Thankful November: Day 3

I'm thankful for...Jessica!

The birthday's just keep on coming this month. Today is my sister's, Jessica, 20th birthday! (I find it hard to believe that my parents only have 2 of their 5 children still in their teens.) BTW - isn't this picture great? It's one of my all-time favorites!

Jess is a great sister. Not only is she the life of the party, but she also had a huge heart. I love that you never know what she might do or say next, but you can bet your dollar that she is one reliable girl. She gladly gives up her time and energy to help others whether it be by planning and directing a summer youth camp or just showing up to hang out with an old friend.

Lou -- I hope you have a simply splendid birthday! And although I'm still jealous that you are in Nebraska visiting and I am not, I really hope you are having a wonderful time. Love you!

Thankful November: Day 2

I'm thankful for...Shelby!

Another cousin. Another birthday! Today is her sweet sixteen! This only means one thing -- I'm old. While there are some great perks to being the oldest grandchild, getting old first is not one of them! But I digress...

I love how Shelby is full on crazy! This girl goes a million miles a minute. She is constantly on the move between sports, choir, friends, dance, chimes, you name it -- this girl does it. And not only is she involved in a ton, but she EXCELS at all of them. Her above average abilities make me choose to sit in a cold hockey rink when it's already below zero outside! Another top of all of this, Shelby is just a fun, free spirit. It takes a lot to knock this girl down. Happy Birthday, Shelbs!

Thankful November: Day 1

I'm going to try to hop back on the Blog-bandwagon by doing a daily "thankful" post this month. I can already tell it's a bit ambitious, seeing as how the first post is already late! Oh well. Here goes.

Day 1: 11-1-11 (I'm a number geek and this just makes my mind soar! Pretty sure my students were sick of hearing about how cool it was yesterday. They will hate me come 11-11-11!)

I'm thankful for...Becca!

Talk about a great cousin. This girl just blows my mind with her thoughtfulness and selflessness. She's grown up in a family of all boys. And we are talking full-blown, deer-hunting, heart-eating, full-out wrestling boys. But she holds her own. She even does the deer hunting business. When she's not out dueling with the men, she's in the kitchen baking or out shopping with the girls. Talk about well-rounded.

Today is Becca's 15th birthday. And for gifts we like to exchange incredibly ugly Christmas ornaments, and this year I found the perfect one. Check this puppy out. (Our only rule is that it must sparkle and contain feathers!) I can't wait to see her next weekend and for her to add that guy to her collection!

Thankful Thursday...

***Capital Square - Downtown Madison. Although this place is now chalked up and filled with posters, this place is still very beautiful. I especially love Wednesday nights during the summer for their concerts. The place fills and it turns into a great place for people watching -- which I love!

***Open windows and fresh air.

***Homemade Salsa. YUM!

***An awakened love for reading -- thank you Karen Kingsbury!

***Walking with friends.

***A sister who I get to see this weekend as she rocks her roll as a bridesmaid at our dear friend's wedding!

***Tomorrow's lunch date with a sweet friend and her daughter!

***A weekend away before I have to work over 35 hours at the Family Vid next week -- Oui!

What are you thankful for today???

Friday Five - 5 Random Favorites

It appears that I am getting very good at posting on Friday's for the Friday Five, but I am lacking on the other days of the week. Maybe I need to come up with an alliteration theme for each day. Feel free to give a shout out if you have any good ideas!

Today, I thought I would share with you some random favorite things.

1. Favorite Blog - While I do enjoy me some P-dub, my go-to-can't-miss-a-post blog is Katie over at Marriage Confessions. She is down right hilarious, PLUS she has such a great and genuine heart. I just love how deeply she shares. Oh and she has two of the cutest little kiddos -- Bean Man and Gracie-Girl! So, if you haven't checked her out, DO IT!
2. Favorite Appliance - Weird huh? Well, I recently received an Iced Tea Maker from my parents. It's a whole lot of wonderful! It's an understatement to say that I love sun tea. (I just returned from a 5 week vacation visiting the parents in Nebraska, we went through at least 1 gallon of tea per day -- we're tea people, but it must be straight up...no lemon, no sugar!) The problem is I have a spider-infested patio off of my wee-bit-sketchy apartment, so I don't enjoy putting my jar outside in such conditions. This Iced Tea Maker is just the ticket.

3. Favorite Author/Book Series - Remember how I told you that I got rid of my cable? It's going great so far, mostly because now I can read! I've always enjoyed reading, but lately it's almost consuming me and that's because I'm reading the Baxter Family Series by Karen Kingsbury. If you are any sort of fan of Christian Fiction, pick these up. You won't be disappointed!
4. Favorite Aunt - Okay, so I really don't play favorites. She is just my favorite aunt right now because I haven't seen her in over a year and she is coming to visit in just a few short weeks and I am beyond excited. My Aunt Desi is wonderful. A wonderful mom, a christian wife, a beautiful friend. Without a doubt, one of my biggest role models. I loved when we lived a mere hour away from each other, but last year they moved all the way to Washington, and now I miss her something fierce. I can't wait to see her!
5. Favorite Song - This changes almost by the minute, but for the last week it has stayed the same. It's not a new song, in fact, I've known it for quite some time. However, last week we sang this song at our VBS and every time I had chills and tears from watching those beautiful children sing and do the actions for this song. Now, I just can't stop listening to it!

Friday Five: Things I Love About My Sister

This coming Saturday will mark the end of my 4th week of being back in Nebraska to visit for the summer. On Monday, I will try to locate all of my belongings and start the trek back to Wisconsin. These last 4 weeks have been spent at home doing a whole slew of things, all of which have been spent with my little sister, Johanna, at my side. So, I figured as a good bye to home, I would give her the spotlight for my Friday Five!

(Update -- just snapped last night post showers because I realized I still needed a picture for this post! Oh boy...)

1. Her Laugh. No joke, this girl has got one crazy laugh. It usually involves her snorting and ending up on the floor, which just makes everything even more hilarious.

2. Her Gentle Spirit. Johanna has always been the sweet girl who will do everything she can to make sure she doesn't hurt someone else. In our house of 5 siblings, she was always the peacemaker and never once took sides.

3. Her Diva-ness. While she is a sweetheart to her core, this girl can rock some serious "Diva-ness," especially if she is lacking in sleep. The good part is that it's turned into the running joke now, and she just laughs it off when we call her on it! Last week I scored a silicone bracelet which reads "DIVA" so, of course, I needed to snatch it up for her, but the best part is that she actually wears it! Love her.

4. Her Nicknames. I love nicknames. However, I only like nicknames that come for the original name. Johanna has so many and I love that she answers to all of them even in public! Things like -- Jo-Jo, Jo-Johanna, Joj, Jo, Hannah-Jo, Jo-Be, and the list just goes on!

5. Her Love of Home. Johanna has always been the one who struggles with being away from home the most. Her first 2 years of attending camp, she bawled every night, even though my mom was a cook, I was a counselor, and 2 other siblings were also campers. She just missed being at home. Now that she attends school in Eau Claire -- 10 hours away, this girl is known for having a ROUGH time transitioning back into being away from home. While a big part of it comes back to missing mom and dad, I think the things she misses the most come back to just being in her home environment. I love that she loves home!

Friday Five: Favorite TV Shows

In approximately 10 days, I will be no longer have Dish. This means that my biggest form of entertainment will be gone. Over the last 2 years, I have found quite a few TV shows to watch. (read: become addicted to) I decided to get rid of Cable/Dish for a few reasons. 1 - Money (Doesn't it always come back to money???) 2 - Lifestyle (I feel like I need to find other ways to occupy my extra time)

Therefore, in honor of my last few days as a TV watcher, I thought I would share with everyone my current favorite shows.

NOTE: These are in no particular order....as that would have been way too tough for my analytical-self!

1. Dancing With The Stars
I love this show in so many ways! It never fails, my favorite star is never the one to actually win and there is always one who makes it to the finals that is not a great dancer, but I still love it! I think this might be one of the few shows I will continue to follow online!

2. Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice

I have been watching Grey's since the beginning and I might love the spin off of Private Practice even more than I like Grey's. Although, I will be happy to not have to watch Addison's crazy drama anymore!

3. The Bachelor / The Bachelorette
A-D-D-I-C-T-I-N-G! Oh boy. Every season I tell myself I'm not going to watch and next thing I know I'm hooked! It doesn't help that one of my best friends, Megan, and I like to share notes and thoughts each season. Ali's season I even went so far as to to take ACTUAL notes on each of the guys -- pathetic? Yes. But still so wonderful!

4. Biggest Loser
I just love me some Bob and Jillian. Plus there is always one person that I just fall in love with each season!

5. One Tree Hill
This is another show that I've been watching since it started. Each week, they find something else crazy to happen and yet I still come back to find out more!

What about you? Any favorite TV shows?