Complicated Simplicity

month of gratitude: unexpected packages

so very thankful for unexpected good mail

i love getting the mail. and i especially love it when i get good mail. even better is good mail that was totally unexpected. and when that unexpected mail is a package with goodies from your mama (the mama you haven't seen for 14 months and won't for another 31 days and 13 hours or so), well that's the best. :-)

today i opened my mail box and reached in to pull out the mail. and the package key was in it-it totally surprised me! so, i opened the package box and pulled out a pacakage from my mom.

i hurried upstairs, took the leash off the dog and pulled the box open. inside was a shirt, scarf and a couple of hats along with some holiday treats-including my absolute favorite peanut butter bars. she said she wanted us to be warm when we got of the plane in michigan. :-)

it was such an unexpected and delightful surprise! and this year, instead of counting down to Christmas, i'll be counting down to when we get to see each of our families. :-)

month of gratitude: spontaneous adventures

so very thankful for spontaneous adventures

i totally at the last minute decided to go downtown for the tree lighting today. paul had to work, and i had pretty much written the whole idea off. then, i just decided to throw on a jacket and some shoes, grab my cameras and hop on the train!

it was totally amazing and i'll be going back every year! they have this sing-a-long and then light the tree and then do more sing-a-long songs. awesome.

month of gratitude: a day set aside for thanks

so very thankful for thanksgiving

thanksgiving is one of my favorites. i love that it is set aside specifically as a reminder to give thanks for our blessings. i, of course, love the food and the gathering/celebration aspect of it as well, but i really love that it is a HUGE reminder of our blessings. built into our calendar. 

month of gratitude: hot water

so very thankful for hot water

in illinois, our hot water was iffy. sometimes you could get a warmer-than-lukewarm bath or shower. and extremely rarely you could get a hot bath...if you did a load of laundry first. our apartment has great hot water-consistent and as hot as we want it. i know it's such a gift to have clean, safe drinkable water. and then to have HOT water on top of that!!! so amazing.

because sometimes, a hot bath is just what you need. :-)

month of gratitude: magazines

so very thankful for magazines

i have a slight magazine addiction. i am a sucker for one that is well-designed, has beautiful photos and relevant info. i don't really know what is is about them, but they call to me-ha!

when the new sunset comes in the mail, i make myself wait until i've done everything else that needs to be done that day before opening it. then i relax and flip through it. the first time, i just look at the pages. then i go back through and read what i want to read. take note of places to go/projects to do/etc.

i love them-and no e-magazine could ever replace those glossy pages for me. :-) i currently have only one subscription (to sunset) and have been doing well at not picking up others very often.

my favorites are: 

sunset

national geographic

backpacker

portland monthly

better homes and gardens

month of gratitude: cell phones

so very thankful for my cell phone

we don't have a land line-we never have. i just love that i can carry my phone with me. that i can call most of my family without using minutes. that we can text each other messages and photos and videos. that it keeps us connected over the miles.

p and i got a shared plan after dating for just over a month-so we wouldn't use up minutes. then we added both of our parents to our plan as well. it's been great and we are so blessed to be able to stay in contact this way.

such amazing technology.

month of gratitude: our church

so very thankful for our church

we really love our church. they have really become our second family. we know every time we go, we will hear the gospel presented clearly and will leave feeling refreshed and encouraged. i know that if i ever need anything, they are there and willing to help in any way they can. it's been incredible to have the privilege to come together twice a week and worship with these amazing, loving people. to share meals with them. to listen to art teach and preach and to learn from him. to sing with all of our hearts, as one.

it has been such an amazing blessing to us. i am so so thankful for trinity and the people that it is made of.

month of gratitude: the kia

so very thankful for our car

our little kia sephia has been with us since 2004. we got it for around $4000 and it had 3500 miles on it. now it has over 100000 miles, and is still getting us where we need to go. it has working heat. it gets pretty decent gas mileage. it has lived in three states with us. it has taken us on a wawillion road trips. it has gotten eight new tires. it has gotten new brakes. it has done the trick and it still is.

God has blessed us with this car so far and I am so so so so so so SO very thankful for that. p and i say it all the time because, let's face it, a used-new-to-us car is still not all that friendly on the budget.

so for now we are thankful every single time we get behind the wheel for our little car.

month of gratitude: the weekend

so very thankful for weekends

they may not fall on the actual weekend, but when p has a day off it's awesome. being able to sleep in together. heading out on some adventure. staying in and watching movies or playing games. spending time with friends. no matter how we spend it i love that extra time together.

month of gratitude: rain

so very thankful for rain

yes i am one of those annoying people who loves rain. i love storms and rainy, grey days. last night was rainy and super windy and awesome. i love those kinds of nights.

i love how the rain makes everything green and covers everything with moss around here. i love puddles. i love the sound rain makes. i just love rain.