Thankful

So I feel utterly behind the bandwagon in everything holiday related this year.  Not only is this typical Thanksgiving blog post about Thankfulness late, but instead of being excited as I looked at everyone else's apartment (because you can literally see into almost 25 apartments from our balcony) and seeing Christmas trees and lights up, I felt stressed.  Stressed to get our tree out of our storage in the basement, stressed about money and buying all our Christmas gifts, stressed about sending out Christmas cards, and stressed about all the things that needed to get done when you're gone for 5 days!  Isn't it odd how a couple days before Thanksgiving Christmas seems so far away, and then all of the sudden, BAM Thanksgiving comes and you feel like everyone is counting down the days?  Maybe its the commercials and concerts on t.v., or the decorations and cold weather, but my stress level increased just a little when we got home on Sunday.

Nonetheless, this year the Lord is definitely doing a work in my heart on being content, and I think a large part of contentedness is thankfulness.  I found this great quote by Melody Beattie (we're related lol) on this blog here:

How much do we measure gratitude by what others have and not by what we have?  I think that facebook has unlocked a whole new world of ungratefulness- at least for me.  In a given day, my thoughts go from "Wow their first home is huge- I don't know if we will ever own a home that nice" to "I wish we spent more money on engagement pictures, their pictures are SO great."  I know- aren't those SUCH superficial thoughts?  Well, those exact thoughts have crossed my mind on more than one occasion.  It seems pathetic when I write them down and confess them, but in the moment, I believe with all my heart that having that house or nice engagement pictures will make my life so much more complete than it is right now.  In this quote Melody hits it right on the nail when she says "gratefulness turns what we have into enough, and more ...  it brings peace for today..." 

 Paul advises Timothy that: ^"Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, ⁷for  we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." 1 Timothy 6:6-7

What if we viewed ourselves for how we really are: sinners deserving of nothing but hell.  How is that for a reality check?  We deserve nothing and don't even have the ability to do good outside of Christ.  But, God in His perfect love gives us all that we need: Christ.  Does he bless us with more sometimes?  Yes, but do we need those "extra blessings" to be content?  No.  I can't imagine the sadness it brings God when His children get more excited for His gifts and forget about Him. Our contentment and gratitude comes from the fact that we have a Savior who gives us eternal life and purpose in this life.  When I leave this world I won't be taking my house or engagement pictures.  Those things won't bring contentment then and they won't bring contentment now.   All that matters is Him.  How I pray I can believe that everyday and be thankful for what I do have without getting caught up in wanting things that don't satisfy anyway.

Worth checking out

I know on my last blog post I said Happy Thanksgiving, but I read a couple things early this morning that I want to share with you :)

First, check out this song.  As always - K Love is starting to over play it so jump on the band wagon lol

I read this great post about personal holiness this morning.  This past Sunday morning at 7a.m. Dan and I went to pray over the prayer requests at our church, and can I tell you how many people are just plain hurting?  Husbands have left wives, diseases are winning the battle, kids are making poor decisions, but mostly everyone wants a renewed heart for the Lord- to know Him deeper and come to a point where they desire nothing but Him.  This world is plagued with temptations that continually draw us to search for our purpose in things other than the Lord- Who ultimately is the only One who will satisfy our deepest desire.  We know it- yet we continue to run in the complete opposite direction.  I hope this encourages you a little today :)

On a complete opposite note, how cute is this party?

In light of the holidays coming up, I watched The Holiday this weekend while writing our return address on our Christmas Cards.  I remembered back in the day when I used to just wish that my Christmas would turn out exactly like that- ending up with the perfect guy, the perfect outfit, and perfectly happy.  Lina gives us a much more realistic picture of the holidays in her blog post.

Lastly, speaking of the holidays, I just can't get over this really great hairstyle.  Maybe it's the beautiful red hair, but it is just really classy :)

Happy Tuesday!

Office Space

When I changed positions to the Coordinator of Events and Guest Services at Trinity, I had to move out of my office because we hired Jordan, a new admissions counselor, in my place!  We have a large room in the back of the admissions department, so we set up my desk in the corner of that room.  Well, just this past week we sectioned off part of that room to be my own office, and they literally moved a door, tore down part of a wall, created two new walls, and painted my own office all in less than a week! It all happened so fast that it was hard for me to come to the reality that I would have my own office! I wish I took pictures before they put the dry wall in because before this experience I never knew how to build a wall.  Now I do! Not saying I could do it myself, but I get the gist of it :)  Here are some before and after pictures:




This is my office before in the corner of our "back room"

 


I can't really complain about my view, though!

 



The moving begins! Here is where my desk used to be!

 


This is the outside of my new office! You can see it's still under construction

 


This is the inside of my new office!

 



It's done!! 

 


Where I will spend a lot of my time

 



The view from my desk

 




I feel so blessed by my job:)

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Our Saturday

Random Thoughts of the Day

So I really love my co workers.  We have a ton of fun and I honestly couldn't imagine a better job or group of people to work with.  I will be very sad if/ when I get another job!  We take great trips together, always have each other's back, and we are constantly sending out emails that just crack me up.  Which leads me to today's blog post.  Ashley sent this around last week and there were a lot more random thoughts on there, but I consolidated to the ones I could relate to/ thought were the funniest.  Enjoy :)  Oh, and here's some pictures of my wonderful office mates :)

1. There is a great need for sarcasm font.

2. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

3. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

4. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

5. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

8. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent someone from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

9.  While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

10. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

15. While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

16. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

17. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

18. I wonder if cops ever get annoyed at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit?

Happy Thursday!

Murder Mystery!

So recently we have been invited to TWO murder mystery parties!  For those of you who have never been to one, what happens is everyone is assigned a character and they come to the party dressed up and acting as this person.  Each one is different- sometimes the murder is planned, other times it isn't.  Either way, it's always fun getting dressed up and watching people who are really good at acting (not myself) really get into their character! I forgot my camera to the other one :(  But my co worker put it on and it was set during the flapper era.  This recent one was about a bunch of people coming together for a costume party!  (hence the toga / crazy outfits lol)  Dan unfortunately was the guy that everyone hated (there seems to be a theme with his characters here . . . lol) but he definitely played the part well- being obnoxious and making fun of everyone!  In the end, Tony was the killer with the bread knife haha.  It was fun to get together and do something different than our usual hang out- and when there's Becca's guacamole there, I'm always happy :)  Here are some pictures from the night:

  

haha Mindy was not happy at Dan!

Loved Mindy's hair!

Dan was great at pretending to be "dead" lol

Group shot!

Good night :)

Then, on Sunday night Dan took me out for my B day :) Since we go out with our friends so much, it has been a while since Dan and I spent a night out at a nice restaurant together! It was tough deciding on where to go because there are SO many great restaurants around the area, but in the end I went with the Cheesecake Factory because of their Chipotle pasta.  It was definitely a great ending to our Sunday filled with reading and homework!!

Pymatuning 2010

So every year Dan's extended family gets together and we go to Pymatuning- a camp ground right on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania.  It's definitely a drive for us- and I ALWAYS have an event that Friday so I can't take off work or leave early, so it's quite the adventure driving 8 hours into the late hours of the night.  Thankfully, Dan drove the first 3 hours getting us out of the state of Illinois.  Chicago rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon is awful.  Just awful.  Then, I took over the wheel in South Bend, Indiana.  I should have taken the fact that there was a salt truck on the side of the road a few miles back as a warning, but I just brushed it off because it is the first week of November.  Snow?  Please.  By the time we had stopped at the next rest stop to get dinner, we were in a full out blizzard.  Huge snow flakes.  Icy, slippery conditions on the road.  25 miles per hour. New car that I'd never driven in the snow = not fun drive.  I probably only drove in it about 30 minutes and then it died down and thankfully in Ohio there was no snow, but it felt like FOREVER.  The sad thing about this was that I was actually looking forward to the first snow of the year!  Mainly because I thought it would consist of me waking up on a Saturday morning and peering out our apt window and joyfully watching the snow flakes softly falling to the ground.  God likes to make me laugh lol

Overall though, once we made it to Pymatuning around 2 a.m. we got some rest and had a good time hanging out with the family :)  Dan's cousin Bill, has two adorable kids that we always love seeing (Sara and Michael), and it was good to catch up with everyone else!  They are all SO fun to be around- there is seriously NEVER a dull moment during Pymatuning- even though we just sit around eating, watching football, and hanging out around the fire!  And, it is basically a tradition to take a walk to the lake, and this year Jeff decided to scare everyone by bringing out his creepy homeless mask.  He actually did a great job of wandering off into the woods and breaking a bottle to get everyone jumpy- and it worked.  Everyone started RUNNING full speed back to the cabins.  Not what he expected, but he had a good time running to catch everyone.  Always good times :)  Sad that Pymatuning 2010 is over, but already looking forward to next year!

Jeff in his creepy mask!!

The Cinadr family :)  So sad that Dan's dad couldn't make it!

First time seeing Sara.  Beth and I were all over that.  She's super cute :)

Pretty woods!

They surprised me and celebrated my B day!  So sweet!

Michael LOVED those cupcakes!

Real Simple

For a while now I have had this "editor's note" from Real Simple ripped out and stuck in my pink organizer and have been really wanting to share it with you!  I rarely read the editor's notes in any magazine, but for some reason the word "to do list" caught my eye in this past November's issue.  The editor, Kristin, discusses how around the holidays our to-do list gets bigger and bigger and we find ourselves creating more and more lists because it keeps us organized and makes us feel in control, which isn't at all what life is all about, but it can feel like it holds much greater meaning this time of year!

She makes the recommendation of adding to our to do list something to help someone rather than something we do (buy this, clean that)- yet while she says to do it so someone will thank you, I couldn't help but think how God in His Word has set a much bigger standard- to do something for others without expecting a "thank you," and He calls us to do it not just around the holidays but every day. This may seem difficult, but it shouldn't be, because He has given me SO much already- unconditional love, grace, eternal salvation, acceptance no matter what, a relationship with Him, and so much more. 

If you've read any part of this blog before you would know that I am a list person.  I love to be organized because then I feel like my life is in control (pretty superficial right?).  Needless to say, I have embraced the fact that the Lord has given me this strength for a reason and He can use it to bring Him glory.  At work we just went over our Strengths Finder again and in my top 5 is Discipline which means I like to make lists, keep things organized, and I have a particular way of doing things.  While I know people can take this to the extreme- I try not to because very easily my life can be about lists.  But, what the Lord has shown me is that I can still make lists and organize my life but I need to make sure I remember that my Master is not my list, it's God.  I have a tendency to get so caught up in my list that I don't leave time for God to move unexpectedly in my life and perhaps even add something to my list that wasn't originally there (gasp!).

So, my prayer for myself (and you too if you can relate :)  is that my lists this holiday wouldn't be all about myself and what I need to get done, but filled with things I can do for other people and ways I can serve and glorify God.

Have a great Friday!!

Halloween and other adventures

So the busy season kicks into full gear!  Dan and I find ourselves amidst traveling, birthdays, midterms, working late, and prepping for Christmas.  It's all fun and thankfully hasn't gotten to the point of "overwhelming" yet which I am very thankful for because it allows us to actually enjoy the busyness!

For Halloween, we weren't invited to any cool parties, and since we live in an apartment building we don't get any trick or treaters, so we walk around downtown Arlington Heights where the stores pass out candy to kids.  Seriously, this is the one day I find myself really wanting a baby because I really want to dress them up in a cute little pumpkin outfit lol  Here are some pictures of downtown Arlington Heights and some kids- and yes I did take pictures of other people's children.

Our friend Brian works in downtown A heights so we tapped on the window :)

I made Dan pose with this guy

Best costume award goes to this kid dressed as the guy from "Up"

Cutest costume goes to this little tiger- he was adorable

So on November 7th Doug and I turned 25!  Birthdays are fun for me because it reminds me that I'm a twin - it doesn't mean I forget about him (Don't worry Doug :) )  But, because my other brother is so close in age to us I don't really think of myself as a twin- even though I think about Doug often :)  It's always fun when we're all three the same age, and while I know it made our younger years stressful for my mom, I really enjoyed having siblings so close in age.  I got to see my brothers walking through the hallways in high school, be on the track team with them and cheer them on, and just do life together.  While I don't think I would ever want kids those close together, I'm thankful that it turned out that way with us :)  Oh, and my grandpa shares the same birthday with us as well!  So Happy Birthday to Pap, too!

Also, our friends celebrated my birthday by making/ buying me my favorite foods!  It was so sweet of them :)  We almost watched Man on Fire (one of my favorites for those of you that don't know!) but I decided to spare them the 2 hours with Denzel since most of them had seen the movie lol  Here are some pictures from the night!!

mmmm Guacamole (left the dusk mode on when I took this picture.. that's why it's yellow!)

BWW!

mmm Candy Apple from Marianos

Amazing ice cream dessert Rachael made!

Birthday gifts!!

One thing that Dan and I have had to get used to since we got married is the way we get each other gifts.  In my family, you create a list, give it to our parents/ siblings, and they go out and pretty much get exactly what is on your list, or they pick something from your list.  It even got to the point where my brothers would go out and buy what they wanted, then give it to my mom to wrap on Christmas.  Call it lame or whatever else you want, but I liked it lol It meant that you got what you wanted, and it made it easy on the person getting the gift so they don't have to stress out about picking out the right thing, and then feeling bad if we don't like it.

Now, Dan's family does things differently.  There are no lists involved, just love and sentiment.  I'm sure that's how it's supposed to be, but it makes buying gifts very difficult!  There is actually thought involved! lol

So, naturally for my birthday I sent Dan an email with some links to some things I would like for my Birthday, and I am VERY happy with the results :)  I asked him to get me a camera bag- but not just any camera bag- a cute camera bag.  I find myself wanting to bring our camera with me more places, but it's bigger and hard to fit in my purse and I'm worried it will move around too much.  So I searched amazon and found this super cute bag that not only holds the camera, but my wallet, phone, and lip gloss!!  Dan did have to do some research on the color and finding one that would hold our exact camera, and he did a wonderful job.  I love it, and am excited to use it!!

The camera sits on the left, and on the right there is a spot for the extra lens!

This could mean I post more pictures to the blog!  Get excited :)

Humor and Birthdays

Today I wish my younger brother a VERY happy 24th birthday!!  For the next 5 days Doug, Jon, and I are the same age- making us Chinese Triplets.  I think it's cool, so I thought I'd share it with you :)

Annnddd I found this video really funny- I hope you enjoy it!!