giving thanks.

Hi, friends! From what I have seen and heard, it looks like you all had great thanksgivings! Ours was no different -  filled with both sides of our family, food, extended weekends, and remembering all the little and big reasons we have to be thankful! 

From 36 Johnsons on Thursday to an intimate 7 on Saturday, we had 2 Thanksgiving dinners, plenty of catching up, hugs, nephew snuggles, games, a little bit of shopping, and pajama time. :) As I am still reading my book "one thousand gifts" I have started my list of thankfuls, and it couldn't have fallen at a better season. It is so good for me right now to be consciously listing out the ways I have been blessed. So here's a smattering of our thanksgiving - in bits and pieces as I actually didn't pick up my camera as much as I expected. 

{grandma's dinner rolls - everyone's favorite.}

{our family and grandma. we love you!}

{the drive to and from Storden gets me every time. I simply love the openess of the country.}

{uncle del and aunt karen. wish you guys lived closer!!}

{this guy and his sweet grandma. they have super special hugs.}

{dave and jared ran a turkey trot thursday morning. in frigid wind!}

{thankful every single day for my husband and how he loves me!}

{morning snuggles with carter}

{friday shopping with my mom. one of the funnest parts of our adult friendship.}

{brunch with friends. so good to have you back for a short bit annie + steve!}

{when you're in grad school, car time = precious study time.}

{cheering on the boys on saturday. off to round 3 they go! #BURoyals #goBU}

{a beautiful family. I think of how blessed I am to marry into this... so many of my clients dread the holidays, spending time with family is a chore to them and something to just "get through." I am blessed to say I can't even relate to that. We shared some of these thoughts together in the group, and I only echo them again. This is a huge thankful in  my life. 

{and on that same note... this house, these parents, these friends, that dog. This is my home, and I am so thankful for the upbringing I have had here. I am reminded again and again of the rarity of my family, and it is a gift that I did not ask for, choose, but was graciously blessed with.}

I am striving this year to downsize these next few weeks in preparation for a peaceful, thankful, and calm Christmas. With the busyness of Jared's schedule right now {more on that later}, we are nixing the outdoor lights, minimizing our indoor decor, and trying to balance our hearts to prepare for this Christmas season. 

As the Thanksgiving "season" fades out and the Christmas season rolls in, I hope you are able to keep on being thankful, being reminded daily that it is a lifestyle of thanksgiving that brings true joy, rather than the hype of the season. Be blessed, friends!

the turkey day 10k

Until recently, I was very confused as to why an annual race on September 14 was coined as "turkey day" seeing that we weren't even in October yet let alone November... 

Apparently.... if you're the turkey capitol of the world - you can (and probably should) claim every day as turkey day. That being Minnesota's very own - Worthington! It's kind of a big deal, as I found out. I was so blessed to be able to run with my mom, my  inlaws, Jared's uncle Dan, and close family friend, Grace. And we had the rest of the fam there to support us! We were down in their neck of the woods after all... 

Pre-race happy smiles! Thanks to Barb, Megan, Drew, Grandma, Amy, Mark, Cashel & Kendrick for cheering us on! It was great to see your faces when I was running up a hill, into the wind, around the 5 mile marker. When I needed it most! :) And this picture was the highlight of my day...

Although the last 1/2 mile was uphill... that finish line, greeting my family, celebrating being able to do this together, with healthy bodies, glorifying the Lord for the opportunity He has given us and the capability to run was priceless. 

That's my runners high.

My beautiful and ispiring moms. Thank you both for encouraging me to tackle this thing called running! Love you both.

I missed my hubby this weekend. :( He would have done a lot to have made it down to run with us and be a part of this all. Unfortunately with it being Bethel's first home football game of the season he couldn't sneak away. :) But my dad sent him a video of me crossing the finish line, so that made up for it a little. :) We spent wonderful time with family carbing-up post race. Pizza ranch is this family's group meeting place of choice. I couldn't be happier! It was a fun, loud, joyful time to all be together. And we shut the place down after lunch looking just like this! We're even missing a few in this pic!

Aren't they brothers?!

Post lunch, and almost falling asleep in the car from all those carbs, we made a quick stop at a local orchard for some freshly picked goodies. Didn't spend long, but it sure signaled that fall was on its way!!

So beautiful. So thankful. So excited for fall. 

her birthday.

In my industry, we often see people “take over” an organization’s Twitter or Facebook account as a way to create more customer engagement. For instance, a company's president may answer a series of questions or a professional athlete may give a shout out to fans over twitter. Today, my hope in “taking over” Skyler’s personal blog is not necessarily to build customer engagement, but to tell her just 25 things I love about her on her 25th birthday—her golden birthday, I might add.

Recently she’s done tributes to her dad, nephew, long-distance friends, and closely related moms, so my hope today is to compose a tribute to her.

Here are just some of the things I love and appreciate about you, Skyler.

1. Your commitment to Christ.
2. Your genuine spirit.
3. Your devotion to me and to our marriage.
4. Your smile.
5. Your ability to decorate a home… within budget!
6. Your prayer life.
7. Your sacrificial attitude—driving 50 minutes to work each way!
8. Your willingness to keep me accountable.
9. Your longing for close friendships.
10. Your desire to capture all of our moments on camera.
11. Your (non) green thumb.
12. Your encouragement for my personal and professional growth.
13. Your time mentoring younger girls and desire to be mentored.
14. Your desire to be healthy.
15. Your love for football, baseball, hockey, and other sports.
16. Your compassion for those without a voice.
17. Your heart of a caretaker.
18. Your embrace of my family.
19. Your creativity.

20. Your vocabulary about your job, which is completely foreign to me.
21. Your love for the little things (wearing a scarf, drinking a London fog, sunning).
22. Your excitement to travel.

23. Your random (mini) tangents.

24. Your maturity in immature situations. 

25. Your readiness to serve others, no matter what the opportunity.

Happy 25th birthday, beautiful.

his birthday.

this year was a fun birthday. jared turned 25! a quarter of a century old, as he told himself all day. 

so handsome. :)we had a pretty stacked weekend which included celebrations at two new restaurants, (both scored big!)time with both friends and our families, which we felt very blessed by, and  some much needed alone time. the weather was gorgeous over his special weekend, so we made a point to break out our skates, and we weren't sorry!

my husband is the special-est thing in my life. this being the 5th birthday we celebrated together, and it only reminded me of how much more i love him every. single. year. 

enter some (sappy - be warned) reasons... 

- he makes a mean egg sandwich (don't judge me for that being #1, we like our eggs :)
- i know i always come before his work, even though he has to work a lot
- i know he works a lot because he is committed to his job and our family
- seeing him back in school reminds me just how hard of a worker he is
- he makes me laugh. plain and simple.
- he had tried many new foods for me over the past couple years - and is such a sport about it
- he warms up my freezing toes without complaining
- he doesn't complain
- i see him studying his Bible daily. he inspires me.
-  he kills spiders for me. and doesn't look down on me for leaving them under cups until he comes home.
- he does the dishes. and not just when he feels sorry for something. daily.
- he makes me smile when i think about him. that's new and i love it.
- i see him growing. and maturing. himself alone and with me - it's a wildly beautiful process that is drawing me to him even more.

HAPPY (belated) 25th BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST FRIEND. you are the sweetest, most genuine man i have ever known. i'm so blessed to be yours. :) here's to another growing year!

thankful.

It turned into quite the blustery thanksgiving weekend in Minnesota - and I loved it. It was such a homey holiday, and we shacked up all cozy at my parents house. I am so thankful . Snow is on the ground, and pumpkin pancakes are on the way for a late snack (again) just because I'm not done celebrating yet. What are your thanksgiving traditions? One of the best parts of now having two families is that we can have two sets of rituals. This holiday was filled to the brim with...

Wonderfully snowy walks

Late night Target extravaganza (high on sales!)

Pies. Pies pies pies.

The Squires/Pothast/Johnson holiday traditions.

Homeade breakfast and watching the Macy's parade {recipie for this delish oatmeal coming soon!)

Days with the pups

Watching the cold roll in

Family. How blessed we are. To spend thanksgiving with both our parents, and such dear friends. Our cup is full.

oh, and so was the sink....

It was truly nice to have some time away from my office, away from our house, with my husband and our families. Even though my Saturday was spent doing this...

... it was fun seeing him in his element, and to be able to cheer on the team in the National Tournament. The football team had a phenomenal season, and seeing my hubby do what he does best is really special. Although it was kinda hard to share the weekend, I had to remember that the rest of my weekend was spent doing things like this....

I hope you all had blessed, full thanksgivings. I am reminded of all the places we have been in the past year, and all the ways we have seen the Lord work on our behalf. On our behalf. Even if we didn't know it at the time. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

“We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.” -C.S. Lewis

the net

We had a girls night out. A girls night out for support, encouragement, laughs, and bonding. Brought ourselves to a nice restraunt, fancied up, and spent the night laughing. We celebrated a late valentines day with Jena, as her fiancee is faithfully serving the United States in Afghanistan right now, so it was an evening talking about her wedding, and just being her "net." We females need that...

I faithfully (and obsessively, as Jared would say) follow a blog called Enjoying the Small Things. The author, Kelle Hampton wrote awhile back, about the importance of "a net" of friends for women. She went through the unexpected birth of a baby girl with Down's Syndrome about 2 years ago, and realized the importance of what it means to have women in your life that can be your support when you don't have the strength to be it for yourself. What a blessing this "net" can be. I have seen it in action over the past few months, and the strength it provides overwhelmes me with gratefullness.

I am so thankful for my girlfriends. For the net they provide me in my times of need, but also the encouragement and blessing that comes from being in a net for someone else. It was a fabulous girls evening out. I'm always rejuvinated after times like this, and spurred on to keep praying for my friends, and thanking the Lord daily that they are in my life.

morning thankfuls.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We are spending some wonderful, well needed time in southwest Minnesota with Jared's family, and enjoying every moment. And what a wonderful morning it has already been. I've "whipped" up green bean casserole for 34... yes, 34. Currently watching the Macy's parade, classic. And wouldn't you know, a family 5K already got squeezed in....

Unbelievable. :) And to top it all off, we heard early this morning that our dearest friends Mike & Kaitlin are in labor with what looks to be a Thanksgiving baby. What a blessing!

1 Chronicles 29:11-13 (from the Message)

"David blessed God in full view of the entire congregation:
Blessed are you, God of Israel, God our father
from of old and forever.
To you, O God, belong the greatness and the might,
the glory, the victory, the majesty, the splendor;
Yes! Everything in heaven, everything on earth;
the Kingdom, all yours! You've raised yourself high over all.
Riches and glory come from you,
you're ruler over all;
you hold strength and power in the palm of your hand
to build up and strengthen all.
And here we are, O God, our God, giving thanks to you,
praising your splendid name!"

We rejoice, and anticipate giving back to God today what is already His - our praises! Happy Thanksgiving morning... may you be humbled by His goodness!