Morning Realization

So I'm sitting at my desk. I'm going over documents and drawings to send to the customer, which is *oh* so exciting. I really want to take my shoes off (which I very often do), but we have international customers in the building, and I don't want to look silly. In my new desk setup, my feet are very visible to everyone who walks by me, and I am in a heavily trafficked area. I'm eating my fruit and yogurt parfait, complete with yummy granola sprinkles.

And I suddenly realize how incredibly blessed I am.

Really. I complain about this job (plenty), but I make a decent wage. I have health benefits. I get to carpool and save money on gas and tolls. I have the option to earn overtime. And I occasionally get a free sandwich (mmm, Jason's Deli).

I have the love of an amazing man. Brad is truly a blessing to me and to my family. He has a great family, whom we get to see soon. We are really developing similar passions; lately we have spent our free time studying wine, learning the regions and the varietals, how to pair with food, etc. And there is a pretty good chance that we are buying a house in the next few months!

I have wonderful friends. There is always someone who wants to watch a chick flick, grab a beer, obsess over Harry Potter, reminisce, go to an Astros game, go to the Chocolate Bar, play board games, or even put me in their portfolio. They bring me such joy in so many different ways.

I can spend a long time complaining. It is quite easy, most of the time, to feel heavy with burden. But all it takes is to sit back and really count your blessings, and your frustrated sigh turns into a giggle at somethign as simple as a text message.

I pray that you can sit back today and count your blessings. I promise you, they outweigh your burdens. Put down your stress about jobs, about relationships, about money, about weight, about time, and pick up the book.

IKEA

Glorious Venture

Brad and I drove around on Monday, looking at apartments and such, and we realized that we were really close to IKEA. After some adorable pleading on my part, we went over there and started our adventure. May I just state, for the record, that I LOVE IKEA!!! We had so much fun (more me than him, Im sure, but he was a good sport) just wandering around, drooling over cute, moderately priced furniture. I mentally decorated my non-existent apartment. But they didn't have Dr Pepper in the cafeteria, so Brad was less than 100% pleased. Haha, "I mean, who drinks Pepsi?!?"

Then, of course, like any good boyfriend he took me to the Chocolate Bar. Good chocolate covered strawberries are definitely the way to my heart.