Thankful Thursday

I'm not sure where to start here... especially when, in all fairness, I should probably be folding laundry and organizing the files.  I'll get there :)  I figure I'll start by picking a person or thing that I'm thankful for and elaborate.  The first few months I get the "easy" people because they're the people closest to me in life :)

* Jon Sindell *

Yeah, he's pretty awesome!  Jon and I met back in junior high.  We were both band nerds and then both went to Centennial.  I developed a crush on him then, but was way too scared to do or say anything.  When we graduated high school, I was dead set on going out of state for college, so I headed off to NAU.  I'm very thankful for that experience, AND for the fact that it only lasted a semester before it was clear that it wasn't the place for me.  I came back to Bakersfield and, one night, decided to run to Barnes and Noble.  I didn't find anything, but figured I'd kill time going next door to CompUSA.  I had no idea that my crush worked there.  We talked a bit and I guess I gave him my number (though I don't remember that part!) and things got started.  He left for AF Basic not too long after that, but we kept in touch.  We started dating shortly later and in July 2004 we were engaged while on a birthday trip to Disneyland.  September 2005 I flew to Alaska where Jon was stationed and we were legally married (by his friends :P) and in December 2005 we had a wonderful wedding ceremony with family and friends.  In May 2007 I got to see my amazing husband become a father and it was such a beautiful thing to see.  Now it's January 2011 and sometime in the next 5 weeks or so, I get to see him become a father for the second time.

Has our marriage been perfect?  Good gosh no!  We went through a period that was miserable and hard and painful.  But I am SO thankful for a husband who never for one second gave up.  He fought for our marriage and for me like I never imagined a man would fight.  Despite it seeming like he was constantly leaving for work, he worked so hard to make sure that deployments would never again hurt our relationship... and because of that, they started to make us stronger!  He sacrificed so much for me to be able to get my credential and gave me the encouragement and support I needed to be successful. 

I'm thankful for a husband who is creative and imaginative.  I love getting to watch him put together videos.  I love that no matter what he's working on, he always pushes himself (and his computer ;) to the limit.  He loves getting the chance to use his talent to create videos for the church and for God. 

I'm thankful for a husband who thinks for himself.  He doesn't take anything at face value and always does his own research. 

I'm thankful for a husband who finds a way to make a huge pregnant woman feel beautiful and small.

I'm thankful for a husband who is a REALLY good daddy.  He teaches Nicholas how to be a gentleman, how to pray, and how to play jokes on mommy! 

I'm thankful for a husband who knows so much more about God's word than I do.  It's so special that he can teach me and enlighten me when we're doing Bible studying together. 

I am so thankful for the amazing man that God has so generously allowed me to share my life with!