Thankful

This post is a few days late. But it doesn't really matter. The holiday of Thanksgiving is a day to thank our Lord for all He has done and the blessings He has given us. But we should be thankful every day, and that I am.

First of all I'm thankful for Salvation. For His Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Love, and the list is never ending.

I feel so blessed. I could go on and on with this post.

I am so thankful for my family. They are my biggest support group... especially mom!

I'm so thankful I am an aunt. :) Bridget & Carter have brought so much JOY to our family.

I am also thankful for my friends. The ones that we've been friends since before I remember and still are... and the ones who have just gotten to know in the past year.

I have made so many new friends this year that have had such an impact on my life. I believe God put all of my friends in my life for a reason. I rely on all of them so much.

.... O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever. ~Psalm 30:12

Other Fall News

I just realized I have one post so far for the whole month of November.

... and that I had started this post but never finished it.

Phil & Jessica had a new little girl, Summer. She is just darling.

I went and visited her with Nate & Lynette just a few days after she was born.

Amber, Holly & Laura

So precious.

Now onto my own niece and nephew. :)

Mr. Carter

This picture is already outdated... he just keeps getting cuter than this!

And then the crazy Miss Bridget!

This is a bit old, but a few weeks ago our young group had a huge invite. Kendra and I figured out all the food and did all the shopping on Friday night. We made 2 entire meals plus 2 snacks for 200 people! Thank goodness we had wonderful help on Saturday to help make the 13 pans of Lasagna!

Kendra & Lori working hard

Michelle & Kristin cooking the noodles

Let's just say it was a very chaotic and exhausting weekend, but so much fun at the same time! It's amazing Kendra and I are still friends. ;) Hahaha.. just kidding. :) But we did have our disagreements. :)

I don't know what we would have done if some of the mom's hadn't come and helped us out. Because we really don't have that many girls in the young group to help with this kind of thing. Why we invited so many people in the first place? Don't ask me... but I think it should probably be the last time we do that, although it is kind of fun. It's just a little extreme though... if you only would have seen our food bill.. :/

The girls I kept all night. We had so much fun. Good thing we had an extra hour of sleep that night! :)

Up to Belvidere

A lot of people think I've been "up to Belvidere" (as they say), a lot. Well.. I happened to go twice in two weeks, so yes it kind of seems like it. :)

First time was basically just for church.
Second time was to spend some good quality time with the newlyweds. :)

Friday afternoon we left right before dinner. The "We" includes Michelle, Brooke, Larissa, and me.
The only person missing was Kendra. She had to work which was such a bummer!
We had this weekend planned since before Ellie even got married. :) So we weren't about to cancel it.

Friday night we got there in good time and hung out and talked. Just like the good ole' days except with a man in the conversation too. :) Their apartment is pretty small but we survived... even all of us sharing one bathroom!

Saturday morning we had planned to go to downtown Chicago. Ellie made us pancakes before heading to Elgin to catch the train. I had never been to a train station or on a train before. Crazy I know! It wasn't really any different than any other kind of transportation though. :)

Waiting for the train

Yes, Troy came with us... not sure how he felt by the end of the day with all of us girls. :) I think one of the reasons he came was because I don't think he trusted us girls in downtown chicago by ourselves. :) Oh, and he probably wanted to spend some with his wife. :) It was good to know that we had a guy to protect us if we needed it. :)
Darcy came with us which was super fun. Good thing too, otherwise we would've been super lost everywhere we went! She was so excited that this was my first train ride. :) She made sure we went up to the 2nd level so I could have a good first experience. :)

Me & Rissa

There was something about the train conductors that I didn't realize. They really do wear uniforms and hats just like the books and movies. Lol. I know, I'm so naive. :)

The Girls

Another first for me was just the whole downtown Chicago experience. I was there when I was like 8, but I barely remembered it.

Michigan Avenue was a distance from the train station so we got to do a lot of walking.

Our first stop was the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. (I had never been there before either!) We had to wait for an hour and a half, but it was so worth it. Some of us girls did some shopping while Troy & Ellie waited around.

Lovebirds.

The meal was delicious and supposively the Cheesecake was too. But I hate cheesecake so I wouldn't know.

Darcy's birthday was the next Tuesday so Troy told the waitress and we sung to her. She got a dessert topped with a candle. She was a tad bit embarassed.

We only had about an hour to shop after the Cheesecake Factory before we had to to start walking back to the train station. I only bought one thing, but it was just fun to walk around, see the sights, and hang out with the girls.

We kind of got lost on our way to the train station, but we were helped by a homeless man... kind of creepy but he really was helpful.

We got back to Troy & Ellie's at about 7:30 and ordered pizza. We just hung out and talked again. The greatest thing about the weekend was that we didn't even have to do anything to have fun. This may sound cheesy, but it's true... just being together and talking was the best part.

Sunday morning before church

Church was good... I love small churches. And I think everyone there knows me now which is kind of fun. :) We left straight from church and got home in good time.

An awesome weekend with no studying...

...to an extremely overwhelming week with 3 tests in 24 hours.

But good news. I just finished my last test, and I am pretty much on Thanksgiving break now! I only have to come to class twice next week for my 2 easiest classes. :)

Oh.. I have a job interview on Tuesday. I'm kind of nervous because I've never had a job interview in my life. I've been searching and calling around a ton asking who will take an intern and that word "intern" kind of scares people off. They want to hire you full-time. So I am hoping the job works out. It would be an answer to prayer!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I know I will!