• Jesus dying on the cross for my sins and giving me a hope of eternal life in heaven
• The best husband in the whole world
• A home—a comfy one at that! With plenty of nice things!
• Food to eat—I've never had to go to bed hungry
• Snacks in excess—when I finish something, I can just open another!
• Clean water
• Hot water to shower with
• Warm clothes
• My iPhone!
• Netflix and plenty of DVDs—a constant source of entertainment
• Religious freedom
• My ability to read
• The Bible in my language
• Friends—both in England and America!
• Technology—allowing me to talk to my friends and family in America at the click of a button!
• Chocolate
• My supply of Cheetos—gonna restock soon!
• Coffee
• Books & my kindle

Everyone got my hopes up. November was supposed to be super cold and stormy. There was supposed to be more than the usual amount of snow for this time of year. But has it snowed yet? No. Has it been stormy? No.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. Too bad I'm going to be in California for Christmas. At least I can have a white weekend-before-Christmas. I can only hope and dream.

God, please make it snow!

I can spend hours just in this folder of my phone. Ah smartphones.

Today, I am thankful for the internet.

I mean, think about it. Can you even imagine your life without the internet?! Crazy to think that I have lived through its invention.

Thank You, Lord, once again for technology! I can't imagine what life would be like without it! Thank You for the ability to communicate with my friends and family back in the States at the click of a button!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie
Makes 2 traditional sized pies

Ingredients: 
• 2 cups pumpkin purée
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (increase to 1 cup if you like your pie sweeter)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 tsp ground cloves if you don't have any pumpkin pie spice on hand)
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy, almond or rice milk (I prefer soy!)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly.
2. Pour mixture into pie crusts.
3. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake for 45 additional minutes.

Shallow Day!

Today, I am thankful for pumpkin! Truly!

Thank You, Lord, for making such a wonderful vegetable!

Pumpkin is a vegetable, right?

Today I am thankful for a country that doesn't understand the concept of traffic. I DO NOT miss SoCal traffic. Traffic here barely even delays you. When an English person complains of traffic, I can't help but laugh—laugh at the irony that they have lost mere seconds of their lives while I calculated a loss of over a month of my 2012. 

I thought living in a country that lacked Target was bad...and then I realized I lacked more than Target...Trader Joe's is lacking too! What a catastrophe!

Giving to the Lord has always been a strong conviction of mine. God has blessed me so abundantly, so giving should be a natural response of worship. But how can you give when what you are giving already rightfully belongs to the Lord?

Growing up, I experienced this phenomenon many times with my parents. As Mother's Day would draw closer, as a young girl, I would go ask my mom for some money in order to buy her a gift. Now, as a housewife, I'm experiencing it once again. My husband's hard-earned money will be used to purchase him a Christmas gift. This is something I am having a hard time rectifying in my mind. I guess it is something I will always struggle with.

There is one thing I know for sure. While I do feel silly giving gifts with money I haven't personally earned, it isn't as silly as trying to give to the Lord. Nothing I give to the Lord belongs to me. The firstfruits of my harvest —of my income— are already the Lord's. Leviticus 27:26 says, "But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord,* no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord's."

Pastor Chuck puts it this way in The Word for Today Study Bible: "There were certain things that you could not offer to God, because they belong to Him in the first place. If you said, 'Lord, I give You this firstborn lamb of mine,' or 'I give You my firstborn son' —no, those already belong to the Lord. The same with tithes. Those are His. If you use them, you're taking that which belongs to God."

Chew on that.

*Emphasis on Scripture is mine.

I've been so busy cooking and baking these past several days. (That's why I keep missing random days of thanks—yes, I'm aware that's a poor excuse.) To be more efficient, I decided I'd start using a meal planner. It definitely helps, but since I am saving time, I find myself being more elaborate with meals and spending all the time I saved! Ha! Oh well. Here's to true domestication!

In light of all the things I have been cooking and baking lately, I am thankful for the opportunity.

I am thankful that God provides and that my husband and I can live off of one income. I enjoy being home. I enjoy cooking and baking. I enjoy doing "boring" housework. I absolutely love being a housewife!

Thank You, Lord, for Your constant provision. Thank You for making it possible for me to stay home. Please be with Craig as he works and give him strength and energy to get through each day. And please bless him for his labor. In Jesus's name, amen!

Homemade Baguettes

Yields: Two roughly 9-inch baguettes

Ingredients

• One (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
• 2 tsp sugar 
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for the bowl 
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
• 1 tsp salt 
• Cornmeal, for the baking sheet

I have a reputation for altering recipes. I find the recipes online, change them up to my liking, and then when I go to make the item again, I've forgotten what changes I made the time before. It's quite a frustrating cycle. I decided that I don't want to deal with this problem any longer. My solution? Repost my altered recipes on my own blog! 

Here's my first one! I love all things pumpkin so I decided to add pumpkin to an all-time favorite! Lo and behold, someone had already done it! Below, you'll find my altered recipe for pumpkin oatmeal cookies!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Yields: Approximately 20 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• ½ tsp baking soda 
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt 
• ½ tsp cinnamon 
• 2 Tbsp butter (room temp.) 
• ½ cup pumpkin purée 
• ⅓ cup brown sugar 
• ⅓ cup white sugar 
• 1 large egg 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1½ cup rolled oats 
• ⅓ cup dried cranberries or nuts (optional)

I missed day 10. We got home at almost midnight last night; that's my excuse. After church, we went over to the house of some friends of ours from church. When we got back home afterwards, we came to the realization that we had seen them three days in a row. I love my church family!

Today, I am thankful for my church. I am so blessed to go to a church that teaches the Bible. I am so blessed to go to a church where I feel at home. I am so blessed to go to a church where I've made great friends that I enjoy fellowshipping with.

Thank You, Lord, for my church. Thank You for the people in it and thank You for allowing me to live in a country where we can study the Bible freely.

Today I am thankful for my bed and for the roof over my head.

Yesterday, my husband and some of our friends stayed late at church recording music and working on some music videos. I was with them as well. We were there until about 4:00 a.m. so I pulled several chairs together and made myself a bed and slept while they worked. I kept waking up because I was cold and because the edges of the chair were jamming into my sides. It wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangement. When we got home afterwards, my bed felt heavenly to me. It was such a sweet relief! It made me realize, once again, how blessed I am. I have a nice, warm home and a comfy bed. There are people all over the world who don't have homes or places to sleep.

Thank You, Lord, for always providing. Thanks for blessing me with a bed and a home. Please help me to be appreciative and not complain and help me to be continually thankful that I am better off than many. Amen.

I'm allowed to be superficial occasionally, right?

Today, I am thankful for fleece-lined leggings. Need I say more?

Lord, thank You for blessing me with way more clothes than I actually need. I know I don't deserve it and I am truly thankful!

Today I am thankful for my husband, my very best friend.

Today, I am thankful for clean water.

We take it for granted all the time. It's as if God owes it to us. But He doesn't. In fact, there are many many people around the world who don't have easy access to clean water. People die every day because of the lack of it.

Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to live in privileged countries that have clean water. Please help me to not take it for granted and cause me to be reminded to pray for my fellow believers around the world who have to live with the lack. 



If you feel so inclined, check out http://bloodwatermission.com to find out more information about countries lacking clean water and what you can do to help.

Today, I am thankful for the English language.

Why?—might you ask. Several months ago, at Missions Day at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, there was a pastor from the Calvary Chapel in Luxembourg. He spoke a lot about their country and how modernized it is and how clean it is, and after a few minutes I found myself wanting to be there. But before he finished and walked off the stage, he mentioned something that left me completely dumbfounded. The people of Luxembourg still do not have a Bible translation in their own language. This isn't a third world country in the middle of nowhere. This is a wealthy, modernized country, yet they still don't have a Bible! This pastor, along with some friends of his, is working on translating the Bible into Luxembourgish.

Lord, please help me not to take the Bible for granted. Help me to cherish it constantly. And please be with the men who are working on the Bible translation. Shower them with strength and diligence each and every day. Amen.

Today, I am thankful for good health.

These past several weeks, I've been a bit of a complainer. The cold wind has caused my lips to be really chapped and crack....It hurts to open my mouth when I eat. And on top of that, I've had some pretty painful toothaches. After fighting the pain of opening my mouth, the right side of my mouth hurts because of temperature sensitivity and the left side hurts because of a probably cavity. Eating seems like such a chore the days! And naturally, since I love eating, I've been in a complaining mood.

Now that I've vented, I will explain my reason for my thanks. Verbalizing my "health problems," I realize how minor they truly are. I wake up each morning with no major concerns. I know God holds my life in His hands and I am so thankful that He chooses to give me the breath of life each morning. He doesn't have to keep me healthy. He doesn't even have to keep me alive. Oh the riches of His grace!

Clearly I'm blessed. I missed days 1 and 2 because of that. Too busy to get on a computer—having too much fun to even want to get on a computer.

Today, I am thankful for the loving people around me—my husband, his family, my church family and friends. When life is full of love, social networking feels more like a distraction than anything positive. (Oh the irony! Blogging isn't considered social networking, is it?) Many people feel homesick when they move far away....I moved to a completely different continent and I still feel at home. Though I miss my friends and family back in California, I couldn't be more thankful for the family I've been grafted into here and for the friends I've made along the way.

Thank You, Lord, for placing so many loving people into my life. Please help me to spread that love to those I meet from here on out so that they can see You through me! In Jesus' name, Amen.