:: thankful

Here we are again, about to head into the busiest time of the year! Before we get head over heels in food, shopping, decorating, and gifts, I wanted to dedicate a post of Thanksgiving from the Miller family and give a little life update along the way. 

#1 I am thankful for my husband's work ethic and desire to serve our community through law enforcement. In August, Logan graduated from the Springfield Police Academy. This week, he completed his three months of orientation on the streets, and he is officially on his own! He looks so awesome driving around in his squad car. I saw him out and about on the streets today as I was running errands and couldn't wipe the grin off my face. What a blessing to see him doing what he loves to do and what he has worked towards for so long now! The pictures below are a few from his police academy graduation.

#2 I am thankful for the Van Curen ladies & for travel. In September, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Napa, California for a bachelorette weekend celebrating my Aunt Shannon getting married! My stepmom Heather and I traveled and stayed together. It was a fun, fun trip getting to experience parts of California that I had never been to before... It was all planned by the Maid of Honor, Christie (another of my aunts!). At the end of the trip, I even got to see a little bit of San Francisco (Golden Gate, the Full House house, & the Painted Ladies).

 #3 I am thankful for date nights and for Top of the Rock at Big Cedar- our new favorite date destination. There is no real way to describe it other than breathtaking. I mean you walk in the main entrance and there's a Wolly Mammoth staring at you. Seriously. This place is over the top. You feel like you're at a resort far, far away. The best part is, its only about 45 minutes from us! You can truly go and spend half a day walking through wine cellars under the rock, seeing the gorgeous chapel, and just enjoying the property. Not to mention the amazing golf course!

 

#4 I am thankful for my job and for good friends at work. I have finally been settling into my role at work. I finished my orientation process officially at the end of September. I am now on full time night shift, working independently as an RN!! The photo below is with my best friends at work, Jade & Kristin, at Dogwood Canyon. We all began working as new nurses at the exact same time. They are both believers and have been such blessings, not only to work with but also to walk through life with! The way we met & became friends still amazes me, and it assures me that God is watching out for me all the time :) Good friends are such valuable assets to have and definitely worth posting about!

#5 I am thankful for shelter and a beautiful one that we do not deserve at that! In October, Logan and I purchased a new home! We only moved a couple miles away, but the house is a little bigger (an extra bedroom and bathroom, two car garage, etc) and in a better area of town- which is so important for our family's safety as Logan works as a police officer in Springfield. We decided to keep our other home as an investment property, and we are blessed to already have renters. A few photos of our new house (and yard!) are below!! My favorite part has definitely been the FIREPLACE! We have had a fire every single day for the past couple weeks. SO COZY! 

 

 

#6 I am thankful for vacations. Towards the end of October, it was SO beyond time to get away. Logan had been working without any real days off since the beginning of February... and although my schedule sometimes allows long weekends, we had not truly been on vacation for over a year and a half. To celebrate my Aunt Shannon getting married, we road tripped down to Destin, Florida for a week! Logan and I decided to leave a little early and spend the night in Pensacola, where the Pensacola Naval Air Base is located. We had the BEST time just the two of us, eating at the cutest little beach shack (The Oar House), visiting the Naval Air Museum, and seeing the Blue Angels fly! Then we spent the rest of the week in a big house in Destin with the rest of the VanCuren family, enjoying the beach, great food, family, and celebrating Shannon & Mark's marriage. They had a gorgeous beach wedding with a spectacular reception. So very special.

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#7 I am thankful for my health and the ability to challenge it daily. At the beginning of November, I ran my first half marathon! Thats right, 13.1 miles! To many of my close family and friends, this is quite humorous, considering I hadn't even run 3 miles until my first Turkey Trot 5K last Thanksgiving. However, over the last year I worked really hard to increase my endurance, and it definitely paid off! I was able to maintain a pretty good pace and finish in a better time than I expected!!

#8 The beautiful wintery weather and change of seasons! Isaiah 40:8 says: "The grass withers and the flowers fade away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever."

(The view from my front window this weekend.)

I was pondering this week... why do we get so excited over the Christmas season? The second we see snow in the forecast, we seem to become more cheerful, more generous, more loving to those around us. I came to the conclusion that winter & Christmas give us HOPE. They gives us a reminder that everything will be okay in the end, because Jesus came. He came to Earth to reconcile what we could never reconcile on our own. Because of His ultimate sacrifice, we have been promised eternal life. Christmas is another reminder that although the world may be falling to pieces around us, there is a Rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61). Winter is an exciting time, because in the very peak of the coldness, the frost, the snow-- a Savior was born. A Light in the cold darkness. A beautiful hope for a fallen & sinful wintery world. THAT is the reason for the season. 

I counted 8 things I was thankful for without hardly trying! That means there are many, many more than 8 things to be thankful for in all of our lives! Don't forget to give thanks & count your blessings this Thanksgiving. 

Love,

The Millers