Thankfulness - Ruthilicious Edition 2008

Whether your life is good or bad... seems up or down... full of trials or blessings... gratitude and thankfulness are essential and should be the focus of our lives on a daily basis. Unfortunately it usually takes a holiday like Thanksgiving for us to sit down and truly realize how lucky we are and how many things we have to be thankful fo- however trivial they may seem. So for today these are some things that I am thankful for this year in no particular order:

1. The people who still love me despite my numerous numerous faults.
2. Revitalash. Like my own personal genie in a bottle.
3. My job and passing that friggin’ math test to get it.
4. Teen vampire fiction. Twilight. Duh.
5. My Lord. My God. My Redeemer. He hasn’t given up on me and still desires a relationship with me… even if the feeling is not always mutual. Very rarely mutual. Amazing grace.
6. Sephora.
7. Podcasts. After spending so much time and money collecting sermon series on CDs the past five years, the world of free (or at least cheap) podcasts has changed my life. And new speakers – Mark Driscoll, Ervin Lutzer, Matt Chandler to name a few – plus Oneplace.com.
8. Cats. LOL. This one was just to make me laugh. Who am I kidding I hate cats. I wish death upon them all. No joke.
9. Facebook.
10. Online shopping. And RetailMeNot.com which makes it even cheaper.
11. My parents. Although maybe cliché I would not have survived the last three years without them… or have been born in the first place I guess. They are spectacular.
12. Dry cleaners.
13. Taylor Swift. Who doesn’t enjoy break-up-girls-rock-boys-suck songs over and over? No one that’s who.
14. My youth ministry girls. Watching them grow and mature is such a blessing.
15. Laying out. By pool or beach. Preferably with friends, music, cold drinks, and Banana Boat dry tanning oil spray.
16. Over-sized rings. Da bigga da bettah.
17. My friends. And for the chance to have been in all of their weddings and how much fun all of the showers, bachelorette party weekends, and wedding days are. Memories to last a lifetime. I love you all.
18. Bud Light Lime.
19. Fossil dresses.
20. All the people who pray for me when I do not have the strength or energy to pray for myself.
21. My sister Rachel
22. My health. I have gotten over my seven weeks worth of strep throat (aka mono) and my back pain although not gone, hasn’t gotten worse. Glass half full right?
23. Cold weather (albeit rare).
24. The wisdom and maturity that comes with having gone through so many hard times and having made so many mistakes in my life.
25. 2008 Beijing Olympics.
26. Democracy (for now…) and a Sovereign God who is in control.
27. My iPhone. I just love it. Who cares if it’s a vintage one - 3G is so overrated. :)
28. Down comforters.
29. Cheese. Never gets old.
30. Live music.
31. Beauty blogs
32. The Christmas’ (they are a family) and all they have done for my sister, Rebecca, and all the selfless love they have shown her. They are truly the closest thing to angels on this earth that I have ever encountered and give a new definition to “dying to self”.
33. LORAC TANtalizer Body Bronzing Luminizer and Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara
34. Seeing my parents happy and treated with the love and respect they deserve at their new church.
35. My flava. Although in small quantity the white chocolate in me has helped me survive the semester (so far).
36. DVR
37. Taylor Kitsch and Tony Romo.
38. Jack in The Box’s new Hearty Breakfast Bowl. Yum-meeeee!
39. Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. They keep my conservative soul somewhat sane.
40. Downy Wrinkle Releaser Spray
41. Gossip Girl. My guilty obsession. The fashion alone leaves me breathless and it reminds me how I would dress if I won the lottery.
42. Texas A&M University. Whoop!
43. Cheap jewelry stores.
44. Hope.
45. The math department at my school and how much support I get from them. It could be so much worse!
46. People.com. One-stop shop for celebgoss in a hurry.
47. Jessica Simpson’s shoe line *#@($%^*/(*. Sorry about that I just threw up in my mouth a little. That hurt to say but it had to be said. I love them.
48. Singing in the car. Betty Boop doesn’t care if I’m tone deaf.
49. All of you who randomly still check this blog even though I haven’t really blogged in six months!

And last but not least…

50. Diet Coke. Save the best for last.

There are so many more things I am thankful for (yeah, like that) and tons of more people that I am thankful for who are in my life (yeah, like you)... but my list can only be so long. :)

What are you most thankful for this year?