Its the most wonderful time of the year...

I feel like I am at a weird age as far as Christmas presents go. Actually I feel like I am at a weird age for everything in life. But this is regarding Christmas presents, so yeah. [Thank you Katy for the inspiration.]

I am too old to write a letter to Santa asking for clothes and shoes and a pony.

But I am too young to have my own house/family so it'd be weird to ask for a blender or a couch or a new set of silverware.

Also, I really do have more than I need. And I'm not just saying that.

Anyway, after all of that, I do know ONE thing I would LIKE. A new computer. I have said before, my precious sweet Apple [her name, after Gwyneth and Chris' daughter] is getting up there. She was given to me because the computer I got for my graduation present 3.5 years ago got the blue screen of death. And while I love Apple, she does not usually like me. She refuses to recognize my camera. She does not have the capability to play videos at a regular speed. She has absolutely no programs besides Safari because she is just too old to run them. All in all, her time has come.

I really can deal with Apple. She is fine for internet alone. Not so much blogging, or videos like I said. But e-mail, facebook, checking the weather--GREAT!

[Sidenote: It is storming like crazy outside right now, and the boys are both peacefully asleep. It is like heaven on earth for me. The two things I love most in life. Naptime and storms. And blogging. Okay back to the post...]

I want a new computer for the reasons listed above, and for the following:

1. I am going to do school online.

2. I want something that is reliable/not going to crash when I have a paper due.

3. I want to have the latest word processing programs.

Easy enough. So I am asking my parents for money that is specifically for a new computer. I asked my brother too, but he said he is giving me a TV for Christmas. No joke. Love my brother. He is awesome. I haven't gotten a TV since I was in 7th grade. It weighed 75 pounds. It was an 18 inch tube TV. Yeah I'm a little excited. Sorry for the short sentences.

Now I will just have spend some time thinking of a new name for the computer when I get it. Apple Jr.? Baby Apple? Grape? Banana? We'll see.

Lastly, I didn't ask for anything, but Brody and Cam's parents are getting me a Christmas gift in the form of h&m. Yes they already told me. I guess they aren't much for surprises? Oh well.

:)

Thankful. I lost track of the days. Whatev.

My lists of things I am thankful for grows every minute. Coke Zero, sunshine, scarves, Honeycrisp apples. But obviously I am most thankful for the people in my life. People are more important than things. Duh.

So today I'm taking a bit to write about my three very best friends. I've known them all since middle school which is pretty amazing.

[Dear T, Katy & Kels, I love you all. Love, Meg/Chmeag.]

TALICIA.

I honestly think of Talicia as my sister. She is the closest thing I have to one. She is the kind of best friend you can tell anything to. We can not talk for weeks and pick right back up where we left off. We can live across the country from each other and still be best friends. I am so blessed to know her.

KATY.

Katy's personality and mine are the funniest together. We totally get each other, and can argue/debate for hours and end up at point where we say, "Welp, this is just one of the many things we will disagree on. Do you remember the episode of Gilmore Girls where Rory and Lorelei..." and then we are onto a new topic. Because of that, Katy helps me to look at different sides of things. If that makes sense. There are a lot of things we both like, too. Like thinking of random businesses to start. :) And again like Talicia, we can be 1000 miles apart and still talk and text as though we were hanging out yesterday. Soooo thankful for Katy.

KELSEY.

Kelsey. Aw Kelsey. My twin, I swear. Not that we look alike, but I think everything in our lives are alike. We have extremely similar families. We each one brother. We were in all the same clubs in high school. We like the same clothes. We love the same things [antiquing, decorating, garage sale-ing, planning, cooking, babies...]. And Kelsey teaches me so many little things. Like the differences between butter and shortening in cookies. I lovvveee Kelsey!

Welp, there you have it. Love these girls. Just laugh at the pictures. They are all OLD and weird and funny. I am so thankful for all them being a part of my life!

Almost too much cuteness for one post.

How cute is this little boy? I've been teaching Brotato Chip to play on his own lately. Not ALL the time, but for a while. So he isn't spoiled. Ha.

[I think its too late.]

Anyway, today little man sat in the corner for 30 minutes. I kept looking at him, wondering what on earth was keeping him entertained so long. And welp, here it is.

He was lining up his blocks against the wall, messing them up, and lining them up again.

This is what he did when I told him to look at me, of course.

You can't tell which blocks are which, but I think he was putting them in order of his favorites. He always carries around the blue block with a V and a van on it. So much so that the picture is wearing off. After that, its a J with a jar of jelly. And so on. Well, the V block is first in the line, followed by the J... and other favorites. Once you get to the end of the line, the blocks aren't even straight anymore.

He is so strange, but so smart!

Blog readers.

Although I'm pretty sure there are only three of you, I just wanted to let you know I totally messed up my blog template/layout and am trying to figure it out and make it look nice again.

:)

Thankfulness: Day 3-6. :)

Once upon a time, I was a terrible blogger. And that time was the past 3 days.
So much for thankfulness, right? WRONG.
I have been writing down and photographing the things I've been thankful for in the past few days, even though I haven't been blogging about it. Sometimes I just don't have time, you know?

[Sidenote: I don't know how moms of small children can be so up to date with Facebook and blogger and such. When I am nanny-ing, I literally have to be with them every second or the crazies dump my purse on the floor and eat my necklaces! Haha. My only internet time is the small time where their naps overlap. Maybe it will be different with my own kids?]

Anyway, thankfulness.
First, I am so thankful for fall in Washington.
I love the rain. The cold. The storms. The leaves.
Its so beautiful. It makes my life more enjoyable.

I am also thankful for the vast array of coffee shops in Washington. Today I visited one I had never been to before, Satellite Coffee in Tacoma. I was looking at a couple apartments, saw this place, and had to try it.
I got an americano with a little bit of vanilla in it. Mmmmmmm.
Perfection.

I am always thankful for these precious prizes. I am especially thankful for their parents' old cell phones. The boys constantly want mine. They know I keep it in my purse [hence the purse dumping]. But since they are only babies, they don't quite realize that these phones don't really work anymore. :)

[Sidenote: Note Cam's little face. He is ALWAYS looking to Brody to see what Brody will do next. Dangerous of course, because Brody is daring and defiant, but so cute!]

More coffee? No. This picture is about these boys. The two on the right have been my favorite family to babysit for since the Isbells left Washington. They love me and I can't figure out why. [Seriously these kids call me, on their own and ask me to babysit. Miles once offered to give me his room is I would live with them.] Anyway, I just always take them to Forza and read to them a lot? I guess we have similar interests? :)
Usually I have all three Omans [Alex, Claire and Miles] but tonight I just had the boys, plus their cousin. They were so excited to make all the decisions without the input of their sister. I am so thankful for these boys. For the joy they bring when I watch them. And for their parents, who have become my friends, not just my employers. Love love love the Oman family!

Thankfulness: Day Two.

Yesterday I didn't forget to post about thankfulness. I also didn't forget to be thankful. I was just really busy. :)

Anyway, the main and obvious thing I was thankful for on November 2nd was the right to vote. Of course I'm not a fan of all the political commercials, radio advertisements and phone calls [who does like that stuff?], there is something amazing about election day.

Maybe its because all the elections I've voted in have been SO CLOSE. Right this moment the Senate race in Washington is literally 50/50. Each vote counts. My little tiny vote could help push one canidate past the other. How cool is that?

Some other things I was thankful for yesterday:

-Growing up. Its so nice to run into old friends or teachers. I went to Community last night, the college group in our area, and ran into a friend I don't see/get to talk to often. It was a special night because they combined middle school, high school and college all together for one night. I'll admit the middle schoolers were a littler high energy for me, but it was fun. The middle school pastor at Calvary, Rob Mayer, who was also my PE teacher in 7th and 8th grade, was also there. Its so cool so see him investing in the little middle schoolers just like he used to do at OMS baaack in the day. :)

- Starbucks red cups. Enough said.

:)

**I'll blog about my thankfulness for TODAY later on today. :)

Thankfulness: Day One.

So I decided this month I am going to try to the best of my ability to blog everyday about something or things I am thankful for.

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing;

in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"

-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I've realized that its easy to be thankful for the good things in life. Its easy to praise God when he hands you everything you want. So I'm going to make an effort to give thanks in everything as the verse says. Especially when I might not understand why God is doing the things He is doing.

thank·ful

/ˈθæŋkfəl/ Show Spelled[thangk-fuhl]
-feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.

–adjli

Today I am especially thankful for precious little Cameron. Usually I'm watching both boys, but whenever I watch one of them alone, its such a nice little treat. Cameron is always SO excited to have my undivided attention. [But he also loves playing with Brody. :)] He was enjoying stacking a rolling dolphin [Yeah, what kind of toy is that?? I was confused too] on top of a drum. Then he would push it off the drum and laugh uncontrollably. :)