Not Without Them

My whole life I have been blessed with the best friends ever. This season of my life is no exception.
I found out when Abby was born just how easy it is to become all mom all the time and not leave time for yourself. I think this is a huge problem many new moms experience. I was lucky enough to meet my friends through church and three of us were even pregnant at the same time. We have experienced the joys of pregnancy, loss of pregnancy, hardships in family, and not so perfect times in our marriages together. I truly believe that I would not be the person I am today without this amazing group of friends. We are lucky enough to have girls night out at least once a month (if you ask Dave it's every other Friday, but who's really keeping track). I know if I did not have these women and my occasional night away from mommyhood, I would end up in a crazy house. I think it is so important to have a close group of friends who will tell it to you straight 110% of the time and I would not trade these realtionships for the world!

Soap Box

I don't get worked up about too many things, I mean really, who has the time? However, some things really get under my skin and this is my blog and I feel like venting...
Lately I have been reading/seeing news articles about people getting mad about Christmas trees. Some have even gone so far as to call them offensive and demand they be taken down. That's weird because last time I checked this is a free country( for now any way) and despite what our genius leader in Washington is trying to do to this great country we still have freedom to celebrate Christian holidays. If someone is so offended by a Christmas tree, walk away...pretty simple!!! Also, I find it weird that these same offended people still shop all the sales and even take time off work for this offensive holiday. Its amazing that all these same people who demand that Christmas tress be taken down feel like they have the right to free speech, but Christians do not. I totally respect the fact that not every one is Christian or even believes in a god at all, but step back and take a look at what you are saying. So, with that being said...
~~~~~~~~~~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~~~~~~

(our tree last year after Abby got done with it)

Thinking Thankfulness

I don't think I have mentioned on here how much I love(to the umth degree) our new church. Early this year Dave and I had been talking about looking for a new church because we felt we weren't taking anything away from the sermons. In July we started going to our new church and have been more than happy that we made the switch. It's still a bible based church, which is one of the many reasons we love it so much, and after only being there three weeks I started volunteering and we joined an amazing life group.
So...this past Sunday our church did something I have never seen before. They opened the floor to the members and when someone felt led to, they would go up to one of the microphones and tell everyone what they are thankful for and how God has blessed them this year.AH-MAZING!!! It was so awesome to hear people share their stories, the good and the bad. I know for me, it is so easy to dwell on all that goes wrong in life and pout about everything I don't have. Ha, talk about a kick in the bo-tay! I have decided to start a prayer journal for a year and I am really excited about it. I love looking back and seeing how God has answered my prayers and prayers of others. I love seeing the dilemmas and drama we thought was so important and the simpleness in Gods plan. I can't wait for next Sundays sermon about Christmas and how it has become a consumer driven holiday now and how Christ is fading from our hearts in this season.
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and please remember to be thankful for all the little things in life that are so easy to overlook.
What I am thankful for

I am beyond thankful that I have beautiful daughter who will play in the rain with me

I am so thankful that I have a husband who loves me even when my craziness hits an all time high

I am forever grateful for my friends and my girls night outs(to which I would be even more crazy than my already craziness with out this)

And there are no words for how thankful I am for my Father who loves his children beyond what I can ever imagine