More Joys

41. A ladies tea party. It was my mom’s idea, and we all had a blast!

42. My grandma. She fell and bruised an optical nerve not long ago, but her attitude and progress is so encouraging!

43. Good friends. Brian and I were able to spend quite a bit of time with Brian’s best friend and his fiancée, and hang out with their families a little too.

44. Sleepovers. I spent the night with one of my best friends at her house. We bought breadsticks from Fazolis (Italian restaurant) and sweet tea and cherry pies from McDonalds, and made our own pasta. Then we sat on the futon and talked for hours and hours. It was so good to connect and catch up, and it’s so encouraging to me to hear how she’s grown spiritually and is continuing to seek God’s will first in her life.
45. More good friends. We spent Sunday in Ames, and got to catch up a little with the many people at Campus Baptist Church who encouraged and blessed us while Brian and I went to school at Iowa State.
46. Hickory Park Restaurant. An Ames tradition!
47. Guy friends. I spent the afternoon curled up a couch at some of our college friends’ apartment, watching the guys play video games. I guess that was more of a joy for Brian than for myself, but I really enjoyed all the joking and hilarious commentary, and especially seeing Brian laugh more in a few hours than he has for a long time.
48. Help from family. Since we were gone all day Sunday, I was really stressing over getting our laundry done and packing. Mother-in-law to the rescue! She finished our laundry and got the boxes with the gifts that we were shipping home ready to go.
49. A safe trip home from Iowa. It was long, but everything went well, and thanks to the new luggage tag from my MIL for Christmas, no one took our suitcase this time!

50. The numerous Starbucks located in the Chicago O’Hare airport. We went to the wrong place in the airport, and once we discovered we were in the wrong terminal, we still had plenty of time before our flight, so we got some Starbucks goodness. But then we had to get to the other side of the airport, including going through the tunnel. I was carrying my coat, purse, and a tote bag that was getting heavier every minute. Add hot coffee to the mix… and I learned that it’s really hard and not a little dangerous to ride the moving sidewalks and escalators! While precariously balancing everything, I glanced up often enough to notice that we passed about three different Starbucks, and when we arrived at the right place, there was another Starbucks right next to it! If only I’d known!

51. Chinese take-out food in the airport, and a husband who knows just what to order for me. Orange chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and fried rice! Thanks babe!
52. Airplanes that show the movie I was interested in seeing. The Social Network, about the founding of facebook. It was really interesting, but on the plane we were watching an edited version, and I think that without that the bad language would have made it not worth watching.
53. Friends to pick us up at the airport. 
54. Sleeping in my own bed!
55. Brian’s work hours have changed, which means he doesn’t have to be at work as early, so now he can sleep in until 5:30 a.m., and he can stay up later at night!
56. Waking up in my own bed!
57. School doesn’t start up until the 18th!
58. To do lists mixing fun with work. My list for the week includes taking a bubble bath, buying school books,   getting groceries, and facebooking a friend.

59. Taking enough time to read my Bible and journal. With all the traveling and craziness of our time home, I didn’t make time often enough to be in the word. It was refreshing to be back to my normal schedule.


60. A new year!