weekly gratitude

thank you jared's slippers for keeping my toes warm in an otherwise freezing apartment

Is the last week of January finally time to take down the last of your Christmas lights?

I've been denying the fact that it's almost February and had tentatively planned to keep mine up for the foreseeable future, but now that one strand has burned out the twinkle light canopy doesn't quite have the same effect. 

Blerg. 

Maybe it's the universe's way of telling me twenty-five is too old to be using twinkle lights as your main source of illumination?

Whatever. 

I'm leaving the more subtle strand along my bookshelf wall where it is - ambiance and all. 

But more importantly...

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1. Thank you Robin for getting home safely! True, I haven't seen you yet but knowing that you're back within a 5 mile radius makes me happy. And I think it's time for another Camaraderie Feast to celebrate your return. Yes? I say yes.

2. Thank you for the fact that Michull and Maggie will be here THURSDAY! I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've seen that ginger-bearded face. Michull, I cannot wait to Scuttle at you and froon it up right nice! 

3. Thank you God, once again, for holding me accountable. I've tripped up a couple times this week on my mission to be the woman I want to be, but you know what? I am grateful. I am sincerely grateful that I have Someone who can look at me, tell me that what I've done was wrong and hold me to my word when I said I wanted to be a better person... And then love me anyway! Crazy. I want to continue working toward being the person He wants me to be and I know the only way to do that is if He throws all of my successes AND all of my failures into the spotlight of my life. This is how I live my life without regrets; even though the way certain lessons have been learned may be less than desirable, the good that has come of it far outweighs anything else. Lessons learned the hard way folks... Lessons learned the hard way. (Worth it)

4. Thank you for this honest hunger I have for Him. It's been virtually a lifetime of wishing and praying for that kind of drive to learn more about my faith and the strength to trust in something bigger than me. I'm still learning, still very much a work in progress, but for the first time in my life I crave this. And on that note, thank you for the friend who inspired me (though yes, as you said, the circumstances could have been better, haha). I've always known He works in mysterious ways (just like I've always known how much I love cliches sometimes) but with the help of friends, the help of family and the help of Him, I think I just might be starting to figure this out. 

5. Thank you for Trader Joe's Cocoa Almond Spread. That's all. 

6. Thank you John Mark for your new book! I'm barely into it, but already it's wonderful. I've never dealt with depression, but anxiety and worry are two things I've unfortunately come to regrettably accept as just "part of who I am". Kind of running off that "you can't help how you feel" philosophy... ANATHEMA! No more, dammit! NO MORE! I got a wake up call the other day and then this happened. This morning John Mark spoke on the same topic - why do we let anxiety take up residence in our minds? How are we doing ourselves any good by surrendering to worries? (hint: you know the answer to these questions) And so, I will do the following: 1) take every thought captive, 2) "control your thoughts, or your thoughts control you" and, 3) think instead on what is true - not what might happen (but more often than not, won't). Free yourself! 

7. Thank you for this:

I miss Laura, John & Jack. 

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My plan for this week is to address my Pinterest addiction. I'm pushing almost a thousand pins and over 700 "likes"... Too much? What's too much?

Oh, and somewhere in there I'm having dinner with Jodi, Mari and Caitlyn at The Dundee Manor. 

Dinner party for the win.