Being Thankful in the Midst of Trials

At the beginning of this month, I debated about posting things on social media somewhere that I was thankful for.

I've done it in the past on Facebook and Twitter, where I would post each day what I was thankful for that day. A few years ago, I kept track of things on my phone and did a weekly recap on my blog. Last year I posted collages on my personal Instagram account of the people and moments I was thankful for.

I think it's such a good practice to remember the things we are thankful for. It's something I wish I did on a more regular basis and not just during the month of November.

But sometimes it's also very hard to be thankful. When in the midst of trials, when things seem like they're falling apart, when life is throwing you curve ball after curve ball.

And yet, we are called to:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV)

Wherever you find yourself this November, on this day, in 2016, I hope you are able to look around and find some things to be thankful for. Whether it's your health or the health of a loved one, your kids, your job, your home, the food on your table, your friends, your spouse, or even the fact that God still has you on this earth...I hope we can all find something to be thankful for.

This election and everything surrounding it has brought out so many negative and hateful emotions and actions in so many of us. Let's cling to love and be thankful in all circumstances, in spite of the bad stuff. Let's remember that we are called to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Let's live our lives caring for others and valuing them above ourselves.

10.16

October was another busy month for us.

I officially started selling LuLaRoe, and that has been a really fun adventure so far. I had my launch party and it was very successful!

We also took a fun little trip to our happy place and to Universal Studios to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! As someone who loves HP very much, I fell in love with the Wizarding World. I felt like I was really in Hogsmeade enjoying a nice cold Butterbeer. It was fantastic! We did Mickey's Halloween Party again, which was a lot of fun! We got to ride on everything we really wanted to do in the 8 hours we were there. And then we spent a day in Disney California Adventure. We had a great day taking our time and enjoying some things we hadn't experienced together before. It was our first time riding Grizzly River Run together (I hadn't been on it in 12 years). We also got to ride the new Soarin' and saw the sneak peeks for Moana and Doctor Strange. And we had a lovely lunch at the Cove Bar, eating "secret menu" tri tip nachos. We also went to Tangaroa Terrace at the Disneyland Hotel for dinner. We've never eaten at any of the restaurants in any of the Disney hotels, so that was a fun experience. Overall, we had a great trip and it was really nice to get away to our happy place for a few days.

 Belle and Smee

 We found a cute little Dorothy!

 Our friend S.W. was the Hatbox Ghost from the Haunted Mansion

 In front of the Hogwarts Express

 Enjoying a cold Butterbeer. We tried a frozen version as well. Both were delicious!

 On Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters. They recently changed to this from the previous version of Luigi's Flying Tires

 We wore our ponchos on the Grizzly River Run so we wouldn't get soaked. And it was a good thing we did.

Every time we've gone to Cars Land, I've always wanted to eat something out of the Cozy Cone Motel. We finally did on this trip!

We also went to our friend's Halloween party again. This year's theme was Good vs. Evil. Everyone's costumes turned out great! We always have so much fun at this party each year.

 Rey and Kylo Ren

 The Little Mermaid and Rey

 Our friend D.W.'s costume was so awesome! Two Star Wars universes collide. Boba Fett and frozen Han Solo

Some other highlights from the month:

I started reading The Last Goodnight with my BCBs. Life has been a little hectic for all of us, so this is the first book we are reading together in a long time. It's been a very interesting read so far and I'm looking forward to finishing it.

My appointments and Pilates are both going great! I've been slacking pretty hard with keeping up with Just Dance. Selling LuLaRoe has been keeping me pretty busy, so it's been hard to fit in time to exercise at home. But I know I need to keep up with it. I feel so much better when I'm doing it five days a week.

We also spent some other fun times with family and friends. It was a great month and I'm looking forward to all November is going to bring!

From our annual corn maze trip with friends

09.16

It's hard to believe we are 3/4 of the way through 2016 now!

September was a busy month filled with a lot of wonderful things.

I celebrated the birthdays of two friends (M.E. and R.B.) with teppanyaki and karaoke! We had a fun night full of lots of laughs!

 I'm so thankful for my beautiful friend M.E. and for our 9 years of friendship!

The whole group at karaoke

We went on a cruise! If you missed that post, you can click here to read all about it.

We celebrated our niece's 5th birthday! It's so hard to believe that she's already 5! It really does seem like yesterday that she was born so little.

Some other highlights from the month:

I went to a couple of wine nights with friends. I always enjoy the conversations that happen on these nights. There's something about unwinding with a glass of wine and a plate full of yummy food that just makes for the perfect evening.

I got my onboarding call for LuLaRoe! I am officially a LuLaRoe Fashion Consultant and I couldn't be happier!

As mentioned a few posts back, Josh passed the first of two tests for the certifications he needs for work! He was so nervous about taking it, but he did great! My parents took us out to dinner a few days ago to celebrate.

My body had some crazy reactions after the cruise. As I mentioned in that post, I had some vertigo/sea leg issues for a week after we got back. It was hard to stand for long periods of time because I felt like I was going to fall over! I also had some shifts in my body that have been painful, but it's a result of other shifts happening that have been good. It's hard to describe the whole process of myofascial release, but often when one area loosens up in my body, another area tightens up in response to it. So it's a lot of back and forth for me. Thankfully, many of the areas that have loosened up have stayed that way, so I'm still experiencing a lot of progress in the midst of all of this.

And that was September! On to October and cooler weather!

Fall

It's finally starting to feel like fall where I live.

And every time the weather changes and a new season arrives, I start to feel nostalgic.

I'm not really sure what it is about the weather change that makes me feel this way, but suddenly I'm flooded with memories of things that the weather reminds me of.

Today, it's crisp air, fall leaves, going to CO for the first time 6 years ago to see our friends, going to the corn maze with friends, decorating our first apartment for Halloween, craft nights with friends, and many other memories.

But it's not just the fall that makes me feel this way. Spring brings it's own flood of memories, as do winter and summer.

There is something about fall, though, that makes me long for change and new adventures. I want to pull on a pair of boots and wrap a scarf around my neck and head out to do something fun. I want to cuddle up on the couch in a blanket with a cup of hot tea or hot chocolate in hand. I want to watch Gilmore Girls and Harry Potter over and over again. I want to read new books and meet new people.

There's just something about seasons changing that stirs my heart in ways it hasn't been stirred in a few months.

Cruisin'

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went on a cruise with a couple of our friends!

It was a lot of fun! I had never been on a cruise before so I was a little nervous about it, but I ended up having a great time (though I did deal with some vertigo/"sea leg" issues for about a week after we got off the ship)!

First night on the boat!

 On our way to our first port: Catalina Island!

 Elegant evening on the ship

 Viva la Mexico

 We found the nicest winery in Mexico. The whole experience was awesome!

One of our towel animals

Some of the things not pictured:

We participated in two different trivia contests on the ship: Harry Potter and 90s music! Both were a lot of fun.
We also played Bingo and came very close to winning on more than one game!

It was a much needed time away for us and it was very relaxing (and was perfectly timed, as Josh passed one of the certifications he needed for work two days before we left!). I'm so glad we went!