31 Days of Thankfulness

One of the blogs that I read, The Mom Creative, along with seven other blogs, are hosting a 31 Days series in which they do one post every day of this month about one topic. They also have invited other bloggers to link up with them. This is the second year they've done it, and this year I've decided to link up with them. I'm very excited about it.

The topic that I have chosen to blog about is thankfulness. It's something that I struggle with, as I'm sure many of you do, too. It's so easy to go around complaining about things that many times we forget how to be thankful. I plan to list at least five things each day that I am thankful for. I'll also share thoughts and quotes about thankfulness. I hope that by the end of the month I'll have gotten into a habit of being thankful for everything. I still plan on doing other blog posts too, as time allows.

If you have a blog, then, please, feel free to join up with all of us over at The Mom Creative! Just add your blog to the linky, and it will automatically show up on the other seven blogs as well.

Choosing Joy...

One of the biggest reasons why I chose to start blogging again is that I was inspired by a blog that I read. I only discovered this blog a couple of months ago, but it quickly became one of my favorites. I found myself clicking over there every day to see if anything new had been posted. The blog is Choosing Joy, and is written by a lady named Sara Frankl. She's an amazing woman who has gone through quite the journey. You see, about 16 years ago she developed Ankylosing Spondylitis, a chronic disease that attacks your joints and causes pain...lots of pain.

Over the years, her disease progressed, and eventually it got to the point where Sara was basically bedridden. Her body had developed allergies to so many things that she couldn't really even go outside. She was confined to her condo. Through it all, she's decided to "Choose Joy." Although she deals with intense pain every single day, she doesn't let it get her down. She chooses instead to have a joyful attitude.

Sara is dying. Just over a month ago, she posted that she would be taking a break for a week or so as her health was getting worse. A week later, one of her close friends, Shannon, posted that Sara would be taking a sabbatical from her blog due to her health. She was doing this in an effort to try and get some of her energy back and get more rest in hopes that her health would improve. A couple of weeks later Shannon was back again. This time she was telling us that Sara's body was shutting down, and that hospice had been called in.

Sara's time on this earth is quickly ending, but she still is focused more on others than herself. In her last post on her blog, she stated that her thoughts were with her mom, her sister, her brother, her nieces and nephews, and her friends. She wanted to be sure that they knew she wasn't scared to go. She wanted them to know that she loved them, and that her thoughts were with them. Even in death, Sara is more concerned about others than herself.

If she crosses your mind, pray for her. She's headed Home. She'll be meeting Jesus very soon. Pray that these last few days and hours won't be too painful. Pray that her passing is quick and peaceful. As much as those who know her, and those of us that feel as if we know her, hate to see her go, we know that she's ready. She'll finally be pain-free, and she'll be reunited with her dad, who passed away a few years ago. I also encourage you to go read her blog. Read through the archives. You'll be humbled and amazed by the strength and faith she has shown throughout her journey here on earth.

Hello Again

I'm back...hopefully for good. For a time, I had deleted this blog because I just didn't have the motivation or time to blog. I know, I left without any warning, but I'm back now. I have more time on my hands now, and Blogger finally came out with a way to schedule posts (or maybe it was there all along and I just didn't know about it?).

Blogger has changed their posting format and such since the last time I posted, so please bear with me as I try to figure it all out! It doesn't look too complicated, so hopefully it won't take me long!

I am so happy to be back blogging again! I didn't realize how much I had missed it until recently. It seems like in the past couple of weeks I've been constantly forming blog posts in my mind. Now I can finally transfer from my mind to this blog. I'm excited to share with y'all what's been going on in my life.

One Thousand Gifts

Thanking God for the many gifts that He has given me...

1. Getting to hold my three month old second cousin yesterday.
2. Celebrating my great-grandma's 90th (yes, 90th!!) birthday!
3. Finding out that a close loved one's cancer is not as bad as originally feared.
4. Encouraging friends who make a long night at work so much better!!
5. A hairstylist who's always cheerful and makes my morning brighter after a long night of work.

I encourage you to go check out Ann Voskamp's blog if you haven't already!! I always come away feeling encouraged after reading her blog! She's written a book, titled One Thousand Gifts, that, from what I've heard, is an excellent book. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to read it yet, because the hold list for it at my library is super long! I'm number 56, and that's after requesting it two weeks ago!! I may have to go buy my own copy if I want to read it anytime soon...

52 Weeks of Orgainizing

I just recently started reading The Organizing Junkie blog and love it so far!! This year she is doing a 52 weeks of organizing challenge, and I've decided to join up. Any of you who know me well know that I am not the most organized person in the world, and that I need all the help I can get! I'm hoping that this challenge will help me get (and stay!) motivated.

The Organizing Junkie has even made it easy for you to get started! She's created a pdf list so that you can write down what you want to accomplish each week. It makes it easy to stay on track and motivated because you see exactly what you want to accomplish broken down by week. It doesn't seem quite so overwhelming this way! I haven't finished my list yet, but here's what I have so far:

1. Organize my closets/sort through my clothes
2. Organize my dressers/finish sorting through clothes
3. Unpack my spring/summer clothes & pack away my winter clothes
4. Organize my desk area
5. Organize my bed/nightstand area
6. Organize my decorations/seasonal items
7. Organize my books
8. Figure out better storage for items in my room
9. Organize my car
10. Organize the guest bedroom
11. Organize my scrapbooking materials
12. Organize my electronics & photography equipment
13. Organize Mom's sewing room
14. Organize the workshop
15. Organize the catch-all room in the basement (what used to be the play room)
16. Organize the game room
17. Organize the living room
18. Organize the kitchen (with Mom!)
19. Organize the laundry room
20. Organize the family room (with Mom & Dad!)

There's the first twenty items on my list. I'm not planning on filling out the whole list, because I'm hoping that by the time the 52 weeks are up I'll be in my own apartment, which will involve even more organizing. So far I have covered all the way through August; I'll probably do eight more weeks before I stop, since I highly doubt I'll be in an apartment before October.

I'll be tackling my first project this coming week, and will post before and after pictures...be prepared, though, the before pictures will probably be a little scary!

Favorite Fridays

"Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, Brown paper packages tied up with string; these are a few of my favorite things..."

Okay, okay, I'll spare your ears now!! Anyways welcome to "Favorite Fridays." Each Friday, I'm going to do a post featuring some of my favorite things, such as favorite books, movies, recipes, etc.

This week, I want to share with you some of my favorite blogs. I know that I have these listed over in the sidebar of my blog, but this way you get to learn a little bit more about them.

One of my favorite blogs to read is From: The Little Pink House. Gretchen Acheson, the writer of this blog, lives in a little house (that was once pink, hence, the name) on a farm with her husband and her two adorable little girls, with another baby on the way. She posts about farm life, her girls, her farmer, and life in general.

Another of my favorites, which is where I first found Gretchen several years ago, before she was married, is Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. This is a website that was originally created as a place for single women, and most of the articles were about singleness, waiting, and other applicable things for single young ladies. However, as the team members grew older and got married, that has changed. Now there are articles both for single women and for those who are married. I find that I miss the days where it was all about singleness, as I am single, but it's still a great website with great articles written by many different Christian young ladies.

One of my favorite blogs to go to for recipes, photography tips, and a good laugh is The Pioneer Woman. Ree Drumond, the writer of this wonderful blog, lives on a ranch with her Malboro Man,  her four children, and their bassett hound, Charlie. She has written the story of how she and Malboro Man met, entitled From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. It is published online on her blog and, as of February 2011, is also available in book form which includes some extra material. I encourage you to go on over there, read some of her hilarious posts (she believes in keeping it real, and it shows in her posts!), browse through her absolutely  amazing recipes, and don't forget to check out the Charlie archives!!! Disclaimer: She is not a Christian, and does not claim to be one, so you may want to use discretion when reading her posts! Also, there are some, ah, rather delicate, scenes in From Back Heels to Tractor Wheels that you'll want to skip over...

The last one, my absolute favorite, is relatively new, but features, among others, the writers from two of my other favorite blogs, Ashleigh Baker from Heart & Home, Elizabeth Esther from ElizabethEsther.com. This blog is called A Deeper Story. They discuss many things over there, most of them subjects that Christians usually stray away from talking about, such as homosexuals, anorexia, alcoholism, and other such topics. Go take a look, and I"m sure you'll find that you enjoy the writings of these wonderful ladies. I find, as I'm sure you will, that so much of what they discuss challenges and convicts me. Disclaimer: I do not necessarily agree with all the views of these ladies. Also, if you're under the age of 18, you may want to use discretion in what posts you read, as some rather delicate subjects are discussed.

Well, this concludes the first Favorite Friday...and yes, I know it's now Saturday, but it was Friday when I started!!!