SANTA SAYS...

ONLY 26 MORE DAYS UNTIL HE COMES TO TOWN! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Time is Here

It's finally here, everyone! I always think it is important to wait until after Thanksgiving to look forward to Christmas. It's necessary to stop and give thanks before looking forward to another big holiday. Well, it's that time!

One of my absolute favorite things about Christmas time is Sunny 93. This radio station plays Christmas music nonstop which I consider pretty awesome! On my family's way back from my grandparents' house this morning, we listened to Sunny 93. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey came on. Excitement? I think so! 

When my family and I walked into the house, our Christmas tree had been delivered. Every year since I was about 10 years-old, my family has gotten a real flocked Christmas tree. The smell of the tree and the flock is beautiful and can put anyone in the Christmas spirit! Today, my mom, sister, and I decorated the house while my brothers and dad went to the Egg Bowl (where Ole Miss got beat- still love you, Rebs).  We got a lot of the work done. This included putting the den tree completely up, putting our kitchen tree up (which we put all of the home-made ornaments on), putting the miniature trees up in all four kids bedrooms, and setting out random Christmas decorations. We had a great time and I loved getting to spend time with my mom and sister! 

So it goes without saying, I'm completely pumped about Christmas Time. It just seems to be in the air.  Everything from the decorations to the random temperature drop. However, let us remember the real reason for the season and reflect on what God has given us!

gratitude.

gratitude- the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

What an awesome Thanksgiving it has been! Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I'm always finding myself caught up in a "get-done" state of mind when I really need to sit back and realize what God has blessed me with - and show GRATITUDE.

So, as I said before, this has been a great week. I've so enjoyed getting to spend time with the people that mean the most to me. My family and I (dog included) all packed into our mini-van on Wednesday night and headed two-hours down the road to Mimi and Papaw's house. I love coming to visit them, simply because it's not everyday I get to see them, and my whole family just seems closer at their house. There isn't too much to do in the little town they live in, so we find ourselves in their living room just talking and catching up on things. I like that. On Thanksgiving morning, I woke up at a little after 8:00 to the smell of my Mimi cooking breakfast and 73 degree weather. -which was a disappointment that it was that hot on Thanksgiving morning. I was hoping more for 40 degree weather- My dad and I went for a jog at a little track that we found down the road from my grandparents house. When we came home, we got ready for lunch. My grandmother really outdid herself. She cooked turkey, dressing, ham, sweet potatoe casserole (my absolute fave!), green peas, watergate salad, sweet tea, rolls, and cream cheese pound cake. After that, we all took a Thanksgiving nap and I watched Sleepless in Seattle with my dog. Tomorrow, my parents and I are planning to go to a little antique and clothing store (I'm excited!) before the six Bouchillons head home on Saturday morning.

So what's gratitude? I've been thinking a lot about that lately. Gratitude is "readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness" for what has been given to you. God has blessed me with SO much- too much! Why wouldn't I WANT to live a life full of joy and thanks for what He has done? Thank you God for what you bless me with each day! Pictures to come soon!

Let's Get Together and Feel Alright

So here it is Thanksgiving week and there are so many things I have to be thankful for! God has blessed me in ways that I can't begin to describe or comprehend. One of the many things he has blessed me with is my friends. 

This week has also brought a lot of free time. Therefore, I've gotten a chance to be with my friends. Four friends that I'm so thankful for are Jenny Kate, Bethany, Ashlee, and Chandler.

The five of us met when we were in second grade at Harrisburg Baptist Church. I actually remember meeting each and every one of them. My family had just joined Harrisburg and I didn't know anybody. All four of them introduced themselves to me and it was great to know a few faces in a massive church. Not long after we all met, we found an awesome bond. However, over the years, between moving churches and the five of us not all going to the same school, we couldn't see each other all the time which was a huge bummer. In the summer of 2009, we hadn't been together in a long time. We found ourselves at Super Summer, a Baptist camp for teenagers that seek to be leaders in their world, and reunited. It was just spectacular! These girls make me laugh my head off, give some of the best advice I could ask for, and can listen to my long pointless stories like nobody's business. Either way you put it, there is never a dull moment when we are hanging out. They are a group of girls that I know that even though we don't get to be with each other every single day, we can always get together and pick right up where we left off. That's a good feeling. I love you girls and am very thankful for each of you!

This picture was an effort! But we went to see "Life as we Know It"- I highly recommend it!

We ate half of the dough.

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Well hello there, blog world.

 So I'm a blogger now? How crazy does that sound! Questions going through my mind right now are: How do I get a cool background? How do I put pictures onto my blog? How in the world am I going to be able to type out my life on here? I've read different blogs and I'm amazed at people's writing skills. I have a strange feeling that this is going to be a new obsession of mine. We shall certainly see! -mj