it’s quiet in this house.  the rarity of that makes it all the more priceless when it happens.  candles are lit and many curl up on a couch, chairs, with blankets while watching Kung Fu Panda.

cranberry bread is made, sweet potatoes have been prepared, two apple pies sit on the buffet, and two pumpkin pies are in the making.  the beginnings of Thanksgiving Day at my simple yet wonderful house are the best.

i ate sushi tonight and watched while it was prepared at my kitchen table.  there are five korean girls staying at my house tonight and spending this wonderful american holiday with us.  whenever we’ve spent Thanksgiving under the red roof there has always been extras at our table.  i’m really thankful that i grew up like this — always sharing, always opening up our door to others, always ready to set another plate at the table.  that.  i like that.

i’m thankful for many things.  one of them?  a friend who encourages me to continue trusting, having faith, and encourages me to be the woman that i’m supposed to be.  and the best part?  that friend will be a brother-in-law in one month.

oh.  and i’m thankful for the most talented sister ever.

the Julia Marie Band is awesome.  vote for her to win.  vote every single day.

there are a few things that i just don’t understand…

1.  why people who are trying to be musicians think it’s cool to loosen the strap of their guitar or bass so much that the body of the instrument lays against their knees.  do you know how uncool you look trying to strum chords/pluck notes when your fingers have a hard time reaching the strings?  maybe i shouldn’t say anything — after all, i’m just a pianist and saxophonist (okay. i’m not actually a “saxophonist” since i rather rot at that, but i can toot enough notes out to play in our churches holiday orchestra every christmas) and probably don’t know anything about this.

but i can’t get around the fact that i know how ridiculous it looks and that i’ve been told by those in my family (who are guitarist and bassist) that it’s dreadful technique.  so do me a favor and tighten your strap.

2.  why it takes frozen apples so long to thaw.  what started out as a “oh, all i have to do is make the apple pie filling and pop them in the oven” has turned into “oh, all i have to do is wait until Jesus comes for my apples to thaw, not get any sleep tonight, and at that point when dead people start rising from graves and trumpets start making such a racket we won’t care about the apple pies for thanksgiving and my staying up all night will be pointless.”

please, just thaw!

3.  why cookies never taste as good when you make them.  i didn’t even eat hardly any dough this time.  but there they sit, i’ve eaten half a cookie, and am not very interested in finishing it.  and i thought i was in the mood for cookies.

and for that matter, why getting into bed never feels as good when you make it or toast is never buttered quite right when you butter it, and a movie is never as much fun to watch when you pick out which film to view.

4.  why my phone is silent when i want it to be busy and busy when i want it to be silent.

5.  and why football has become a staple part of a holiday that’s all about thankfulness.  it’s fun — i enjoy it, but i have always had a hard time seeing the connection.  and it must be much harder to practice thankfulness when your team has just lost, right?

or why we stuff ourselves.  i’m never thankful for the food after committing my once a year sin of gluttony.  i moan and groan about having to move and clear dishes from a table after putting more food into my stomach than one does at the flap-jack-attack at our local diner.

and i’m sure there is more, but i’ll try to finish my pies now.

the first sentence is always the hardest. there are so many things i could write about — so many things i want to tell you — but i get stuck considering which subject to choose and the endless possibilities for a starter.

and i still don’t know…

i could tell you about how i thought i broke the commercial dishwasher at church yesterday. but it wasn’t actually broken (it would have made such an exciting story if it was) and is still in great working condition. my life is so boring.

or

i could tell you about how this morning as i sat at my desk, i spilled hot chocolate on my lap while one was asking her a question and another was asking me a question and a pastor was wondering about membership files and applications and my phone was beeping from texts and a boy just wanted to know how my day was going and i was quite confused as to who to answer, when to clean myself up, how to appease them all, and then a minute later, like a snap of your fingers, they were all gone. and i wasn’t so confused anymore. i cleaned my jeans and then looked through an excel file to answer questions and then sent a text and it was all good.

or

i could tell you that every morning at 7:30 two of my sisters, my mumsie, and i all gather in our family room and pop in a dvd of some psychotic workout instructor and “copy the tv”, as bronwyn calls it. we look like crazy women — especially since two of the four wear pajamas with sneakers and it looks like i’m going for the “stuck my hand in an electric socket” hairdo (the joys of rolling out of bed to workout at home) and this woman has us doing these exercises that do work (we sweat and our sore after), but they’re strange. really, really strange.

and i could tell you that i’ve slept through our workout time the last two mornings. i know — the world’s biggest slacker. i’m.much.too.tired.

or

i could tell you that someone commented on how happy i still am, a week later after beginning a relationship. it didn’t dawn on me that i shouldn’t still be — isn’t that normal? i’m not naive — i realize the novelty will wear off at some point, but shouldn’t there always be excitement, joy, a sense of wonderfulness? perhaps i’m too much of an idealist. and perhaps i am naive.

or

i could tell you that after comments about my saggy bottom jeans, the pants that are always creeping down, the skirt that just looks sloppy, and the frustration of wearing shirts down to my knees but still not having them be long enough, i’ve decided that something has got to be done. being afeared everytime one bends over is just trying on ones nerves. so i must buckle down and purchase some pants that fit me or go on a diet of donuts, box macaroni & cheese, cookies, cake, ice cream, hot chocolate, and coffee. hmm… i’m thinking the food sounds good.

or

i could tell you that Jesus is good. so good. i could tell you that this martyr complex victim struggles to grasp that He really would give her good things… things that she wanted, but it’s true. He’s not someone who asks that you sacrifice all and only gives what you always dreaded. He asks that we sacrifice all, that our focus be on Him, that we delight in Him, His ways, His will, but then we’re blessed. because He loves us. oh so much. the Cross would have been enough for me to decide to hand myself over to Him, but His love and blessing extend beyond the act of His Son dying for me.

that is amazing.

there are some things in life that are just too wonderful.  and i’m so very thankful for them.

i loved to pretend as a young girl.  but who doesn’t?  every girl wants to be a princess, wants to be a ballerina, wants to be the orphan annie, wants to be a girl out in the prairie, right?  the hours spent going through our box of dress-up to find different clothes just so i could pretend i was someone that i wanted to be in my young girl dreams… they were lovely.

and what’s more lovely?  when i come home from work to see my niece wearing a ballerina dress i wore once upon a time as well.

my beautiful dancer girl.

a face that is too loveable.

and cheeks that are too kissable.

these are some of the things i’m thankful for.

we baked and talked and cooked and talked and gathered and talked and baked more and talked and chopped up apples and talked and put together piles of things needing to go with us and talked and packed up cars and talked and forgot the couscous and talked and called home to get forgotten couscous and talked and set tables and talked and arranged rooms and talked and made beautiful a house and talked and celebrated the coming wedding of the third daughter of this family while talking more.

(my family talks no matter what they’re doing)

another sister is getting married.  and it became real today when i stood in front of over forty women/ladies/girls/females/whatever age category you’d title yourself under and welcomed them to a bridal shower for her.  she then proceeded to open up all those house necessities and i couldn’t quite grasp the idea that she’ll be making herself a home elsewhere in a little over a month.

weird.

change is abounding in my life right now.  and i’m madly trying to keep up with it.

some people hate it.  some people love it.  i don’t mind.  and since this is my blog and this is high on my list of thankfulness, i figured i’d just go for it.

i’m thankful for a someone today… and yesterday… and probably tomorrow.  yes, that’s right folks, louissa’s done gone grown up on you and has herself a special someone.  i’m thankful.

thankful for him:

my best bud as of last night.

last week i finally bought sneakers. and i finally kept the pair that i purchased. after having much trouble sneaker shopping i decided the only way i was going to actually do this thing was if i humbly asked for help from those who are more experienced in such areas. i did so and i successfully purchased a pair of sneakers.

i know. so not sinclair. and you might be thinking that they’re pretty darn ugly as well.

BUT

after keeping them in their box for a week and glancing at them every now and then, unable to actually admit to the fact that i bought sneakers that might not look like what i usually wear but are good, i finally took them out and wore them today. and they’re so comfortable! after years of disdain for all those “everyday sneaker wearers” i suddenly understand why they do such things. they feel good! they’re light — i don’t feel like i have shoes on! they have good support!

and i make these dorky shoes look good. heck yes, that’s right.

and i’m thankful for that.

today i’m thankful for…

- hot chocolate. i love hot chocolate.

- pictures of the newest addition to the family. it stinks that he’s a six hour flight away but the regularly updated pictures do just fine until december when i officially meet him.

- a weekend so full of good things that i didn’t have time to keep up with my thankfulness.

- that my house is still the white house with a red roof. the color of the roof was going to change this past spring and i was quite distraught. but it’s red still. and that makes me very happy.

today i’m thankful for…

- new passwords being sent to my inbox when i forget what it is.

- songs like this.  ahh.  happiness.

- the Message translation.  i like reading it.

today i’m thankful for…

the wonderful people around me.

people who don’t mind my cold feet up against them.
people who run out the door when i’m leaving just to give me a hug.
people who let me steal their clothes when my piles get low.
people who give kisses (everyone should have little people around them).
people who help with menu planning for a bridal shower.
people who make me coffee and know how much sugar and cream i like.
people who glow because of their love for our Savior.
people who endure listening to the same song on repeat because i’m in a rut.
people who watch over me, protect, and love me (i have the bestest parents).
people who send me texts just to say they love me.

yes, the wonderful people in my life.