a thankful eve

I had a splendid Thanksgiving holiday which spread out over the course of the last two days. I am so thankful for so many things and wanted to end out this holiday with a time of reflecting on all that I am grateful for :)

I am thankful for God, for His mercy and goodness. And I am oh so grateful for His great love! Jesus thank you for laying Your life down for me and calling me Your friend <3 I am thankful for the Holy Spirit's guidance throughout each day, without it I wouldn't know what to do. I am thankful that God still guides me when I am tired and cranky, all I have to do is come humbly. Thank you Lord for always helping me to adjust my focus onto You and Your love.

I am thankful for my family! They are all so amazing, from my blood relatives to the large extended family God has placed me in I feel so blessed. I love you all!

I am thankful to see the Lord moving in my loved one's lives. Such a blessing to see the fruits of answered prayers.

I am thankful for my friends that I have had in the past and that are currently in my life now. All of their love has made such in impact in my life and helped shape who I am. I am grateful for fellowship and community, it is so fun to share the joys of life with friends!

I am thankful for adventures and opportunities to do fun things and experience the joy and blessing that life is.

I am thankful for the place that I am at in my life, this has been my best year yet and I am just so grateful for all that the Lord has done in my life and my heart to bring me to where I am at now.

I am thankful for the home that I live in, the Dandelion house is the best! I constantly come home and feel extremely grateful to have lived with and to live with such encouraging and amazing ladies. And not to mention it's a pretty cute place too!

I could go on but I think that is where I will stop for now. However here is some fun documentation from the last few weeks:

The Brussels I sauteed for Friendsgiving! This was a neat dish to make and I even went out of my usual realm of ingredients with some white wine, shallots and cream. If you want the recipe I would be more than happy to share! (Margarita shared it with me) :)


Some of the last remaining ladies @ the Third Annual Friendsgiving! Margarita was a amazing hostess and we had such a fun little time.


Last week Madison and I went hiking! It was such a beautiful day. This waterfall is in Auburn!




I went red after a 6 year hiatus. It has been fun to switch up my hair color and it was also fun that Katie did Rita and my hair at the same time :)





My Aunt Jacque is so cool and super talented in all things domestic. I am learning her ways!


I picked knitting up again! This is a scarf I am knitting for someone special for Christmas. (Don't want to give it away who!) It's such an enjoyable activity and great to do while visiting with others. The other night some buddies and I were at the house and we were being silly and talking for hours meanwhile I was still able to knit away. We even made a song to teach people how to knit haha! (I am no expert but if you need any pointers I would be delighted to show you how)



I had such lovely day yesterday visiting friends and family in Grass Valley. Adrienne aka Mom took me out to lunch and I couldn't resist getting a photo in front of this wall, I thought it was so cute!


There is so much beauty to be seen. Lord give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Most of all I pray for a heart to love and be thankful with.

Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, Rejoice!"

I have the remnants of a food coma (and a food baby haha!) and am off to bed soon.
Just for the record though I took a 2 hour nap after Thanksgiving dinner (lunch) today and it was glorious!

Here is a quote (modified slightly) that I found on Mars Hill's website last week that has stuck with me.



If you have never heard of Mark Driscoll (their senior pastor) or their church I highly recommend looking them up on Itunes for free podcasts, they have some awesome and straight up Biblical messages.

Bless you all! Goodnight :)

Yesterday was a great day..

..I awoke later than usual and although I typically don't care for sleeping in it did feel nice to wake up when my body decided to come to and not when my alarm (which is usually my roommate haha) was telling me to. I was rested and ready to see whatever the Lord had in mind for the day. I am in a unique season of life right now. I have never been more at rest (physically and also internally) and it's not that I have ceased all activity but I feel I have become more directed in what I do or don't do and now actually have days off, which I never really allowed for before. I feel like a real person haha :D So about yesterday, yesterday felt a little like Heaven on Earth. Between the time I spent in prayer, with some friends and time doing some of the things I enjoy, I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and blessing. That's all I wanted to share really.

Also a longtime dream has come true... After months of wait a drum set is now assembled in my bedroom, haha! I first desired to play the drums all the way back in the 6th grade, it was a short lived phase and at some point the desire faded away. (I took up the Clarinet instead, way less cool!) ;) Anyhow over this last summer out of nowhere the desire returned! I found myself listening intently to drumming in music that I would hear, trying to imitate the sounds with my imagination. It's really random but I am certainly excited to learn how to play! And I have not given up on my Ukulele playing either for those of you that may be wondering. I am continuing to practice that on the side as well :) (and actually have been improving some!)



some crafty items I doodled yesterday and today.




There is so much freedom in living simply.