today, i am thankful for...

my little baby coco.

today especially, she has been a momma's girl. i've been sick in bed with the stomache flu since 7 last night and she has stayed by my side. it's like she can tell that i'm not feeling good [or maybe i am just joining in on her 24 hour a day naptime]. anyway, she has made me feel better just by being here.

she has such a personality. i love it when she: plays with her food, gets excited when i say we're going to gramma & papa's house, bathes her babies, gets frustrated when zeke picks on her, and when she hates it when i leave her. there's some things that she does that do not make me very happy, but i forget those things when she jumps up on my leg for me to pick her up and gives me a big kiss.

she turns .five. next week. i can hardly believe that its been that many years since mom, dad, and marcie gave her to me for christmas. i had been begging for months and they kept it a huge suprise. i was sitting at the computer looking up yorkies, how to care for them, names, everything when marcie & dad came home with her. marcie had her tucked in her fleece jacket [fleece has been her favorite ever since] and i thought she was a cat. i think i said 'you've got to be kidding me' but then i looked closer and it was a little baby yorkie! then, as i started crying i said 'is it for me?!' (yes) 'is it a girl?!' (yes) it was one of the happiest days of my life. we had so much fun playing with her, seeing her personality, and finding a name: coco sophia chanel. my favorite thing she did back then was when she climbed up my dad's shoulder, then leaned down to his pocket and got his pen out to chew on it. she is still a papa's girl and will choose to snuggle with him over anyone else, but she outgrew that cute habit.

it's hard to believe how much she's changed in five years.

today, i am thankful for coco.

today, i am thankful for...

my iphone.

i never thought i would appreciate any object this much. but i do. i feel lost if i leave the house without my iphone. i got my first iphone december 07 when my slider phone had a terrible mishap. i made the decision to splurge for the iphone and have never regretted it. last summer, i dropped my phone on the pavement and it cracked. i was crushed. it was a very sad day. my solution? i ordered a new phone asap. i was at the lake, so when my dad came up the next weekend, he came with my new iphone. :)

everything i need to know or remember is stored in that little piece of joy. i have encouraged everyone i know to join in the wonderfulness that is the iphone. dad stuck with his blackberry for work, but now, marcie, mom, and zeke have their very own!

i love everything that the iphone is capable of; and i love it even more now than it has copy/paste and picture text. if only i could figure out how to add my work email in the mix. i know there are so many more things this little guy is capable of, but for now..i am so content.

as silly as it sounds, i am thankful for my iphone.

today, i am thankful for...

my faith.

amy and i have been doing a bible study since this summer and whenever we get together to go over a section, it is always at the perfect time and always touches on the perfect topic. tonight we discussed overcoming the "what ifs" that we struggle with. the thing is...bad things happen to good people, bad people, all people. there's no real point in worrying about anything. i don't know why it's so hard to focus on the positives in life when god has provided so many. amy calls it "borrowing trouble." somewhere between paranoia and naivete, there's a way to deal with this...jesus has provided us with a series of "i am" statements to get through life. through these, there are simple truths when it comes to choosing faith over fear in our everyday lives.

-life is full of negative things that might happen

-as long as i choose a path of personal growth, i will face fearful situations

-acknowledging my anxieties is a positive first step

-an attitude of optimism will make today more enjoyable

-choosing a faith-filled decision is much less frightening than living with the underlying fear that comes from feeling helpless

god's promise is not a promise of a pain-free life, but it's a promise of life in HIM. "therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. each day has enough trouble of it's own." -matthew 6.34

today, i am thankful for my faith.

yesterday, i was thankful for...

in my classroom [2nd grade @ connell elementary] our writing prompt for november was to talk about 2 things they are thankful for. we brainstormed the things we are thankful for during this season of thanksgiving. so, as i start my blog-my goal for november is to reflect on what i am thankful for each day.
so, i already missed a day. oops. it'll probably happen more than this time, i'll be honest.
yesterday, i was thankful for...
marcie.koochsie.james.secretary of the world.
i am thankful for my sister marcie. yesterday, she helped me set up this blog. that's how she's always been. she is a good big sister, helping me figure things out. she's inspirational. she's creative. she's pretty much..."perfect" i admire her dedication to everything she is involved in [which is alot]. i admire her eye for fashion. i admire her ability to look at something crafty and recreate it. i admire her faith. i admire her gift giving abilities.
yesterday, i was thankful for marcie.

today, i am thankful for...

today, i am thankful for....
homework. now that i am taking my professional certification class; i have homework. i know this sounds crazy, but i am thankful for it because it's given me a new appreciation for not having homework. i know that as a teacher, i'm going to continuing my education for..well, the rest of my life. but, now i will be so very thankful when my evenings are not spent doing homework [that, quite frankly, i don't understand] but instead, doing the things i love. like, watching monday night line up on cbs [how i met your mother, accidentally on purpose, two and a half men, and the big bang theory] with my fiance and coco.
anyway--today, i am thankful for homework [kind of].

hello, blog world!

marcie came over this afternoon and helped me figure out how to create my own blog!
i've been blog stalking from her blog, so i figured it was time to get my own. so, here i am...
thanks, marse-it was a great homework break!