Where Thousands of Cranes can be seen at Sunset.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends! 

I hope each of you was able to spend a few days with your loved ones, whether your actual biological family or adopted family =) 
We had a great time with a mixture of both and traveled to a neighboring state where we were able to spend time together enjoying each other's company after not seeing each other for quite a while. Then in the afternoon we all went on a hike to see about 10,000 cranes as they came into a marshy wetland for the night. 
It was pretty spectacular, and such a beautiful sunset. 
We arrived home yesterday to celebrate again today with my hubby's extended family.
Hoping you have all had a wonderful opportunity to sit and be still for a few days cultivating an attitude of thankfulness before we dive headfirst into the Christmas season. 
There are so many things to be thankful for, even when life is in a tough season.

My beautiful sister and her hubby. They are such a riot. So silly.
We had a blast with so many siblings and family. 

As much fun as we had together, it was pretty cold. But in my opinion the mile hike to see all the cranes making their beds in the marshy wetlands was so worth it. I have never seen anything like it.

It was similar to being at an airport watching planes come in at night in their arrow formations. From every single direction you look. I won't forget the noise thousands of cranes make in a hurry. 

We also found that almost all the girls wore the same kind of shoes totally without meaning to. 

Who doesn't choose fur-lined Uggs when you know its going to be cold. Or at least Ugg style, since most of ours were imitation. 

Setting out to see the cranes & the gorgeous sunset, we saw the sun peeking through the trees.

So pretty.

Praying that whatever is going on in this season of your life friend, you know there is always hope.

And you are so very loved. 

Thankful Thursdays.

I decided to linkup with Erin & Amy this Thursday and practice Thankfulness. 
As I have been working to practice this attitude, it has really changed my heart towards how I see things. Being able to see beauty in the small things, and really enjoy the little moments. 
To really enjoy the everyday, even when my first response could use a little work.

Learning to enjoy walking through crunchy leaves and not rush onto the next thing.
To explore with two cuties who want to see the little things in the world and see everything through their eyes. How their perspective is beautiful.

So first of all. I am thankful to this man.

For loving me for who I am, flaws and everything. For choosing me 3 1/2 yrs ago to stand by his side and continuing to choose me everyday since. This is the closest living example I have seen to understanding the way God loves me. 

I am thankful for family. For the way they love unconditionally through all of lifes up and downs. For their support through lots of difficult decisions at times.   

For beautiful friendships the Lord has brought into my life this past year. He answered my prayers for accountable, genuine sweet ladies who I could do life with. This sweet lady is just one of so many. SO blessed.

And for two sweet babies who continue to show me how to love littles, show me what I need to work on in my own life, teach me patience and how to enjoy every single day of life.

They really remind me that every day is such a gift. (No picture of them for obvious reasons, but oh goodness they are too stinking cute!) 

For my precious Father who has continued to floor me on His timing in providing little gifts like books I wanted, truth when I needed to hear it, the gift of His word & just a love far better than anything I could ever hope for.

Having a Presence. In Real Life.

I am going to stop apologizing for being absent here in this space. Every time I login I feel the need to say how sorry I am for not being here. But honestly, I'm not all that sorry. You see I have been making a choice for several months now. 
One that involves saying yes more. After reading this post by Casey Wiegand, this one by my sweet friend Brit and this one by sweet Nicole. All these beautiful ladies have voiced what I have been feeling the past few months and why being on here has just not fit in with the time I have available.


I have been saying yes more. To real life. To people the Lord has placed around me for the here and now. To those who I wanted to get to know more at our church but perhaps didn't have time because I was heading home to blog. To those trips we wanted to take and haven't been able to before. To time with my husband in the middle of our busy weeks. To the two precious babies who I care for during the week. I have been saying yes, to real life. 


Because one thing I have learned in my transitory life is that in a very short space of time, we could be living somewhere else and called to another place. And I don't want to miss the opportunities in this place. The times where I could be a part of the body of Christ physically. Part of a real life community with all its ups and downs, experiencing the messy parts together.
I love this online community, but I don't want it to replace my real life presence where the Lord has me. 


So I will (hopefully) stop apologizing. I will still be here in and out. Hopefully more than I have been lately. But for now....I am enjoying real life. Where God has placed me.
Experiencing family time with extended families which happens once a year or less.  

Much Love!

L

  

10 Things I'm Thankful For.

1) Little kids who started saying 'Oh No!' to random toys over the weekend. Its quite possibly
the cutest thing I have ever heard. Melts.My.Heart.


2) Dance Parties to songs like this.

3) Wars in our house between Disney princesses and army men. Extremely funny.


4) Snuggling with the last of the kiddos who is no longer a baby. But still likes to be held from time to time. Totally understand how moms feel when their little one is no longer little =)


5) This awesome workout which I can just about manage to fit in every morning. I can feel it in my abs anyway. So here's my new springboard to working out every day.

{Via}

6) Randy Alcorn's book Heaven and the information it gives about what heaven will be like.
I have learnt so much for this book in the last two weeks as we have been going through it as
a Bible study group.

7) Laughing till crying over a story which appeared in this amazing book. She cracks me up with her stories and has me crying over the pain their family had to walk through.

 

8) Thinking of Erin from SweetnessItself when I saw the expiration date on my milk ;)
I thought this was kinda fun and probably sounds really weird haha!

9) Bowling with the hubby and kiddos I watch over the weekend. So fun.
We even had superhero names, although I decided to go by pink pony, perhaps insecure by being
the only girl present.

10) Wonderful scripture verses to meditate on during the week.

{Via}

What are you guys thankful for this week? 

 Much Love, 

L

10 Things I'm Thankful For.

1) Date nights with the hubby.

2) Starbucks now have their red cups out. Must be Christmas is almost here.

3) This amazing version of One Direction's song.

4) Nerdy glasses and time with my sister.

5) Turning this song up loud in the car while driving through rush hour traffic.

6) Twinkle Think time with a little friend.

7) Pretty nail colors in which to paint fingers and toes with.

8) New washers which look pretty enough to sit and just watch the clothes go round in.

9) A clean basement with lots of space. This week has been crazy busy with all kinds of house projects like painting walls, cleaning spaces and organising. The hard work is starting to pay off.

10) Quiet time on a Saturday afternoon.


Sorry for posting this a little late, this was yesterdays post =)

Much Love,

L

Beauty in Ordinary.

The crunchy leaves continued to fall today littering the sidewalk creating a blanket of fall colors. Nothing particularly eventful happened. Much needed rest.

More contemplation of events from the conference and the promise of writing about some of them soon. 

Chubby arms wrapped themselves around my neck this afternoon as we headed to the library to read the best picture books we could find and peruse the movie collection.

There was discipline, potty training, love and an evening with the hubby watching A Knights Tale on Netflix. 

Living the mundane and being thankful for those small moments. 

Making me thankful for those moments where we are able to get away and enjoy being in each others company & thankful for the things we do have. 

Even if its just grabbing a drink at Starbucks together.

Much Love,

L

Thankfulness//Day Two.

Well, it's Day Two of focusing on Thankfulness and I woke up to a rainy cold Fall day.

I can honestly tell you that I woke up feeling thankful, regardless of the weather.

I was thankful for the beautiful Fall colors I saw on my car ride this morning.

Thankful//for rain to water these beautiful trees which are looking more beautiful everyday.

Thankful//for dirt roads in the rural area I found myself in and mud which made its way onto my clothes and the car.

Thankful//for small kids that yell 'Pum-mmm' everytime they see Pumpkins.

Thankful//for kids that organise outdoor weddings for Barbie to a big orange bug. 

Thankfulness really is contagious. 

Ann Voskamp put on her Facebook this morning the following quote:

'{Crazy, but studies conclude that keeping a gratitude gift list is *guaranteed* to increase your happiness by 25%!}'

I would highly recommend reading her book and starting your own change when it comes to cultivating an attitude of Thankfulness.

It certainly is a wonderful way of overcoming a 'funk' at least so far. 

Much Love,

L

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31 days of Thankfulness.

Alright. If I was being real and honest with you, which I try and do here, I would 

tell you that it's been a rough few weeks.

I'm not really sure I can even explain why, just a series of events that caused a difficult season.

If we were talking over coffee I would probably explain to you how silly I have felt

at being overwhelmed at the thought of blogging or replying to emails.

And we may even laugh over the fact that I named the pile of laundry in our house Mt. Everest and cried when it wouldn't go down as fast as I would have liked.

It's been a draining two weeks. Not for one particular reason.

I feel like this happens often when Fall officially kicks in.

I'm the girl that likes to call May officially summer. I love my warm weather....

yes unfortunate for one in the Midwest I know.

So perhaps this 'funk' as I've called it, is to do with the fact that although the beautiful Fall season is upon us here. It means that cooler weather and longer days of being indoors are on the way.

And part of me does a little freak out. 

So when a friend told me this morning, yes only this morning guys....

about an awesome linkup going on where over 800+ bloggers are sharing 31 days of blogging about the same topic.

See all the amazing topics here.

I really wanted to participate in the community with the other ladies, and thought that a focus on Thankfulness might change my heart issue around it being Fall already.

So for the next 31 days, the focus around here at least is going to be:

Thankfulness.

So today I am thankful that there are beautiful seasons like Fall happening here in the Midwest, where the leaves change color and turn the trees into breathtaking works of art.

If any of you would like to join me in being encouraged to pursue an attitude of thankfulness this month, grab a button and join me.

Oh and let me know you also are doing it =)

Cause I totally want to see what you are thankful for.

Much Love,

L

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Seeing Beauty.

While we were in Kentucky for a wedding at the end of last month, 

I was observing how beautiful a lot of the buildings are.

Since living in the States, I have a new appreciation for the older 

beautiful buildings.

I totally spent my childhood in Europe and then was in Oxford

while at college but I think I began to take the beauty of the 

architecture for granted.

Now I am super excited to be heading back to England.

To see London and Oxford again.

Having my camera with me, YES!

And seeing all the fun people who will be there.

So today, I am thankful

for beautiful buildings & beautiful people (I mean the inside hehe).

Much Love,

L

Making the most of the season.

Can you believe that Summer is nearly over? 

There are just a little over 2 weeks and it will be September. 

I mean, I am totally excited about everything the Fall will bring......

My little sis is getting married so we are headed to England for 10 days in September for 

amazing adventures, seeing old friends and witnessing a commitment to each other before the Lord.

The Influence conference is fast approaching as the days bring Fall closer.

And I am super stoked by that!

Not to mention the finding of a new home for the hubby and I as we transition out of our temporarily

location into a more permanent home closer to where he works.

So as the summer is beginning to fade, I am trying to make the most of every moment.

Enjoying every season.

I might try and make that my plan for this year.

And it helps to start with the season that is my favorite.

So in trying to make the most of this season.....

I went blueberry picking again this week.

With some other friends who I thought would enjoy picking the fresh fruit off the leaves of the bushes.

And picked another 31 lbs of blueberries. 

(I only came home with 7lbs this time myself)

(That's a combined total of 56lbs of blueberries in 2 weeks for those who love numbers)

Summer things I am thankful for:

Blueberries growing on bushes for us to go and pick.

Summer sandals and flip flops.

Sunscreen and bug spray.

Hubby's family visiting from overseas for the summer.

Encouraging friendships.

Meeting up with blogging friends.

Being able to spend a lot of time outdoors.

Flip flop tan lines.

The sound of crickets sending me to sleep at night.

Painted toes poking through sandals.

Amazing natural light for photography.

She reads Truth reading plans.

Pure by Rebecca st James.

Hot weather bringing the ability to wear sundresses and tank tops.

{Head over to Erin's blog for contagious thankfulness}

Tank: OldNavy

Pants: New Look (England)

Shoes: Payless

Necklace: TheHollieRogue

How are you enjoying the rest of summer?

Much Love,

L