'Tis The Season To Give Thanks

"Thanksgiving... thanks and giving. What do these two words mean? Giving . . . the . . . the act of imparting or bestowing. Now, putting these two words back together . . . we have . . . we have . . . Thanksgiving. The . . . the bestowal of gratitude. . . and . . . and looking around I see that we . . . we have so much to be grateful for. Just the fact of . . . of being together is . . . is something to be grateful for." -Perfect Strangers Thanksgiving Episode, where they think a turkey ate Jennifer's ring and crash the neighbor's family Thanksgiving to find it. The quote sounds so serious... but if you have seen the episode you know it was anything but... and hilarious!

But onto a more serious note, there is so much to be thankful for everyday in life! Unfortunately, I tend to fall into the trap of comparing myself to others and their things, instead of looking at the abundance of what I have and being grateful. Often I find myself easily stressed out and focusing on the negatives more than I like, but when I stop and think about it... I have so much to be thankful for and do not deserve all the blessings God has bestowed upon me. So, at this time of year I am taking a moment to stop my madness and take note of all I have to be thankful to God for.

What I am thankful for: My handsome husband who will do anything for me, my loving and fun family and all the beautiful new editions we welcomed this year, having the opportunity to spend quality time with my niece and nephew who crack me up and are so smart, in-laws who I love, a new job that provides for my needs and doesn't leave me emotionally exhausted anymore, my husband's job and all the good things he does for Fluor (even thought he has to travel sometimes), a beautiful home with a yard and deck in a great location and just blocks from the river, a warm delicious meal every night (even if it means being lazy and eating out), my car I bought this year, vacations, being able to do home improvements, my new photography hobby, my H1N1 vaccine, the opportunity to get a college education, and most importantly God's grace and peace when I don't deserve it! Thank you Lord!

Smile

During a long day at work this week, I was recalling back to myself some of the funny things my 2.5 year old nephew Eli has said to make the day a little easier. Man that kid has a great sense of humor! Anyway, I wanted to share them and hopefully put a smile on your face like I know he did mine.

The funny things my E says:

The other day I was having him say lines from "Elf," he loves that movie, and I told him "E say 'Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?" and E says "Buddy the elf... uh orange!"

Another day, while playing with my iPhone, he clicked on the Myspace app my cousin put on it and asked me what it was. I told him it was Myspace and E said "You space? Mimi, I gonna play with you space."

While hanging out with his mom one day, they were looking at a map or something, E pointed to Utah and asked what it was. So, Holly said "That's Utah," to which my nephew replied "My tah?"

While hanging out one summer night, a commercial for some online college came on that started out with a lady asking "Do you hate your job?" Eli looked at my mom and asked "Hey Gram, you hate you job?"

There are many, many, more funny things he has said, but those were the most recent things that I am still laughing about! What blessing he is!

Say Cheese!

After many birthday giftcards and saving up I finally purchased my first DSLR! I ended up getting a Nikon D5000 after countless hours of researching the best entry level DSLRs online, in photography magazines, and by visiting Best Buy a thousand times. The girl that works in the camera department was quite familiar with me by the time I came in to buy.


I am so excited to shoot tons of Holiday pictures and play with all the cool settings.There is so much more to a DSLR than an ordinary digital camera and I feel like it will take me forever to learn how to use everything the camera has to offer, but practice makes perfect and I have some very beautiful subjects to practice on as you can see.

I am up for shooting anyone that will let me practice on them, so let me know if you are feeling a little "America's Next Top Model" sometime!