A Thanksgiving post, but not a Thanksgiving post ;)

Happy Thanksgiving 2014!  This post is not going to be a "thankful" post.  I've made a REAL effort in my life to be thankful for all that I have every single day.  I'm thankful for a LOT of things, and not just during the month of November, or on Thanksgiving.  No, my post today is more of a reflective type post, thinking back on the past 17 months.

This is sad, but I honestly didn't realize just how unhappy I was until I have discovered how happy I am now.  Maybe we all need a change every 10 years or so, I don't know.  For instance, a song from my playlist wold play (ALWAYS one about feeling hopeless, but trusting in God to pull you through) and I would start to cry.  I felt so unbelievably trapped in my old life, but I didn't even know it.  I prayed so hard, every day, for SOMETHING.  I don't even know what.  Just something.  And finally, it happened.  I made it happen, by the grace and the glory of God we are here.

The past 17 months have NOT been a cakewalk.  They've been hard work, stress, worry, but also, that glimmer of what the future is going to hold.  I have been washed away of my old self, and re-born in my Christianity; I've been biblically baptized and truly, fundamentally changed.

I believe that God has made this beautiful, amazing, and perfect world for us to explore and experience.  California is a BEAUTIFUL state, full of raw, breathtaking sights.  It is home to virtually every climate type out there.  We have snow, heat, temperate rain forest, desert, mountains, beach, ocean, lakes, rivers, canyons, valleys, you name it!  We are having so much fun just carving out our new living here on the west coast, and taking every opportunity to travel our amazing home state and see all that it has to offer.  We spend Thanksgiving in Ft. Bragg at a little place called Glass Beach.  The beach is FILLED with sea glass, which at first glance appears to just be gravel, but when you really look at it, you see all the colored bits of glass.  So pretty and unique!

  The Denny's out there was open, so Kody and I had club sandwiches, and David had a Grand Slam breakfast as our Thanksgiving day lunch, and it was just perfect.  We enjoyed the 3 1/2 hour drive immensely, spending time on the good old Highway 1 Pacific Coast Highway, heading up the coast!  We got to drive through Redwoods, which we did NOT expect, and I got my saltwater fix :)

Moving forward and looking at 2015, my plans include moving on up in my dental practice.  I work hard every day at work, learning more and more, and as my training gets more intense, responsibilities and raises come along with that.  I pray that David can figure out a way of dropping one of his 2 jobs, but making enough money and working full time at ONE that he brings home the same salary he has working the 2.  I know he has the skills to do it, he just needs the opportunity, so I continue to pray for him.  Kody will move on up the 8th grade at his amazing PFAA, and I'm so excited to see him perform in the male ensemble for his middle school performance this year of "Thoroughly Modern Millie".  He's worked very hard, and had lots of practices, so I hope his return to the stage after a year long hiatus is fun and rewarding for him!

Sorry about the long times between blog posts; I have to be online a whole bunch dealing with social media stuff for my eventing barn, and that takes up a TON of time.  By the time I'm finished figuring out what to post there, I have nothing left for my blog.  I'll have another one up soon, maybe in about 2 weeks.  Hope my family is doing well, I miss you all!