Thankful Thursday - Take 26

537. 3 gifts you saw only when you got close up – baby bird nest, tenderness, the goodness in someone

538. One thing in the sky, one thing from your memory, one thing that’s ugly-beautiful – fluffy clouds, my dad reading his Bible and writing in his journal on the porch when I was little, my heart

539. One grace wrinkled, one grace smoothed, one grace unfolded – the hands of an old woman, clean sheets, old letters

540. 3 gifts found in Christ – justification through Christ, hope and not fear, purpose

 

541. 3 things blue – berries, reflection of sky and water, ?

542. One grace borrowed, one grace found, one grace inherited – ?, my strength, love for the things of God

543. A gift before 9 am, a gift before noon, a gift after dark – talking with my mom, catching up with friends at work on the events of the evening, snuggling with Beau and kisses goodnight

544. GREAT teachers! I’m loving class! It’s interesting and captivating and I’m taking part. I love it!

545. Reconciliation with a dear friend. And hope for the future.

 

546. Date night with Beau. So special and fun for me.

547. More really great conversations with Beau. I love them.

548. Sitting on the porch in the evenings with Beau while dinner is cooking.

549. Sleep

550. Lunch from a co-worker.

 

551. Siblings that want to come see us.

552. Events that allow me to get all dressed up.

553. A clean dog

554. Beau turned up the heat a smidge so I wouldn’t have to wear a jacket. J

555. Documentary on Public Schools – I’m becoming such a nerd

 

556. Free Wall Street Journal – reading, reading, reading

557. Democracy and voting on Saturday

558. Part of Buster’s message on Sunday where he pointed out that hating our President is NOT okay. We can disagree on political issues but it is NOT okay to belittle him.

559. Opportunities for learning.

560. Lots of laughing with the love of my life. (And a lot of “Ls”.)

 

561. Boundaries

562. Freedom in Christ

563. Pistachios – why have I never taken full advantage of this little green deliciousness before?

564. Road trip with Beau today

565. Gift cards and coupons to restaurants that will allow us to eat on the cheap on this trip

 

 

Beoff Bourguignon

I made Beoff Bourguignon tonight for dinner. It's the French beef stew and it's scrumptious!

Robert E Lee

Beau and I attended the Robert E Lee ball once again this year. It was at the Confederate House on Broad St. We had a super fun time!

Thankful Thursday - Take 25

511. 3 Sounds you hear: People talking, trucks moving, laughter

512. 3 ways you glimpsed the starling grace of God: a woman I don’t know approaching me to give me a compliment, a nice man holding the door open, comforting a friend

513. One thing you wore, one thing you gave away, one thing you shared: My new jacket that everyone says makes me look like I’m going to ride a horse, my heart, my wedding dress

514. 3 ways you witnessed happiness today: A simple thank you, someone getting their first cup of coffee, someone laughing with their spouse

515. One gift that made you laugh, one gift that made you pray, one gift that made you quiet: my re-gift from Beau, being a wife, wise correction

 

516. 3 gifts from God’s Word: I don’t have to be perfect, He loves me unconditionally, I am wonderfully and beautifully made

517. A grace in the kitchen, a grace in the weather, a grace that might never have been: my floors look like the natural wood so you can’t see when I’ve dropped a crumb or made a small spill, that when it pours early in the morning it waits until I get into the building, following God’s voice that led me here

518. Magnesium supplement

519. Sharing my heart with Beau

520. Day off from work to study and get ahead

 

521. Great professors

522. Feeling like I’m starting to grasp the subject matter for school

523. Bathroom is finished being painted! It looks so good!

524. Jackets when it’s cold

525. Big sale at Food Lion that allowed me stock up on things!

 

526. My new embosser from my brother.

527. Heartfelt conversations with my mom.

528. DVR – I love being able to record shows

529. Shopping with a friend

530. Understanding more of a routine and responsibilities within our marriage

 

531. That still soft voice

532. Ladies’ night was such an encouraging evening

533. Continued work in my heart

534. Making people smile with baked goods

535. A chance to really show how smart I am

 

536. Getting to go out with Beau; getting all dressed up and having a great time!

Thankful Thursday - Take 24

I have been reading a blog called A Holy Experience and the writer is encouraging everyone to count a thousand gifts for 2012. I will be highlighting those in bold each week as I attempt to exceed the thousand gifts. With the feeling that I’ve been more ungrateful than grateful, I want to change that, which is why I started doing Thankful Thursdays. I can’t be more thankful in my heart if I can’t think of things I’m not thankful for.

 

475. My smile, my thoughtfulness, my height

 

476. Clouds; Heat; Vegetables

477. You can love people by saying “no”; I’m sorry; Can I help you?

478. My grandmother’s cameo; my heirloom engagement ring; the sky

479. Julia Child’s: Master the Art of French Cooking; Memories; Lives Change

480. Lactaid pills; White wine; Desire for change

 

481. Forgiveness; Patience; Acceptance

482. Sunlight peering through; Clouds on the water; Catching my husband looking at me

483. Grace; Safety; Relaxation

484. Correction; Kind Words; Being held

485. Daffodils; Buttercream; Little girls’ blonde hair

 

486. Forever sky; Growth in soil; A friend

487. Beau and I have two great professors this semester. They want to help and want us to succeed.

488. The training my company has put me through.

489. Beau and I get to go back to school. Not everyone gets that blessing.

490. The time we’re in school will be together rather than apart. Another great opportunity to grow together and know each other better.

 

491. Realizing that I need to be stronger than am; like I used to be. Encouraging words to do just that.

492. I ran 3.75 miles on Tuesday! That’s the farthest in a while. And my partner was there to encourage me on.

493. No traveling this weekend!

494. Crockpot recipes! I’m taking suggestions!

495. My dad, brother and Justin giving up their weekend to help us fix up our house. What giving people.

 

496. Time with the boys this weekend just talking and sweating and laughing.

497. While the boys worked, I was able to clean.

498. A morning with Pop-Pop. Cherish.

499. Hearing those closest to me laugh. It brings joy to my heart to know they are happy.

500. That I’m learning to say “no”.

 

501. Sandra McCracken – the words of her songs resonate so deeply with me

502. Early to bed evenings

503. The groaning of “I Love You” in the morning

504. A new discovered delicious wine “Faithful Hound ‘08” – a blend.

505. People help people.

 

506. People who share. Thanks for lunch today Rosa!

507. Remembering fun childhood memories and smiling.

508. Sitting on the back porch with Beau eating frozen pizza. J

509. A weekend of home.

510. The little girl next door wants to feed Argos while we’re in class.

Week 1: Class 1

Beau and I went to our first class for our Master in Project Management from The Citadel. We were late. Yep. Late on the first day. Not a great first impression, but I feel confident we made up for that as the class went on.

 

We drove to The Citadel for class and quickly found out that room 106 is a coat closet. Whoops. If we had actually read the paperwork regarding our class, we would have known that class is held at a different building by the airport. We drove there.

 

Our teacher is SUPER excited about the class. He’s a very animated man with a few quirks. We like him. I think the class is going to be interesting and even if the subject matter isn’t, he sure is. We’ll never be board!

 

We’ve got the other class tonight. Hopefully just as exciting…

Building and repairing

Dad, Chris and Justin came down this weekend to help us do a few things around the house. And by “us” I mean Beau, because I helped with none of this. I did things like visit Pop-Pop, return Chris’ shoes, make the boys breakfast, lunch and dinner and I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned.

 

These are the pictures of some of what the boys did. They stripped the caulk from our shower and re-caulked it. It looks so clean! They put in a new backdoor and put a dog door into that. And they built a loft in our garage so that we could store things up there, allowing room in the garage for us to park our cars! The boys worked from 7:00 am Saturday morning until 7:30 pm that night with a 15 minute break for lunch.

 

They were rewarded with a delicious dinner of Shrimp Nacional, sautéed scallops and steamed crab claws. Yum!

 

Celebrating

Beau and I celebrating after our won over Nebraska!

Thankful Thursday - Take 23

458. 10 wonderful months of marriage to my handsome husband!

459. A great trip to Florida to see the Capital One Bowl! Gamecocks won!

460. Great conversations with Beau over the weekend.

 

461. Memories made.

462. Safe travel home through the night.

463. Seeing old and new friends for New Years!

464. Emily Post’s Etiquette – a gift from a friend. I love this stuff!

465. Beau was able to see his best friends. He misses them so much!

 

466. Collards! It’s that time again!

467. Short work weeks

468. Tea time with Christy. Love those days!

469. Make believe. It’s fun to dream.

470. A new blog I’ve discovered. http://www.aholyexperience.com/

 

471. A new flavored tea that I love – Sleepytime Vanilla

472. Today is my last day of physical therapy! I’ve been running on it for a couple of weeks and my knee feels great!

473. New Years’ Resolutions

474. That I have teeth to crunch down on things.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

I made delicious chocolate crackle cookies last night. I had intended to make them for the Oyster Roast Saturday night, but didn’t get around to it. So here we go. They are now for me, Beau and my co-workers to enjoy. And yum! These will be in the book of keepers for me. They are soft and chewy and wonderful. Try them!

 

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ¼ c flour

½ c cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ c unsalted butter

1 c light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs,

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 c milk

2/3 c chopped walnuts

1 c (or more) powdered sugar

 

Melt chocolate in a small bowl over simmering water.

 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, one at a time and then at the vanilla. Then slowly mix in the melted chocolate.

 

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and milk alternately. Stir in the chopped walnuts. (I used pecans.)

 

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Form the dough into 1-inch balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat. Stick it all back in the fridge for a couple of hours. Roll the balls in powdered sugar so they are well coated.

 

Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes on 350. And bam! Delicious!

Where We Live

There’s only one address anyone lives at and it’s always a duplex: Joy and pain always co-habit every season of life.

Accept them both and keep company with the joy while the pain does it’s necessary renovations.

Isn’t that true? Check out where I saw this written here.

What's more...

As I reflect on the last year of my life, I’m truly thankful for what the Lord has brought me. I know it’s not Thursday and therefore, not technically a day for me to list my thanks. But a Wednesday is just as good a day as any I think.

 

I married the man of my dreams in this year of 2011 and we have experienced almost 10 months of wonderful marriage. And because of this wonderful event, I have even more to be thankful for. I have been given yet another person in my life to love and to receive love from, Donna. I have gained another family that has welcomed me in with open arms and I’m truly thankful. Because of this wonderful man, I have been forced to truly look deep into my heart and see who I am and who I want to be. God is using Beau to shape me into a better me; the woman I was created to be.

 

I have a wonderful job that has brought me people that enjoy and people that I call friends. I am confident in my job and enjoy pursuing new opportunities. I feel as though it’s more of a career rather than a day-to-day job.

 

My relationship with the members of my immediate family has changed. They were once the center of my universe and the focus of my days. With marriage that has changed. But not with a negative note. We are all moving and adapting and shaping to create new aspects to our relationships. This change has opened up avenues of conversation that I weren’t there between my parents and myself. It has taken down walls between my sister and I. And it has given my husband a friend in my brother and given my brother a friend in my  husband.

 

And now I look to 2012 wanting it to be a good one. Wanting it to be one that I’m proud of and one that I enjoy…no regrets. So I think about these New Years’ Resolutions and want to come up with some really good ones. So far this is what I’ve got…

 

To have a true, honest, close dear friend that I can call at 2:00 in the morning to talk if I need to.

To have more smiles than tears.

To read more for me this year.

To be able to say that I loved people with everything that I have.

 

Here’s to 2012 and what it will bring!

 

It is cold!

Beau and Carl trying desperately to warm their nose with hand warmers as we stand in line for the new Harry Potter ride.

Gamecocks!

We are in Florida for the Capital One bowl to see the Carolina Gamecocks play the Nebraska Huskers! Go Cocks!

Etiquette quote

Being courteous means taking personal responsibility for the way our actions affect others, showing respect for the space we share and the well being of those we share it with.