in all things, give thanks

Count your blessings

Name them one by one

Count your blessings

See what God has done

Count your many blessings

Name them one by one

Count your many blessings

See what God has done

This morning I was thinking of this old hymn we used to sing in my church growing up.  So often I don't count my blessings, and instead seem to dwell on all of the lemons life throws at me.  While baking turkey cookies tonight, I've decided to not only count my blessings, but share them as well.

I am thankful for...
My husband, David Ryan Camp.  For those of you who don't know my husband, you're missing out.  David is just perfect for me.  He is so patient when I (way too often) get worked up over silly things.  He is so helpful around our home, making things easier on me when I get home from work.  He is loving.  He is a great doggie daddy to Hamilton.  There's no one else I'd rather spend my time with.  There are a lot of times when I don't let him know how much I appreciate him, but the truth is I don't know what I'd do without him in my life.

I'm thankful for...
My mom and dad.  They're just great.  They've always been so supportive, and have taught me the best life lesson, "do your best."  My mom is a great listener, and as I've gotten older, she's become a great friend.  My dad is an incredible leader, and has taught me the importance of honesty and integrity.  It has been so neat to see them in their new place in life, especially my dad.  There were so many times I saw him stressed due to his job, and now that he's retired, I can see the weight lifted off his shoulders.  It's incredible.  Even though it will still be a few years, I can't wait for my children to enjoy my parents as much as I have.

I'm thankful for...
My family.  I am so thankful for my grandmothers and my late grandfather.  I am thankful for my mother and father-in-law, my sister-in-law Katie, her husband Doug and their baby on the way, and my brother-in-law Ben.  They have taken me in as their daughter and sister, and I am thankful for each moment I get to spend with them.  I am enjoying getting to know them better each and every time we visit.

I'm thankful for...
Jesus.  Without Him, there would be no hope.  He is the great Romancer, and I enjoy the sunrises and sunsets he gives me each day.  I am thankful for His grace and unfailing love.  There are many times that my relationship with my Savior is lacking, but I know that He will never leave me nor forsake me.

I'm thankful for...
My job.  In a time where it can be hard to get hired, this is something I take for granted the most.  I am thankful for my job for many reasons, but mostly for the people I've met there.  I have been truly blessed with a desk partner that I can have fun with while at work.  We call each other "work wives," since we spend more time with one another than we do with anyone else.  My workdays would be miserable without Kendra.  :)

I'm thankful for...
My friends.  New friends and old friends.  I'm learning more and more how friends come into your life throughout all of it's seasons.  I'm thankful for all of my close friends from high school.  I'm thankful for the friends I met during college.  I'm thankful for my work friends.  And I'm thankful for our couple friends and their children (my little friends!)

I'm thankful for...
Hamilton Turner Camp.  Seems silly, but this pup provides so much love and comfort.  He's my favorite snuggle buddy, and his wagging tail melts my heart.  I love his little doggie personality.

I'm thankful for...
God's provisions.  I'm learning to be thankful for the necessities God gives us, and to not take them for granted.  Clean water and fresh food to eat.  It seems so basic, but so many go without.  Helping plan the Poverty Meal for our church made me realize just how much we have and how much we waste.

I'm thankful for...
All of the simple things I enjoy.  Snow and summer and sweatpants and hot baths and a good book to read and curling up under a blanket and swimming in the lake.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

fall fun & the ten-week razorback wreath

Hello friends!

I wanted to do a quick blog update on a few fun fall things going on at the Camp household... and reveal my craftiest things to date!  It feels like in Arkansas we only have two real seasons... summer and winter.  It goes from really hot to really cold way too fast, and leaves us with what seems like a couple weeks of spring and fall in between.  Well in my book, "fall" starts after Labor Day with the beginning of football season.  I'm a huge Chicago Bears fan, and of course an Arkansas Razorback fan!  I decided to pay tribute to my alma mater by getting a little crafty for football season. 

While going through several wreath ideas, I finally settled on making a ribbon wreath.  I started my wreath at the beginning of August with my friend Hayley.  Let's just say... Hayley is much craftier than me and finished her wreath a LONG time ago.  It took me about ten weeks to finish this one... but it was finally finished by the end of October.

Mom had to help me with the bow!  I am pleased with how it turned out.  It's new home is no longer on the kitchen table or in a spare bedroom - it's hanging proudly on our pantry door!

Onto another fall favorite:  Halloween.  I definitely get my love for Halloween from my mom.  Every Halloween costume I had when I was little was homemade.  It is just so fun to dress up!  And... I love trick-or-treaters!  This year I made some cute treats to hand out to the tricksters.  I think we had around 15 or so, which is an improvement from last year, so I was excited.  Here are the super easy pumpkin treats I made.  I found these on a crafting blog, although I can't remember which one!  I just used tissue paper, floral tape and a little raffia for the bow!

And of course Halloween wouldn't be complete without a visit from two of my little buddies:  Micah and Eva!  They were dressed up like a cute little firefighter and lady bug.

The picture is a little fuzzy... but they're still the cutest!

This past weekend my parents came down for the Arkansas versus South Carolina game.  This was a kind of early Christmas present for them.  They're not going to be in town (or even in the country!) for Christmas, so David and I decided to take them to a game as a part of our Christmas celebration.  The last time they came to a Razorback game was my freshman year in college... and needless to say, it wasn't the best Razorback experience.  But I think this past weekend was a success.  We took them to David and Kayla's tailgate, ate some great chili and saw a great game!  We're already looking forward to the next one!

stay classy, san diego

Have I mentioned before that I have a pretty neat husband?  Well I do.  David decided that we needed to get away for the weekend - and away we went!  He didn't tell me where we were going, only that I needed to take last Friday off of work and that our plane was leaving around 9:00 a.m.  If you know me, I'm a planner.  Like a major planner.  So this was a great exercise in patience for me.  Although I wasn't completely relaxed about not knowing where I was headed, I think I did pretty well.  

We packed up our things and headed to the airport Friday morning.  Just before clearing security, David handed me my first boarding pass... Denver, CO.  At this point, I still didn't know our final destination!  Once landing in Denver, eating an airport breakfast burrito and walking around the gates for an hour, our flight was boarding... to sunny San Diego!  I was excited!

Once we landed and got our rental car, we headed to our hotel... a resort on Coronado Bay.  The view was just beautiful.  But we couldn't hang out at the hotel long.  With only 48 hours to soak up San Diego, we had places to go!

View from our room - not too shabby!

Friday night we drove to La Jolla Beach and walked down the fishing pier.  We then moved on to Miller's Field - a sports bar along La Jolla Beach to catch a bit of the World Series.  It was definitely a fun sports bar!

Being tourists on the pier

Miller's Field

Dorky picture inside Miller's Field... I couldn't resist the Bears jersey!

Saturday morning we woke up early (the 2 hour time difference threw us for a loop!) and headed down to the Little Italy district.  Every Saturday morning a few sections of the street are blocked out for the most amazing farmer's market I've ever seen.  It was so fun to walk around.  I wanted to bring home every fruit and veggie I saw, but instead grabbed a San Diego Mercato shopping bag instead.  Not to mention the Handmade Green houndstooth collar and leash for Hamilton.  

Beautiful Gerbera Daisies at the Farmers Market

Breakfast tacos - so good!

Little Italy, San Diego

After we stopped by PetCo Park for a moment, it was time to head to the San Diego Zoo!  I have wanted  to visit the San Diego Zoo since I was about eight years old, so needless to say, I was very excited.  My favorite exhibits were the pandas (so cute!) and the animal partnership exhibit where a cheetah and a dog were just hanging out leash-free.

Cute Panda!

Dream come true!

After some tasty margaritas, we met my friend Jaclyn and her husband for dinner.  Jaclyn and I have been friends since middle school, and she and her husband Tyson are living in LA while finishing their doctorate degrees.  When we landed, I asked Jaclyn how far they lived from San Diego.  She said they were a couple hours away, and so we decided to meet up the following evening.  David and I were so thankful that they took the time to drive to San Diego to spend Saturday evening with us!  We had a great time eating dinner and dessert and visiting.  

Sunday morning we slept in as best we could, packed our bags and headed out for one last tour.  We decided it would be fun to tour Coronado/San Diego Bay.  The harbor is filled with tons of Navy ships and aircraft carriers.  The one fun fact we learned on our boat tour was about the stripes-only flags that are flown on the bows of the ships.  These flags mean, "Don't Tread on Me," and are only flown during times of war. 

 The bridge connecting Coronado and San Diego... pretty cool.

A couple of the Navy ships we spotted on our boat tour!

After our harbor tour it was time to turn in the rental car and head back to the airport.  After a couple of flights we were back home in Arkansas.  :)  Monday evening David went to pick up our pup, who had stayed with his best friend Wilson.  Somehow, I don't think he missed us too much!

 Swimming pals...

...and snuggle buddies!

rEcess & razorbacks (plus a trip to the craft fair!)

Yet again it's been over two weeks since I've updated.  But that's okay!  Life as usual is just busy, busy, busy!

A few Fridays ago, David and I spent our evening at rEcess.  I've blogged about rEcess before, but haven't gone into much detail.  rEcess is a respite night for families with special needs children.  We get to hang out with the kids and their siblings giving the parents some time to spend together.  It is such a fun night for the parents, the kids, the siblings and the volunteers.  There are several rEcess events around Fayetteville throughout the month, but we go to the rEcess at our church on the first Friday of every month.  Last rEcess was "Razorback rEcess."  David was able to find a few Razorback football players to come hang out an talk to the kids, which was so neat to see.  They did touchdown dances and ran a few plays.  The kids just loved it, and I think the football players did too.  :)

The next day was the Arkansas vs. Auburn game.  David and I didn't have tickets to the game, but we decided to go tailgating with our friends and see if we could by chance find any tickets to buy.  David ended up running into someone he knew who generously gave us their extra tickets.  They were great seats - we couldn't stop saying thanks!  Of course I was in a prime spot to watch the half time show (which is my most favorite part of the game!)

Razorback Marching Band!

The week between Razorback rEcess and the Razorback game is all a blur!  Work has just been crazy lately, and a little frustrating at times, so I was definitely looking forward to what the next weekend would bring:  the War Eagle Craft Fair.

This was my first experience at the War Eagle Fair.  My mom and aunt Cindy came down for the weekend (it was my mom's first time at War Eagle too!) and met up with my friend Kristen and me.  Then we headed out for the craft fair.  It was huge.  There were so many people and so many tents.  We had such a fun time looking at the crafts and things in the different booths.

Welcome!

War Eagle Mill

Mom, Cindy and I ended up going to three craft fairs on Saturday.  It is safe to say we shopped until we dropped, but we had a blast.  I can't wait to go again.  I'm trying to talk my mom into coming down for the Northwest Arkansas Boutique Show in November, but we'll just have to see.  :)

I'll leave you with this photo... this is my sweet pup Hamilton during a Chicago Bears Monday Night Football game sporting my Brian Urlacher jersey.  We won't discuss the outcome of that game... but I do have the cutest Hamilton.

Ham says, "Bear Down!"

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

puppy play date

Has it already been two weeks since I last posted?  Goodness.  I don't even know where the time goes sometimes!  In any case... we have had a busy two weeks!

The weekend before last I drove to Carthage, MO to visit my grandmas.  Since my parents moved at the beginning of the summer, it's not as easy for me to visit my grandmas while visiting my parents.  It was great to spend the afternoon with them.  Grandma Lansdown and I went to lunch together and had such a nice visit.  I was griping about how much I hate doing laundry (and David can definitely confirm that!!) and my grandma started telling me how they used to do laundry when she was a little girl.  They had to wash in one bucket, rinse in one bucket and wring the clothes out through a wringing machine.  Then they hung the clothes to dry.  This took up a whole Monday.  Tuesday was ironing day.  Grandma said she hated ironing day!  I don't blame her... that nut does not fall far from the tree!  I then went to visit my Grandma Gipson.  I talk to her on the phone some, but it's always good to see her in person.  We had a nice visit as well.  I need to make it a point to go visit them more often - I know it means a lot to them, and the time I have with them is so important to me.

This past weekend Hamilton had a very special guest.  His puppy cousin Wilson came to spend the weekend with us.  Wilson belongs to David's cousin Jay and his wife Merideth.  They were going out of town over the weekend, so David and I volunteered to keep Wilson.  He and Hamilton had a BLAST.

They played and played and played and played and played and play and played some more!  It was funny to see Hamilton as the "old dog," because he is usually the more hyper pup.  David and I definitely had forgotten what it was like to have a puppy around the house.  It was really so much fun.  We are grateful that Jay and Merideth shared Wilson with us for the weekend, and are so glad we were able to help them out.  We're working on planning the next puppy play date for Hamilton and Wilson!

 Chewing on our matching bones!

Puppy love...

Last but not least (although there is so much more I could write!) I saw The Help last night with the lovely ladies from Community Group.  I broke my usual rule of reading the book first before seeing the movie, but this movie only made me want to read the book even more!

So... in the words of Aibileen... "you is kind, you is smart, you is important."  What sweet words to remember as we go about our busy days...

celebrating david ryan

This past weekend I was able to celebrate the birthday of a very special person.  My husband David turned 30 on Saturday, September 17th.  I must say, we had a great birthday weekend!

We started the weekend with going to the Marriage Experience at our church.  Perhaps it wasn't part of the birthday celebrations, but it was great.  Several couples from our community group were there, and we got to meet and spend time with other couples involved in our church as well.  The point that stuck out the most to me from that evening is that my spouse is a deliberate gift from God.  So often I take this for granted, but what great timing to be reminded that David is God's gift to me!  Thinking this made me even more excited to celebrate David's birthday.

Saturday (David's actual birthday) was the first day of tackle football for the Club, so David had to spend a good portion of the day working.  I cleaned the house and picked up a few things for our Sunday celebration.  After David got home, we went to meet our friends to tailgate before the Razorback football game.  I just HAD to take birthday cupcakes!

The little flags have the number 30 on them!

I made David pose... and I think this is just too cute.

Well let me tell you... Saturday was a gross day.  It was cold and windy and rainy!  But we stuck it out (with the purchase of some gloves, a sweatshirt and a hat!) and made it to the game.  By the time we walked down to the stadium, the sun was shining!  

A new photo fave!

We planned to have David's party on Sunday afternoon.  I couldn't let the big 3-0 slip through our fingers without having a birthday bash!  So... we loaded up around noon and headed to Louie's in Fayetteville.  David and I decided to watch the Chicago Bears game (my favorite team... but we're not going to talk about Sunday's game) and then I could set up for his party that afternoon.  We ran into a bit of a hiccup when the manager on duty had no idea there was going to be a party that afternoon.  After I had a brief moment of freaking out, everything got settled, we got set up and the party was under way!

 Reduce, reuse, recycle... cupcake stand from our wedding found a new life!

 A little blurry... "cake topper."

Our little buddy Micah was digging that lime green icing!

We are so thankful for all of those who were able to make it to David's party!  We had a great time seeing everyone.  You all mean so much to us.

David is a pretty amazing guy.  He is one of the most patient people I have ever met.  I believe that is a huge reason why God has placed him specifically in my life.  He is kind and sweet.  He loves kids, and is a good role model for his high school Bible study boys.  I have never met a person who has interacted with David who hasn't told me what a great person he is.  He loves unconditionally, even when it's not deserved.  I am such a lucky girl to be married to this man, and I cannot wait to celebrate many more wonderful birthdays with him.

most audible dog award & healthy burritos

The title of this post is pretty self-explanatory.  If you guessed I am blogging about a barking dog and tonight's dinner, you are absolutely correct!  Good job!

But before we get into my latest beef about the barking dog, I'd love to share the story of how Hamilton Turner Camp came to be a part of our lives.  (Why yes, he has a full name.  And yes, it is incredibly preppy.)  

A few months after we got married, David and I decided it was time for us to take our marriage to the "next level" and become parents of a furry baby.  Okay... I really wanted a dog, and David agreed.  After all, he wouldn't want to upset his new wifey.  Around this time our friends Josh and Hayley had a brother whose dog was having puppies.  So naturally we decided to adopt a love child from Luke and Molly (Ham's biological parents).  David really wanted to name our pup "Lewis," the first name of David's favorite Formula 1 driver, Lewis Hamilton.  I vetoed "Lewis," but said "Hamilton" was a go!  And so on Memorial Day 2010, Hamilton was brought to our front door, and our lives haven't been the same since.  He was thought to be a sweet, lazy puppy... until he moved in with us.  Then the crazy set in.  We quickly learned we had to "Hamilton-proof" our house.  Nothing was safe.  Although now he is calming down and doesn't chew on much, he can't pass up the temptation of dishtowels, undies, socks and TV remotes.  He is David's "guy," and my snuggle-bug.  He is a great protector of our home, which brings us to...

Our slobbery, lovable, eighty pound furry baby... has become the most audible dog on the block.  He barks at EVERYTHING.  At first we didn't discourage barking.  If someone were to threaten our space, we wanted Hamilton to step into a protective role and warn all of the bad guys that he means business.  But lately it's gotten a little out of control.  Immediately after entering the backyard each morning, the neighborhood is awakened with a "wooowooowooowoooowooooo!"  Sometimes he barks at cars, other times cats.  Tonight it was a kid on a 4-wheeler driving down our access road.  Sometimes it's just to hear his own voice, I think.  Lately if it moves, it's apparently bark-worthy.  I am afraid to admit... we have officially become "those people" with "that dog."  Fun.  :)  

For lack of a better segue into my next topic... it's on to healthy burritos!  Or in our case healthy mini burritos/soft tacos.  I found a recipe on my Whole Foods Recipes app for black bean burritos that sounded super yummy.  I'm all about my fiber these days, so I thought I'd give it a try... and they were delish!  I will say I tweaked the recipe quite a bit, which is often disastrous, but in this case worked out just as well, I think.  

I cooked 1 cup of organic brown rice (which ended up making about 2 cups of cooked rice), and added one can of black beans.  I tried my best to rinse the beans to reduce the amount of salt.  I made some salsa out of organic diced tomatoes and a Mrs. Wages salsa packet (thank you Mom!)  I made the mistake of not buying petite diced tomatoes... those definitely make better salsa!  Oh well!  I then made a "dressing" out of 1 squeezed lime, 3 tablespoons canola oil, 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper, garlic salt and a little pepper.  Once the rice was cooked, I added the beans and dressing and mixed together.  I cut up an avocado and mashed an eighth onto a whole wheat tortilla.  Topped the avocado with the rice/beans mixture, and added a little shredded cheese and salsa.  And... YUM.  So tasty.  I will admit I added just a tad bit of ranch dressing to my mini burritos... but overall, I feel so good about this meal!  I will definitely be making them again in the future. 

And I definitely recommend that app!  I'm not tooooo app crazy, but this one has a lot of neat recipes.  You can sort by which type of diet you prefer (low sodium, high fiber, etc), which courses you're cooking and meal types.  Then it makes a shopping list for you.  

Neat-o burrito. 

blogging: round two

Hello friends!

Well... if you remember back in November of 2010 (or if you check out my archive), you know that I began this blog as an attempt to create accountability for organizing my home.  That didn't work out so well.  I never updated again, and parts of my home are still in a place of complete disorganization.  That's how life goes sometimes.  So here's to a fresh start... blogging:  round two begins!  My first goal for my second attempt at blogging is to update at least once a week!

I wanted to start this with an introduction.  Although most of you reading this know me, I figured I'd give you a quick recap on life's most "recent" events.

I moved to Arkansas for college in 2004.  I never thought this would be home, but here I am!  I met this pretty great guy my junior year of college, but didn't think too much about it.  A year later, I started dating this pretty great guy, and another year and a half after that, we were engaged!  On December 31, 2009, I married David Ryan Camp.  I am one lucky girl.  David is such a sweet and patient husband.  I think God knew that is just what I needed.  

David and I are living in Northwest Arkansas, and we LOVE it.  We have an amazing church family, which has blessed us with some pretty amazing friends.  We love going to the Fayetteville Farmers' Market on Saturdays with our pup Hamilton.

Our life is pretty ordinary, but that doesn't mean it's not fun.  I'm learning to focus on the positive things this life gives us, and to extract the extraordinary out of the ordinary.

One of my favorites...

...and another favorite!

Honeymoon in Mexico - Dave with a broken thumb!

                                                          

This little guy... is now about eighty pounds!