I decided to make today my Thankful Thursday. I’m so thankful for SITS and the opportunity to be their featured blogger on Monday. It was AWESOME!! I got lots of comment love and met some new blogging friends. YAY!

I’m thankful that my best friend is coming to see me tomorrow! Her baby shower is on Saturday but she’s coming down early just to hang out with me for a little while. She’s amazing.

I’m thankful for my husband. He cleaned up the living room and dining room (and even a little in the kitchen and my office!) tonight while my stepdaughter and I were at my parents’ house and shopping for baby shower supplies. He’s the BEST!

I’m thankful that my stepdaughter has been here this summer. I missed her so much this past year! She’s pretty awesome and has been a HUGE help to me today! I’m gonna miss her when she goes back home.

I’m extremely thankful for my parents. They raised me right and I am a MUCH better person because of them. They love me unconditionally, support me, and always give me sound advice. I also learned from their example. I praise God for them!

I’m especially thankful that my God is always present and never forsakes me. He provides for me, comforts me, and loves me no matter what. I am His and He is mine!

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My mom is an amazing woman. She has been a registered nurse for a long time and that’s no easy job. She has taught me a lot about life, love, family, etc. But the thing I learned the most from my mom is how to see the world around me.

For as long as I can remember, my mom would look around us and be amazed at the beauty God put on this earth. “Look at the sunset! See how beautiful all the colors are!” We would stand at the front door watching the storms, clapping for the thunder and lightning. Everything around us was beautiful.

I find myself these days, appreciating the world like she does. If I see a pretty flower, or tree, or clouds, etc, I try to take a picture. But I immediately say a prayer of thanks to God for creating all the beautiful things in our world. We are so blessed to live in this world, in this country. My mom taught me to appreciate that. I am so thankful for my mom.

Prompt: Things My Mom Taught Me

This past month has been so incredibly stressful. First my Grandma having surgery. Going in and out of the hospital. Then finding out that my husband is leaving in just a few weeks. Then I took my dad to get a CT scan done. He got the results a week later. Turns out, he has 2 spots on his right kidney. It’s cancer. He will have a biopsy done on June 14th to find out what kind. We are praying that it is not the same kind that his parents died from.

I’m also moving in less than a month! I have to pack. I have to rent a moving truck. I have to have all the funds available to move in. I have to switch things over to new accounts. Not to mention the week we will be out of town. SO basically I will have to pack up our apartment in like 2 weeks!

There is SO much going on. So much to do. So much stress. It’s very overwhelming.

In other news, we are bringing my stepdaughter home when we go out there for her older sister’s graduation. I am excited. She will get to spend time with her Daddy before he deploys. Unfortunately she has to go back the same day he leaves. (Don’t ask!) That makes me sad. I probably won’t get to see her again until he comes back.

I don’t really know what else to say right now. Life is happening.

Mother’s Day is this Sunday. So this post is all about my mom.

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My beautiful Mommy

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When I was little, my mom and I would stand at the front door and clap and cheer for the lightning and thunder. We would thank God for the rain. My whole life my mom has been an example to me. Shown me how to praise God for the good and the bad. To always have faith that God will never give us more than we can handle. It wasn’t until 4 years ago that I was really able to understand, and appreciate, my mom’s faith in God.

During my teen years, I was horrible. I argued with, yelled at, blatantly disobeyed, and basically did everything I could to hurt my mother. I thought she didn’t understand me. Thought she didn’t know what I was going through. And for a lot of it, she didn’t. I was hurting and I took it out on her and the rest of my family.

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I used to watch one of my favorite shows, Gilmore Girls, and wish that I could have a good relationship with my mom like the main characters in the show had. I was so jealous. I never thought I would have that. I so desperately wanted my mom to know who I was, even though I didn’t even know myself.

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My mom never stopped praying for me. Begging God for my life!

When I moved out of the house I missed my mommy. I called her more. Asked for advice. I didn’t always listen to her advice, but I was still in my rebelious phase.

In October 2005, my life changed. I was at church and was listening to a guest speaker. He was talking about being baptized. Now, I had been baptized when I was little, but it wasn’t until I was 14 that I understood what giving my life to Christ really meant. So listening to that speaker talk about baptism being an act of obedience, I felt God tugging on my heart telling me that I needed to be baptized again. I started crying. I was so embarrassed to be baptized again in the church I grew up in. All those people would know that I wasn’t saved the first time. But I knew I had to do it.

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On my Mommy’s birthday the next year, I was baptized again. This time it was a true act of obedience. Ever since then, I have focused on my relationship with God and repairing my relationships on earth. Especially the relationship with my mom. Now I talk to her almost every day. I value her opinion. I ask for her advice, and I listen to it! I see how wise my mom is. Our relationship isn’t perfect, but she is one of my best friends. When things happen, I call my mom! I love spending time with her!

I was talking to my mom one day last week. I was telling her about the bible study Matthew and I have been going to, which is about faith. I was telling her about that week’s lesson. She asked me if she had been a good mom. If I had learned from her. I just started to cry. I told her that I learned so much from her! About life, about faith, about being compassionate. So many things. I told her that when I see a beautiful sunset, I just praise God for his beauty. Because she taught me that!

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I am so blessed to have her as my mom. I couldn’t ask for anyone better.

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I am SO excited!! My mom and dad bought us one place setting of our china as a bridal shower gift. They didn’t have it in the store, so they had to deliver it. And it got here TODAY!!

Here are pics of me opening it! Hehehe.

Much Love,

So, I’ve been trying to figure out what I wanted to share about my early years. It’s kinda hard for me to just randomly think of stories. But if I get to talking about stuff, then it just kinda rolls. LOL!

Anyways. I’ve decided to share a story about when I was a baby. See, I was a very particular baby. I HAD to be rocked to sleep every night. My mom couldn’t just lay me in my crib and expect me to go to sleep. OH NO! She had to rock me to sleep. Well, one night, I was screaming bloody murder as she was rocking me to sleep. She was exhausted because I wouldn’t shut up. And she needed to go to the bathroom. So she put me in my crib, still screaming bloody murder, and she went to the bathroom. By this point she was crying. Well, I was mad. I climbed OUT of my crib. During that process, I got my leg stuck in the bars as I fell to the floor. I couldn’t cry any louder, because I was already screaming as loud as I could.

When my dad came home, he found me on the floor, screaming as loud as I could. He found my mom in the bathroom crying. He didn’t know what was going on. So we finally calmed down and my mom was rocking me again. I kept reaching down toward my leg. She called my doctor and he said that if it was still bothering me the next morning to bring me in. It was. Long story short, I ended up fracturing my leg. I had a cast up to my waist. And apparently I wore it off before it was supposed to be taken off.

Now, Obviously I don’t remember this. But my mom has told me this story many many times! Hehe. Love you Mommy!!!

Much Love,