30 Days of Thankfulness

Hey ya'll!

Can you believe that we start another month tomorrow? Crazy!

November is probably one of my favorite months out of the year, just because it kicks off the holiday season and my birthday is on the 25th.

It's been awhile since the last 30 day challenge that I did on here and today Corinne mentioned she was looking for a new one to do for November.  Luckily, I had already planned on doing some sort of Thankfulness Challenge and she willingly joined in!

So here's the deal.

For the next 30 days (starting tomorrow, Nov. 1) blog about one thing that you're thankful for.

Don't be afraid to get creative! 

Post pictures or write a poem, instead of just writing one or two sentences.

Grab the button below for each post and link up with us!

For those of you who don't blog, but keep up by just reading, leave a comment and let us know what you're thankful for each day!

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She's braver than I am...

Today Becca jumped out of an airplane.

I couldn't believe how calm, cool, and collected this girl was the entire day!

She was so excited and so were the boys.

It was a lot of fun watching all the other groups going up and coming down

(they were the last ones), and Becca, Steve, and Spencer's anticipation growing.

There were a lot of laughs out on that concrete strip today as we all laid down, watching the sky.

I think my favorite moment was when Rebecca came walking up to us after she landed.

The look on her face was pure joy and it almost made me cry!

Luckily Colin snapped a shot of the exact moment I'm talking about and it's one of my favorite pictures of her ever.

Here's some shots from the day!

Enjoy, and maybe we should all take a lesson and not let fear hold us back from doing something that might turn out to be amazing!

 

 

 See...pure joy...

 

Thinking...

That's pretty much all I've been thinking lately.

Except for a little while tonight, while the house was so loud you could barely think.

Over 20 of us were eating, laughing, drinking and watching Wipeout together in honor of Becca's birthday.

Yeah...we're still celebrating that girl...just kidding, I don't really mind.

Tomorrow we're gonna watch her skydive, along with her boyfriend and a really good family friend.

Is it wrong to be so nervous for them??

I'll come back with lots of pictures and the full story tomorrow!

Mmmm....God bless Texas

via

Game 6 of the World Series!

Last year I was rooting for the Giants...cause whether I like it or not, I'm a Northern Cali girl.

This year I'm hoping the Rangers get the win.

They've been so close and I think they deserve it.

Things are looking pretty good right now, with all the errors the Cardinals have been making.

We shall see!

I think baseball just might be one of my favorite sports.

It's easy to understand and it's a lot of fun to watch.

Today I didn't have any jobs, just a couple loads of laundry to fold so I started watching some old episodes of the Vampire Diaries.  They always pick good songs to go with their dramatic scenes. I love it!

This was one of my favorites...

Link up and share your song over at Goodnight Moon!

Cooking

I have never really been able to cook.

While I was living by myself, at least for the first year, I lived off bagels and Caesar Salads.

My second year I got a little better, but was still a HUGE fan of the ready made, oven meals.

Tonight, thanks to Pinterest, I cooked an amazing meal.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake.

If you're looking for a quick, hot, and yummy dinner, this is it!

Making this tonight made me realize two things..

1. I can cook if I have a recipe to follow.

2. I really can't wait to be cooking for just 2, instead of 5.

It's only 1:30 in the afternoon and I've already worked and ran errands.

Today is a good day and deserves a happy list.

1.  Checks in the bank...after nothing for months, it's amazing.

2.  Smiling, drooly, squishy babies.

3.  Not sleeping until noon and staying inside all day.

4.  Transformers movies and the scenes that make me laugh.

5.  This coming weekend that's full of fun and family.

6.  Wedding dresses like this...

18 years old

Happy Birthday to my beautiful 18 year old baby sister!

You are a light and a joy in my life.

You're funny and smart.

You're spoiled to death and sneeze louder than anyone I know.

I'm so glad you're my sister and I can't believe you're an adult!

Woke up...

via

to the best "Breaking News" update from CNN on my phone ever.

Read about it here...here...and here.

I hope that your weekend is off to a great start like mine!!

Memories and linking up

Way back in my High School days there seemed to be an influx of what I would fondly call "whiny bands."

Let me tell you, Simple Plan, was one of those said bands.

But I loved them.

Last week my sister Candace asked me if I had heard their new song with Natasha Bedingfield.

I hadn't, but now it's played at least once a day in my room.

I love it and for all of you military/LDR ladies out there, I think you will too.

So here you go...hope you enjoy it!

Link up and share your song over at Goodnight Moon!

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10 things that make me happy...

1.  Planning my wedding.

2.  Switching out my summer clothes for fall outfits.

3.  Getting to babysit cute kids for a living.

4.  A red mug full of steaming apple cider.

5.  Holiday coffee mates.

6.  Skype dates from across the sea.

7.  Southern Wedding Magazine on Pinterest.

8.  Challenges from my dad to read my bible more.

9.  Birthday months.

10.  Our 100 day thankfulness journal.

In my heart...

I know that I don't belong in a city.

It's more like somewhere in these pictures...

(all) via

*Huge sigh*

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Just when you think that the team behind The Vampire Diaries have taken us through the ringer, they step up their game once again!

Tonight's installment (Season 3, Episode 5), "The Reckoning," was probably the most stressful one to date.

Within minutes everyone was gasping in shock and it just kept going from there.

 Of course they didn't wrap it up in a nice package either and left us questioning and begging for more.

This is why I love Thursday nights.

It's actually inspiring to see how creative some people can be week after week and how talented these actors are.

I also love that my living room is full of people and we can laugh, talk, gasp, and freak out together.

Now, stop judging me if you have never seen the show and if you want to make an informed decision on whether or not I'm crazy, watch Season 1...and 2...and catch up on Season 3.

Our living room floor has room for more

(That rhyme was unintentional!).

It's really not that bad and linking up

Have you ever had one of those days where you're just mad at the world for no apparent reason?

I feel like that's been my last 24 hrs, with the exception of a few hours last night.

To be honest, I've been grumpy and moody and frustrated and teary and it's getting annoying.

I saw this print earlier today and didn't stop to think about it much until just now, but I find it super comforting...

Then I thought about this song...

Tomorrow is another day.

I have a God who's overcome the world and in the scheme of life my woes and whims are not that bad.

Link up over at Goodnight Moon with your song.

14 years ago.

14 years ago, I was almost 10 years old.

I was sitting on my grandparent's couch watching Turner and Hooch.

We were all waiting for the call.

The call that would tell us that my sisters and I had a baby brother.

Matthew Wade Woodson Mann, was supposed to be born on November 12,

but he came into this world on October 11.

He took his first airplane ride just hours after he was born and spent the next 18 days at UCSF in San Francisco.

He barely weighed 5 pounds.

When he finally came home we were super excited.

Today you wouldn't be able to tell that Matt was born a month early.

He's almost and will be very soon, the tallest Mann kid.

He's grown an inch in a month and we can barely keep him in clothes that fit.

He swims four days a week and competes in meets.

He plays guitar and drums.

He is one of the kindest kids I know.

Happy Birthday to the best little brother ever!

I love you more than you know!

 Matt back when he was little and cute(r)..

Matt a couple months ago tearin it up on the water.

Because it's Monday...

Mondays tend to need pick me ups and reasons to be happy...

Rainy Day Happy List

Getting to spend the morning with four cute kids.

A baby's excited, kicking feet.

Pumpkin Spice and Peppermint Mocha coffee creamers.

Grandma being in town.

The first Mann kid birthday of 2011 tomorrow.

Stop growing up!

Since moving back home, I've reconnected with and seen a lot of my Jr. Highers.

I still call them my Jr. Highers, because that's what they will always be to me.

However, they are not 7th and 8th graders anymore.

They are in their senior year of high school or they're in COLLEGE!

For crying out loud, they need to stop growing up and making me feel old.

Playing paintball several years ago with some of those kids.

There's something in the air

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Since we got engaged, four other people, who I personally know, have taken the same, awesome step.

Is there something in the air or the water?

Then I started thinking, we're getting into that time where a lot of our friends are going to start getting married.

For the next say 10 years, there will probably be a lot of fun weddings to hear about, see, and attend.

In my biased opinion though, mine's gonna be the best.

Have an amazing rest of the weekend loves!

Rain and linking up

Hey lovelies,

I hope that you all are having a great week so far.

Thursday is one of my favorite days of the week, because of 

Vampire Diaries and our house is full of people that I  love.

Today has also been great because of all the rain we've been getting.

I'm curled up in a cozy sweater and as soon as I post this I'm going to make some hot tea and watch some Gilmore Girls with my sister.

I hope when we get married we get a couple rainy Sundays!

Link up and say hi over at Goodnight Moon!

Happy.

Things that make me happy today...

Turning in a job application.

Fall weather, complete with rain and hot soup for dinner.

My sister's happy list (especially #3, but I'm biased).

Pumpkin Spice candles.

Tuesday night shows: Glee, The New Girl, Parenthood, and Sons of Anarchy

This video:

Postcards From Italy from andrew+carissa on Vimeo.

and this poster...

Fun story

Last year on October 3rd, I blogged about a trip to Downtown Disney that Corinne and I took.

While we were there, we drove over to the place in the picture, because then and even more so now, that place is super special to me.

I had Corinne take this picture so I could send it to my boyfriend with a, "Wish you were here," message.

Those steps in the picture used to just be the place where my sweetheart and I had our first kiss.

In fact, I was sitting in exactly the same spot that night.

It'll probably always remain in my top 5 favorite moments we've had in our almost 5 years of dating.

Little did I know, that less than a year later, something else would happen on those steps that would make them even more special.

A month ago, he and I actually got to go to Downtown Disney together and we walked over to the same hotel to the same place in the picture above.

I was still sitting in pretty much the same exact spot and he was actually there next to me...then he was on the step below me...and then he asked me to marry him on our steps.

Next to the day we get married, that'll be my second favorite moment of our entire relationship.

It's funny how so much can change in just under a year.

Last year, I was wishing he was there.

This year, I'm anxiously waiting for our wedding day.

Have an amazing week everyone.

Questions

Remember my little questions book?

Thought I'd pull it back out on the blog and answer questions from this last week!

Sep. 25: Do you plan, or are flying by the seat of your pants?

For the last five years, I planned.  I had school to finish, work shifts I had to plan around, and I generally had a timeline for my life.  Lately, I've been flying by the seat of my pants and at times I find it really exciting, but other times it's super scary and frustrating.  I'm starting to miss having a plan!

Sep. 26: Today was amusing because...

It wasn't very amusing! I started coming down with a cold and pretty much did nothing.

It was a very lazy kind of day.

Sep. 27: Do you handle rejection well?

Not normally, no.  

It's hard being rejected, especially when you're rejected from something or by someone that you love.

The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that no matter what I still have people and other things in my life that won't reject me no matter what happens.

Sep. 28: How hungry are you right now?

I haven't had much of an appetite lately! 

Sep. 29:  Bad news: sugarcoated or staight-up?

Don't sugarcoat it at all.  Give me the bad news straight up.  I'll handle it as best as I can.

Sep. 30: How do you get out of a rut?

Have a good cry, watch some Gilmore Girls, talk to my mom, and then just resolve to move on.

Oct. 1: What are you a geek about?

Gilmore Girls, Disney, and Harry Potter...yeah, I'm that kind of girl.

Oct. 2: What do you crave?

Goldfish crackers.  Coffee.  Ice cream.