Turkey, Ham, Family and many THANKS!

We had an early Thanksgiving at Uncle Johnny and Aunt Shannon's. Uncle John, Leigh and Claire came too. My girls followed them around everywhere. Uncle John cooked gumbo that was better than any I've tasted. Maddie and Grace each had two bowls. The weather was perfect and Cameron was happy that there were no pumpkins at Aunt Shannon's! (last time we put him in a pumpkin for his 1st Halloween picture)

Thanksgiving Day: We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. All of the family came to visit, the kids played and painted Christmas ornaments. As usual Aunt Nancy's ham was to die for, Aunt Paulette's corn had me at hello, all of Aunt Mary's mississippi mud pie was gone within 5 minutes, Angie's sweet potato casserole was heaven sent for Todd.

There was a moment when I looked around at all of the kids running through the house, the women looking at Black Friday sale papers and the guys outside talking about the weather, hunting and only God knows what else... and my heart smiled. I'm grown up and I have an amazing life filled with the most amazing people. I have more to be thankful for than I could have ever hoped for!

Happiness

Frick & Frack

Maddie Lou & Gracie Bug

Sweetness

How sweet he is! Thank God for giving me a BOY after those two girls!

Thanksgiving...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for three healthy children that can make even the worse day seem great with nothing but a smile, or a little drool or a big kiss - a wonderful husband who loves me the way that I am, who I still find sexy and who can still make a laugh - my parents for being a part of my life and for still believing in me - my sisters who teach me something new every and who still make me want to be a better person so that I can be a good role model - my friends for enriching my life beyond words as some of my cherished lessons were learned from them - my job - my home - for the best teacher a mom could ask for in her daughter's first year of big girl school - for books - for my prayer journal - for good wine and warm fires - for cajun chicken egg rolls from Bonefish - for the best co-workers a person could ask for - for freedom of speech and the right to choose my own religion - for Greys Anatomy - for comfortable sheets and plastic cups - for digital camera's and carseats!

My little man

Piper & Cameron (2 weeks apart)

Cam's first picture... (Thanks as always to KIMI!)

Lesson learned...

Just when I thought I was becoming a better friend, I realized I still had a lot to learn...

Sometimes we encounter people that we mesh well with. This was in fact that case and she'd been a great friend. I'd sort of started feeling sorry for myself lately and assumed she just didn't care because for a while we only talked when it was convenient for her or when I made the call, or so I thought. I stopped calling for a while with the "she'll call me when she's ready, I'm tired of initiating" mentality. Boy did I get it wrong! It wasn't a lack of regard for me or my feelings. She had a lot going on and really couldn't call. Actually, she was sick and back & forth with doctors.

Lesson learned - We should do things without expectation. We should be a good friend because it is what we are meant to do. We should call even when we're not being called. We should say hello even when no one is saying hello to us. We should smile when no one else is smiling. We should inquire about another persons day even if no one has inquired about our own.

It is unfair to assume how someone else feels or that they don't value us. Everyone has their own opinion of the "value" of a friendship and/or what validates one. We each have our own idea of how to be a good friend. For some it may be calling or emailing daily, it may be saying "hi" once a week or once a month. For some it could be not talking for 3 months and then meeting up and taking off as if you'd never missed a day.

The world doesn't revolve around us, we revolve around the world. Do onto others and you'd like done onto you...

I didn't even know...

God sent someone into my life quite sometime ago but it wasn't until a few months ago that I realized how important she would become in my life. When I talk about acceptance, she's one that takes me as I am. She's funny, and smart, beautiful, LOUD, petite, quirky, loving and compassionate. She's full of life and she's busy, she's all over the place and yet right where you need her to be when it's most important. At first glance she can leave you feeling uneasy but it's just because her "filter" isn't always working. :)

I didn't always see what I see right now. I didn't always see just how amazing she was. A year ago I went through a really tough time. She was there, she listened and she let me cry. She encouraged me to move forward. She was there even when I didnt know I needed someone. She didn't jump on the band wagon when everyone else did, she sat there and told me what I was meant to hear not what I wanted to hear. She saved my marriage and she made me a better person. And although I knew I was "lucky" back then, I didnt fully understand it until now.

So... not everyone will "get" her or her ways although she'll never notice or care because it's not that important to her. But she's been wonderful to me, she's been great to me, she knew something was wrong when no one else did. I didn't have to tell her, she already knew.

~Thank You Amy

My journey to spirituality

I've started reading the bible for the first time in 28 years. I was raised baptist and catholic although we didn't attend church. I did attend the occasional bible school class though. As I got older and went to private school for the later of my high school years, I started to steer clear of religion because I simply didn't believe/agree with it. I still harbor some of those feelings today about some but that's neither here nor there.

I'm reading the bible and it's great. I read to Grace every night before bed and because her school is based on God's word, she always has comments or things to add which is great. I digress... In addition to reading the bible I've started keeping a prayer journal. I started this journal following a conversation I'd had with a friend of mine, Missy, one night. That journal has been my saving Grace. I'm not good at praying, can't lead a group of people in prayer without choking or skipping important words but I'm working on it. This journal is my personal relationship with God. I can pray for whomever I want to. I can pray for small things, big little, happy things, sad things. I can simply pray.

When I say my life has changed, I mean it really has changed. There was a time, not that long ago when I was first to jump on the gossip band wagon, it's not so satisfying anymore. I used to be the first to add a curse word to add color to my stories, it doesn't seem to help as much anymore. I was the first to judge a person's ugly shoe's or ill-fitted shirt but it doesn't seem worth it anymore. It seems like all of the negative is going away. This life really is short and even more than it is short, it is precious and I don't want to waste my time arguing, fighting, gossiping and complaining. I have so much to be thankful for and when I can't figure it out or accept it, I pray about it. I replaced the weekly complain/bash sessions with prayer. I write it down and I ask God to help me. I ask him to guide and when necessary I ask him to give me the words I need.

I'm not perfect... I still slip up and I do so more often than not but I'm better at catching myself and stopping before it goes to far. I am better to shifting the negative conversations to positive stuff or just removing myself from it all together.

My relationships have changed. I was a person that wanted to be loved by everyone and sometimes I would exert so much energy trying to be a good person or the person other people needed in order to prove myself that I neglected the people that loved me just the way I was. I've learned to step away and do my best to live my life according to God's standard and no one else's. If I'm not the person you need, want and/or expect, that's ok with me now. I wish you the best of luck in the finding the person that is. And if you don't and you're willing to settle, I'll be there when you need.

God has opened my eyes to the people that really do love me. The people that want me to be a better person in his eye's. The people that accept me the way that I am are ok with the changes I've made in my life. He also helped me to accept that sometimes you have to let go of the people you thought would be there forever. My door will always be open to them but I'm better if I let go of any expectations I may have had.

That's all for now...