more to be thankful for

day 19
Music!  I've been singing and performing since I was small.  I was blessed with a decent voice and parents who encouraged me to follow my dreams and passions.  I haven't done much singing lately but I'm still just as thankful for music.  I love singing in my house, dancing to it in the morning, west coast swing-ing to it and just listing to it.  It's another of the simple pleasures in my life and I'm oh so thankful I can enjoy it.

day 20
Flowers.  Sunflowers, gerbera daisies, smell-good flowers, pretty pink flowers; I love them all [except roses].  When my friend and I went to the pumpkin patch I got to take some sunflowers home from the sunflower labyrinth, when those died I got some more to keep the flower happiness in my house.  At Andrew and Emily's wedding I caught the bouquet; well really, it came straight to me which was weird, but I got some great flowers out of the deal.  I really am so thankful for flowers.

day 21
JetBlue.  I really am thankful for the airline that gets me home for the holidays and whenever else I need/want to be home.  With exception of a few delays the past years they've done an amazing job of being warm and welcoming and on time.

day 22
I'm thankful for dancing!  When I moved to Chico I started getting involved in the dance world.  Chico has an amazing dance community with so many fun themed dances and great friends.  Dancing has brought so much to my life since 2008 and I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn as well as the wonderful additions it's brought to my life (in terms of music and friends).  So thankful!

day 23
On the coat-tails of a wine night with friends for Brent's birthday, I am thankful for wine.  It must be said as well then, that I'm thankful for wine with other people.  Good wine and cheese and dark chocolate.  It's the simple things, right?

Thankful catch-up...

I've been slacking a bit on my 30 thankful posts so I think today, on Thanksgiving, while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade I will do a fast update of the days I've missed 

I'm thankful for:

day 14

Long talks with good friends.  Some of the best nights are so simple.  Sitting and chatting over tea or coffee and just sharing life.  Not much is better.  

day 15 

Photography.  It's a gift my parents gave me; their love of photography and cameras.  In high school I got to use their Canon AE-1 and I learned to process my own film and develop my own pictures.  Over the years I've thoroughly enjoyed exploring with my Rebel in hand and capturing some beautiful pictures of the people and places I love.  I'm thankful for a talent and passion I will be able to use for years and years to come.  

day 16

My mama!  We have our differences, there's been a lot of times we haven't even been friends but I know that my mom always loves me.  She is a strong, amazing woman who has taught me so much about work ethic and staying true to God.  I've learned about bargain shopping and sewing and on some occasions even how to not take myself too seriously. 

 She really is one of a kind and I'm so blessed and thankful she's mine.  

day 17

My dad!  Even more so than with my mom, my dad and I have had our definite ups and downs.  We're starting our relationship over and learning more about each other and for the first time in a long time; actually getting along.  He really is an amazing man who loves our family a lot.  He works hard and is becoming such an amazing man of God and spiritual leader in our family.  God's been doing some crazy miracles in our family and for that I'm thankful for God's miracles and for the dad that has come from those miracles.  

day 18

My bubba!  My little brother Ian came into our lives when I was 6 years old.  I haven't always been so thankful for him but as we've gotten older I am so thankful for someone to talk to at times and a friend to laugh with when I'm home.  He's 19 and still too cool for me sometimes but he really is an amazing kid and I know he's going to do big things with his life.  We may not look much alike but if you were around us our sense of humor and laughs are dead giveaways that we belong together.  I'm so thankful for who he is.  

Sunrise...sunset...

Newport Beach sunrise 2010

I've been seeing more of sunrises and sunsets these days.  I get to drive south to Oroville every week day and get to enjoy the beauty of the morning and the tail end of the sunrise and it never ceases to bless me.  I love seasonal shifts and really like that each day is met with a sign of newness and each day closes with beauty.  I've been working on finding joy in the simple things in life; the sunrise and sunset are proof that God is good and He has good things for me.  

Butte County sunset 2010

I'm thankful for...

My hair!  and the wonderful woman who helps it look amazing...


The wonderful woman who I trust with my hair. She works at an Aveda salon in Chico and she is amazing!  My hair and I have always had a great relationship, I've loved changing it: light, dark, short, longer, straight, permed, even bald for a short time.  I had an amazing girl who did it in So Cal so when I moved it was hard to think of "cheating" and getting it done somewhere else.  About a year ago I went to Giada and met Anna.  We discovered that we both moved to Chico in 2008 from the same general area in Southern California, I even know her nephews from one of my jobs in the school district.  I love everything she's done with my hair.  In the past year I've had blonde hair and now dark hair and she's talked me into bangs and out of shaving it again.  I know it's another something kind of silly and superficial but I'm so blessed with good hair and a fantastic woman who helps it stay looking good.

wishes...

11/11/11...and I'm thankful for...STARS


If you really knew me, you'd know how much I love stars!  My favorite verse of all times is Psalms 147:3-5 which says "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, He numbers the stars and calls each by name.  Great is our Lord and mighty in power, His understanding has no limits."  Stars remind me how much my Papa loves me and how much I really matter even if I feel really, really small sometimes.  Rosie and have gone out to the observatory a few times and just like the beach, there's not much more relaxing to me than sitting staring up at the stars.  I have them tattooed on my back as a reminder of how much I'm loved.  

the beach...

Thankful day 10...
Being a So Cal kid I've been around the beach my whole life. Since moving to Chico I've realized how much i have always taken the beach for granted.  One of my "must do" activities when I come home for the holidays is a trip to the beach, whether with friends or with family.  I meet with God at the beach and love just spending time taking in the peace and power that is the ocean.
The beach, babies, and the stars are three things I love and can't understand how anyone could see them and not believe in God.  Living hours away may be giving me fantasy memories of my times with my toes in the sand but I'm fairly certain this CA girl will always be way more of a beach bum more than a nor cal girl no matter where in the state I reside.

DAY 9

i love tea!!
i wrote my ode to coffee a few days into this act of thankfulness so it's only fair to declare my love for tea as well.  My friend and I have began a tradition of going to Naked Lounge in downtown Chico and getting their freesias garden tea...so good!  Tea is good any day, any time; coffee has my heart but tea is a close second.

I'm thankful for...day 8

boots

I love my wide-calf brown Naturalizer boots.  They were a birthday/Christmas gift last year and I'll be honest, I was quite timid to begin wearing them.  I stayed pretty safe; wearing them with jeans (tucked in, or not) and really wanted to wear them with skirts.  This year, I've worn them at least once a week.  Still with jeans and sweaters, super cute.  I've also begun to venture into the realm of leggings and boots with a tunic top or boots with skirts and dresses. I'm loving experimenting with them and finding fun ways to integrate them into my fall wardrobe.  On my list for black friday may have to be another pair of boots; maybe black this time.  

day 7

In this cooler season with all that fall and harvest and burn piles bring I am so so so thankful for my sinus rinse.  

A bit gross, I know, but this little lovely system makes my life so much better.  I grew up with my mom having crazy chronic sinus infections and constantly "irrigating" her sinuses (which I thought was the craziest thing on the planet).  

As I've gotten older I totally understand why she did it.  Along with this, I'm thankful for a health-savvy mom who did enough crazy, outlandish things that It makes decisions like a neti pot seem not so weird and even quite life-saving.  

thankful day 6

My church family!!


I love my church and the people there who love me.  I came to Chico August 2008 not knowing anyone; by Thanksgiving that year I had begun to be plugged into a college group and being surrounded by families who love well.  I'm constantly blessed by the people at church who love me!

day 5

PUMPKINS!!


I love everything pumpkin.  I currently have glittered pumpkins outside my house, i love the flavor of pumpkin in coffee.  They're a fabulous shade of orange.  It goes so well with cinnamon.  I could go on and on...but the long and the short of it is i absolutely adore all things pumpkin.  It makes me think of fall <3

day 4...

ChapStick!!!

i borrowed a friends chapstick the other day and was reminded how much i love the good old basic brand with spf 4.  It's the simple things, right?

What are the simple things you love?

day 3...

I'm thankful for...Flick!

  My little blue fit that gets me everywhere I need to go! 4 years ago buying this car was the best decision ever, now that I'm living in Chico and commuting to work every day I'm even more thankful...I'm so blessed to have this little beauty to get me from point A to point B.

day 2

COFFEE!

I'm thankful for coffee for many reasons.  I like hot coffee on a cold morning, meeting with friends and having long chats over strong coffee.  I like that it brings people together, and lets be honest; that more often than not it fuels my day.  

I promise that not all of my posts will be superficial like coffee...

so thankful...

My lovely, fantastic friend Morgan is doing 30 days of Thankfulness (or something like that) and I'm a copy cat so...I'm going to be posting during the month of November all of the things I'm thankful for.  I'm so blessed and am excited to share the blessings and pay attention to all of the ways I'm loved.  

Day 1

I'm thankful for my friends!  They are such an amazing support system and I feel overly blessed sometime to know that they're mine.  Whether for a season or a lifetime I know there's a reason they are all in my life and I can't wait to see what God has planned for all of us!