You may have noticed the title of my blog.  It's because I think I'm pretty witty.
Ha ha.
But seriously, I do often find that I better express myself through the written word (is it that way for a lot of people??) Growing up I found a lot of comfort in writing.  I kept a diary/journal from 6th grade all the way through high school, and in retrospect I realized that writing things down helped me gain perspective and cope with all of the usual atrocities of adolescence.  I also wrote a lot of songs, secretly convinced of my song-writing-awesomeness.  Don't worry, I won't be sharing any said songs here.  Upon further review, I have discovered my songs were not awesome.  Somebody shouldn't have let their teenage daughters listen to the Cure.

No, this blog is basically for myself (because who are we kidding, I'm not getting any sponsors, which is what we all really want when we start a blog)-- maybe to perform the same duties as my old diaries did back in the mid-90's, when it took 15 minutes to get on the internet and 30 to check your AOL account so nobody had the time to write their thoughts down online so they did it in a notebook.  I'm mostly going to use this as a way to share my thoughts on raising my kids, loving and living with my awesome husband, and my walk with my Lord Jesus. 

I might also talk about politics sometimes, and also reality television.  Two things I pretend to hate but secretly love.

Anyway, one thing I did in high school that I have been thinking I need to start again was make a conscious effort to share my gratitude and thankfulness for all of the many, many blessings in my life.  For several years I really did try very hard to think of 5 things every single day that I was thankful for, and write those things down even if I didn't add anything else to my journal.  I believe that this really helped me develop my deep sense of gratefulness and understanding of how gracious God is, even before I became a Christian.  It was very good practice in helping me understand perspective and blessings-- even if I was having a crappy day (for instance, a boyfriend dumping me or getting benched on the basketball court, both absolute travesties for me in the year 2001), I forced myself to look at my life and realize just how absolutely blessed I was, and how God was using these circumstances to change me and grow me into the person who would best reflect His glory and goodness. 

In high school my list often included very superficial things, like my awesome prom dress (I still love my senior prom dress, wish I had somewhere to wear it...) or that I didn't need braces (for reals, that was on there one day).  One time I wrote that I was thankful that a girl who wasn't necessarily very friendly to me was nice that day (how I cringe at the thought of high school girl meanness! Seriously, we might homeschool, and that plays a large part in our thought process.  But I digress.)

Once a week or so I'm going to use my blog to point out a few things that I am thankful for.  Here goes our first post!

*I am thankful for free cake samples. 
      Today I ordered my youngest son's (Oliver) first birthday cake, and it would have been a disaster if the bakery hadn't oh-so-generously offered small bites of cake to sample on their countertop. 
      Yes, I stuffed my 11 month old's mouth full of sugar to keep him quiet and content for 5 minutes.
      No, I am not sorry.

*I am thankful for selfless and gracious family members.
     My mom came and got my oldest son (Silas) so he could play at her house while I ran errands with my baby.  Also, my sister is currently designing birthday party invitations for Oliver's birthday party, which is super awesome because she's creative and Oliver gets to have one-of-a-kind invites with OLIVER tractors on them, NOT John Deere.

*I am thankful for the grace and forgiveness that Jesus extends to each and every one of us.
      Some of the stories that have been popping up on my newsfeed lately (namely, the abortion doctor who murdered children both inside and outside of the womb) have been really weighing on my heart.  I am so grieved and angered at these atrocities, it helps me to remember to fix my thoughts on Jesus: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."-- Philippians 4:8.  Each and every one of us is a sinner, cut off from God, and it is ONLY by his blood and grace that any one of us, myself included, can be saved.  Whenever the world gets overwhelming and scary, I fix my eyes on Jesus and remember that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28), even if sometimes we don't understand how or why.  "Though he slay me, yet I will trust in Him"-- Job 13:15

Annnnd my coffee is done.  Time for a little caffeine-fueled Project Runway.

This is a picture of my senior prom dress.  My photoshop skills are awesome, I erased my friend Chelsey from the picture so she wouldn't have to be on my blog in her junior prom dress for all of eternity.  I would have uploaded a different picture, but all the rest included my high school boyfriend, and that was a bad breakup.  So here we are.