Texas Lou

Good morning!  I apologize that I haven’t written a Thankful Monday post in TWO WEEKS!  But, I’ve been a very busy girl.  I spent 10 days in Seattle and Victoria, Canada celebrating my cousin’s wedding, site-seeing, and spending time with family, came home for 5 days, and then left for a 4 day weekend at the beach in Nags Head.  I’m feeling refreshed but I’m super sad my fun trips and time with family and friends are over.  I think being grateful will help cheer me up, so here’s what I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m thankful for an amazing trip to Seattle and much cherished time with my family.  I LOVE my family and just saying that makes me feel that it doesn’t give my feelings about them justice.  I’m such a lucky person to have these people in my life!
2. I’m thankful for a wonderful trip to Nags Head in the Outer Banks with Sarah and Cris.  We had the best time celebrating girls weekend and I’m extra grateful to Cris and her parents for letting us use their condo at the beach!
3. I’m thankful for my husband who has spent so much time traveling with me and then putting up with me being gone on trips without him.  He is very supportive of me and my love for family and traveling and has even been a wonderful shoulder to cry on when I’m sad that my trips are over.
4. I’m thankful for my family.  I can’t say how much they mean to me and spending time with them only makes me realize how lucky I am to have them.  I wish I lived closer to all of them.
5. I’m thankful for a very smart and skilled friend who helped us diagnose a problem with our air conditioning so we didn’t have to pay to have someone look at it (I’ll of course buy him dinner as a thank you).  Between the new house, fixing up the condo, my car payment, and Ben’s car being in the shop for the past month, we need to save as much as possible!

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Good morning and welcome to my weekly Thankful Monday post!

On a side note, I know I have been only using this space for my Thankful Monday posts for the past few months.  I enjoy writing about other topics, but time constraints are what have mostly kept me from blogging about my usual stories and ideas.  If there is anyone out there that actually reads this, I can tell you that I do plan to get back into regular writing again once things settle down with our new house, traveling, and fixing up our condo.  In the meantime, I feel these posts about gratefulness have been a benefit to me so I have continued to make time for them in my busy schedule.

And now, here’s what I’m thankful for this week:

1. I’m thankful for a husband who has similar interests to me and for date night.  I can remember always arguing with my ex about what movie to see, but luckily, my husband and I don’t have that problem.  Friday night, we tried the new Sedona Taphouse for dinner.  The food was good, but a little overpriced.  The real reason I wanted to go there was for their beer selection…they have over 500 beers available and update their draft list daily which often includes many local beers.  Then we went to see Pacific Rim which we both loved.  It was a great night and made me suggest that we try to have date night more often!
2. I’m thankful for family.  I must be very lucky because I have a wonderful and supportive family who really enjoy spending time with each other.  I’m going to get to be around alot of my extended family very soon and we are all very excited about it!
3. I’m thankful for my cats.  They always bring a smile to my face.  They are so cute and each have their own individual personality.  Yesterday, Ben and I let them go outside briefly to explore.  It’s so fun watching them absorb all of the new sights, sounds, and smells around them.
4. I’m thankful that our good friends had a healthy baby boy on Wednesday.  I’m so grateful that both mom and baby are doing well and that our friends are finally starting this new phase in their family.  Ben and I were lucky enough to get to hold the little guy on Thursday when we visited them at the hospital.  I’m wishing them all the health, love, and happiness in the world for their futures!
5. I’m thankful for life.  Everyday there are struggles and things can feel rough, but I just have to remind myself that I am alive and live a pretty good life surrounded by amazing people.

Have a wonderful week!

Good morning!  I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!  Mine was amazing!

This Monday morning, I’m thankful for the following:

1. I’m thankful for this amazing country that I live in and the sense of pride and hope that is felt on the 4th of July!  I know we all take our freedoms for granted, so I want to remember to be grateful for the freedoms we have living in the United States and for the many men and women who have, will, and continue to fight for our freedoms.
2. I’m thankful for amazing and fun friends!  I had a wonderful girl’s weekend in DC and Baltimore with two of my best friends, Cris and Sarah.  We watched fireworks, did site-seeing, enjoyed delicious food and good beer, met up with lots of other awesome friends, enjoyed live music including a live band, dueling pianos, and an Irish folk group, and we hung out on the boat of a former congressman!  I know there are always adventures to be had when I’m with these amazing ladies!
3. I’m thankful for my mother-in-law who spend much of her weekend helping my husband catch up on weeding and gardening.  When I returned from my trip, things looked quite different and much better than they had when I left.  They weeded, trimmed hedges, and planted things in the sweltering heat and the pouring rain!
4. I’m thankful for a job.  I’m REALLY not liking my job these days and so tempted to apply for new positions elsewhere, but I want to remember to be grateful for a job that pays decently and has  benefits.  Without it, I wouldn’t be able to take trips like I took this weekend or live in a house like I live in.
5. I’m thankful for my mom, the nurse , and technology.  She was able to diagnose a case of poison ivy (my first) via a text message picture and tell me how to start treating it.

Have a wonderful week friends!

Good morning and welcome to my weekly Thankful Monday blog post.

Here’s what I’m thankful for this week:

1. I’m so happy and thankful that I got to see my good friends Cheryl and Dan and finally meet their new baby, Lillian!  They moved to Tennessee last summer before Lillian was born and I’ve missed them so much.  Lillian is the sweetest, most adorable little baby and being around her made me want to have one of my own.
2. I’m thankful for my amazing and patient husband who spent 1100 miles and 18 hours in the car with me this weekend so we could make the trip to Nashville to see Cheryl, Dan, and Lillian.  What a man!
3. I’m thankful that no matter how much my current job gets to me, I always have the option to look elsewhere.  It’s nice to live in a free country where I can change jobs, careers, and employers if I want to.
4. I’m grateful for the feeling of hope.  It’s what gets people through tough days and I was having a few tough days last week.
5. I’m grateful for new friends and old friends…I’m so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people.

Have a great week and love to you all!

Welcome to my weekly Thankful Monday post.

Things are a little stressful at work today but I’m going to try to remember to be mindful and grateful for a good life so here’s my top 5 for today:

1. I’m thankful for 7 years together and 1 year of marriage with my wonderful husband.  He is a good man and strives to make me happy.  He also makes me strive to be a better person and treats me right.  We celebrated our 7 years anniversary and 1 year of marriage on Saturday and Sunday respectively and the occasion makes me so grateful for our time together and hopeful for our future together.
2. I’m thankful for lovely weather this weekend.  We were able to spend alot of time outside and get alot done on our house and condo.  I love getting my Vitamin D!
3. I’m thankful for reunions.  My friend Cris was in town this weekend and I hadn’t seen her since February so it was wonderful to spend time with her and my other friends after a long week of work.
4. I’m thankful for another opportunity to run the Charlottesville Women’s 4 Miler .  Every year, the race gets harder and harder to get into.  This year, race registration was full in 5 hours so I’m thankful that my alarm clock woke me up so I could register at 5 AM and I’m glad I got in.  This will be my 6th year in a row to run the race!
5. I’m thankful for technology.  I was able to share pictures of our new house with friends and family all over the country by simply taking pictures with my phone and posting them to Facebook.  We live in a wonderful age where you can still be so close to the ones you love even when they are far away.

Have a wonderful week!

P.S.  I already feel better after writing this post! 😉

Good morning and welcome to Thankful Monday!

Today, I am thankful for the following:

1. I’m thankful for my dad.  In honor of Father’s Day which was yesterday, I just want to say that I’m so thankful for a wonderful father who has always provided for me and showed me unconditional love.  I’m sending a happy belated Father’s Day to all of the great dads out there.
2. I’m thankful for a fun weekend with friends and family.  Friday night, Sarah and Amy joined me for snacks and wine.  Saturday, my mother-in-law joined us for a morning at the Farmer’s Market shopping for veggies and plants.  And, Sunday, my friend Kristen joined us for polo at King Family Vineyards.
3. I’m also grateful for good weather this weekend that allowed us to spend alot of time outdoors.  It was especially nice after all of the bad weather we had last week.
4. I’m thankful for the longer days and more sunlight that we get during this time of year.  I love my sunshine.
5. I’m thankful for all of the lovely plants we bought this weekend…lime, tangerine, ruby red grapefruit, blood orange, patio peach, pomegranate, and many more!

Have a wonderful week!

Hey everyone!  Welcome to Thankful Monday/Tuesday (really it should be called Thankful 24/7)!

I was enjoying an amazing long weekend with family in Texas this weekend so that’s why I’m late posting.

Here’s this week’s list:

1. I’m thankful that we got to celebrate my cousin Jennifer’s marriage to her best friend Eric this weekend in Houston, and I’m also thankful that I got to see so many family and friends that I hadn’t seen in years/months!  It was like a wonderful family reunion!
2. I’m thankful that in addition to seeing much of my dad’s side of the family at the wedding reception, I got to see a ton of my mom’s side of the family too!  How lucky am I that I got to be surrounded by so many of my loved ones on a rare trip home to Houston!  I’m very grateful for the effort everyone made to be together!
3. I’m grateful that we could afford the plane tickets to Texas and also that we ran into minimal bad weather and travel delays along the way, especially since there has been so much bad weather happening lately.
4. I’m thankful for the opportunity to visit an old family favorite restaurant, Gaido’s, for a delicious meal with my family.  My parents used to take us here all the time when I was little and I have lots of wonderful childhood memories of eating here so it was nice to walk down memory lane.
5. I’m thankful that my husband was able to come along on the trip and spend time with my family and I and meet many family members whom he hadn’t yet met.  It’s always extra special to me when I can have him as a travel companion with me.

Have a wonderful day!

Good morning and happy Thankful Monday!

Here’s what I’m thankful for this 3rd day of June, 2013:

1. I’m thankful that God has blessed my friends Chris and Cara with a baby boy.  They are expecting him in July and I got to help celebrate him this weekend at Cara’s baby shower!  It was a blast…we shared great food and cake, made onesies, created scrapbook pages, and watched Cara open lots of wonderful gifts.  I’m wishing her an easy and safe labor and delivery!
2. I’m thankful for my cats.  We found a mouse in our house this weekend, and ever since, Eva and Revolver Ocelot have been busy tracking it down!  Thank goodness for my kitties!
3. I’m thankful for a very helpful mother-in-law and father-in-law who helped us do some work on our condo this weekend and have provided endless advice on our renovations.
4. I’m grateful for all of the men and women out there who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for this country’s freedom, especially those who have given their lives or become disabled while in service.  Ben and I ran the 4 the Wounded 5K on Saturday morning to support the cause to help our wounded service men and women.  I’m also thankful to my work for providing me with a free entry to the race.
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for the opportunity to see alot of family this coming weekend.

Have a great day!

Good morning!  Yesterday was Memorial Day and my brother was in town visiting for the long weekend, so I didn’t have a chance to log in and write my weekly Thankful Monday post so here it is for Thankful Tuesday:

1. First and foremost, I am so thankful for all of the men and women who have given their lives and those who continue to serve to allow us to live in a wonderful and free country.  Words will never be sufficient to honor them, but I am grateful for the sacrifices of them and their families.
2. Secondly, I am so thankful for a weekend with my little brother, Mikey.  He drove up from South Carolina to spend the weekend with us and see our new house.  We had such a blast hiking and swimming in Sugar Hollow, hanging out on the farm and shooting skeet, trying different beers and wines at local breweries and wineries all over the area, and of course watching Arrested Development!  I’m so grateful to get to spend time with my family and also very thankful that Ben’s family embraces my family and that we all get along.  I love my brother and can’t wait until we get to have another sibling weekend!
3. I’m thankful for the beautiful weather this weekend that allowed us to spend some time in nature and the outdoors.
4. I’m thankful for family, friends, and fun times.  We had a blast at the Market Street Wine Shop Free Wine Tasting, Fridays After Five, Beer Run, Timberwood Grill, the Beer Hound Brewery, Sugar Hollow, the Whiskey Jar, Commonwealth Skybar, Mountfair Vineyards, Jefferson Vineyards, and Stinson Vineyards.  I’m also thankful for the opportunity to live in such an amazing place with so many things to do.
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for the 3 day weekend and a short week!

Have a good one!

Good morning and welcome to my Thankful Monday post for the week!

Today, I am thankful for the following:

1. I’m thankful for strong and able bodies that allowed Ben and I to get a great deal of work done on both our house and condo this weekend.  We are that much closer to be unpacked in the house and having the condo ready to rent.
2. I’m thankful to live in a smaller city like Charlottesville where it’s easy to run into friends and acquaintances   Last week I went to lunch with an old friend and ran into several good people I used to work with at VGT.  It was so nice to catch up with them and just see their smiles!
3. I’m thankful for my husband.  He brought me tulips, one of my favorite flowers, last week unexpectedly to say thank you for all of the hard work I have done to get us moved.  It’s so nice to know he appreciates me and even better to see him show his appreciation!
4. I’m thankful that University of Virginia students are done for the summer.  There are so many parts of Charlottesville that are very enjoyable once students have gone home and places and events are less crowded as well!
5. I’m thankful that we may be getting our first house guest,  my brother, this coming weekend, and I’m also thankful for a long weekend!  I think I might sleep in!

Happy week!