind my desk in the office and then they come home with me to be added to the summer's scrapbook. The note above is from one of the sweetest campers who comes to our camp for adults with intellectual disabilities. The list below was made by an entire cabin of adult campers with a physical disabilities and is a Top 10 List of reasons why the director and myself are awesome. My favourite is #7, because matching clothes are fun!

I'm so thankful for my job and the opportunity to work with so many wonderful staff and campers. And for these reminders to keep me motivated and inspired to work hard and help make camp a magical place. 

I'm linking up today with Christina who? and I Have A Messy Bun!

Refresh(ed)

After I hit 'publish' on yesterday's post I got to work and accomplished quite a few things on my to-do list. I spent almost the entire afternoon cleaning my room, caught up on Teen Mom 3 while cleaning, plus had a quality dance party/sing a long with Luke Bryan. Once that was done I sat down with an ice cold glass of pop and caught up with blogs. And much to my surprise and delight when I went to tackle Google Analytics again it was magically working! I also did a lot more googling and got the button/grab box issue resolved! It's now hanging out on my sidebar and I am super excited to start taking part in button swaps and sponsoring other blogs! 

I feel like I've moved up just a little from the kiddie table of the blog world. Still not at the grown up table, but inching my way closer!

Yesterday when I said I needed a pause button what I really needed was a "Refresh" button. Once I crossed some things off my to do list, had a giant and delicious stir-fry for supper, caught up with H. & R., gathered supplies for a DIY Project I have planned I felt a lot better about life. I also got to enjoy the amazing combination of fresh sheets and freshly shaved legs as I climbed into bed last night. It's the little things in life.

In the spirit of appreciating the little things I'm linking up with Brianna at Endlessly Beloved for 10 Things I'm Thankful For:

1. Hot showers, yummy smelling body butter & crisp pyjamas. 

2. Broccoli. The most delicious of all the vegetables.

3. Wool socks. I hate having cold feet!

4. A good pen. Writing is so much more enjoyable when you find a pen that glides smoothly across the page. 

5. YouTube. Because sometimes you just need to watch cat videos. 

6. Luke Bryan. 

7. The Blogging Community. 

8. Friends who have the best sense of humour and kindest spirits. 

9. My faith. 

10. Moments of silence to just take deep breathes and appreciate what I've been blessed with. 

Candy, Coke & Criminals

Today's Thankful Thursday is brought to you by three of my current favourite things: Candy, Coke and Criminals. 

Swedish Berries & Sour Patch Kids are at the top of my favourite Halloween candy. I've already eaten way too many of the 'fun-sized' packages of both. My only complaint is that they are usually accompanied by the fun-sized packages of Fuzzy Peaches and I have no use for those things. 

I'm thankful for an improving attitude towards food that let's me enjoy eating some candy and not feel ashamed. There's nothing wrong with a few treats as long as I eat plenty of veggies and good stuff the other 90% of the time. 

 

I already mentioned friends brought me back a case of Vanilla Coke from their trip to states, but last night I cracked open the first can. It is just as delicious as I remember. It's probably a good thing I don't have constant access to it all the time because I would have a hard time not drinking gallons of it a day. Last night Mom and I were putting together treat bags for the Trick-or-Treaters and Peyton promptly made herself at home in an empty Coke box. 

I'm thankful for the adorable Peyton, thoughtful friends and Vanilla Coke.

Is anyone else as obsessed with Criminal Minds as I am? I am such a huge scardy cat when it comes to spooky stories and blood & guts type things but I can not get enough of this show. I want to be best friends with Dr.Spencer Reid. And J.J.. 

I'm thankful for TV shows that remind me despite all the bad in the world there are a lot of good people too. And that I might be having a bad day, but at least I'm not being kidnapped by a crazy serial killer. 

Thankful

I'm thankful to be a part of the Bigs & Littles Network for this round! 

My assigned Big is Samantha over at Designer in Teal  and I'm really looking forward to getting to know her and learning from her blogging experience!

Along the same lines I am incredibly thankful for the new followers I've gained in the past week! 

I'm thankful for messages from friends that literally make me laugh out loud.

I'm thankful for hot cups of chai tea on damp days.

I'm thankful I have an idea for NaNoWriMo! I was going through old notebooks searching for an idea and I came across a character name that I had totally forgotten about. I can't start writing yet but I have spent some time thinking about it which should make things easier come November 1st!

I'm thankful for getting to start my day by spending some cuddle time with my cat.

I'm thankful for homemade chocolate chip cookies. 

I'm thankful for real progress being made with funding for a year-round position!! We've been stalking our application online and at last look it's still "processing" but has been assigned a case manager which is a really good sign!

I'm thankful for the feeling of totally have your life together when your bra & underwear happen to match.

I'm thankful for donuts. Specifically chocolate dip and vanilla dip with sprinkles.

#onebigtruth Thankful Thursday

Today I'm participating in a really neat link up with some amazing bloggers who are sharing what God has done in their lives. At first I wasn't sure I had anything really worthy of blogging about, so many bloggers have incredible stories of God's faithfulness through infertility, singleness, adoption...and I'm still waiting on things. There are a million little things I am thankful for each done, but compared to others my story seems insignificant. Then I had an 'ah-ah' moment and realized that is my story. I may not have a big story right now, but that doesn't mean I won't. God is always working in my life. His timing is perfect. Some days I get discouraged and think that I need to give up on my dreams and than I'm asking for too much. Then I remember that I'm not. God can do anything, even more than I can dream. It just might take some time. Which means the first thing I'm thankful for today is that nothing is hopeless or impossible with God.

 

                  

 

On a lighter note I am thankful for the cheesecake that is in my fridge. As soon as I finish this post I am going to make myself a cup of tea, light a candle and do some reading while I enjoy every delicious bite.

 

I'm thankful for a stack of books in my to-read pile that I am finally getting around to reading.

 

I'm already thankful for the homemade pizzas I plan on making for supper.

 

I'm thankful for friends who ask "how was your day" instead of "what's up?".

 

I'm thankful for last minute babysitting opportunities, which leads to extra money, which is always nice.

 

I'm thankful for hot cups of coffee on chilly autumn mornings.

 

 

 





Thankful Thursday

Via Pinterest

 

 

Today I am Thankful for...

A new iTunes playlist ready for tomorrow's road trip

Crisp autumn air

New seasons of How I Met Your Mother, Survivor, The Middle, Grey's Anatomy, The Amazing Race & Criminal Minds

 Memories

Spicy Chicken Pizza

Buzzfeed, Thought Catalog and blogs that keep me inspired and entertained

Yoga

Wool Socks, Leggings, Hoodies & Baseball Hats

Encouraging messages from friends

Freshly painted nails

Instagram & Snapcat

God Moments

Sweet Dreams

Faith

Joy 

You're My Summer Jam

You and Me we're like a simple song
Yeah so damn easy to sing along,
I don't need a guitar or a band,
Cause baby you're my Summer Jam

- Jake Owen, Summer Jam

***

  

  I feel a lot of obligation to write a detailed and meaningful reflection about camp now that it's official over...but I have no idea where to start or where to end. I wish those Facebook survey/questionnaires were still a thing, copying/pasting 100 questions to answer about my favourite/least favourite summer moments, songs, food, smells, everything and anything that will forever remind me of this summer. (maybe they are still a thing? I'm out of the loop.)

I had so many great moments this summer. And I am thankful for every millisecond of each moment.

What I miss most about camp in the off season tends to be the nuisances of the summer; plaid shorts & tie-dye t-shirts, soup, 'Heart of Gold',  Bob's guy... It's funny because the things I miss the most are the ones that are guaranteed to be different next summer.  The staff will change, some of us (potentially even myself) will move on to other places and other jobs. There will be new campers and campers who won't return. We won't listen to the same songs or laugh about the same things. 

The hardest part about the transition back into the real world is going from spending literally every minute of everyday and night surrounded by people who you love to going months without seeing them. And although I am confident it won't be too long before I see H. & R. there are others who have the best intentions of keeping in touch but I may never cross paths with again outside of Birthday greetings on Facebook.

The moral of the story is I am so happy with how this summer played out. 

It was the answer to prayers that I didn't expect to be answered in 1000 years.