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Browsing Tag: #thankfulheart
Last week was Library Appreciation Week. I only posted one thing about it, but I think I post often enough so everybody knows where I stand on libraries. In case you recently crawled out from under a lettuce leaf, know that I LOVE them. I don’t know that I can adequately put into words what the library means to me. But I’m gonna try my best. Even though I’m more than a week late. I’m always late. And before I forget, that cover pic was taken by Liz Ballard, who truly has a history with our local library. I didn’t ask for permission, but I don’t think she’ll mind. I have served on the local library board for several years now, and it looks like I’m going off next month to serve on the Regional Board. Anyway, that’s the least of my love. QUITE literally. Board meetings are typically endured, not always enjoyed. Even though they try to make it cool. Here’s our meeting room: But that’s part of adulting. The good news is, it allows me to know what events are coming up before anybody else 😀 I have a lifespan of memories at the library. It brought tears to my eyes when I was asked to serve. My mind flashed back to all the times I’d walked through the door, clutching my satchel, ready to…
Today, my prayers are for the lost. I should have made this day one. They’re the most important. Their time is truly limited. I can’t wrap my mind around not believing. It’s like, #1) are we here by accident? Then how did we get here? Ok, if you don’t believe God put us here because you can’t understand that, so you understand the science that some people believe in? I’d much rather just think we were created by a higher form. And that he created the Heavens and universe too. I can’t begin to wrap my head around the Big Bang Theory. Believing in the Lord is easy. And if you’re one of those people who look for signs, I am certain you can find plenty. Just like there is beauty in everything, there is God in everything. Because he created it. And #2) You have nothing to lose. Nobody should think you’re weird for professing a faith. If they do, they’re not very open minded, and does that really line up with everything else they say they believe in? I don’t think so. Just believe! I promise it’s a better life. It’s like having someone forever on your side, forever and always. Romans 8:31 tells us that! What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us…
My friends are cruel. I’m not even gonna keep you in suspense on this one. No jewelry. Do you KNOW how much I love my jewelry? It hangs from every doorknob in my bedroom, two drawers crammed full, two jewelry trees, and a jewelry box. The bigger and flashier, the better. And not one piece will adorn me today. No eye-catching necklace, no jingling bracelets, no sparkly rings, not even my tiny glittering studs are in my ears. I feel exposed. But. The reason is solid, and so I dressed in such a way I wouldn’t have worn much, anyway. I feel so drab. I feel like a BOY. But I suppose it came on an okay-enough day. I didn’t have to go anywhere today, besides work and spin, and at work I’m not exactly flocked with strangers most days. As for spin, I take almost all my jewelry off, and I don’t think I can look any worse than when I’m exercising, so it’s fine. Who gave me this little piece of hell, you want to know? My good friend, Jena. That’s right, she knows exactly where to go for blood. Dirty, dirty. I would never mistreat her that way. Y’all should know I just spent an eternity hunting for a certain picture of her on my flash drives. I didn’t find it but here’s…
You may not like someone the first time you meet them. Or the second. Or maybe not even the third. But eventually they may wear you down, grow on you like a mole. Before you realize it, it’s there, and you never even noticed. This is how it was for me with Brandi. I worked with her husband for awhile before I ever met her. She had a bit of a reputation for being brazen and opinionated. And LOUD. She made up for her short stature with volume. Brandi has narrowed eyes that miss nothing. She talks fast and drives faster. She has an extremely low tolerance for b.s., which is unfortunate because she’s surrounded with drama. That comes with the territory when raising a teenager, I suppose. She’s smokes to offset the stress. Anyway, I don’t remember the moment where I decided she was all bark and no bite (when it came to me, anyway. The rest of y’all will have to fend for yourselves). Maybe when she lowered her guard with me when she saw I wasn’t after her husband! Scotty became my “work husband” pretty early on, because I could trust him to not leave me on top of pallet racks or the little office after raising me up with the forklift. He always helped me lift salt bricks (hey, 48# is a lot when it’s over your head!) and…
Sugar has never tasted so good. One thing for certain, I would never make it in a survival situation. This morning I couldn’t wait to down my white chocolate mocha Starbucks drink. And then I fixed me a big cheesy omelet. I would like to say I enjoyed every bite but my eyes were bigger than my belly and I got a little carried away with peppers and bacon bits. So anyway, you’ve probably deduced that today’s fast isn’t sugar or dairy. Praise be to God! Today it’s merely liquor, at the request of my Uncle Dale. He stipulated that it must be done on a Saturday. Clearly, he doesn’t know me at all, because I rarely drink on Saturdays; I clean. Today was no exception. But I also had a hair appointment. I was about to have to start wearing a hat everywhere I went because my gray is REALLY BAD. So I’m at the salon, and I go to throw something away and notice what looks like bacon in the trash can!! See it? There at the bottom? And I’m like, who throws away bacon?!? And I turn to Christy and ask her why there’s bacon in her garbage can. I am thoroughly baffled. And she’s like, “I threw away my gloves from when I mixed your hair dye, that’s probably what you’re…
I used to wonder who would come to my funeral. I’ve attended many, many funerals myself, and wondered who would return the respect when it came time. I was born an only child, and have remained that way for 39 years. I think it prepared me in many ways for the life I was destined to live. I never recall being lonely. I suppose I would call myself self-motivated, because if I wanted to do something, I did it myself. I vacationed alone before getting married, because I wanted to see places, and I wanted to see certain things in those places, so I didn’t want to be encumbered by someone who didn’t. Still, to this day, if I want to dine in a certain restaurant, or watch a particular movie, I’ll just go and do it alone if I know it’s something Shug or my assorted friends aren’t interested in, or have the time to go and do. My very good friend Megan and I founded an “Environmental Club” around fifth grade or so to raise awareness about the effects of Champion Papermill’s pollution into our local water sources. We sent a petition and collected water samples and the whole nine yards. Bookish would be a polite way of saying I was a nerd, but nerd fits the bill accurately. I stayed out of trouble through my younger years, never “smoked…
Thankful for my job. Actually, to be more honest, I am thankful for the friendships it has forged. I feel like I have a long lost sister in Jill Wilson after spending just a few short days together in Vegas 🙂 some of my customers are pretty awesome. They have taught me more about the world than college ever did. I have made some amazing contacts & I almost feel famous when I go to horse shows or tractor pulls. I also have Co-op to thank for my marriage. Shug used to come in every Friday afternoon to buy TWO 50# bags of dog food. I would anticipate his arrival, counting down the minutes, pacing in the showroom with one eye on the door. The rest is history lol! My whole life has been shaped by that store. But its more than that…it is a way of life. I have memories from as early as I can remember about riding there with my pap (Great-grandfather) to get garden seed & fertilizer, to picking out an easter bunny with my mom, horse feed & lead ropes later on, & an extra car key cut when I was seventeen & could drive myself. Not that I don’t have bad moments…terrible days…& weeks that feel like they are never gonna end, but after ten plus years, what would I rather be doing? I hang out all day, talking to my friends. If nothing else…
Oooh! Thirty Days of Thankfullness is here again 🙂 I know some of you don’t particularly care for it, but I much prefer opening my facebook to find my status feed full of blessings & pleasant thoughts. So here I go. Thankful today that I live in East Tennessee. It is truly beautiful this time of year. (Actually, I find it beautiful most of the year) It was a brilliant day, with sunshine so bright it hurt my eyes & made me squint. The leaves are absolutely gorgeous, & the temperature is just right. We have fresh, drinkable, clean water all around us. We are close enough to the most-visited national park in the states to visit it as often as we want. Although the tourists are a pain, they do make Sevier County one of the more fortunate & funded counties around. I’m thankful that people in this area are not ashamed to ask for prayer for themselves, their family, or a complete stranger if they need it. I’m thankful for chickens crowing, frogs croaking, & locusts buzzing in the late afternoons. I’m thankful for porch swings to drink sweet tea on, a hometown small enough that I still run into people I know at the grocery store, & high school football games & plays that everyone still attend. I don’t even mind getting behind tractors occasionally, because farmers mean food. (And I love food.) I’m proud…
Thankful I am emotional. It means I care. That I have a heart. That I can be sympathetic (although I may choose to be apathetic). Thankful I’m picky, why settle for less than what I really deserve? Thankful I can be stubborn, sometimes my ideas are just better & you don’t realize it until I’ve talked myself blue telling you 😉 Thankful I don’t have to be perfect. Thankful for the One that was, & thankful I know Him…
