thankful

I am thankful for 2 little boys who think I am a beauty queen, a trained chef, a comedian and protege of Martha Stewart. I am also thankful I have at least a few more years until these illusions crumble.

I am thankful for my crow's feet laugh lines...because they prove I've have a lot to laugh and smile about.

I am thankful for my 2 jobs outside of the home, that meet such different needs and use such different parts of me.

I am thankful for my hubs, who I unashamedly call my personal Edward Cullen. He will undoubtedly continue to dazzle me until we are old and gray.

I am thankful to do life with a group of people who love Jesus more than they love me, and that fact alone makes them the best friends a girl could have.

I am thankful for Pei Wei, picnik.com, ballet flats, big gaudy rings, black nail polish, and clothes from Target.

I am thankful for my 2 sisters and a brother who are amazing human beings...who I call not only family, but true friends.

I am thankful for my mentor, who lovingly "gets up in my kitchen." Her influence has grown me and changed me in ways I can't finds words to express.

Finally, I am thankful for a relentless, loving Savior, who calls me His beloved, and who has more for me than I could ever imagine. His love is my journey. A journey I gladly take one beautiful step at a time.

~Mindy 2010

More Crock Pot Madness

Remember my obsession with fondness of my crock pot? Look what I found: A Year of Slow Cooking. This blog is comprehensive and the author is unabashedly in love with her slow cooker (sound familiar?) Check it out!

note about my slow cooker: my b.f.f., as pictured in a past blog post, is no more. I have a new b.f.f. and I call her "lady in red." Before you judge me, no, I am not fickle. My hubs might have loaded the old crock pot with pork chops and marinade in the metal part of the cooker vs. the porcelain inner part. He might have ruined the old one for good. I might have laughed really hard and told everyone I work with about it. But most importantly, I might have the best hubs in the universe, b/c even though he might break cook wear, he helps me cook. Ever heard of anything so cool?

note about the note: To his credit, the hubs was busy that morning. I had gone to work at the crack of dawn. He was wrangling kids and crock pot duties and meeting the plumber. Hubs is a smart man with a double degree in chemistry, who like many brilliant people out there, can be adorably absent minded :)

Authenticity

I love authenticity. I love being around people who are, who they are, who they are. What you see is what you get. They don't "change it up" depending on who they are with and where they are.

I have found that this kind of authenticity isn't always easy to find. Heck, as much as I admire authenticity, I am not always authentic. I can be the queen of editing myself...my responses, my words, my everything...based on what I think people want or expect from me.

I am SO working on this. I am trying to be concerned only about "an audience of One," and not be so concerned with popular or public opinion. Not an easy task for a chronic people pleaser. Not easy at all. But I know what waits at the other side of people-pleaser-ism is freedom, sweet freedom. And as a child of God and a beloved of Jesus, I was made for freedom.

All this to say, I am truly inspired by authenticity and I want to start using my blog to share glimpses of it that I come across in life. Whether it be a person I meet, and interview I see or hear, or in this case, a blog I stalk follow...

Meet Kendi and her amazing blog, Kendi Everyday: a funny style blog. Kendi used to babysit for my boys. She left for college, and her parents moved from Lubbock and I sort of lost touch with her. She is now a beautiful, vibrant adult who blogs about something she loves, fashion and clothes. I adore her blog because it is 100% authentically her, and she unashamedly muses about something people could balk at or dismiss. Her sense of humor, her eye for fashion and the way she bundles it all up into tight, distinctly read-able blog posts is just brilliant.