Five Years Ago....

On this day five years ago, I married my best friend. I can't thank God enough for putting this man in my life. He is an incredible husband, father and friend. Here are some pictures from our wedding in Savannah, Georgia:

Matt, Chuck, Jeremy, Shannon and Jay. Love these guys!

This is still one of my favorite pictures of Jeremy

Our beautiful wedding party

Me and my best friend, Simone. I don't know what I would do without this sweet girl!

We are relaxing at home this morning and doing some laundry. We are going to celebrate later today with a trip to the Gaylord Palms! Woo hoo!!!

Jingle Bell 5K

We had so much fun at the Jingle Bell 5K tonight! I am so proud of my couch to 5K running group! They did such a great job. We even ran an extra .55 of a mile because someone ahead of us made a wrong turn! After the race, we tried to get in to Eighteen East for dinner, but it was packed! We decided to eat at the Olympic instead. I am so lucky to work with these wonderful people!

Pre-Race photo: Mrs. Webber, me, Angie, Mrs. Merkle, Elya, Chuck & Jeremy

My girls, Elya & Angie!

Mrs. Webber and me. She taught me in school for 9th & 12th grade English. She looks amazing and is a beast at running!

We did it! Post race photo

Chuck and Jeremy. This was Chuck's 1st 5K!

Post race photo: Tim, Jeremy, me, Angie, Mrs. Merkle, Don, Mrs. Webber and Chuck

Ben and Santa

Ben visited Santa and his workshop at Lakeside Village tonight. He was so cute talking to Santa! He asked for a remote-controlled train and a whistle like Daddy's. He asked Santa what his favorite cookie is and Santa told him chocolate chip. Santa thanked Ben for being such a good boy this year and asked Ben to leave some carrots and celery for the reindeer since they get so hungry.

Here is Ben's picture with Santa this year:

And here is last year's picture....my little boy is growing up so fast!

And here are some more pictures from our trip!

 

Gratitude

I got caught up on my blog reading this morning and this particular piece really spoke to me. It sums up exactly how I've been feeling the past few weeks. This is from Kristen Armstrong's blog, Mile Markers.


I believe our evolution of pleasure is not unlike our evolution of gratitude.  When we are young, gratitude looks a lot like glad. I am thankful for things I have, thankful (glad) when I get what I want, or thankful (glad) when things go my way.  

I am still grateful for the things and the comforts in my life, and I am thankful when things go smoothly or turn out the way I’d hoped. But my evolution is in a more pervasive spirit of gratitude that transcends the assignment of a positive or negative label. I have learned so much in recent times. These lessons have simultaneously strengthened me and softened and yielded my heart to a place where I can simply be grateful (period).

I can be grateful for the things that feel pleasurable, as well as for the things that cause pain. I can be thankful for success, and the failures and mistakes that become wisdom. I can be grateful for what comes, as well as what goes. I can be equally thankful for blessings and burdens, because when experienced humbly and gracefully, both lead deeper into gratitude.

The Perfect Tree

Jack is Back!

Ben is so happy that our scout elf, Jack, is back! Jack greeted us on November 24th with snow-covered donuts and hot chocolate. Ben has had so much fun waking up to find Jack each morning. We just got the movie "An Elf's Story" in the mail today and watched it this afternoon.We love our elf!

Here are some of the places we've caught Jack each morning:

Christmas Parade

Tonight we all enjoyed the Christmas parade in Frostproof. Cousin Cindy even came down from Mulberry to join us. We had a Frostbite picnic at Grandma & Grandpa Byrd's house before the parade. Ben loved the parade, especially all of the candy he got!

the FFA float

FHS cheerleaders Kaylee & Emily giving Ben some special treatment :)

Ben loved this train!

love these guys so much! (Ben's face is so funny here!)

my sweets!