30 Days of Thanks

I have been loving all the "thankful" Facebook posts I have been seeing from my friends. I didn't think I would stick with it for 30 days, so I decided to put all my 30, in one post. I know I might be the only one to read through all of this, but I think it's important to make my thanks known to the One who pours them out. Here it goes...

1. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him, the rest is meaningless. He saved me from my sin and delights in me. I don't deserve Him (or anything) but He continues to be faithful and pour out the richest blessings. The kind of blessings money can't buy and "the world" doesn't understand. I am forever grateful and owe my life to him.

2. My husband. I love him with all my heart. Every year truly gets better- and I'm not just saying it. He loves me. I love him. It is a beautiful thing, orchestrated by God alone. 

3. My son. I always knew I wanted to be a mommy. I had no idea how wonderful it really would be. He melts my heart when he smiles at me and when he says ma-ma (which he did for the first time yesterday). He has helps me realize just how selfish I am. When he's asleep I want to go in and pick him up just so we can snuggle. He is one of my favorite blessings from God.

4. My parents- they really are 2 of my best friends. I love them. I am thankful for the way they raised me. I would rather spend time with them than do most anything else. 

5. The brothers- all 4 of them. They are all different and I love them for it. They all relate to me differently and I love that too. When I was younger I wondered if we would all survive living with each other. Now, I can't imagine what life would have been like without them. Again, some of my very best friends.

6. The in-laws- both the ones my brothers married (my first real sisters) and the ones I married into. In-laws are somewhat odd at first (suddenly they are there at every family gathering) and then you wonder how they were ever not a part of your family. I really truly love them all. 

7. Nieces and Nephews- I love my role as Aunt Cindy. And now that I have my own, I feel like I don't spend as much time as Aunt Cindy. But I have no less love for these precious little ones. 5 nephews 3 nieces. Love them much.

8. Sabetha, KS- Small town. 13 years of school. 20 years of residence. My favorite place to be. 

9. Growing up around my extended family. I grew up 2 blocks from my Grandma and 7 miles from my other grandparents. All of my aunts, uncles and cousins were within 30 minutes (most closer than that) of each other. I'm sure that my childhood memories are a little more "Mayberry" than it really was, but I think most of it was actually that great. I really love(d) my grandparents and I know that it is a blessing from God that I was able to grow up this way.

10. Being able to stay at home with Eli. 

11. Old friends- the ones that know me because they knew me from the beginning. These are sweet friendship that have long dry spells (because of distance mainly) but when the rainy seasons come, they are sweet.

12. Music- it is good for my soul. I am thankful for this way I can praise God. 

13. Tahlequah, OK- Never did I ever think I would be thankful for this place when we moved there. Boy, was I wrong! God knew what he was doing when he placed us in Oklahoma for 4 years. We went through some of the toughest times we've seen so far, but some of the greatest too. It is so great to look back and see how God provided. We grew spiritually and as a couple. The friends we have from this time are the kind that know us really well. They don't know just Brent or just Cindy- they know us as a couple. We consider them family.

14. Athletics- played such a significant role in my growing up years and taught me many things that I could't get anywhere else. Basketball is my favorite and I will always love it. I love competition.

15. A Home

16. Photos- I love remembering good times. I'm glad we have digital cameras to capture the moments. 

17. Newscasters/Sportscasters- this is kind of a silly one but I really like these people and their abilities to pass on information: Brian Williams, Bob Costas, Chris Collinsworth, Savannah Guthrie, Al Michaels, Gus Johnson- I could go on.

18. Vehicles- they aren't pretty or fancy but they have been faithful.

19. College friends- always a good time and a good laugh. Some of my favorite memories. Love these friends. 

20. Evenings in- I love not having to be anywhere and just relaxing. 

21. Cell phones- convenience, connection, handy.

22. The seasons- although they seem to be not-so-defined, I like a change of pace, temperature, and landscape.

23. Crafting and being creative

24. New recipes

25. Our church family

26. TV- I know most of it is trash, but I really enjoy watching it!

27. KU basketball- currently watching

28. My grandmas- they were/are about as opposite as two people can be. One tall, one short, one outgoing, one shy- but they both played a significant role in my life. I am the woman I am today in large part to them.

29. Tabor College- played the biggest role in Brent and I getting married. Without it, we wouldn't have met. Loved my 2 years there. 

30. The many teachers/coaches that invested in my life. I truly had some of the best teachers a person could have. I could start listing them, but it would take a long time. 

I AM BLESSED FAR BEYOND WHAT I DESERVE. Thank you, Lord! 

11 months

My baby is 11 months old and is approaching 1 year a little quicker than I would like to admit. He is such a great boy. It is fun to see his little personality develop. 

Eli hasn't too many traditional "firsts" this month, but he is doing more and maturing everyday. 

In the last month Eli...

-had his first Halloween- he was a cute little lion.

-is weaned- mommy just decided it was time. He has taken to formula very well.

-started doing the "SO BIG" when asked "How big is Eli?" 

-crawls correctly all the time.

-learned how to climb stairs :S

-still hasn't shown much interest in walking. He cruises and will occasionally let go, but hits the floor pretty quickly after.

-still does his fake cough. We ask him "Does Eli have a big cough?" and he proceeds to cough.

-started roaring when we do it to him.

-eating more table food. 

Eli likes...baths, reading "I Love You Through and Through" among other books, listening to mommy sing, playing the piano, doing "so big", climbing stairs, "helping" mom unload the dishwasher, getting in the fridge every time it is opened, playing with doorstops- you know the ones that make noise, going on walks or just being outside, ripping/crinkling paper, cheerios, eating cheerios off the floor, getting into the trash can, cups, paci/bunny/taggie at bedtime, pushing all the dvds over and just being a little explorer. 

Love this boy!!!

SO BIG!!!

Roar!!!

Look at those baby blues.

Tasting some grass. 

Eli was really cooperative after his nap today and showed most of his tricks. He growls, does his tongue trick, does "so big" and shows his big coughs. Enjoy!

Favorite Pinterest Recipes (Part I)

If you're like me you have fallen on and off the bandwagon that is known as "Pinterest". I go through phases where I love it and then some when I don't look at it for weeks. Recently I did some "Pinterest" spring cleaning and organizing and thought I would share a few of the recipes that Brent and I have both liked from the site. 

Chicken Makhani- yummy. When Brent and I visited his brother in Colorado, we went to an Indian restaurant and I had this dish and wanted to eat it when we got back. So I pinterest-ed the recipe and found this and it was so good. It's spicy so if you don't like spice, maybe don't have this. We had it with jasmine rice. If you haven't discovered jasmine rice yet, try it. It is so fantastic, it will change your life. Okay, that's a little extreme but it really is so much better than regular white rice.

Recipe HERE

Crunchy Frostbite Cookie- in my opinion is the best cookie ever. It is the perfect combination of a soft cookie, crunchy corn flake pieces, white chocolate, and overall yumminess. They are a little time consuming, but worth the end result. 

Recipe HERE

Copycat Applebee's Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip. Need I say more? This was a delicious dish that was very little work. I mixed all the ingredients in the dish that I baked it in- I love that. It tastes just like Applebee's- I baked it a little longer than it called for but other than that I did everything just as it suggested. The only negative is that the ingredients are a bit pricey- so this dish is probably just for special occasions. Don't tell Brent that there is 4oz of cream cheese in this recipe. He hates cream cheese (and mayo, sour cream, cottage cheese- I know, I know), and he didn't say anything about it being in this dish so it went undetected. A small victory in my book.

Recipe HERE

Colorado

On October 20th, our family of 3 flew to Colorado to visit Uncle Eric and Aunt Megan. When we sat down and looked at the reality of going to Colorado- we decided it would be more economical for us to fly- I know it sounds weird but it worked. So after much planning to pack for a 10 month old, we were off. 

Waiting in the airport with Dad.

In the airplane. This is the last picture of bunny. Mommy might have taken it a little harder than Eli, but no worries Aunt Erin has already made a replacement- she's great. 

We got there of Saturday and ate at an Indian restaurant- it was delicious. On Sunday we went to church at Garden Park MB in Denver and then went to Red Rock Ampitheatre outside of Golden. 

Ampitheatre- people were running the stairs. Apparently if you run all the way across each level  from the top to the bottom it's 5 miles. We didn't try it.

Eric & Megan

Our fam

Megan's an avid rock climber...or something.

Monday our family plus Jeff (our college friend) went on the Coors brewery tour. Coors is located in Golden (where Eric works) and from what we could tell pretty much is the life blood of the area. The tour was interesting.

In the brewery.

Eli was captivated by the process...

And then we went to an antique store and Jeff picked up this dandy...

That evening everyone but Eli and I went over to the Hiebert's house for pizza- Eli was a little sickly and they had a brand new baby. 

Tuesday morning we had breakfast with Eric and Megan before going to the airport.

Uncle Eric, Aunt Megan and Eli

We had a great time and look forward to the next Colorado trip.

Latest Project

This is one of my latest projects. I like to craft and since I was pregnant with Eli, I have been into making canvases- mainly for kids rooms but this one has been in my head for awhile. Now I finally have it on canvas. It is located above our couch. I have been wanted a world map there for the longest time, but since those are expensive (at least to frame) I thought this could be a temporary hold. I think it may stay awhile. 

I'm a Lion Hear Me Roar!

Eli and his church friend, Averett. 

Not too happy at this point.