Liz's Letters

Our society just made a complete 180 degree turn around from thinking about what we are thankful for to thinking about what we want…NO, I mean what we want to give! Isn’t that what it seems like though? We go from the focus of thanksgiving directly into spending time figuring out how to satisfy one another’s wants. This year, I am taking my best shot at trying NOT to do that. I recently realized how serious I needed to work on this when my daughter decided to ask for a Wii game system for Christmas. She started out saving her own money for this popular gaming toy, but soon realized that it was well beyond the reach of her 13 year old budget. After doing some odd jobs and a large babysitting job, she had saved a good deal of money, but not even half of what she needed to purchase the system, the remotes, and a game or two. So, she decided that this would be the big ticket item on her Christmas list. When she approached her frugal father about her wishes, he explained to her that it was ...

The season of Thanksgiving is officially over and the Christmas season has begun. Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year will end in a few hours as the clock strikes midnight. I did my own share of shopping today and now feel the excitement of Christmas spirit. That is something to be thankful for...the Christmas spirit! As I have spent time in the last week and especially the last two days thinking about the things that I am thankful for, I have to mention how thankful I am for my family...biological and the one that I married into. One of the reasons that I am grateful for having moved to Texas is we can now spend holidays with our family. As much as I enjoyed the traditions that we created in Virginia, there is nothing like the joy of being with family. There are memories, love, genuine care, and simple pleasure of just being together that cannot be experienced with anyone else. Family is irreplaceable , unconditional, and precious. I am thankful for my mother,...

For those of you who know me, you are probably shocked to see that one in writing! However, yes, I am thankful for my job. Even more of a surprise is the fact that I am also thankful for my commute to and from Dallas! Let me explain. I am thankful for my job for the obvious reason, first being the income that it provides. I have been able to contribute to our family finances and more importantly to help pay for college tuition for BOTH kids in college without having to take a loan! This is a wonderful thing to be grateful for! I am also thankful that my job provides our family a few extras. We don't have to over think purchasing things that we did when we were on a single income. American Eagle, Journey Shoes, and places like this that make our kids smile are now places that we can shop...on occasion...but they were way too frivolous before this job. Fred and I were able to take a fabulous anniversary trip to Mexico, something we would not have been able to do if I were not...

I am thankful for my kids. My husband and I have been blessed with three of the best kids that anyone could ask for. Our oldest son, Adam, is 23 years old. I am thankful for the fact that he is about to graduate from Virginia Tech! He chose a career path when he was in High School, Computer Engineering, and he has stuck with it ever since. He selected his university based on his degree program knowing that he would get one of the best educations available in his field. I am so proud of him. I am thankful that he has stuck with it. I am also thankful that he is the kind of guy that enjoys being around his family. I love my relationship with him because it is so easy to talk to him. He is easy going and fun to be around. Aaron is our middle child, and is 20 years old. I am thankful for Aaron because he is very caring. He looks out for the people that he cares about, always making sure that we are safe and doing the right thing. His career path is a good choice for him...law enf...

Continuing my thoughts on being thankful, I have to talk about friendships. Through the course of my life, I have been blessed with many friends. Starting when I was a little girl, I loved friends. I collected them like treasures. As far back as I remember, I realized that friends make the world a better place. My first best friend was a girl that I met when I was in first grade named Michelle. She and I are still friends today, and our "best" friendship lasted well into High School. Our families did things together, we spent the night together often, invited one another along on family vacations and looked for any opportunity to hang out. This life philosophy continued for me as I have gone through all phases of my life. God has always provided me with circles of friends, really good friends and a handful of those who I call "best" friends. Best friends are the ones who you can not only confide in - the good, the bad, and the indifferent - but also the friends who ...

As Thanksgiving approaches, we are reminded from every direction to think about the things we are thankful for. Emails go around, radio programs are directing our minds toward thankfulness, even advertisements hint of thanksgiving. Although I try to make thankfulness part of my daily living, this time of year does cause me to give additional thought to the many ways that I am blessed. One of those blessing is that I have a great husband who treats me well. He loves me and wants what is best for me. He even will sometimes give in to me and allow me to do what is not best for me (like over-eat) and not give me a hard time. He looks for ways that he can make me happy, provide for me financially, emotionally, and physically. ;) If I am tired, he makes sure that I rest, if I am hungry, he makes sure that I eat, and if I am broke, he makes sure that I don't spend! Seriously, he is a wonderful husband. He is also a wonderful father. He loves our children with the same kind of love. He ...

WOW! Life has been wild...great...but certainly wild! I loved the cruise! Jamaica was wonderful. It was rich, it was poor, it was real and it was beautiful. Grand Cayman's was a place that I would just want to kick back and spend about 3 months out of every year. And Cozumel , I always love Mexico! The Mayan Village was great, the history was interesting and the shopping was fabulous! My mom and I enjoyed our time together. We relaxed. We played. We ate...and ate...and ate. I danced, I swam, we sunned, we napped and we enjoyed. The crew was great. They were entertaining. I loved the different nationalities that were represented. It was great to talk to the crew members, to find out about their lives. They took great care of us! I had time to think about life. About family. About marriage. About friends. About God. About what's important. I know that I am very, very blessed. When I came home, I had two days at home and at work before I turned around and we...