Today I am Thankful for the Art of Baking

I love to bake, and not only do I love it, I'm good at it. I used to think I was a good "cook" but I've realized through the years that cooking and baking are very different arenas. While I do enjoy cooking and am pretty good at it most of the time, baking is where I really shine. In fact, baking is one of my talents that I am confident in and can give myself permission to say: YES! I am good at this!

I am thankful for baking for many reasons and not just because I have a terrible sweet tooth. I love it because it makes me feel good. I enjoy creating something that not only tastes delicious but looks beautiful. Cake decorating is my forte, but baking of any kind makes me happy. I love seeing my creations enjoyed and devoured. Baking is soothing and stress relieving to me. Baking makes me feel like I am taking care of people I love and making them happy too.

One of my favorite aspects of baking is that I can share it with my daughter. Mackenzie loves helping me bake. Not that long ago we were making cookies and she suddenly said, "Mama, when I grow up I want to be a Mommy and a Chef!" Through baking I am teaching her about math, hygiene, science, patience, and love. I am so thankful that I get to share these special times with my daughter.

Thank you God, for the Art of Baking!!!

Today I am Thankful for my Brother, Jordan.

There are very few people in this world who know me quite as well as my brother, Jordan. We are a comedy duo, a hip hop team, partners in crime, confidants, and a Tenacious D cover band. No body can make us laugh quite as hard as each other with just a word or a glance. Our sense of humor is identical, and no one else is quite so understanding when I am inexorably compelled to knock a cookie out of their hand.

Jordan has been there for me when very few others were. No matter what has happened or what I've been through, he always treated me the same. He always loved me, made me laugh, and listened to me spill my guts without judgment or pity.

Jordan is a master musician, slicing through any genre with ease. He's a video game aficionado and is generous to a fault. I love him so much! He was the very best part of being "roommates" with my parents. He's also a wonderful uncle. Mackenzie always looks forward to seeing "Uncle J". Today is his birthday and I just want to thank God for him!!!

Today I am Thankful for Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. --
John Wayne

"Tomorrow I'll think of some way...after all, tomorrow is another day." --Scarlett O'Hara

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.-- Jeremiah 29:11



Today I am thankful for Tomorrow! Every night we are blessed with the ability to shut out the world for a few hours, recharge, and wake up to endless possibilities. No matter how bad today is, no matter how scared I am about the future, tomorrow is a mystery, and in that mystery lies HOPE. Anything can happen tomorrow! God is full of surprises, and for that I am so very, very thankful!!!

Today I am Thankful That the Show is Almost Over!!!

This is the last weekend for my husband's show, "Post-Oedipus". I am very glad he did the show, and it has been great for him. However, I can honestly say that I am SO thankful that it is almost over. It has been harder on us than we ever imagined. This is the first play he has done since we've been married and since becoming a family. It has been good for him, and his talent is one of the things that made me fall in love with him in the first place! I never want him to stop acting or pursuing his passions, but I can certainly say that I am very excited that this is the last weekend of the show!

Thank you, God, that the show is almost over, and thank you for giving our family the perseverance to make it all the way through!

Today I am Thankful for My Cell Phone

It's strange to think back over the years before we had cell phones. How did we survive?? Lol! I remember a friend that had a CAR PHONE. It was such a big deal and she was considered so cool because of it. It's funny because sometimes when I walk into my house my first instinct is to check the answering machine! We don't have an answering machine because we don't even have a home phone! The world is a very different place, and I'm glad for it.

I feel safe, wherever I am because I have my phone. I can get a hold of my husband in an instant if I need to. Other awesomeness: internal phone book! I don't have to remember anyone's phone number or try to keep track of a phone book. TEXTING!!!!! I LOVE texting. LOVE IT!!! I am not a "phone person". I don't like to talk on the phone if I can help it. That's why the TEXT is so great! I can convey information quickly and efficiently without having to have a conversation if I don't feel like it. It's also an awesome way to flirt with your husband throughout the day ;) I'm also thankful for my phone because it's a calendar that reminds me of appointments and an alarm clock to boot! I also can take pictures or videos with it if I forgot my camera.

It would be cool to have a fancy iPhone, but I can't afford it, and that's fine. I don't really care. I'm happy with my little LG slider phone.

So thank you, God, for my cell phone!

Today I am Thankful for the UT Flower Gardens

I work in a cube, in a room with no windows. We are actually located under the front steps of the UT Main/Tower building. The florescent light four feet above my head isn't conducive to positivity. However, right outside the building it is gorgeous! UT does a wonderful job of keeping their grounds clean, groomed, and beautiful.

So, on every break and at lunch I walk out of the building toward the East Mall, and am greeted with green grass, trees, and beautiful flower gardens. Squirrels, birds, and not too far away, turtles, bring nature to campus. This time of year is my favorite, when the Mountain Laurels are filling the air with their perfume and the temperature is just right. However, even when it is freezing, or burning hot outside, the flower gardens are always beautiful, and always bring me a moment of peace in the middle of a hectic day.

Thank you God, for the UT flower gardens.

Today I am Thankful for Easter

Today is Good Friday, and this Sunday we will celebrate Easter. I love Easter! I love the hope and newness it brings. (I love the candy it brings too, but that's a different blog). Easter is about joy and hope and new life, whatever your religious standpoint. Baby bunnies and eggs remind us of new birth, but what I am really thankful for is my re-birth.

I can't properly put into words how thankful I am that Jesus Christ took the penalty for my sin and that I am washed clean of it! God sees me as pure because of His sacrifice and I am free. It's hard to wrap my head around it, really. It makes me sad that so many people, Christian, Buddhist, Agnostic, what have you, think that if they are just good enough they can somehow earn their way to heaven, or that God will love them more. I am so thankful that I get to live in the freedom of the truth and knowledge that no, I'm not good enough and I never will be....and that's okay. God is LOVE and he loves me and has saved me by HIS GRACE not by my feeble works.

So thank you, Jesus, for loving me for who I am, broken and dirty. Thank you for dying for me, so that I can have life. Thank you, God, for Easter and all that it means.