Thanksgiving in January

This year, I picked Eucharisteo (be thankful) as my word of the year. I decided that it would be important to reflect each month on what I am currently thankful for.

"It is not happy people who are thankful; it is thankful people who are happy."

I thought other people might like to do this as well, so I'm making it a monthly link up. I'm posting regardless, so I might as well have people join me. It will take place on the last Thursday of each month.

I'm currently thankful for...

1. the opportunity to go home and visit family

2. LOTION! My skin has been SO dry lately.

3. prayer- I don't do a good job of having a quality prayer time. I've tried different ways of having a good prayer life. For a while, I kept a prayer journal. The other day I was looking back through it and found something I prayed about almost 2 years ago that is starting to come to light. That was exciting. I'm hoping I can get back into keeping a prayer journal because it is nice to look back and see how God works. Also, maybe one day soon I'll post on what I prayed for that day.

4. my husband- Of course, I'm always thankful for him, but this month he's been especially busy. He took off time from work to go with me to visit my family. Then on his normal days off, he's been working hard because we moved to a new apartment.

5. girls' night out painting pottery- I enjoyed having time to hang out with friends this month and relax by painting.

Would you like to join me? 

Link Up Rules:

1. Follow your host in some way (GFC, Bloglovin, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google + are all options)

2. Link back to your host by either a link or using the button (SORRY...I haven't been able to make the actual button yet. If you want to, you can use the image from the top of the post.)

3. The post you link must be about what you are currently thankful for (be sure you link the specific post and not your blog)

If you don't follow the rules, your link will be removed.

I have a new addiction...

Hello. My name is Megan and I'm addicted to pottery.

Yes, pottery.

I find it fascinating how an artist can take a lump and mold it into something beautiful. On our honeymoon, we stopped at a pottery shop and I bought a cute little pitcher.

Seeing this pitcher in my house prompted a friend to ask me if I wanted to go to this pottery weekend with her family. I agreed and enjoyed a day of shopping at several pottery stores a few hours from where I live. I would have loved to buy a variety of items, but in the end bought soup bowls and a couple of Christmas presents.

Then, I went to a pottery painting place in town with a few coworkers and now I'm hooked. I have always enjoyed crafts and painting, but had to stop due to not really having a place to put my creations. Painting pottery was a relaxing, creative outlet and it was lots of fun.

I decided to paint a popcorn bowl. Here it is that night before it was glazed and fired:

Here it is completed:

 I wish the edges were a little cleaner, but I know I'll get better the more I do it. :)

Now, I can't wait to go back. I took a picture of the fabric of my nightgown the other day because I thought it would be a good pattern for pottery.

I started a pottery board on Pinterest for inspiration. Here are some of my inspirations for any pottery painting in my future:

 This movie is so sweet. Image via SweetHeartShoes.

 I'm going to have to do something Harry Potter related. Image via Ophelia's Gypsy Caravan.

 How cute are these birds and trees? Image via Indulgy.

This doesn't match my kitchen color scheme, but I like it a lot. The source of this image is no longer available. 

Have you ever painted pottery? Or do you have a fun addiction?

Quotes that Speak to Me: Matched

I recently started writing down quotes from books, movies, or other places that speak to me. I thought it would make a fun series to share these quotes and my thoughts about them.

I related to this quote right away. I've written before about the difficulty of moving away from home and how things are never the same. I'm sure this isn't just true for people who move away from home, but it's just a natural part of growing up. 

I grew up in a small town where we had one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. I went to school with most of the same people my whole life. My friends were people who had been my friends my entire life. When we graduated high school, things changed a little. Overall, though, we still kept in touch and hung out when we could. 

After graduating college, we entered the "real world." Everyone went their own way. People got married. People got new jobs. People moved to new places. Soon some were having kids. We were living our own lives. We grew apart. 

Regardless of the fact that I've grown apart from many of my friends, that doesn't mean they don't still hold a special place in my heart. If they needed me, I'd be there for them however I could. If there was a chance to hang out with old friends, I'd take it. I still like to keep up with what they're doing through social media and word of mouth. They were a major part of my life and I'm thankful for that.

Our roots are tangled. We were a major part of each other's lives for those vital years of growing up.  Like the quote says, growing apart doesn't change this fact. Change is never easy and I think changing relationships is one of the most difficult changes to deal with. 

Have you experienced growing apart from friends? Are you still thankful for those friendships? Can you relate to this quote?