Thankful Thursday #237!

"Every time I think of you,
I give thanks to my God.
Every time I pray for all of you,
I do it with joy."
~Philippians 1:3-4

Today, I am thankful for:

1.  Kristin Michelle, an excellent mom and my fav cousin and awesome friend, who celebrates her 40th birthday tomorrow!!  Super thankful for four decades of shared memories together, including loads of family get-togethers, summer swims, making cheesy music videos, one trip to CityWalk, countless Station walks, Italian meals (and BBQ and CF brunches), family weddings and birthdays and funerals, and lots of meaningful talks! ❤  I hope this has been a great last-day-of-her-30s, and hope it's a wonderful new decade ahead!

2.  Having enough downtime this year for my soul to breathe and my spirit to really connect with God and to feel more like myself again in lots of ways!

3.  Finally being an official Club Pilates member!  I did my first Cardio Sculpt class last night, and it was fun and challenging!

4.  Judge Allen Levi - I loved his first book (Theo of Golden, which he wrote at age 68), and I so appreciate his humility and sincerity and writing advice and Spotify playlist (of beautiful instrumental songs that he used while writing, and now I have been, too)!

5.  Nicklas Rossner, my running coach! =)  He's encouraging and gets to the point with solid practical advice!  After watching several of his YouTube videos, I paid for his Half-Marathon Training Program (did my first threshhold test yesterday - rough times, but I'm excited to push myself in this season).  

6.  These mini-donuts and the white sheet cake I'll be baking for the 4th tomorrow!  Because balance. lol  (This was late June.  It's very new, but working in 150 grams of protein per day is naturally helping me to eat healthier now, and I find that pretty hopeful and exciting!)

7.  Excited and grateful for my coming cruise to Alaska, a Life List item I've been dreaming of for several years now... and open to any other opportunities God may have in store! =)

8.  Katherine Claire, who turned 5 years old today!!  HBD to my adorable honorary niece! ❤

9.  This pic with Parker Elizabeth from this very day three years ago!  (She was helping me hold the umbrella at the very loud and very hot air show, and seeing her presh little hand and headphones made me smile today!)

10. Finally, I'm thankful I finished scoping my case in time to write this blog, and I'm thankful for 18 YEARS of blogging, (as of tomorrow, which is now two minutes away).  #Blogiversary 
*It still makes me laugh that the very first words I ever published here were an Austin Powers quote. lol

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Karli Marie (38)

After much back and forth about a Saturday morning LifeGroup that ended up being cancelled, I joined my second fam in Tulsa for a delightful brunch at the new Cheever's Cafe to celebrate Karli's 38th Birthday!!

Miss Paige Evelyn waving hello (top right) ❤

We split the carrot cake and chocolate cake - both pretty great!

And I got the French toast with caramelized peaches and whipped cream - yum!

We had a great waitress named Brooke, and everyone enjoyed their food!

I did some shopping at Utica Square then met the Wilsons and Weatherfords at AMC for The Sheep Detectives... I got to hold Paige again for the first 20 minutes or so, then she got the hiccups and it was very upsetting for her, so I passed her right back to Karli. lol

Sweetness sleeping peacefully in her "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" shirt! ❤

HBD to Karli Marie, and I'm thankful as always for a light and fun day with the Wilson fam!!

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If We Don't Give Up

This card made me laugh! =)

Some Biblical encouragement for today:

Alaska cruise prep has begun - get excited (including my first and hopefully last pair of hiking boots - lol)!

Goals:

New dress for my cruise - yay!

A personalized collage of 2026 Rise club team pics for Kyndal Faith and each of her teammates, created and wrapped by Mom!!  Loving all the creativity and generosity and fun color here!

And here's the awesomesauce chalkboards Rach made for each of them!!

Seeing this made me happy - pretty good casting!

Yay for meeting another neighbor today - I picked up a belated bday treat for Millie (the 6-year-old leukemia survivor who lives just down the street) and wrote her family a nice card!  Unfortunately, their cute little dog was trying to escape when they opened the front door, so we didn't get to chat for long. lol

I had my first workout with Solid Rock Personal Training yesterday... rough times, but the coaches are great, and there's lots of support in the group workouts!  I'm enjoying my free week and probably going to sign up as a member when it's over!

And last but not least, HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY to Miss Parker Elizabeth today... her singing happy birthday to herself in her room at the end is my favorite thing!! lol

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Paige Evelyn

Yesterday, I got to meet Miss Paige Evelyn Wilson,
my new honorary niece and Mini-BFF! ❤ 

Chet sent this pic from her BIRTHday ❤

Parker's first time meeting and holding her - ADORABLE!!

She was excited to hold her again when I was there on day 2!  These sibling pics make me happy!!

Three generations. ❤

I wore pink for the occasion!

The Wonderful Wilson Fam, party of five (plus one in Heaven)! ❤

Looking forward to the shower next month (I'm helping Debbie Robinson host that) - this is our FB event pic when the name was still TBD.  They decided on Paige soon after she was born, then the middle name was officially chosen on 3-14.

She was delivered via C-section on Friday the 13th - look at her all swaddled and cozy in her floral blanket!  ...Chettles told me they had a board for me to write on, so I was practicing for a much larger chalkboard, then laughed when I saw this.  No space for calligraphy spins or fun hand lettering, but still very cute!! ❤

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Hope Floats

  The rest of February was mostly relaxed.  I stand by my decision to take a break from school and not put extra pressure on myself to set new goals through January and February (of course, I did technically set dating goals in that season, but that's okay).

I felt some serious burnout with the counseling profession and schoolwork at the end of last year, along with sadness and confusion over what God is up to and what I should do with my desire for a family.

I don't have a lot of answers at this point, but I am grateful for the resilient nature of Kingdom hope.  For the knowledge that "when we go through deep waters," God is with us and for us.  The verse does not say if, but when.  No one gets through life unscathed, but we get to choose our response and whether we anchor our souls in the hope of Heaven.

* * * * * * *

This was encouraging for me - believe in your ability to figure things out - YES!

And now, a couple lighter memes:

The Mini Miss K is being bullied by a petty former Coach in the club volleyball world.  It's absurdly poor leadership, and it is not okay, and I hope there is systemic change there.

In the meantime, I hope she knows she is loved and supported and valued and worth fighting for!

This = her Rise team taking silver in a Valentine's Day tournament!

Piersyn, Emma, Ady, Olivia, Jaslyn, Coach Kate, Aniston, Kyndal, Kennedy, and Jaylah!

Aunt Lindsey, Miss K, and her Mom!

Fierce serving power!!

The sassiness and leadership are strong with her! ❤

Valentine's Day is centered right between Rach and my birthday, and it also happens to be K-Faith's half-birthday! lol

Speaking of Valentine's day, here's a throwback to our 2010 Johnny Carino's dinner, or "the lonely hearts club dinner" as JEM calls it. lol  I'm sure Chettles and Natertot were entertaining for me, along with Sarah and Jeffrey close by.

Mmkay that's all for this post!

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