day 12: my church

sanctuary before our wedding

Today I'm so very thankful for my church.  For over 7 years my church has been a place for me to grow, learn, and worship.  I've loved spending so much time there and with the amazing people that make it a church and not just a building in South Austin. 

This is the place I realized missions would be a part of my life, and then they financially supported and helped me go on numerous trips to New Orleans, Germany, Montana, and Northern British Columbia.

This is also where I met my husband.  Where we first sang together, became friends, had a serious talk before our first date, and where we finally got married.  I love that my family goes here too.  My blood family and my brothers and sisters in Christ.  The are all so much a part of who I am.

day 11: marrying a musician

photo by Whitney Carlson

I am so so thankful to be married to a musician.  I love that we can sing together and make music at a level I never could with anyone else.  There's just something about singing with David that it so special.  Our minds synch up and the harmonies lock in.  When we first started dating he would always try to steal my harmonies (he claims I stole his, but I'm older, they were mine first).  Nearly 6 years later we've grown so much musically and keep finding new harmonies and sounds to add to our repertoire. 

I think one of the reasons singing with him is so important to me is because I started falling in love with him when we prepared and sang together for Mani Marathon 2005.  It would be a little over a month before we would start dating, but part of me just knew.

I just found out we might get to sing together for our Christmas Eve service, I'm so excited!

day 10: knitting

knit blanket

Today I am so thankful for knitting.  It's such an old craft and I love it!  I taught myself during winter finals of my sophomore year at Baylor, back in 2004.  My best friend was trying to learn and had some trouble starting so I looked at it and tried to figure it out.  From then on I was hooked.  I finished my first scarf and thought it was just the coolest thing ever to wear something I made. 

Since then I have branched out and knit everything but socks and sweaters...well I knit a sweater once, but there's no way it fits now, nor does it have it's second sleeve.  Toys are my favorite to knit.  Living in Texas doesn't exactly leave many days of the year to wear knit items, but you can play with toys all year long!  In the toy realm I knit monsters most.  You can knit them in any color and size. 

For me, knitting is very therapeutic.  It keeps my mind focused but also lets it relax from other things going on in life.  Plus, having something tangible in my hands after knitting for hours is just so rewarding.  I usually knit all my gifts for Christmas.  Luckily my family appreciates home-made :)

If you ever visit our home you will most likely see balls of yarn stashed all over the place.  David always laughs when he's cleaning up and finds one tucked away somewhere. 

The mathematics of knitting is one of the big draws for me I think.  I've always loved math and numbers and that goes hand in hand with knitting.  You have to count everything.  It's perfect for my way of thinking.

Knitting is a huge blessing for me and I'm so thankful I put off studying to learn it.

day 9: nail polish

grape escape

Today I am thankful for nail polish.  These can't all be deep and serious.  I love how nail polish gives the ability to wear some crazy color for a few days/weeks.  I used to wear crazy glitter and color combos back in middle school, then rarely painted my nails in high school.  In college I usually just wore black.  Now I'm really into the dark almost black colors.

Keeping my nails painted really just helps me remember to keep my nails clean and short.  I can't stand long nails, they bug me so much, which is unfortunate because my nails grow extremely fast. 

Anyways, nail polish is awesome, thanks to whoever originally thought it was a good idea!

day 8: sewing

hand-stitched brooch for my MeMaw

Finally made it to a craft.  Today I am thankful for sewing and every role it has played in my life.  My MeMaw (mom's mom) was a professional seamstress and my mom continued that legacy by making all my prom dresses and sewing many of my costumes when I was younger.  I was so blessed to grow up in a home where sewing played such a huge role.

I didn't get the sewing bug until I got to college, but when I did I got it hard.  I started making all my purses and pillows.  I've stayed away from sewing garments, too stressful for me, but I love making bags.  It's gotten to the point where I feel guilty buying a purse from the store, since I know I can make it just as well.

Hand sewing is a craft I've come to appreciate more in the last few years.  I have 3 sewing machines but I still love sewing with my hands and just a needle and thread.  It's so cool to start with materials and then watch them become something beautiful just because I manipulated them with my hands. 

Sewing enabled me to make my wedding exactly what I wanted it to be.  My mom altered a store bought dress with a brand new skirt exactly to my liking.  It was beautiful and polka dotted!  I was also able to sew a glittery, feathery, felty, sparkly, belt embellishment because I knew how to harness my sewing skills.  I was also able to make my entire wedding bouquet by sewing felt, buttons, and tulle. (I realized I never did a wedding picture post, I need to do that soon!)

It saddens me to see how much sewing has fallen out of our culture today.  I'm always surprised when someone doesn't know how to sew a button or even thread a needle.  This used to be something every girl knew.  It's such a basic skill to me an I can't imagine not knowing it.  I fully intend on passing the sewing legacy down to my children, boys or girls and I hope it sparks something in them that it did in me.

Thanks mom for teaching me!

day 7: my daddy

pinning on my dad's boutonniere

Today I am thankful for my daddy.  I will try my best to keep this post from getting insanely long, it's going to be difficult though.

My dad is one of my favorite people in my life.  Naturally I love him, he was one half of the amazing duo that raised and shaped me into the person I am today.  I know the relationship I have with my dad is special though.  It goes far beyond him just being that guy who raised me.  I wish every girl could have a father like I have, but I know of only one who was as lucky as I, and that's my sister. 

My dad is the original inspiration for all things musical in my life.  I can remember him playing his guitar when I was very little and singing me Puff the Magic Dragon.  He would sing me to sleep at night to the tune of John Denver's Today.  I'm not sure if I've ever heard Denver's version, but I know the song very well.  As I grew my dad was very involved in my choir and orchestra activities.  He loved watching musicals with me and wandered our house singing goofy songs (does this sound like my post about David? ha!)

I am extremely blessed to not only have a present father in my life but also one who shares my faith.  My dad has a huge heart for service and I've seen him work to the point of exhaustion while serving our Lord.  If there is anything he can do to help someone else, he'll do it...gladly!  That inspires me daily.

I love talking to my dad now that I'm older and have my own very strong opinions.  I find he usually shares them with me or if not he respects them anyways.  He tells me when he's proud of the way I'm living but still also reminds me to drive carefully right after a light rain, always a daddy for sure.  I think one reason I enjoy talking to him is we share a very similar sense of humor.  I love being able to make him laugh as he has done my entire life.

Some traits my dad has passed down to me are a love for ketchup, appreciation for good music, my sense of humor, a laid back personality, general goofiness, and a tall stature so I can tower over all my tiny friends.  Okay that last one is just to be funny, though I do tend to be taller than many of my girl friends.

Like I said, I could write so much more but I think I'll keep this brief for now.  I think you get the point that my dad is awesome and could beat up your dad :)

day 6: lazy Sunday evenings

nap time

Our weekends have been pretty busy lately.  By the time lunch rolls around after church I'm ready for a 3 day nap usually.  Today we ate with my parents, ran by Old Navy, then picked up Chuy from my parent's house and headed home.  I took a nap to the tune of whatever video game David played then woke up and read a little bit.  Chuy passed out on the floor by his toy (see the above proof).  It was so nice to just be there at home with my little family.  There was no schedule, no one to entertain or be entertained by, and I could be in my comfy pants.  I made spaghetti and we watched a new tv show we like.

Later I pulled down all our Halloween decorations and started prepping for Christmas(!)  David did some work and I got our tree all set up.  We watched a documentary about Conan O'Brien's tour and how he really felt about NBC, so many funny moments.  By the time it was over our tree was fully decorated, minus a topper, and my bowl of sweet potato tots was empty (I needed a tree decorating snack).

I'm so thankful for days like these with David and Chuy.  I enjoy going out and enjoying time with friends very much, but there's just something about being in your home and making it yours with the ones you love and share that home with.  I know I'm blessed to even have a place that I can call home when so many don't have that simple luxury.  I'm blessed because of who I share it with and who we can share it with temporarily for movie nights and dinners.  I'm so excited to get the rest of the place decorated for my favorite holiday and have many friends over throughout the season.

Most of all, I'm thankful that the Lord knew we needed a day of rest.  He knew that we would overextend ourselves and, if not commanded to, would forget to rest and just be in Him.

day 5: the ladies

the young young ladies

I just got home from our annual church ladies retreat.  We spent the night in Fredericksburg discussing empowered women from the Bible.  It was such a great time spent with women of all generations from my church.  I'm so thankful for all these ladies that I have surrounding me.  Each one is such a great inspiration and encouragement for me.  I know no matter what stage of life I'm in I will always have them there to help me and give advice.

Sophie, Angie and I all showed up at the retreat in jeans, purple tops, black pea coats, and converse.  Love these girls!

day 4: Chuy

sitting on his perch

Today I am thankful for my snugly little pup, Chuy.  He is a character.  I'm pretty sure he thinks he's human and runs our household.  He's not a fan of other people getting too close if he doesn't know them but if he does know you he's a big ball of love.  He loves giving kisses and laying across my lap, especially when I'm on my laptop.  Sometimes he acts like a cat in that way. 

Because of Chuy, I managed to not get fired from my last job for oversleeping.  He woke me up early every morning for the first few months to take him out.  Thanks Chuy, you kept money in my wallet!  Now that he's older he snuggles with me as long as I stay in bed.  Sometimes he gets a bit anxious and crawls all over me to wake me up.  Last night he squeezed between David and I to keep warm.  In doing so he also kept me warm. 

He kept me sane when I stayed home for 4 months and gave me a reason to get up and get dressed every morning (don't want to take him out looking like a bum). 

I love that he's a poodle and has real hair instead of fur.  He can get super poofy and look like a little bear.  He's working on his winter coat right now.  I'm thankful he doesn't shed because my asthma just can't handle that, neither can all our black furniture.

Chuy completes our little family and it doesn't quite feel like home unless he's there.  Best dog ever!

day 3: cold weather

my new coat

Tomorrow morning is our first potential freeze of the season.  I love when it's cold outside.  I'm thankful for the snuggles it brings, the winter-wear, and the chance to wear all the fun stuff I knit.  It also reminds me of the times I spent up north in Montana and Northwestern Canada.

Those were very special times in my life and times when I felt very close to God.  Living in a church in the middle of the mountains in northern Montana and going through emotional warfare allowed me to pull closer to God than I had ever been before.  I'm so thankful for that summer, and the following cold summer spent in Canada.  God worked in my heart and my confidence.  The cold air reminds me of everything He's promised me and revealed to me. 

I'm so thankful for those summers, and I'll probably write a post on them later.  Keep reading!