Thanksgiving thankfuls

Happy Thanksgiving! This is truly one of my favorite holidays, aside from the 4th of July. Christmas is wonderful, but I like the 'idea' of Thanksgiving better, at least as far as the commercialized stuff goes - no gifts, no insane shopping and rushing around...just giving thanks surrounded by good food and good people.

Here's a brief list of what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving:

• My heath - I'm so thankful that I have the blessing of being able to get up and move whenever I please, as well as work out in a way that will hopefully keep me around for years to come!
• Tyler - Our first Thanksgiving together we were just "talking" and he took me on a date to the Lights On at Utica Square - where he didn't even hold my hand, by the way. :) Our second Thanksgiving we were dating seriously, and now our third Thanksgiving we are engaged to be married in almost 2 months. He truly makes me a better person on a daily basis, and it warms my heart that I have many, many more Thanksgivings to share with him and our wonderful families.
  
• My parents - I could go on for years why I'm thankful for them both. They've not only made me who I am, but accepted me for what I'm not. I've fallen short of the person they've raised me to be so many times, and they just keep on supporting and loving me no matter what. They've made so many sacrifices for me...so much so that a simple 'thank you' doesn't come close to the gratitude I'd like to express. They fill my life with so much love - I can't wait to see them share that love with my little niece or nephew, their grandchild. :)
• My employment
• Being able to finish college
• My future niece or nephew - I love him/her madly already. June, hurry up!
  
• My freedom - Without it I wouldn't be able to go where I want, do what I want, or even blog what I want! I'm so thankful for the men and women who sacrifice their time with their families and even their lives to make life the best it can be for me.
• Our future house - It's kind of a complete wreck right now...but it's OUR complete wreck and I'm thankful for it all the same.

That is just a drop in the bucket of all of the things I thank God for on a daily basis, not just on this one day a year. Now it's time to convince myself that fat grams and calories don't count on Thanksgiving, and go enjoy the wonderful meal my family has worked hard to prepare.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Smoke, roaches, and mold - oh my!

Yesterday was an exciting day for the fiancé and I...we finally got to go inside and look at our future home! My parents own a house in Owasso and have been renting it to the same tenants for almost 5 years. When we started searching for places to live, God allowed a lot of things to fall perfectly into place and we were able to secure my parent's little rent house as our future home after we're married.

The tenants moved out yesterday so me, Tyler, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law all rushed down to the property to see the house's condition. Unfortunately, the tenants took horrible care of the place the entire time they lived there, so we knew going into it that it would need work. Little did we know, "needs work" is a complete understatement! Aside from all the trash and junk they left, the house wreaks of stale cigarette smoke. The walls are cracked and yellowed, the cabinets are falling off, the stove was so caked with grease and remnants of food you could barely tell it was supposed to be white. I'll spare you the details about the roaches and the rotting bathtub and bathroom floor. Needless to say, the house will be receiving an almost complete remodel.

Honestly, it was super difficult for me to remain positive and try to see past the house's current state. Tyler is such a glass-half-full kind of guy, so every time I pointed out a negative, he was right behind me with a positive comment. It was uplifting to see his excitement about our little house, not for what it looks like now, but for what it will become. I think I'll need to see a little progress on the renovations before I can share in that excitable feeling. :)

Regardless of how it looks, Operation Love Nest Overhaul is officially in motion and we are that much closer to starting our lives together. Woo!

P.S.-I was going to post pictures of the house, but I decided it'll be fun to do a before and after post when the house is completed. Believe me, you won't want to miss that one!

48 hour cleanse: UPDATE

Lately, several people have inquired about how my full body cleanse went. After I got over the shock that someone (other than Tyler) actually reads this, I agreed that I should do an update - even though the results were less than I had hoped for.

Quite simply, the cleanse was rough. The way it works is you drink two tablespoons of the mixture with 8 ounces of water, 8 times a day for 48 hours. You are allowed as much water as you want, but only handful sized portions of fruit or vegetables. No alcohol, no caffeine, ect. Just as I suspected, the no caffeine part is what did me in. Big headache, sluggish/foggy mind feeling, tired as heck...all the classic symptoms of a caffeine withdrawal - definitely not convenient when you're trying to take a History test! Unfortunately, I didn't feel like the cleanse was accomplishing a whole lot aside from making me go to the bathroom a record setting amount - undoubtedly because I was drinking so much water! And despite my handfuls of fruit and veggies, there were several moments where I was certain I was dying of starvation.

In the end, my 48 hour cleanse ended up being more like a 27 hour cleanse. I finally broke down the following morning and ate breakfast and drank some coffee. It was sweet relief for not only my starving belly, but for those around me who were tired of listening to my whining. Sorry, Ty! You're such a trooper!

I'm glad I tried the cleanse, but it's definitely not for me. Our bodies need constant nourishment, not 2 gallons of water and a handful of baby carrots. :)

Let me start this off by admitting that my older sister Kendall and I weren't always the best of friends. However, I like to think our relationship when we were younger was relatively normal. It was filled with huge, dramatic fights about stealing one anothers clothes and/or jewelry, constant bickering, ect. The only reason I look back on those times with a smile is because our relationship could not be any more different today.

I was on my way home from work a few days ago, when I suddenly had an urge to see my sister. What started out as a quick visit turned into us sitting there talking about anything and everything. She showed me her most recent ultrasound pictures, I talked about the wedding plans, and we just chatted and laughed and enjoyed each others company for almost three hours. Soon after, my brother in law came home from work and joined in. Needless to say, I left their house with a heart full of love and a huge smile on my face. I am so happy that she and I made it through our silly teenage phase of hating each other for ridiculous reasons, and now we get to share the joys and trials of being adults (and wives!) together. She is an incredible person, amazing wife, and will soon be a terrific mother. This blog has no particular point, I just felt compelled to write about how much I love my dear sister. :)

In other news...as of today, we are down to the double digits! The wedding is 99 days away. Eeks! The invitations came in yesterday, which was more exciting than I thought it'd be. It's a little shocking to see our names on nice paper with fancy lettering! Also, we are about a month away from starting major renovations on our future house. It currently has tenants living in it until December 1st, but after they move out there will be installation of new cabinets, new carpet, new paint, an alarm system, new windows/doors, and ton of other things. We are so blessed that my parents (who own the house) are willing to go to such great lengths to make sure that our house is not just livable, but really nice!

I don't think I'll ever be able to fully express how grateful I am for all that everyone in my life does for not just me, but me AND the person I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with.