Givin' a little thanks!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I figured I would write a little post about all the MANY things I am thankful for

1. My Momma and Daddy-Isnt enough words to describe how thankful I am for them!!
2. My extended family-grandparents, cousins,aunts and uncles- Love them all probably more than I could ever explain!
3. My Baby Savannah- 75 pounds of pure black lab love!!
4. My Friends- The kind of friends that will be on the top of the mountain with you celebrating life or in the deep valley encouraging you when you need it the most!!
5. My relationship with God and how it changes and becomes stronger everyday
6. My church- Although I don't go as often as I should but whenever I do go I still feel at home
7. All the precious kids I babysit for- I started babysitting when I was 13...I am now 23 I still stay in contact with most of the families I babysat for then!
8. My Job- There are 8 of us working there, we are honestly like one big happy dysfunctional family
9. Music- With the exception of when I'm in class or sleeping, I am generally always listening to music
10. My Mom's decorations for every holiday in the calendar year-well most holidays, I look forward to decorating for each and every holiday!
11. Running- more specifically my new found love for it, it gets rid of stress and has helped me lose weight which has in turn boasted my confidence
12. Sunday afternoons- a day of relaxation and preparation for the week ahead
13. Clean Laundry- I actually love doing laundry washing/drying/folding I find it relaxing, and you can ask any family I babysit for I will fold their laundry for them if the kids are sleeping
14. New Magazines- nothing better than opening the mailbox and seeing a new mag!
15. Books- read some good ones this year and hope to read even more in the coming year!
16. Good health- Another year of good health for me and my family, always grateful for that
17. Compliments- giving and receiving
18. Smiling- I love to smile, I love when people smile at me, a sense of comfort is present when someone smiles at you and you smile back at them!
19. Good Conversation- I have been told I could carry on a conversation with a brick wall, thats probably true, I think we gain knowledge by talking to people from all walks of life, everyone has a story and you never know if something someone says could change your life
20. Quotes- love to read them and share them, a great quote can brighten your day, give you hope and encouragement when you need it
21. Lessons- oddly enough some of my worst experiences have turned out to be great life lessons
22. unexpected text messages from friends
23. pictures-I love to take them and look at them! Old photos and new ones, Photos are the only thing that never changes
24. Change- Alot of people dont like change and honestly I kind of like it, if I never changed I wouldnt be half the person I am now
25. Nature- I can just walk outside onto my back porch or the front porch and see all the beauty that exists in nature!
26. Football season : )- its almost over, my gamecocks havent had a terrible season but not totally stellar- win or lose I have and always will be a Gamecock Fan, season ends next saturday unless we go to a bowl, then we wait for another 8 months to start it all over! Love the games,our fans, our players and coaches and all the excitement that goes along with the unconditional love a fan has for their team!
27. Last but certaintly not least is my blog- my little spot to post my thoughts on whatever, I appreciate all those who read my blog and comment or even if you don't! Thanks for reading.

Hope all of you and your familes have/had a wonderful Thanksgiving! As we look ahead to the holiday season and coming year, may we all take a little time each day to appreciate all that we have! Love to you all!

May I suggest...

Hello! This afternoon I went with two friends to go see The Blindside! May I just say that is definately going on my top ten list of favorite movies of all time! It was so good. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone since some of yall might want to see it, but I will tell you it was def. inspirational. It is based on a true story and I have been told I should also read the book. Which I plan to do as soon as I gonna get my self over to Barnes and Noble. It is totally worth the 9 dollars to go see it. I will be going to see it again sometime this week, and I will be purchasing it for my collection upon release. And may I just say Tim Mcgraw is not bad at the whole acting gig. Love his music and now I love his movies. Of course Sandra Bullock was amazing as well. All around phenomenal film. A must see!!! Hope everyone has a fabulous week. Safe travels to everyone who is visting family in other states/cities.

One Hundred Seventy Five!

Since childhood the Methodist church has played an important role in my life! My family attends Buncombe Street United Methodist! This church means more to me than words could ever explain! I wouldnt consider my self particulary eloquent so I'm not gonnna try and use words I can't spell but I grew up at this church and hope to raise my children there one day! My parents have instilled in me the importance in going to church, giving back to your church and particpating in ANY and All activities at the church. Perhaps thats why from elementary through high school I was involved in almost every activity the had to offer to the youth! Anywho, my beloved Buncombe Street, celebrated it's 175 birthday today! 175 years, WOW, that's just amazing. In a world where things can come and go with the wind, I would say thats pretty impressive. The church was full today and over 450 families attended the luncheon afterward! It was amazing to see the young and old there to support the church they love so much! 2009 has been a crazy year for me and sometimes I tend to lean towards the negative but today sitting in the church, singing and worshipping among family and friends, It occured to me....just how lucky I am and how much I am thankful for what I have. Life, while it isnt always perfect, is wonderous. You could feel the positive energy radiating through the smiles on peoples faces throughout the service and luncheon!! They sang a song during the service that really touched me and I would like to share it with ya'll!! Hope you can get the feeling of the power of words just by reading it!

             A Simple Song of Thanks

For all the simple things,I sing a simple song of thanks

For all the joy they bring, I sing a simple song of thanks

The sun up in the sky,the sweet grass that grows

the morning birds that fly,the evening star that glows

For all these simple things,and all the joy they bring,

I sing a simple song of thanks

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, with hearts and hands and voices

For God's great gift of grace, I sing a simple song of thanks

A melody of praise, I sing a simple song of thanks

For summer days of blue and snowy winter nights

for autumn's changing hue and springtime colors bright,

for all these simple things, and all the joy they bring,

I sing a simple song of thanks!

Beautiful isnt it!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Let's just call that one a moral victory!

The Gamecocks played the Florida Gators this past weekend and although we lost by 10 points, I still think we played one heck of a game! We only lost to the # 1 team in the nation by 10 points...I consider that pretty impressive considering we just suffered losses to Tennessse and Arkansas the two weeks prior! Now in most people's eyes the only thing that matters at the end of game is the numbers on the scoreboard....but my beloved gamecocks played the game with all their hearts and bodies so I'm gonna call this one for them a moral victory!! Now I hope to not offend any Gator fans by saying this but Urban Meyer is a trickster and I fully think that he encourages his players to play dirty!!! Guess that's football for ya....SEC style!

One for the books.....

My clock reads 9:22 pm, which means it has been 30 plus hours since I finished my first 5K and I am still on top of the world!! My only goal was to finish this race since it was my first one ever...I finished in 45 minutes!! I can't even put into words how I felt when I crossed that finish-line yesterday!! This is HUGE for me since a year ago I would have never done this...I literally couldnt even ponder the thought of exercise, now I love it! Next up is the next 5K in January! Besides the race, I spent halloween with friends, I'm just gonna pretend that USC didnt lose to tennesse and georgia didnt lose to florida! Terrible day for football but otherwise great halloween!! Hope everyone else had a great one!! Another busy week coming up, Hope everyone has a great one!!