thanksgiving 2013

last saturday our home was filled with friends for our annual friendsgiving. our little house was filled with the sound of little feet and toddler voices. the quiet laugh between friends catching up. the clinking of plates and passing dishes. the low roar of multiple conversations. and the quiet moments with full bellies. 

it was a good sweet day.

 

today we're spending time with family. my family for lunch. G's family for dinner. it's a long day but we're so grateful to have today with them. i thought i'd just pop in to remember some of the many things i'm thankful for. 

...

our little house so full of love

family that will always stick by us

friends that love to the end

animal babies that fill our hearts and drive us nuts

quiet nights at home

our church that we serve with and worship with

celebrating new marriages and new babies

most of all today i'm thankful for grace that makes life sweet and worthwhile and meaningful

...

i hope your thanksgiving is full of love and laughter. i hope you can find gratefulness and joy whatever your circumstances may be. 

type a

last week was full of errands, work, homework, commitments, and just life. by friday afternoon i was totally exhausted and feeling a bit overwhelmed.

some might say i'm type a. i say a is for awesome.

the weekend was also full of more homework, errands, church, commitments, and life. and i was dreading it.

so saturday morning i took a break from all the things i had to do and had the privilege of shooting some christmas photos of my friends' babycakes. you may remember them from their pregnancy christmas shoot last year.

basically we transformed the empty "dining room" of my house into a makeshift photo studio. complete with christmas tree and lights. consider this the sneak peek. you'll have to wait until closer to christmas to see more.

the weekend was busy and hard and exhausting. i took the most epic nap sunday afternoon and pretty much woke up feeling like i had been drugged. but it was also one of the best weekends. full of God's grace and mercy and power.

i can't even begin to tell you what an awesome weekend i had at church. i can't write out in words the joy and blessing of witnessing so many people give their hearts to Jesus. i can't express to you how humbled i am to have served alongside my church as they walked with people to meet Jesus for the first time.

every week won't be hard. every weekend won't be overflowing with activity. but this past weekend was also a gift. and i don't want to forget baby smiles through my photo lens or the look on people's faces as they realized they were loved by God.

birth

the only thing i wanted for my birthday was tickets to the UGA vs. AppState game. i think that i should be given a cookie for asking to go to a football game for my birthday.

i am actually a big Georgia fan. i am not a fan of SEC football in general...i'm from north carolina and i bleed carolina blue. but anyone that can beat the Florida Gators has my vote. Gators = no bueno. 

G was smart enough to get tickets near the AppState band in the visitor's section. and even though we were surrounded by red, it was nice to hear our band play our fight song. Go... Fight...

this is App's mascot, Yosef Mountaineer. he was twerking and running around like a crazy person and i had to chase down this poor person in the over-sized head for this picture. and it was worth it.

UGA is in Athens. Georgia. i'm sure it's not as awesome as Athens, Greece, but it is a cool college town. we parked behind this local coffee bean roasting company. and of course, i made G pause to play model.

and then i played model for G. in my youth sized shirt. i still rocked it.

G and i were both on band the day after the game at our church, so we had to head straight home. but we made a pit stop at P. F. Chang's for birthday dinner. o. m . g. i know it's a chain restaurant and not very hipster of me. but seriously, as an asian person i feel qualified to say that P. F. Chang's is so yummy.

basically. i had an amazing birthday. thanks to G. and my family. and my friends. i am so blessed and so thankful for all the awesome people in my life who love on me and celebrate the highs with me and stand in the lows with me. 

thank you for the best ever start to a new year of life. crushed it.

it's been one week

this #thankfulthursdays every day in november thing is really helping me realize i have a. lot. to be thankful for.

just in case you haven't been following me on instagram (alovesg), i thought i'd post a little recap of what i've been thankful for so far this month.

day one

a husband not participating in "No Shave November". beards = no beuno.

day two

an early birthday present from my frand.

day three

my view from my street

day four

a chance to go back and keep going

day five

driving to work with the sunrise

day six

a snuggle buddy while the husband was away

what are YOU thankful for? post your #thankfulthursdays posts along with me every day this month on facebook, twitter, and instagram. it's never too late to join in and get thankful! perhaps your post will even make this super famous blog. 

fire

I am a summer girl. A summer girl and a city girl but alas summer is finally fading here in North Carolina. Even though I already miss summer, there is something really beautiful about how the afternoon light makes the changing leaves look like the trees are on fire.

I may not get to live in the city. Or in perpetual summer. But I'm grateful for the big maple tree in my backyard that glows yellow and orange like flames.

And um. G may not have expressly permitted me to post the above photo featuring the insides of his nose. But maybe he doesn't read the blog and he'll never know?

Moving on. I've never been a big fan of Autumn. But this year, as I'm challenging myself to be more thankful for the things I've got going on, I'm going to be thankful for a husband who will begrudgingly be my model and for trees that look like fire.

Let's end with a random bit, shall we? Man photos. Hands and fingers totally in the pocket or thumbs poking out as seen above? I think it's totally strange to have a picture where both hands are shoved completely inside pockets. But perhaps I'm wrong. What do you think?

orphan

November is adoption awareness month. Adoption is a topic that I am passionate about partly because I am adopted, but mostly because I truly believe that all followers of Jesus are called to support adoption.

Why do I think all Christians should love and support and fight for adoption? Because if you love Jesus, you are adopted. He promised to adopt you. But that promise wasn't just for you. It was for everyone. Because even those of us born into big families are born as orphans. Separated from our Father.

Today is "Orphan Sunday". A day to shine light on the needs of orphaned children all around the world. There are children in your neighborhood that need a forever family. But adoption is only part of the solution. A big part of rescuing orphans is keeping biological families together and keeping kids in the homes and communities they were born into.

What I'm saying is you don't have to adopt a child to participate in adoption. You can pray for and financially support a family trying to bring a child home. You can support foster care programs around the world. You can pray for kids with families that need to fight harder to stay together.

Being an orphan is part of my story. Adoption is part of who I am. But it's also part of who you are, whether you know it or not. And there is a beautiful blessing in store for you when you participate in adoption and orphan care.