13. cute, happy younger siblings

14. a funny goalie

15. cute little notes

16. these vines that almost form a wall

17. weeds

18. gorgeous sunsets

19. an early birthday present from amanda. such a sweet thoughtful gift, it was one day hers.

ninetenagainagain

9. enjoying some skinny dip with garrett on a pleasant spring evening

10. flower vases in the window- especially arranged by bell : )

11. school nights with nail painting, chick fil a, a fine frenzy, and random dollar bills thrown my way

12. another pretty little flower. flowers really brighten up my days in the simplest way.

life is full of things to be grateful for

7. when outside looks green and semi hazy, but in an extraordinarily cheerful way. it's quite lovely.

8. satisfying a tiny bit of my intense desire to visit the city by driving around the outside of norfolk. love old buildings like this one

i've seen a few different people recording things they are thankful for on blogs and facebook. so i think i'll give it a try. i want to remember the little, everyday things that make me smile. so i'm going to be posting a series of 500 things i am thankful for. these might be things, people, sights, smells, etc. some will come with pics, others, well not so much. i hope this will help me to remember to look for ways to be more grateful and to complain less.

okay so the first few

1. the lights in the tree over our back porch

2. returning safely home from school today, although there was heavy traffic.

3. friday afternoons, hanging with chels and jake

4. late night, unexpected, talks with jap while she's crashing our house to spend

5. time to read psalms and comforts from the cross

6. flipflop weather



on another note, i was recently assigned a school project called random acts of kindness. the idea is that you perform a random kindness to someone you do not know. for the project, a friend and i bought pale buttery yellow daisies and crisp white daisies and placed them in glass vases. we then headed up to BAL, a building at ODU, and handed them out to a few random people in various offices. the ladies were surprised but eager to receive the little gift to brighten their offices. the men were a little less eager, but still accepted. it got me thinking of other things i could do to bless strangers.
there are a few janitors that i see frequently in the halls of odu buildings. i wanted to find a small way to bless some of them. i try to say hello and thank them whenever i see them, and they often seem shocked i would acknowledge them, which is sad in my opinion. i bought a few ghirardelli chocolate bars to give them the next time i passed by. today i had an opportunity to do so.
i passed a black lady, probably in her fifties, today in BAL. i said hello and thanked her for what she did and said i had bought the candy bar for her. she oohed and ahhed at the "fancy kind" and the rasberry filling. after exchanging names i talked to her for while just asking her questions. i learned she works to support her 11 year old granddaughter, whom she has custody of. she told me about her church and then as we were about to part ways said thanks again. she began to laugh and said she was going to brag to her fellow workers that she'd been given a gift. haha, she was so sweet and smiley.
i was very grateful for the opportunity and will be keeping Justine in my prayers. i hope to see her again soon!

celebrating/missing

yesterday marked the one year anniversary of Papa's journey to his eternal home, Heaven.

his life here was filled with hard work, as he invested a lot of time into his businesses. the only one i ever knew of was his furniture store, Furniture City. we loved to visit there and many happy memories are forever tucked within those warehouse like walls.

he loved to bless others. his generosity to countless people in need will never be forgotten. he was always quick to offer grocery/ gas money when we went to visit, and sent monthly checks to my mom just to help out. my mom said it was typical of him to drive by a bus station just to give away a twenty dollar bill to a needy person.

he loved sweets, especially werthers the last few years. you could always count on him having a pocket full of golden wrapped caramels. sometimes, when at the dillard house, he would finish his large dinner and explain how full he was. when asked if he wanted his dessert he'd say no. a few minutes later not only had he finished his own bowl of dessert, but as he was offered others, he quickly finished them all off. he loved anything sweet.

i loved hearing his stories about knocking a teacher, miss five by five, off her stool while she was teaching. he repeatedly told us about how he bought nanny a winter coat, since she had none and her family couldn't afford one, before they were even together. he laughed as he told about how he tripped at nanny's feet on their first date, a double date. he always said it was a real actual trip, and he looked up to see her looking down at him.

though him and nanny fought frequently, he told her almost nonstop how beautiful she was. he'd look at us and say "now this here is my sweetheart. she's the prettiest lady ever." there were faithful to each other, married over 65 years.

while we miss him here, it is so good to know he is with Jesus in heaven. he's running, laughing, and worshipping. and one day we will be reunited with him. what a joyful reunion that will be.

we love and miss you, but know you are in a better place.