Anything that is not growing,

is dead...

YOU'RE SO MONEY

So I definitely spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. My family was going down to Atlanta to be with the rest of the Grahams but I assumed that my work schedule wouldn't permit a trip of any kind. However, things got mixed up and I ended up with 4 days off, and I pouted about missing Thanksgiving until David suggested that we really needed to have an adventure, so a couple cheap tickets later, we were on our way to Nevada. What a ridiculous place. It feels like something out of a dream. I got lost in the hotel [we were right on the strip in the MGM Grand] and managed to visit Venice, Paris, Egypt, Rome, and NYC within a few blocks of eachother. My favorite moment was realizing that I was having a hard time ordering lunch in "Venice" because the waiter knew only Spanish. It was hard to wrap my mind around. More pictures up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/42479117@N00 if you like that sort of thing.
I loved the call from John, Sarah, it made me laugh so hard. Amanda, let's hear some New Orleans stories pleeeease. And Karyn, goodness, I promise to call soon.

I am so thankful for so many things....

11/22/07
Last night with John (the 93, almost 94 yr old) was awesome. I brought him honey baked turkey, homemade mashed potatoes,stuffing,pie and wine. Do ya know what he went out and bought just because I was coming? Canadian Mist and Gingerale...LOL...awww! We ate dinner together and then I fixed him a plate of food for today (thanksgiving) since he wont be having company until Friday. He speaks of how close to death he is and I gave him a pep talk about being "young at heart" and enjoying every moment he has:). We spoke about so many different things. He is such a devout Catholic, he told me about different saints that he prays to and all his loved ones that he prays for. We are able to speak about faith openly (to a certain extent of course) and I will be so happy when his eyes are opened. It won't be long...:)

We had a huge Thanksgiving dinner here! Delicious!!! My Aunt and Uncle, Sarah and David,Del Thomas and Vee (my cousin and his wife) Sarah's parents, Isaac, Gabriel and Lola:) I am still stuffed! Isaac had his first bite of turkey:)


and here are my thoughts for this evening..
There are people in this world that seem to have nothing to be thankful for. People are negatively affected by their own doing,someone elses doing or the fact that this is an imperfect world ever since choices were made in the Garden of Eden.There have been times in my life where I felt angry for some of the things I experienced or had go through...things that seemed unfair, darkness that felt as if you should be able to just wake up and it would be gone,but...

I believe that everything will come full circle eventually. Whether in this life or the next. I believe in God. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and I am made anew everytime I sincerely go to Him and ask for forgiveness. I believe that God knows my heart. I believe in the coming Kingdom of God. I believed He has revealed to us much truth but I also know we don't know everything or even close to it...I believe there is another dimension that we cannot comprehend, I believe in the possibility of the impossible, I believe in a perspective that we don't have...Everything will come full circle It has to.





I THANK GOD FOR ALL THAT WE DONT SEE

Thanksgiving... my favorite holiday that doesn't involve fireworks!

Hello Darlings!!!
I feel so out of the loop. I've been working ridiculous amounts of hours between the BUX and the design job, but I know it will pay off in the end when I can actually afford to pay rent this month.
Sarah... I want to hear all about the trip to Chicago and the birthday adventures! How did you like the Megabus?
Emily... new haircut?? I want to see so bad! You are always so trendy and delightful!
Karyn... do you ever acutally look at the blog?

So... my update:
Work work work! I do like Texas, it has been deliciously warm still (which makes it even harder to believe that it is almost Thanksgiving)! Things with Mark just keep getting better by the day. I am astonished by his kindness, generosity and love that grow moment by moment. I can't fathom how God can bless me so greatly with all that I've done to be such a screw up! For this... and much more... I am truly thankful!

I am on a little Thanksgiving adventure of my own! Last night we packed up the car and the cat and drove the seven hours to New Orleans for this holiday weekend. Wish I could be home seeing all of you... but I am not missing the snow and cold one single bit!
Anyone going to Louisville this year? Or just me? Well, in any case, Mark and I will be back in Cleveland the week between the Winter Family Weekend and New Years. Hope to see one and all then if you all will be around! I'm definitely feeling the need for a trip to The Melt and Great Lakes Brewing Co! I miss you guys so much!
-Amanda

Haha aw, I sound like such a dork. I remember when Mr.O'Brien asked me to write that for the magazine, and he had never actually, you know, READ anything of mine. He just got it in his head that I should be writing. It was kind of adorable.
Hi everybody! Lots has been going on [including SARAH making the trip for her birthday, thanks sarah! ::waves:: oh and I let Anna chop my hair off, aieee] but no time for that now! I'm heading out on an impromtu adventure, I'll be back in a few days with, I'm sure, pictures and stories. Happy Thanksgiving, kids, I hope its lovely for everyone.

Hope

An Incredible Universe
by Emily Graham
It had been an extremely long day, and I was exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and dream for a few hours. However, on that extremely cold night in November, I dragged myself and my reluctant roommate out of our cozy dorm room. Armed with blankets, pillows and about 12 layers of clothing apiece, we waddled out and made a nest in the middle of the soccer field adjoining our dorm.
We settled down to wait. It was late November, and, being a self-proclaimed astronomy dork, I was excited: the Leonid meteor shower was to take place that night—well, morning I should say, much to my sleepy roommate's chagrin. My professor had reminded us of the event for weeks, but we were probably the only college students on our campus actually willing to brave the freezing temperatures to watch it, out of complete fascination and curiosity or complete stupidity. Probably a combination. But there we were, alone, waiting.
Payoff! The first meteor streaked across the sky, and my roommate and I cheered. This was followed by another ... and another ... and another. They were of assorted color, duration, and altitude, a variety I never knew existed. Dusty greens, fiery reds, golden hazes, bright whites ... I remember one shooting star that lasted seemingly forever, leaving a trail of sparkling gold dust behind it across the sky. They began to appear more quickly, and, invariably, the moment I would look away, my roommate would "ooo!" or "ahhh!" to announce the sighting of another. We lost count after the first 10 minutes and simply enjoyed the show.
A few hours after we had been out I remember lying there on the field, my eyes filled only with the night sky, I suddenly had a peculiar sensation. Instead of the usual feeling of being planted firmly on the ground with the heavens suspended above me, I had instead the dizzying sensation that I was simply suspended in the middle of that sky, in the midst of the stars, as I truly am. After all, I am resting on the earth, but the earth is resting on ... nothing.
I began to call to mind all of the random figures and facts that our teacher had drilled into us, about the enormous distances between the stars, the hundreds of years it would take to reach even the nearest one ... that our galaxy was comprised of billions upon billions of stars ... that there was only one galaxy observable to the naked eye, the Andromeda galaxy ... and yet there are billions of those galaxies out there. Billions! My mind can't even quite comprehend that rather small measurement, let alone the larger numbers required to describe the vastness of the universe.
As I lay there, I realized that stars were being formed, galaxies were spiraling into one another, supernovas were violently exploding. How extraordinary! A scripture—God's words to Job—came to my mind: "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?" (Job 38:31-33, New International Version).
I felt indescribably tiny, my life insignificant. Physically, I could hardly count myself as dust. I was overwhelmed with the sheer grandeur of this universe that I inhabit, a universe of which I know almost nothing about, and yet the little that I do know is mind-bogglingly beautiful and can only lead me to conclude extraordinary things about the Being who fashioned it.
My thoughts were suddenly brought back to earth by a biting gust of wind. I sat up and looked around for a moment, and it suddenly occurred to me as oddly wonderful, the place in the universe that I personally inhabited. I glanced around at the fields in which I lay, the tree-covered hilltops off in the distance, the nearby darkened houses, and finally at my brave friend willing to share the frosty morning with her crazy roommate, watching chunks of rock disintegrate in our atmosphere.
Out of all the universe, that was my place. That tiny little corner of space and time was mine to inhabit and affect. I might only be dust, but I am dust with a purpose. What an incredible opportunity! What an incredible universe—and what an incredible mind behind it! VT

I wasn't feeling well today and spent nearly all of it on the couch, eating pierogis and ice cream, drinking Great Lakes Christmas Ale, and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's.
I feel much better now.

Sarah- Love the pics- you are beautiful!

Em- Sounds delicious! Thanks for calling me last night! You made my day!

Karyn- Glad we talked last weekend... I HAVE A REAL JOB (haha... well sort of... and then there is still Starbucks)!