Our grumpy old man, I am Belle & I HIT 1000!!!!! {Thankful Thursday #

This week I am Thankful For:

{Numbers go with my One-Thousand Gifts Journal, so just ignore them}

988 / Heat worked!!!  We had to turn on our heat one night for the first time & for the past 4 years, every time we turn it on, it hasn't worked & we have had to get a repairman out.  This year? IT WORKED! Praise the Lord!

989 / Every day with Bruno.  Our old man is getting up there in years.  We've had him for 11 years - almost 12 years - & he was 4 when we got him, so he's nearing 16 years old.  He is struggling seeing, he's having some issues with his throat, & he needs help getting in & out now.  I see him TRULY becoming my grumpy old man lately. So I'm thankful for every day I get to hug & kiss his stinky face.

991 / Free Books. I love getting books for free from places to review, or the library. I'm really trying to restrain myself from buying them when I can get so many good ones for free.

994 / Peaceful Days at work.  Last Friday, mostly everyone took off work so it was so super quiet in the office.  I always feel so relaxed on those work days.

995 / 2 for 1 at Starbucks. Enough said.

996 / Ricky stopping at the grocery on his way home. I love when he knows I'm there & comes in & finds me. He helps me load the groceries out to the car.  I loathe that part of grocery shopping so any help makes a world of difference to me.

998 / Spending time with my MSM girls this weekend.   So fun getting to see them in their own environment - let their personalities shine.  Also so thankful for one of the girls that snuck & paid for my pottery I painted. SNEAKY GIRL! I was so shocked!!! & upset. I hate people paying anything for me... but was so thankful for the gesture of it.

999 / Awesome friend helping out!  I had a friend that stepped up to help me out Saturday night with the girls.  Took time out of her evening to come hang out with us for a little bit. So appreciative of her kindness!!

....I MADE IT!!!!!!!!! 1000 Gifts!!!!!....

1000 / My parents.  I have the best of them.  They tried to do something for Ricky & I that was priceless... & totally something we couldnt accept - but we both so appreciated the thought & caring & love intended behind it.

1004 / Dinner with Ricky.  I hardly got to see Ricky over the weekend so was glad to meet up with him for a little bit of time on Sunday.  I even let him pick the place....Culvers always is his choice of places. (UGH) ... that's love for you right there.

1006 / Found a Target!!!!  I found a Target that I can get to at lunch.  My whole life is now open to lunch shopping possibilities :)

1007 / Emerson convinced I'm Belle.

We walked by and she screamed "Nanny!!!" @rebeccajoknits you definitely have her brainwashed. 😉🌹#EmersonStephanieCzeczok #NannyisBelle #beautyandthebeast

A video posted by Chasity Czeczok (@chasityczeczok) on Nov 14, 2016 at 9:20am PST

This is just everything to me :)

1009 / Roses still blooming in mid-November.

1010 / Bug Sound machines.  My mom gave us some little things you plug in that are supposed to keep bugs away. They have really seemed to work.  During fall, our house is usually SWARMED with lady bugs & stink bugs.  We've probably had like 5 bugs all season long.  These things must really work!!!

So what are you thankful for this week?

Confessions

.... I have never listened to more talk radio or to shows about politics in my life since lastTuesday. I'm so curious to hear what the latest news is & what everyone thinks.  I need to make the switch over to my Christmas music to ease the stress in my mind.

... Speaking of Christmas music, I cant wait to put in my two favorite Christmas CD's.  Casting Crowns "Peace on Earth" & Josh Groban, "Noel" ... they will stay in my player until New Years Day.

... saw a post that said, "Love trumping hate involves a lot more assault & arson than I expected"... that made me laugh.  & I figure laughing is better than crying at the reactions of some people this past week.

... I legit cried - like CRIED - real tears - when I saw the Beauty & the Beast movie trailer. It just feels so unreal to me to see it come to life.  Looks so magical to me. 120 days still to go... but who's counting?   #methatswho

... There are so many movies coming out I want to see lately!  I'm taking my nieces to see Trolls this weekend, but also can't wait to see Fantastic Beasts... & I think that new movie, Allied, with Brad Pitt looks good & nerve wrecking see if his wife is a spy!  Also want to see Arrival with Amy Adams, because she's won me over for everything since Enchanted... & of course, Moana... Who doesnt love a good Disney movie during the holidays?

... I still haven't' switched over my closet from spring/summer to fall/winter.  It's in the 70's today!!! The craziest fall I've remembered in a long time.  I need to get it switched over though because I see 40's for the high next week.   After having all this warm weather, those 40's are going to feel FRIGID - I just know it.

... So the SUPER MOON was in full effect this week. ... & I didnt really notice any difference than any other bright full moon.

... I take that back.. I did notice a difference - that I THINK had to do with the moon. I had the WORST headache yesterday. Like migraine level in the back of my head. Found out my mom had the same thing.  I know weather changes can trigger headaches. Can Super Moons?

... I'm trying to cut back on my sparkling seltzer water intake. I'm now convinced this is a part of what's tearing my crowns off. I read that you would have to drink a LOT of the carbonated seltzer water to get an effect on the enamel of your teeth. When I looked up what they consider "a lot"... yeah.... that's me.  I do drink a lot of it.  So I'm making the switch to tea.  & now my teeth may stay in, but they'll be stained.  My teeth can't win for anything.

... I really need to clean out my car. I cant remember the last time I vacuumed or dusted the dashboard. I know its bad when I can see feet print on the console where my niece had her feet propped up the other day on it.  My car is basically my home on wheels.

... I'm still loving the show This is Us.  I honestly laugh & tear up at least one time each per show.

BIG THREE!

What's on your mind today?

3 things

So this was going around like 3 months ago....

who says I'm on time for anything - NO ONE!!!! 

But at least I play along... eventually....

Welcome to Tuesday - the day my brain is like mush - so enjoy learning a little more about me.

Three things I'd never give up
Having dogs, being a vegetarian & my wedding ring

Three favorite vegetables
Peppers, cauliflower & broccoli
...preferably the last two covered in cheese! ;)

Three shows I watched faithfully from beginning to end
LOST, Ugly Betty & Santa Barbara
(anyone else remember that soap opera? I used to LOVE that one.  80's soap opera at its finest!!!)

Robin Wright before House of Cards

Three places I want to visit inside the US
New York City - Denver, Co - & of course, Harry Potter World in Universal Studios 
(you know I'd say Disney but I've been there & went for places I haven't been before)

Three places I want to visit outside the US
First... let's get a reality check. This girl aint going outside of the US unless I had to because me & travel? We're not friends.
But... if I could magically transform to some place, this is where I'd go:

Paris, France - the Holy Lands - & London, England so I could hunt down Will & Kate

Three things I always have with me
Reading glasses, a book & my phone

Three things that are always in my car
A blanket (for car break down AND for photo sessions) - CD's (Yes, I'm old school & use actual CD's) & a FEW half empty water bottles

Three most recent phone calls were to/from
Actual phone calls?  Who does that anymore?  I text more than talk... but if we're going with talking....

Ricky, Chasity & the nurse from my doctor's office

Three books I read and loved in college
Trick question since I didn't finish college... so I'll go with books I read when I was "college age"....

Thorn Birds, When Heaven Weeps & Harry Potter 
(man, those could NOT be any more different from one another)

Three most often used makeup products
Garnier Dark Circle Eye Roller / Bare Minerals Foundation Powder / Any mascara that's on sale.

Three things that make me laugh
when people fall down / my dogs / Will Ferrell

Three things that make me cry
Anything about my animals being sick or dying / health insurance & medical woes /  Regret

... I hate that ends on such a downer, so I'm adding in my own just because...

Three shows on Netflix I'm just getting around to
Gilmore Girls (Still on season 1) / want to check out Arrested Development / Also got turned onto Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries from Kristen that I'm getting into as well

Now you go... if you havent yet.

Dont make me the last one doing this :)

The weekend that had only Happy Accidents....

OK... was it really the weekend?  Because it didnt feel like the weekend... at all... it all just went by in a blur.  I'm actually excited for Monday to get back in a routine.

Who am I right now?

... anyways, Friday kicked off with Ricky & I taking advantage of the 2 for 1 at Starbucks this weekend.
Anyone else take advantage of the deal between 2-5 on their holiday drinks?

I was excited because I wanted the red cup to kick off the holiday drinks - especially because I was listening to Christmas music... yes, we have a local radio station playing 24 hours of Christmas music already.  I'm not going to fight it this year. I'm giving into it.

So I was excited to get my red cup, to sing O Holy Night to the top of my lungs... & then get this cup.  What the heck? Green?... My Starbucks always seems a day late & a dollar short.
I'm still counting it as festive.  But riding with the windows down because it was in the 60's did take away from the Christmas feeling anyways.

Funny side note... to get the 2 for 1 at Starbucks, you have to get a 'holiday drink' - we asked what was included with that.  I ended up getting the Salted Carmel Mocha - which is what I like anyways... but Ricky likes plain mocha drinks. Not on the list. So he asked for a "Peppermint Mocha....." which is on the list... but he asked for it.... "with no peppermint" ;) haha.... the lady just looked at him with the funniest look. I told her, I'm so glad someone else is giving him that look besides me.
She wasn't too happy about the little sneaky way... but we kept joking with her & at the end, she handed over his drink & said, "One Peppermint Mocha" & winked at him.  Glad we warmed her over & she wasn't too mad.

That Ricky.  Gotta watch him.

I ended up spending my whole Friday night editing pictures.  I'm so excited about this wedding & all the pictures.  Kept me up till past midnight.  I just couldnt stop editing.

I was hoping to sleep in on Saturday after a late night Friday, but no.... Bruno has other plans. Like just waking me up so he can get on my pillow & go back to sleep. Mercy.

I needed to get up anyways. I had a lot on my to-do list.  Fun stuff like cleaning, & working out & reading for my Bible Study group.  Responsible things.

I did manage to get in like 4 episodes of Fixer Upper in the background.  That was a bonus.

as well as a few episodes of Tiny Houses... which always blows my mind. How are people going to live in 97 square feet?  Harvey Dent alone takes up 97 square feet!  Amazing.

But then I got to spend my Saturday night the best way possible. With my 7th grade girls small group.  Our church really likes for us to do things outside of church on our own - things that make those deeper connections.  So I had mentioned going to paint pottery & the girls came up with an idea to meet earlier & eat dinner together, which I loved. Especially because it was at a place I had never been before.  & in the end, I got a dinner I've never had before.

Potato Enchiladas. Have you ever even heard of that? I hadn't... it wasn't bad though.  Just what you would imagine though. Tasted like a big fried potato with enchilada sauce on it.

The girls had told me all about the queso there too so had to get an order of that.  It was yummy. White cheese queso. Tasted more like a mozzarella or whatever white cheese they put on mexican food. Pretty good.

We finished up & headed over to the pottery place.  I just had the best time listening to these girls & hanging out with them.  They all said they wanted to do something together at least once a month.  How cute is that?  I want them to all have a connection with not only me, but with each other. They will need good deep friendships as they grow up together & what better than a Christian sister they know really well?  I'm hoping to get these girls together outside of church as much as I possibly can. & feel so blessed that they want to do it... & let this old lady tag along :)

One of the girls painting
GOOD VIBES indeed!!!

The best part of the night for me was when one of the girls looked at me & said, "Rebecca, you are the coolest adult leader I have ever had"... I told her, "Correction - I may APPEAR to be an adult, but I'm not really" ;)

... ok, so between us, I may be an adult...a really old one because I got home & took a shower & called it an early night after a night with no sleep before.  Harvey Dent didn't mind the early bed time.

Sunday had us back at church with an amazing lesson on praying for God's Will to be done.  Powerful stuff.

& then off to MSM with my girls again.  They were still laughing about things from the night before & we're trying to think of our own personal group name.  Someone suggested "Happy Accidents" because painting the night before, every time someone messed up, they kept saying, There are no such things as accidents - they are all happy accidents" ... how cute is that?  But I kinda like that name just because I like the idea that God brought us all together form different areas of life... not really an accident on His part.   We're still seeing if anything else 'sticks' on us, but love that the girls are about making a name for our own group.  Again, loving these connections.

They are already planning on a Christmas gathering. They suggested doing gingerbread houses at my house. I'm just trying to figure out how to get that many girls in my house with candy flying everywhere without Harvey Dent trying to catch every falling sweet to the floor.

Anyone have any fun ideas for a Christmas gathering????  Lay them on me.

I left MSM to go to my JOY Sisters while Ricky ended up heading out with some friends to go see Dr. Strange.

Yep.. you'll hear me once again say how much I love my JOY gatherings.  A lot of our group couldnt make it but I always feel like sometimes, the smaller groups are just a good way to connect on a different level.  Love these ladies.

It all worked out great because right when we finished, Ricky had called & was done with the movie so we were able to meet up for dinner. I was so thankful for that since I didn't get to have dinner with him the night before & felt like I didnt get to see him a lot for the weekend.

Time to get home & do more adult stuff like bill writing & getting my week planned out for another busy few days ahead.

whew.... like I said, BLINK & we're back to Monday
... & counting down to THANKSGIVING!

I can't believe it.

Ready to start bringing up the Christmas totes. ... which I felt like we JUST took back downstairs.
Talk about BLINKING & time moving fast.

Now, to find a good slow weekend to get all the decorations up.

How was your weekend?

Is your local radio station playing Christmas music yet?

Any fun Christmas gathering ideas for teen girls?

Friday Favorites

Favorite Hack



So you dont get those weird shoulder things in your sweater from hangers



Favorite Beauty & the Beast


This is a wall decal!
Wouldnt it be so cute in a kitchen???

Favorite Bag


I just love this color brown in leather.
Goes with everything for fall & winter!

Favorite Truth



Let go of all expectations!!!!  Just love life for what it is every day!!!

Favorite Peencha

Favorite Shirt



I want this for Thanksgiving!

Favorite Funnies

... how I feel every day driving into work

... when my workout plan has another "BONUS" workout at the end

... when Ricky walks in the kitchen when I'm getting into the Oreos

.... me usually in the middle of every argument I have

... me at 4:00pm

Happy Weekend Y'all!!!

A voice, a perfect day & I didn't die from calcium!!! {Thankful Thursday #97}

This week I am Thankful For:

{The numbers go with my One-Thousand Gifts Journal, so just ignore them}

966 / Friends that reach out when I'm nervous & pray for me.

967 / Results of some medical tests. (I'll talk more about this in an upcoming post)

970 / Working Out. I didnt work out at all when I was on vacation. I take that back - I did do a 5k, but other than that, no working out. It felt good to get moving again. I always feel so much worse when I don't work out.

973 / Got off work early Friday.  Not sure why, but when I got back from lunch on Friday, the CFO came up & told me to go ahead & go home. YES SIR!  It was a perfect day to get off early too. I went home & sat on the back porch & read for 2 hours.  No better way to use the time I got off work.

974 / Finished another knit hat.  I need to get all my new project uploaded to Etsy.  Especially because if I dont do it soon, I'm going to end up keeping them all & use them in my own personal stash.

975 / PERFECT WEDDING DAY.  I mean, everything was perfect. The weather was perfect. The location was perfect because it was all so close to home.  The attitudes of everyone in the wedding was perfect - just having a great time - no stress at all.  Everything came off perfect.  It honestly was just the BEST!

977 / My photo cards didnt get smashed by a firetruck! ... yeah.  So the groom is a fireman & we did his pictures at the firehouse with his groomsmen.  I usually wear a camera bag around me 99% of the time. For some reason, I laid it down with our clip board on the steps of a fire truck & went upstairs to start taking pictures of the guys getting dressed.  Then a fire alarm went off & some of the firemen there ran to get in the truck & take off. I didnt think anything of it till we walked downstairs & I saw the truck was gone.... I thought I was going to puke. The bag had the camera cards of the bride getting ready & dressed in it, plus my batteries for my camera & all my blank camera cards. I just imagined it getting drug down the road by the fire engine.... but luckily, dont know if someone threw it off or if it fell off, but it was on the ground of the firehouse. WHEW!!!!  You can believe that bag will now 100% of the time be around me. Never taking it off!

978 / Chasity. I always say I cant do weddings without her. I really can't. She's a life saver so many times during a wedding day.  For me AND the bride.  She is a hair stylist & its funny because she said, "I think we have a picture of me helping with the veil of every bride we've photographed" - I think she's right.

This is a phone pic - not a professional pic

979 / Extra hour of sleep!! Perfect timing the day of a wedding when I need the most sleep!

982 / Meeting with awesome leaders.  I was blessed to be invited to a youth meeting by the Youth Minister at our new church. I say new, but we've been there for over a year now - I can't believe that.  But I felt really honored to be invited to this meeting to discuss things we can improve in the ministry.  Everyone knows I've got an opinion on things, that's for sure.  But it was great to get to talk with some other leaders as well.  The meeting was at 6:15am so we got together at Panera for breakfast before work.  I wouldn't mind making more morning stops at Panera!  Especially if I could hang out with these amazing leaders.

985 / Calcium Pill didn't kill me.  Confession - I never knew how to swallow a pill until LATE in my teen years. I have a very easy gag reflex so a big pill always would gag me as it touched the back of my throat when I swallowed it.  I've done better with it... except Monday, I took this HORSE PILL of a calcium pill & legit almost choked to death.  It's so funny because we watched it back on our home security cameras. Funny in a 'you almost died?' sense of the word  #notreally ... but Ricky is watching the news, I pop the pill in my mouth & you instantly see me coughing... & then panic.. & then hit the counter... & then cough & cough... & start running around......
.....
.....
& then you hear Ricky say, "Are you OK?" & then he turns & sees me & he gets up & runs to me screaming.
I told him I nearly died & he was so into the news, he didnt even notice.  It's funny now - not so much at the time.
I was shaking for 15 minutes with nerves.
I think I'm throwing that bottle of calcium away. Gotta be a better way.

This is NOT the pill I almost died on... but the same size.
Harvey thought me running around was a game

986 / The Right to VOTE! ... I know... I know ... a lot of people aren't happy about the outcome. A lot of people are. However you feel, you gotta be thankful we live in a country that lets you have a voice on who is going to be the leader.  Don't ever take it for granted.

987 / Twitter on Election night.  On a night that was so super stressful, I have to say, I laughed till I had tears at some tweets I read.  A friend of mine told me her twitter feed was stressing her out too much - I told her I must follow just the right people because it made the night so much more fun for me on Election Night.

What are you thankful for on this historic week in the US?