quote of the day

auggie singing "go tell it on the mountain", originally uploaded by goldiestereo.

"i've discovered the secret of long term happiness and it is being intensely and sincerely grateful for what you have right now and not looking towards the future to fill any void."

i read that on my friend jenny's blog today and it hit me so hard. i truly believe being thankful is one of the best non medical cures for depression there is. this quote sort of paraphrases philippians 4:11-12.

this photo was taken friday night at some of best friend's annual christmas party, the baxters. they have it every year and it's become such a fun thing to look forward to every year. the food is amazing and they always have some sort of interactive game involving music like rock band or guitar hero....this year it was karoake.



nathan and austin pretty much killed it doing bon jovi "living on a prayer" and auggie (pictured above) brought down this house with his acappella "go tell it on the mountain".

these are good days. i have so much to be thankful for. i spend way too much time worrying about other people's opinions, how we're going to get from point a to b, what the future holds, how i look, where i live and on and on and on. i need to let gratefulness and thankfulness take over my thoughts, saturate my conversations and keep me in line.

so here's a little tiny list of things i'm thankful for right this second:

being happily married to the love of my life
family that loves me unconditionally
a warm, safe place to live
car that doesn't break down constantly
good job
church and our community
friends who love unconditionally
cable tv or specifically hgtv and the food network
christmas almost being here ....and...
2 weeks vacation for christmas!!!
all the wonderful joys of the holiday season
Jesus
the ability to buy gifts for the people we love
getting to enjoy our friends kids
taking pictures


that's just a little, little bit of the big picture....what are you thankful for today?

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

cranberry relish ingredients, originally uploaded by goldiestereo.

It's that time of year again......that I love and look forward to so much every year. Time to go Christmas shopping and whisper secrets about gift giving plans.....time to give something extra to someone that can use a helping hand.....time to celebrate with friends and family....time for nostalgia.....time for scents and sounds that bring back memories of lovely days......time to celebrate the love that came down at Christmas, our saviour Jesus Christ. We had our first big snowfall yesterday and it's helping put me in the mood. I love this time of year. When I drive I only want to listen to Christmas music. I'm really only interested in seeing Christmas movies and we sleep to the light of Christmas lights every night. Hope you are all enjoying this time of year too...