Could I be more blessed and thankful?

Nope!  It's not possible.  The Lord God has blessed me beyond belief.  I could not have ever imagined that I would be in our very first home and celebrating our first Thanksgiving together in it this year.  So much has happened this year already.

Most importantly I'm thankful for my parents.  The year began with my father in ICU and the only thought I had in my mind during that time was whether or not we would be leaving the hospital with or without him.  I am so thankful that tomorrow I will have "thanksgiving" lunch with my Dad (and family).  It brings tears to my eyes, to think we were so close (twice) to losing him.  I'm am equally thankful for my mother and her faith in God to pull Dad through and what she taught me about faith in God.  Dad has always had a personal relationship with the Lord and if you ask him he can probably tell you more than you ever want to know, but I KNOW with everything I have that this experience strengthened his face.  It increased his pocketbook as well b/c he hasn't had a cigarette since January 1st, 2011.  Hallelujah!  Can you sing it for me? Mom knows how for sure.

The family that extends from those two people are icing on the cake of my life.  How great is the Love of our Savior?  So great that he gave me a HUGE family...thankfully they love my craziness unconditionally!

Granted there is not enough time in this day to list all the things I'm thankful for, and yes some are material in nature, but we all know that the most important ones are not.  I know that I can call on my brother, Jason and sister-in-law, Michele for anything at any moment in time.  I also can say without hesitation that my friends, most that I have know my ENTIRE life, will be there to laugh with me, cry with me, support me and sometimes hurt me.  It's good for us, that which doesn't kill us does indeed makes us stronger.  We are human so all of those things are bound to happen.  Thankfully for my group of friends, the laughter is abundant.  I am so thankful for that wonderful group of friends I was more than blessed with.

And then there is Carey Michael Poche, with whom today I wanted to beat with the remote control over the NBA lock out stuff, but thank God every single day that he is in my life and will be here until death do us part, aka - I kill him with said remote b/c he is the MOST stubborn human being on this planet.  He's not a handy man, but he has the voice of an angel.  He is not a brain surgeon, but I think he comes close.  He is not loud and crazy, like me, but he is complete opposite and that keeps me sane.  He is my husband and I look forward to creating little mini-mes (1/2 him and 1/2 me...hopefully all the good qualities combined).  Carey says they will have his teeth, his good looks, his blue eyes, his brains, his singing voice and his height! and his sense of humor too, go figure.   Those who know me well, know the good and bad, and I can't put into words what a perfect compliment to me, Carey is.  He truly loves me and is a wonderful man.  I am thankful for him.

The blessing continue b/c when you get Carey you also get Cathy Dufour, aka Mother-in-Law (even to all my friends) and Whitney Rate Dufour, aka The Whit!  Talk about being loved...I couldn't love them more than I do, nor could that love be reciprocated anymore than it is.  I must be doing something right in honoring our Lord the way I do, because the blessing are HUGE in my life.

This post wouldn't be so "Gwen" without me ending with something like this:

Thank you heavenly Father for blessing me with all of the things mentioned above and so much more.  I may not be as smart as I'd like, nor do I sing as well as I'd like, but I am thankful that I'm so darn good looking and know that I can do all things through you, because you give me strength (phil 4:13).

The Lord promises us "to prosper us, to give us hope and a future,"  we just need to keep trusting Him.

Thanks be to God.