Tis The Season..

Well, since it will be Thanksgiving in precisely 47 minutes, I decided it is high time I wrote a little note of the things that I am thankful for!

First off, I'm thankful for the ability to put my thoughts into words, the skills to be able to read and write (and type), and my ever continuing education of spelling! 

Second, I'm thankful for my parents and teachers who taught me how to do the afore mentioned things! 

Third, I'm thankful for the troops who are fighting for my continued freedom to pursue any dream I desire, and the right to be educated! 

Fourth, I'm thankful for my Lord, without who I wouldn't have the mental capacity to learn anything, no matter who my teacher was or what rights I had. He has blessed me with so much, and I'm terribly grateful that He gave me a mind to think about all the things I have because of Him!

Fifth, I am thankful for my family. I can't reiterate enough the power and amazingness of their love, patience, humor, faith, encouragement, leadership, help, care, and every other aspect of what makes them "THEM."

Sixth, I am thankful for Christmas music. =) it makes me smile, it warms my heart, it gets me in the Christmas mood. (Which is the greatest mood to be in!) 

Seventh, I am thankful for my house! While homeownership is a huge responsibility, so far it has been a rewarding one, and I love having such an adorable little abode to go home too! I am also very thankful for my parents house, which I grew up in. I love and cherish the memories I have here. I love the smells, the decorations, the comfortable atmosphere... all of it. It's a beautiful home that has been made with the love of those living in it! 

Eight, I'm thankful for my puppies, Kodi and Kiana. They are adorable, and I love them! Kiana is now 7 years old, and Kodiak is 3. They are living proof of dreams coming true!

Ninth, I am thankful for the power and hope of love. 

Tenth, I am thankful for my very good friends. I miss my sweet gal Ashley more than I can say, and I'm super excited for her to come home for Christmas. I am so grateful to my friend Charlie, who always knows how to cheer me up, and is always there when I need him! I miss my bestest soccer buddy and sister-girl Krysta, but I'm super proud of her for playing soccer in college, and I'm thankful for all the help she is and has been to me! I am so thankful for my friend Luke, who has so many Christ-like characteristics, and a true zeal for life! I'm super thankful for my friend Matt, who has already taught me so much, and I haven't even known him for very long. 

Eleventh, I am thankful for hot water, especially when I get to bathe in it! 

Twelfth, I'm thankful for my laptop :) 

Thirteenth, I'm thankful for cameras, photoshop, and It'sALLgood. These are three things that are absolute passions in my life!

Fourteenth, I am thankful for kleenex, without whom I would be in big trouble... (I have a bloody nose so you all know! Ha!) 

Fifteenth, I am thankful for snow, even though there hasn't been much at all this year! (Praying for a blizzard!!)

Sixteenth, I am thankful for yummy food.

Seventeenth, I'm thankful for Nertz.

Eighteenth, I am thankful for special family traditions that make life so grand and cheery. 

Nineteenth, I am thankful for my awesome chiropractor Dr. Kurt - what a blessing!

Twentieth, I am thankful for every breath that I've taken, and for all the remaining ones that I have to take. I am thankful for every time I open my eyes in the morning, and I can see my surroundings. I am thankful for my ears, that let me hear the most beautiful sounds. I am thankful for my mouth, even though it gets me in to trouble some times, I would be in a lot of trouble without it! I am thankful for my arms, my hands, my fingers, my toes, my feet, my legs, my entire body and the way God made it functional and perfect. I am thankful for unconditional love, the physical feeling, the mental knowing, the spirit lifting power... it is unexplainable. 

Twenty-firstly(????) I am thankful for every single person in my church family. 

Lastly, I am thankful for these holidays where everyone is a little less selfish. Where families come together. Where friends share special traditions and fun times. Where LOVE is ALL over the place. Where people are reminded to show their gratitude. 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!! May God bless your day :)

Kortney

Organization.... Say What?

So... I just inwardly chuckled at myself for having such a dumb title, so please feel free to laugh with me. Sorry it's been a while. Life has been interesting lately. I recently quit my job at Alta Vista Chiropractic so that I could have more time to complete my college education. While I was working, I was doing the bare minimal to pass, and I decided that I wasn't getting my monies worth. I was lucky to have enough funds to do this for the next month, but money is definitely tight right now, and I'm trying to do my best to save it everywhere I can. (especially gas money..) 
The strange thing is, now that I have more time, I have less motivation it seems to spend that time on my school. I would much rather go spend the day with my Mom at her house, editing pictures from It'sALLgood's latest photo shoots, reading, writing, or playing the Sims3. (yes, I am 18 and I still play that beautiful, addicting game). With the holidays coming up, life is even more distracting. I definitely enjoy listening to Christmas music while I do my homework, but it's super hard to focus none the less. In an attempt to free up all my time next week (because for some reason, three of my five classes have assigned me homework due over Thanksgiving weekend... what is that about?!) I have been doing as much as possible for every class this week. 
I am taking four online classes, (Astronomy II, Spanish II, Humanities, and Literature) and they are all the shortened class periods. (I'm also taking Photography II, but it's not online) So, I'm basically doing 20 weeks worth of school work in 10 weeks, in an online classroom. It's a little bit more difficult to motivate myself, because I can't see my teacher. I can't get to know my classmates, or my teacher, and so I don't have the fear of letting them down. I typically thrive in situations when I have someone who I want to make proud, and it's just a little bit more difficult to find that in an online setting. Regardless, I really do appreciate the flexibility of online classes! 
Between yesterday and today I spent 15 hours working on my classes, and I only completed one major project, one discussion, 5 homework assignments, and one quiz. So I still have a long way to go before I am done for Thanksgiving! Needless to say, all those hours of working has made me feel a little bit brain dead. It's also making it very difficult for me to stay caught up on my house work. I haven't done my laundry for a couple weeks again, I haven't cleaned my bathroom, played with my dogs, taken out the trash, dusted, vacuumed, swept, etc. Nothing. The most I've done was to pick up my dirty laundry and put it in my laundry basket. 
I feel terribly unorganized, or at least unbalanced. Do you ever feel that way in your life? Even this little blog post feels really unorganized... like I am bouncing from topic to topic. (That's kind of how my brain works, I try to keep it on task when writing however).
Pretty much, my goal is to GET ORGANIZED. So, if you have any super ideas or hints that you would like to share with me, I'm all ears! 
Sorry for the randomness of this message... hopefully I'll get things in order soon and I can get back to more enjoyable writing :) 
Thanks,

Kortney