give thanks.

i'm so blessed.  so so so blessed.  i have so much to be thankful for, it's ridiculous.  as i sit here and think of all the "things" i'm thankful for, i'm reminded of a song i sang in Sunday School growing up.  here are a few of the lyrics:

I will enter His gates with THANKSGIVING in my heart,

I will enter His courts with praise.

I will say this is the day that the Lord has made,

I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

He has made me glad, He has made me glad.

I will rejoice for He has made me glad!

what a wonderful, yet simple, reminder.  how about a couple verses which remind us to be THANKFUL:

GIVE THANKS to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.

Psalm 136:1

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, GIVING THANKS to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us BE THANKFUL, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.

Hebrews 12:28

Enter His gates with THANKSGIVING and His courts with praise, GIVE THANKS to him and praise His name.

Psalm 100:4

i could go on and on and list a hundred more things i'm thankful for but i'll spare you the details and only list a few....

• i'm thankful for my salvation.
• my hilarious, caring, loving, devoted, faithful husband.
• i'm blessed to have such fabulous family members, both immediate and in-law.
• my material posessions such as food, a warm house, a comfortable bed, clothes to wear, etc.
• i'm thankful for my job in this not-so-wonderful economy.
• i'm blessed to have been raised in a Christian home and having been introduced to Christ.  i'm thankful to have been taught the importance of doing what's right and having morals.
• my loyal friendships.
• i'm thankful to live in a country where i'm free to worship.
• my wonderful church family and lifegroup.
• i'm thankful for the friendship i've developed with my parents as i've entered adulthood, and also for the friendships i have in my siblings. 

THANK YOU Lord for my blessings, both material and intangible.  i am so GRATEFUL.

* side note, i'm pretty excited to host Chris' family for thanksgiving and cook the traditional feast!  i'm also pretty excited to try my new 'Champagne Turkey' recipe!  wish me luck!  i'll post the recipe if it turns out a success! 

makes perfect sense...

bible.

may 22, 2011

that's the date of my husband's 30th birthday.  a little behind in posting his party pics, wouldn't ya say?  i totally spaced and can't move on with my celebration of fall and obsession with the colorful trees without posting the details of the surprise party.....so here goes:

on friday, may 20th, chris was under the impression that one of his best friends, chad, and his wife sarah were coming into town to spend the weekend and help celebrate him becoming an old man. :) (i can say that because i'm still in my 20's).  this is partially true, but they were also coming in for the party.  when they arrived, i had one job for chad: to keep chris out of my sight for the afternoon!  i really needed chris out of the house as i had to prepare for the party by setting up tables in our garage, prepare food, run errands, etc. and of course it was raining so chad's plan to take him golfing was scratched.  not my problem.  i put chad in charge so he was left to figure it out! hehe.

meanwhile, sarah and i ran around town with our hair on fire!  picking up cake, the fire pit, the fire wood and a few other things deemed exhausting so we were thankful for the help of my wonderful mother who could grab the balloons, bring the tables and chairs, make the drinks and help set things out while we quickly got ourselves thrown together for the party!

the guests slowly arrived and we waited for the boys to get back....

and when they did, i'd say chris was pretty surprised.....or he's a really good actor!

the party turnout was fabulous and i think everyone enjoyed themselves!  a few photos of our guests follow....

chris' classy gift from a couple of our friends, the boyer's

the infamous Wheatfield's strawberry wedding cake.....our birthday tradition!

i wish you could see how enormous this cake really was!

that's right, cheesy personalized candles thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law

such a proud host, i was

from left: my sister brooke, me, neighbor jason, jill, krista and jessica

my sister and friends: brooke, me, jill, krista and jessica

could not have pulled off the party without my sidekick: sarah!

chris and his buddies: travis, jeff, ron and jillian

my so-so-so-willing-to-help parents: mary jean and rod

my sister brooke and her boyfriend will

chris thought we were just spending a fun weekend with our friends chad and sarah

chris' sister laura and her boyfriend mike

chris' grandparents came from east moline, illinois! 

ron and joyce

the snyder girls: me, laura, my mother-in-law cathy, and grandmother-in-law joyce

chris' buddies: dave and kevin and his dad, ron

me and my (big) little brother, taylor

 my brother, taylor and dad, rod

my dad with the blondes 

my parent's with my friends and i

so glad my friend jill could make it!

i just loved the balloons.... :)

chris and his grandfather, ron

best buds: chris and chad, the guy who kept him out of trouble all day (and by trouble i mean out of my house)!

jeff, chris and travis

jill, chris and krista

my brother and my grandfather-in-law

annnnd....the night ended with an attempt at the worm!

so thankful chad and sarah could spend the rest of the weekend with us as well!

we went to the farmer's market and dundee days on saturday

hanging out in the driveway on a beautiful day....classy!

and ate at chris' favorite restaurant, nicola's, with his family

luckily we were sitting under the umbrellas outside because a big thunderstorm rolled in!

we ended the night at nosh wine lounge

my fall bucket list

weddings.weddings.weddings.

i love my friends.  and i love when my friends are happy and in love and decide to spend the rest of their lives with their love.  i love celebrating with them.  i'm honored to be a part of their special day.  and i love wedding cake, wedding mints and wedding dances.

but can i be honest for a minute?
i'm ready for a weekend at home.  in my own bed.  and sitting on my couch if that's what i choose.

by the conclusion of this wedding 'season', we will have attended 7 weddings and were unable to attend another 5.  since labor day weekend, we've had a wedding every weekend.....if you need help doing the math, that's 5 in a row.....not one of those 5 in Omaha.

all of that said, i'm not complaining.  i'm just tired. :)  not to mention it's breaking the bank.  when will my time be my own again?

love you friends, and i wouldn't miss your special day for the world!

crazy.busy.nutty.wacky. summer.

the title says it all.  it's been absolutely insane!  since the summer began, we've been to New Orleans, South Padre, Myrtle Beach, Lake Okoboji, Los Angeles and Orlando.  we've been busy with the travels and all the while trying to enjoy some time with our friends, fit in some golf, lay by the pool, grill some burgers and ride our bikes.  a couple of weeks ago we experienced our first 'jazz on the green' and by the time it's all said and done we'd like to go on our first 'taco ride'! it's been difficult to beat the heat these days but i've been making a significant effort to not complain!  i decided i can't complain about the weather all year round because if i did, there would be 3 feet of snow on the ground before i could blink an eye!

fall, i love you.  please come soon.