Thanksday #16

Hi.

My name is Monica and I own this blog. You might not remember me since it's almost been an entire month since I've posted on here. In hopes of making it up to you, I went ahead and changed my blog header just so you would for sure know how much I love you. And so you would see something new and think, "it's not just the same old boring story about the bathroom at Cracker Barrel!"

I won't bore you with the details of what March was like. Suffice it to say, I could have renamed the month Run, not March, because it flew by at a sprint-like speed. In between being gone all but one weekend, Paxton being sick, Jaana being sick, me being sick, running my first half marathon, a women's retreat and Spring Break...I barely had time to breathe let alone blog.

And there I went. I bored you. My apologies.

I still maintained an attitude of gratitude during my involuntary hiatus, don't you worry. Here are the things I've been grateful for since March 9:

1. Spring Break. We spent the week at Hilton Head and enjoyed beautiful cloudy weather and enough of a chill to require long sleeves. But it really was perfect because we were soooo lazy. And that was wonderful.

2. Women's Retreat. Our church had the most phenomenal women's retreat. God literally reached down and touched each one of us. Amazing stories and testimonies from that weekend. Amazing.

3. Running. I ran my very first race ever...the Georgia Half Marathon. I only took up running this past summer so my only goal was to finish. And I did! I even finished in exactly the time I expected to, and walked only about half a mile total. It was a wonderful feeling, and God and I had some great breakthroughs leading up to the race and race day. There's a devotion coming on that. Eventually.

4. Greg. He has been so supportive of my training and running, and when I didn't think he was going to be able to be there on race day (it was a Sunday so he had to be at church)...he surprised me and showed up anyway. I loved having my rock there. He gave me the calmness I needed to not throw up the night before and the moments before I hit the starting line.

5. Toddling. Paxton has officially kicked crawling to the curb and is enjoying being able to travel AND hold a ball at the same time. He is seriously adorable walking around everywhere. Especially when he stops, moves his arm back and forth and says, "dance!"

6. Breaking Free. We are just about halfway through the updated version of this study by Beth Moore, and can I just tell you? I adore my small group. They are the greatest group of women...all open, honest and transparent...and the fellowship is such a blessing. Not to mention how incredibly powerful the study itself is. If you find an opportunity to take this study, run-don't-walk to the registration table. You won't regret it.

7. Chick Lit. Because of how hectic the month was, how grueling running was and how intense Bible Study has been...it was a treat to sit over Spring Break and read a mindless chick lit book. I finished one I had been in the middle of for months, and read a new one all in two days.

8. Sea Level. Again, a Spring Break nod. But running at sea level is a completely different experience than running at a 4,000 foot elevation. My lungs were happier.

9. A New Home? This one has a question mark because we are en train de buying a house. Finally. Our sixth (and final, yes Lord?) move. If all goes well, we'd close in a couple weeks. I mention it now only because you wouldn't waste a prayer by throwing one up for us! And after watching Greg climb over furniture and mattresses to find our summer items in the storage unit, I was suddenly more than ready to have all our belongings under one roof. Again.

10. A Certain 7-Year Old. Jaana absolutely cracks me up. She is really coming into herself, and is so much more confident and outgoing as she gets older. I love listening to the things she comes up with, her vivid imagination and how her mind works. She fascinates me. I'm so glad I'm lucky enough to be her mom.

Are there things you're thankful for this week? Write your list and either post in the comments, or link up with Curious Georgi (on Thursdays, but for the aforementioned reasons, I'm a slacker).

Let's experience the joy of being thankful in all things!