Thankful Thursday

Life has been pretty great around here, and with Spring finally showing it's face there is much to be thankful in my life, so I thought I'd revive my Thankful Thursdays (at least for this week...)

At this moment I am thankful for...

 

(1) Wedding Planning, and not being overwhelmed..yet. 6 months to go and things are coming together and I'm thankful that everything seems to be falling into place.

 

 (2) Friends that are full of joy and make me want to be more joyful. I am blessed to have many wonderful friends that show the joy of Christ to others on a daily basis. It's the Easter Season, we should all be more joyful.

Alright, so these are my brothers (not technically just friends) but this picture is so joyful. Love it!

(3) The quirky devotions of the Catholic faith. I went to a talk earlier this week entitled "Quirky but Beloved Prayer Practices". It was about the origin of some of the various devotions that are practiced (or used to be practiced) in the Catholic Church. It was fascinating and it was fun to here what others grew up doing in their families or communities. We talked about praying to St. Anthony to find lost things, burying St. Joseph when trying to sell a house, dressing the Infant of Prague and much more. The origins of all these practices, the stories of why certain saints became the patrons of the things they are is so interesting. Love it!

 

(4) Graduations. I have a good friend who just graduated with her nursing degree and my fiance is graduating on Saturday. I love to see people succeed and am so thankful for all those who follow their dreams.

Follow your dreams, even if it involves taking a picture with a giant mouse.

 

(5) Thunderstorms. We've had a lot of rain this week, which is great for the farmers. I love thunderstorms (as long as I'm not driving in them), I love to hear the rain coming down and see the lightning. It's a beautiful reminder of God's power.

 

(6) Letters. My mom writes all of us kids a letter every week. I love hearing about the news from back home, what her and dad are up to, what the neighbor did, etc. I'm so thankful for a mother who puts such a strong emphasis on staying in touch with those you love.

My mom and dad riding a jackalope at Wall Drug in South Dakota.         Blowing bubbles at my sister's wedding reception.

(7) Growing plants. I planted some spinach and salad mix seeds the beginning of the month and I love seeing their little green leaves peaking out of the soil. There was an unwanted squirrel who decided to dig around a bit the other day, but I suppose I should be thankful even for squirrels and that I live in a place that they can jump from tree to tree.

Alright, that's it for me. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday! What are you thankful for today?

Spring!

 

I love Spring! I love the start of every season actually, it's just so exciting to see how everything changes as the seasons change and each season brings it's own beauty and adventures. The love the cheerfulness of daffodils and how quickly they spring up, reminding us that winter is over (or almost over) and new life is here (in bright colors :). I hope you are all enjoying the first glimpses of Spring and the promise of new life.

It's Friday!!!

So Friday is finally here and I'm super-excited for a relaxing weekend.  I'm actually staying around home this weekend (shocker, I know), so I'm hoping to be productive (I know I say that all the time, but this time I mean it!) and if the rain and thunderstorms we're supposed to have ever take a break then I'll hopefully get to play outside a bit and enjoy the beginning of spring!  Next week starts our big outdoor farmer's market around the capital and boy am I excited!  I should probably spend this weekend going through  my pots and figuring out what I want to plant. I've been dying for some fresh herbs, and I'm just no good at keeping house plants alive, so I'm ready for the warm weather to stick them out and watch them grow.  Below is a fabulous Friday video by Elizabeth and the Catapults (which was also in the movie "New in Town" which I love), it just makes you want to get up and dance :) Enjoy and enjoy the weekend!

Glimpses of Spring

I went south for the weekend. South as in Illinois south, I know that's not south to many people, but it was just south enough to see the first glimpses of spring. See the lovely flowers above? They were peaking out of my parents flower garden. Don't the first flowers of spring just make you smile? Besides going to my parents house and getting to spend a bit of time with them and my brother, I also had the sincere pleasure of attending a wonderful women's conference, the Behold Conference to be exact. I had many friends who helped out/ran the conference, so it was good to see all of them, but inadition to the many amazing women who participated in the conference, the talks were absolutely amazing as well. Jennifer Fulwiler from Conversion Diary gave a couple of amazing talks and two of the Sisters of Life from out in New York helped encourage us. It's rejuvinating to be around such strong women of faith and to hear their stories, their advice, their encouragement. It's truly beautiful. Below are a few pictures from the conference. 

A couple of my great girl friends from college.

Miss L. and me (my Godson's sibling)

No pictures of B., my Godson, he didn't think much of the idea of standing still long enough for a picture.  Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!