Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful to be home from work.  It was just a rough day because I was stupid and wore shorts.  And the dog wanted outside all day.  It was too cold outside for shorts today.  I liked the temperature, just not in shorts.  I came back in and not even an hour later she peed in the mud room.  UGH!!!  2 year old was WHINY most of the day.  I finally rocked her to sleep.  So today I am thankful to be home.

I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband who right now is working on certification applications.  BOO they stink and cost $$$.  But it's ok.  God is good and will somehow provide for all of our needs.  Praying Aaron finds a job in this area though.  Not really ready to move yet.

I am thankful for missions week at church.  Tonight the Vietnamese church in Erie is presenting.  I'm excited about that.  Tuesday night we had an international foods dinner and talked about missions in Russia.  I can't wait until we decide what to send with those going in September.  I'm thankful that I have the kind of warm clothing that I need during the winter.  It's quite cold in Russia and some of the people working outside don't have winter coats, hats, gloves, scarves, etc.  So thankful for the blessings we have in the US.

I'm thankful for spending time with family this weekend.  We visited my family Saturday night and Aaron's dad Sunday into Monday.  It was his dad's birthday and so we made him dinner and I made cake balls (this time it was lemon cake, orange frosting covered in dark chocolate.)

I'm thankful for the Memorial Day picnic the McKenney's had.  I love our church family so much.  It was just a great time of hanging out with a couple of riveting games of horseshoes *cough* *cough*.  Still way fun though.

What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done one of these in a while just because life has gotten kinda crazy for me lately.  There are only 2 weeks and 1 day left of my job.  I will miss those girls!


1. Our car was inspected yesterday and although we had to get new brakes that was all it needed.  Praise God.

2. Thankful that last night before I went to bed I found an email saying someone was making dinner tonight for youth group.  Another huge praise.  I didn't know what to make for dinner tonight and really wasn't sure how I'd get it done. 

3. My husband graduated.  And boy did we have a fun time there.  We went to a place called the Frontier Culture Museum.  I loved it.  I still need to find the motivation to put up the pictures after I go through them all. 

4. I'm thankful for our friend James visiting recently, the fun time we ahd at the gorge with many of our friends. :)

5. I'm thankful for great yard sale finds this past weekend. 


What are you thankful for today???

Thankful Thursday

Really that time again?  Man time goes by soooooo quickly.  It seemed to take forever when we were younger and now in the blink of an eye I've been married over a year.  Crazy!  Onto the thankfulness of today.

1.  That my husband finished student teaching yesterday.  Praise God he got an A in the class.  He did super well.  Love him so much!

2.  That my husband is graduating on Saturday!  Woohoo!! So excited for him.  He's been in college for 8 years. He's more than ready to be done.   I'm also excited to see where God leads us.

This was after his first two intensives at Liberty University.  We spent many hours in that building behind him in the computer lab.

And maybe someday we'll see him doing this. . . whatever God has in store for us.

3. That an online friend was open and honest with me on Tuesday night.  She gave me the kind of constructive criticism that I needed.

4.  I'm thankful for Jacqui of Craftee McGee, Piper of Reviving Remnants, and Laura of Along for the Ride for encouraging me in my endeavor to possibly start a business.  Thank you ladies so much for your encouragement and for your kind words and advice. 

5.  I am thankful that my employers got a dog just for me to play with. . . ok, ok, just kidding, I know she's not just for me to play with but I do love her.  She's so sweet.  She sometimes thinks the kids are puppies though and wants to play too hard.  It's just cute though that she loves the little girls so much already.  Lord thanks for making dogs who have wonderful personalities.  :)

6. I'm thankful I get to do my laundry at my employers.  What a blessing I tell ya.  It makes sure I stay caught up on laundry because I have to get it done while I'm there or else go to the laundrymat and that's just not my favorite.  So some days are very much laundry days and we stick close to the house and I'm ok with that.

7. That I got to go to the 10 yr old's band and chorus concert last night.  I felt so bad that in the two years I've watched the kids I hadn't been able to go to any of his extra curricular activities.  Last night I got to go and it was great to support him.

8. I love the sunshine.  I love the way that a good dose of vitamin D can just lift my spirits.  Thank you Jesus for the sunshine.

9. This blog.  I'm thankful for a place to get feedback from people on potential items to sell.  I'm thankful for a place to do these features like Thankful Thursdays and Crafty Saturday and things like that.  Thank you for those of you who read and comment regularly.  Please know that I do read every comment even if I sometimes forget to respond!  Thanks for the encouragement!

10. My salvation.  I know I'm not a good person.  I do terrible things.  The fact that Jesus would choose to save a sinner like me just makes me so overjoyed.  I know that the only good people see in me is when I am reflecting Christ.  In that regard, please pray with me that I will study Scripture and pray more fervently.

What are you thankful for this week??
Please feel free to link up or just leave a comment below:

Thankful Thursday

1. I got to spend a lot of time with my family the last week.
2. I serve a risen Savior!!! That's the most awesome thing EVER!
3. I have two little girls that I watch that just love spending time with me.  Thank You Lord for the time I have left with them.  I love them soooo muchly!
4. Aaron and I celebrate our 1-year anniversary this weekend! :) So exciting to me!  So So So excited!!! So I'm sooooooo thankful for my relationship with my AWESOME husband!  I seriously love him so much.  I know that God put us together!  Too Perfect!

Our Two Year Dating Anniversary

Photo Courtesy: Holly Wood (My Mother-in-Love) 

Here is a photo from when we got engaged:

Photo Courtesy: Holly Wood (My Mother-in-Love)

Our Wedding Day

Photo Courtesy: Kat Ritenour Photography (Our ROCKIN' Photographer)

What are you thankful for this week???

Please write a post and link up with what you are thankful for on this Thursday! Or feel free to share in the comments! :) 

Thankful Thursdays

This wasn't as hard as I had anticipated it would be for this week.  Here are some things that I am thankful for this week.  Please be sure to link up!

1. God's grace, mercy, faithfulness.  I'm trusting Him so much more in this matter than I ever have before.  Why I feel such a great peace about this I just don't know.  He's sooooooo good to me.  I mean, I should have peace about it, but I'm still suprised because it's not like me to be this calm.  Thanks Lord for Your peace which surpasses all understanding.

2. The sunshine/warmer temperatures.  How about you?

3. Spending time at the library reading to the girls.  My goodness how they love it.  We've come to know most of the librarians by name.  Today in the car, 2-year-old was singing, "Mr. Bob, Mr. Bob, Mr.  Bob, Mr. Bob."  I said, "M, what are singing?" She said, "I sing a song bout Mr. Bob."  He's her favorite librarian after he copied a princess picture for her to color.  He calls her princess every time he sees her.  The girls are just smitten with him.  It's too cute!  They love all of the workers there though.

4. God's miraculous provision.  We received, almost EXACTLY the amount of money that we needed to be able to pay our taxes on time.  I think we have to pay about 50 out of pocket.  How's that for God's awesome provision???  Thank you Jesus for using Your Church to help us.  God is sooooooo good.

5. I get to visit my family this weekend.  I'm very excited to see them as I haven't spent any real time with them lately.  This also comes with a request for prayer.  Most are unsaved.   We desire that they come to know the Lord.  Please pray with us. My great-grandmother is not doing well.  This may be the last time we see her.  My grandparents on my dad's side are getting a lot older and may not be around much longer either. Please pray that God prepares the way for us to share His Word.

6. The support of friends.  My friend Melanie came over on Tuesday (when I found out my job will be ending) and just talked with me and took me to the mall to get my mind off of things for a little while.  I've also gotten phone calls and emails from friends and it's so encouraging.  Thank you for all of your prayers.



What are you thankful for this week??? Please feel free to share through the weekend as well.  As you can see this is going up late this Thursday.  I just didn't have time to type it up before now.

Please link up:

Thankful Thursday

Hey everyone!  It's Thursday again!  Time to share what makes you thankful!

1. God's mercies which are new every morning.  I was feeling really down last night when I messed up a lot.  But it's a new day and God's mercies are new every morning and I'm so thankful for that.

2. This guy!  I love him, I'm thankful for him everyday. I'm thankful that he puts up with me and that he is so willing to serve our new neighbor.  We haven't been home much to actually spend any time getting to know her yet, but hopefully this weekend since the gas prices have sky rocketed in our area I hope not to drive at all this weekend except to church. 

3. God prevented an accident last night.  I was at a stop sign, looked both ways didn't see anything, went to pull out and then saw a car right in front of me.  Woah SCARY!!!!  The car didn't have their headlights on, it was like 8:45 pm, super dark and rainy.  I'm not very good at driving under those conditions anyway but when someone doesn't have their headlights on and the car is a dark color, it makes it nearly impossible to see them.  Thank you God for your protection!

4. Veggie Tales. . .I love them, the kids I watch love them.  God definitely uses these wonderful videos in their lives.  M always asks to watch Bob and Larry.  We also now have a Veggie Tales worship cd which is awesome, we put in on when we're coloring, painting, playing, a lot of times.  It's fantastic!


5. God providing for us financially this week.  Things went awry but, thankfully He provided for us super well!

6. Good friends!  I spent some time with my friend Melanie on Tuesday and I love it :).  What a blessing that is to me!  Love being able to have "girl time." 

7.  Seeing my mother-in-love and sister-in-love.  I also got to see and snuggle with the puppies!  I love me some doggies!  I miss having some of my own. 

8. It's mom Mom's birthday this Saturday!  I love her she is a very good mommy so thankful for her! 

9.  For youth group to be back to normal tonight! YAY!

Those are just some of the things I'm thankful for this week.
What are some of the things you are thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday

I forgot to actually post this yesterday!

1. Thankful that I remembered to post it today! :)
2. That I haven't really gotten sick too badly this year despite all of the sickness the little ones I watch have had.
3.  I get to visit some of my in-loves tonight!
4.  Two of our youth group kids are in a musical this weekend and we're going to go watch them! =)
5. There will be puppy snuggles tonight.
6. I have finished my handmade items to send to my friend Karen.
7. Prayer meeting was super awesome on Wednesday! :)
8. Carrington, (the one I've been asking prayer for) is up from 11 lbs to 13 and some change!  Praise God!  Please visit her blog for more updates.
9. That I had a lot of time to craft this week.
10.  That the creative juices are flowing!

How about you:
What are you thankful for this week?

Oh #11 My husband did the dishes from youth group and our apartment last night!  Great hubby!

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again!!! I'm so glad I started this feature on my blog. I love that this gives me a chance to reflect on my week and the things that I am thankful.

1. God's providence - this week, we had to make a decision by Wednesday, we were given our answer on Tuesday morning.  Praise God for His quick reply.  We had only started praying about a week ago.
2. The girls that I watch.  They are sooo adorable.  I love them very much.  In the car the other day the 2 year old sang to me, "Night, Night Manda, It's time to go home."  While we were going to pick up her sister.  Too silly!  When I put her to bed, I always sing "Good Night M, Good night M, Good Night M, it's time to go to sleep."  She decided to adapt it.  I love it! =D

3. These guys

They are our youth group kids.  We love them sooooo much!!! We weren't able to have youth group last week because of my tooth pain.  This week we are having it and I'm so excited.  We're having breakfast for dinner! Yum!  Chocolate chip pancakes for dinner.  Amazing =D

4.  My Church Family - I love these people soooooooo much.  Went to prayer meeting last night.  there are only about 20 of us that go.  It's such a sweet time of sharing and praying for one another's needs. I love Grandview Alliance Church.  I'm so thankful for what they are doing.

5. Seeing two of our youth group kids that haven't been at youth group in a few months at church on Sunday morning. Praying they come back tonight.  That'd be so amazing! :) Love them so much.

6. Seeing my friend Melanie on Tuesday and teaching her what I know about sewing.  She's going to be making a purse soon.  We cut out the pieces on Tuesday and she practiced just straight stitching on some scraps on Tuesday.  We'll practice some more probably next week.  She's going to teach me to play guitar in return.  Awesome! I've had a guitar for a year and half and still don't know how to play. I'm hoping that once I learn how to play I can lead some worship for our youth group.  Right now we don't have worship and that makes me a little sad. 

7. The blog Melanie showed me.  http://carringtonscourage.blogspot.com/ < Please visit this website. This little girl is so precious!!! I'm so thankful that there are people out there willing to adopt children and be the hands and feet of Christ as we should be.  I hope someday the Lord allows Aaron and I to adopt.  I've always wanted to adopt kids.  Perhaps that's because I'm adopted.  Not by my parent's but by a Loving, Holy Father through the work of His Son!

8. That my dad has been ok for so long even though he apparently fractured one of his vertebrae in a fall at work about 25 years ago.  He also has Spinal stenosis on two of his vertebrae.  He also has artheritus all along his spine.  I'm so thankful that he's been able to do so much for so many years.  I'd also appreciate prayer for him for his back but more importantly for his salvation.

If you'd like to participate in Thankful Thursdays please feel free to do so :).



Thankful Thursday

I've decided I'm going to start a new series on my blog called "Thankful Thursday."  The only problem is that I decided that today, Friday.  So I'm doing a thankful Thursday for yesterday.

Things that I am thankful for this week:
1. God's mercies which are new every morning.
2. My dentist.  My tooth was bothering me sooooooooooooo badly recently that Wednesday night I was crying from 6pm to 4:30 am.  I finally passed out from exhaustion and got up at 6 am for work.  I had a dentist appointment yesterday at 3.  The dentist shot me up with some novocaine (my new best friend) and then drilled in my tooth to relieve pressure and put in a sedative filling to calm the nerves down so they can work on my tooth in a week and half.  Yesterday he said he wasn't going to talk about what we'll do with my tooth in the near future because I was too emotional, tired, and pain ridden to think clearly.  I can appreciate that.  Very thankful for my dentist.
3. My employers.  The dad came home yesterday early so I could make it to the dentist.  Then last night he told me he was taking the day off and I should stay home and get some rest.  Praise and thanks be to God.
4. The Go-Fish Guys.  These guys are fantastic.  They are great at amusing the 2 year-old that I watch which was sooooo important yesterday as I was just in agony all day until I got to the dentist.  This is one of my favorite songs of theirs.  They are great ministers of the Gospel to children.  If you have children check them out.



And for the fun side of the GoFish Guys.



5. The 2 year-old that I watch.  She is just turning into the sweetest little girl in the world.  Love her.  "Madda, why oo cying?" (Manda, why are you crying.) Me: My tooth hurts a lot M.  M: "Dat's sad.  Ov oo Madda"  (That's sad, love you Manda).
I handed her her milk, M: "Dank oo Madda" (Thank you Manda), Me: "You're welcome.  Nice Manners, M." M: "Dank oo Madda"
Gah, she's so cute.  Love her!
6. My husband, the guy pictured below.  I love him sooooo much!!! He takes good care of me.


7. That I get a day to clean. (and hopefully craft).  YAY.