So Much To Be Thankful For

Well, folks, my 30-day, letter-writing challenge is done! And honestly, I don't think I'm done yet. There are so many people that I'd like to write to let the know that I appreciate them. November has been a great month. Because of this challenge, I am now more aware of the things and people that I am thankful for and why.

I am super thankful for my dear family - both my "blood" family and those who aren't blood, but should be. I can't wait to see my blood family at Christmas and yet sad not to be with my Canyon family.

I have seriously loved this challenge and would recommend sitting down and writing a letter a day for a month to anyone who is lacking joy - or really to anyone really. This challenge seriously has increased my joy. To sit down and write to those who I am thankful for has been simply amazing. I have more joy in my life than I ever have.

So thanks to all of you in my life - y'all are great.

WHOOOOAH WE'RE HALF WAY THERE

WHOOOOOOOAH! WE'RE HALF WAY THERE! WHOO-OOAH! LIVIN' ON A PRAYER! TAKE MY HAND AND WE'LL MAKE IT, I SWEAR! WHOA, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER!

Okay, I promise this post won't contain any more awesome Bon Jovi lyrics. Well, I can't promise that, but I can promise that Bon Jovi and Livin' On A Prayer aren't the reason for this post - I just really like Bon Jovi and Livin' On A Prayer.

I am, however, halfway done with my letter writing challenge. I am kind of surprised at the eclectic group of people that I am thankful for - the ones that I have written. I have family members, co-workers, childhood friends, friends from my SharpTop days in which I have all written letters. These people are some of my dearest and most cherished people in my life. There have been times that I have had a hard time finding strong enough words to share just how thankful I really feel.

A few days ago, I was talking with some dear friends of mine and one of them asked me how to find joy again. Nothing terribly bad was happening in this friend's life, just lacking joy and complaining often. So we spent some time talking about joy and what that looks like and where we often look for joy. Then this question was raised: Are we seeking the Lord for true joy? Which made all of us pause and think for a moment. This friend asked me when I think of joy, what do I think about, do I think I have it, and how do I suggest obtaining pure joy.

I encouraged said friend to start writing letters everyday. I said, which is totally true, the one of the biggest blessings about writing these letters of thanksgiving to dear friends around the country, well world, and I realize how thankful I am for them, my joy has increased.

After I came home that night and got in bed, I thought that writing letters simply wasn't enough. So the next day, I opened my Bible to see what it said about joy and found tons of verses and passages. I sat down with a pen and paper and wrote down the verses and passages and my thoughts on each. Then emailed my friends. As I was finishing my email to them, I came to realize that I was looking to encourage them, but I also found said task a blessing - learning a ton about what the Lord has in store and the blessings He has for us.

I find it cool how the Lord chooses to teach and bless us. Here's to another 15 days of letter writing - which by the way, my friend started writing letters too! It's kinda fun!

The Being Thankful Challenge

Well I'm officially a 1/3 of the way through my 30-day being thankful, hand-writing-letter, challenge. And I'm loving the challenge! It is a challenge. The simple act of sitting down and writing a letter everyday is hard - it's a new discipline that I'm creating.

In some ways it has been easier and more fun that I thought it would be. I have yet to have no one to write a letter to. I have so many people that I love a lot who I am so thankful for. The hard part is choosing who to write to each day - the list is long. Some days I wish I could write a letter to somebody I've already written a letter to - I'm just that thankful for them.

I'm having fun writing to the people I love and so thankful for and telling them how much I love them and how thankful I am for their friendship in my lives. I'm realizing more and more how blessed I am by the people in my life. The Lord has definitely blessed me by these dear friends.

I totally recommend doing this challenge to anyone who is thinking about it - or even if you're not thinking about it, you should do it. I think it's been more of a blessing to me to write these letters than to those who receive them - I'm learning how much I am loved.

Crazy Week

So this week has been anything but average. The longer I live out here, the more I become adjusted to rural life. Being a city girl, I have had to learn what it's like to drive long distances for things that, I would consider, to be things of convenience - such as grocery stores and movie theaters. Getting use to the simple life. Getting use to nature vs. buildings - such as tumble weed blowing in the wind past my window and seeing cow, deer, antelope, and other such animals on my property or drive to town (yes, that does include elk and yes, I was blind that morning).

I have really attempted to soak up all that is peculiar to me - all that wasn't in my everyday life before I moved here. One such thing is shooting guns. I had never shot a gun in my life until Monday morning. My dear friend, Kory - his wife, Sara, was in my blog two posts ago, took me and his two younger children to the shooting range that morning where I shot a gun for the very first time - and LOVED it! Here are some pictures:

First time with a gun in my hands - a little weird at first.

I got pretty good, atleast for a first timer.

Please take a look at little Brody in the background - isn't he the cutest?

Kory teaching his daughter, Bailey, a thing or two.

Love this picture.

Love the Brodes. The flaps are still covering the binoculars so he can't see a thing

It was Brody's first time too. His arm was fully extended and he couldn't reach the trigger. Seriously though, so stinkin' cute!

Well my adventurous Monday didn't end with a trip to the shooting range. I somehow managed to get my hand slammed into a sliding van door. Yeah that was fun. Kory is also an emt so I took myself and my busted pinky finger up to the Brown's house to be looked at. All is well except for the swelling and discoloration. And the pain, of course. I'm thankful that my friend and neighbor is an emt and was willing and able to help me. Kory wrapped up my hand with an ice pack in it so I could attempt to still work. Here's the evidence:

Four days later, my hand is still a bother, but it is much better than it was - thanks to ice and ibuprofen and tylenol. You never really know how much you use your pinky until it's busted. Thankfully it's healing well.

So here's to trying new things and hopefully not hurting myself in the future.

Being Thankful

I'm a complainer. Like a big one. I complain a lot and most of the time I don't even know it. I even found myself complaining tonight as I was playing the card game Hand and Foot with my friends Jimmy and Karen (yes my finger really does hurt, but still, I don't have to complain. More on that subject later.)

Which reminded me of my dear friend Amanda Shaffer. The other day she blogged about her 30-day challenge for the month of November. Every day for 30 days she is going to sit down and write a hand written note to somebody that she is thankful for. Because isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about (even though we all think about the food and stuff). So I have totally stolen Amanda's idea. Here are the rules Amanda set up for herself - which I totally just copied and pasted straight from her blog (sorry for being so unoriginal Amanda)

#1 - Every day sit down to write a note to someone I am thankful for. (It must be HANDWRITTEN -- an email is great. A Facebook post in nice. But a handwritten note? It shows them that I thought about them for longer than the three minutes it would take to type something meaningul because I can type like a madwoman.)

#2 - It must be sent within 3 days (through the mail or hand-delivered.)

#3 - The note must be plain and simple - no frills or fancy cards or anything like that --- I want the message to be 'I appreciate you' not 'oooo.... look at the adorably good taste I have in cards! (even though I do find the cutest cards) It's just a little note to say why I am thankful...

#4 - It can be to anyone that I am thankful for -- a family member, a friend, a neighbor, the nice lady that sent my fax through, my realtor, the mailman, my doctor, the library ladies... it may be a good idea to carry blank note cards with me in case I get inspired to write something... point is - if someone has done something that I am truly thankful for, they get a thank you.

#5 - This is NOT about being a butt-kisser or a toot-my-own-horn-er.... it's about taking time to remember those who have been in my life and who are in my life.

So so-far I have kept up with it. Yesterday I wrote a letter to my dear, sweet Oregon family, Kory and Sara, and hand-delivered it. And today I almost didn't do it. I was going to write a letter after we played some games, but Jimmy and Karen didn't leave until 12:45 am (I still count this as November 2nd since I haven't gone to bed yet) and all I wanted to do was go to bed, BUT I saw the stationary and pen sitting on the table so I sat down and wrote my friend Lindsay a letter. I will deliver it tomorrow when I head into camp.

Feel free to ask me how I'm doing with this later as the month goes on. I want to start strong and end strong. Thanks Amanda for the encouragement.