RaNdOm ThuRsdAY

Random thoughts on this rainy Thursday ...

* Tomorrow I'm going to Women of Faith with my girlfriends and I CANNOT wait! I am most excited to hear Angie Smith from Bring the Rain speak! Woot Woot!

* I started exercising again this week. I know you probably think I'm crazy but I get so busy sometimes and often go for weeks without making time for it! So this week I'm back at it and gosh am I ever SORE! Why do I do this to myself?! Why don't I just keep at it consistently so I won't be torturing myself whenever I get back at it?

* I ordered my Christmas card pictures this week! Yep, getting a jump on things early this year!

* I am also planning {hoping} to get most of my shopping done in the next few weeks. I would LOVE to have all my shopping done before December ... is it possible?! We shall see!

* For those of you who don't know me personally, or are not my Facebook friend ... I had BIG news this week ... I am now officially an Independent Consultant for BLESSINGS UNLIMITED! It's an amazing company and I am SO super excited to be a part of it. I first heard about it through the blog The Nesting Place. I am already planning a couple of announcement gatherings and hoping to set up my own webpage soon so people can order online if they wish. I will keep y'all posted!

* This time change thing is a blessing and a curse for me. I never used to be a morning person but the older I get I find that I definitely thrive most in the mornings and fade quickly in the evenings. So the positives of the time change are that I'm getting up earlier - but at least it's BRIGHT and sunny when I get up and not pitch black. And I'm going to bed earlier - but the bad thing is I'm simply EXHAUSTED every evening lately! One night the girls went to bed at 9:15, I went to bed RIGHT after them at 9:30 cause I couldn't keep my eyes open and I literally had lights out before it was even 10:00 yet! For me, that's early! I just could NOT stay awake. And my poor hubby is a night person, so I try so hard to stay up and spend time with him in the evening, but lately I just can't cause I'm way too tired. haha!

* Do any of you follow Ann Voskamp or Kelly Stamps' blogs? They are in Ecuador this week serving with Compassion International and I am almost in tears seeing every post. SO many children living in poverty in the world. It's so easy to take all we have for granted or even at times complain and become discontent. When really, we are RICH compared to many people in the world! One thing we are trying to teach our girls is the importance of helping others and giving generously of all that we're blessed with. Two fantastic ways you can do this are: Supporting a child or children through Compassion International or World Vision. Through World Vision we also have the ability to purchase extra gifts at this time of year like providing a chicken or a goat for a family. Seems like such a simple thing but it can be life changing for these families and the cost is VERY minimal to us. The other thing we love to do this time of year is putting together a shoe box through Operation Christmas Child. My girls love to go to the store and pick out items for a girl who is about the same age as them, fill up the shoe box and send it out. If you go to their webpage and see the absolute JOY on these children's faces you can't help but wanting to provide such a simple gift for them! I think it's SO good for our kids to see that Christmas isn't all about gimme, gimme, gimme. It's about sharing our love and resources with those less fortunate than us. If we can afford to spend hundreds of dollars on our kids at Christmastime, we can certainly give to others as well.

* And lastly, I have been suckered back in to my flavored coffee creamer addiction ... I just can't help it at this time of year when they offer such yummy flavors for the holidays. Well, if that's my worst addiction I guess it's not so bad!

Have a wonderful weekend!