Still feeling thankful

Yikes. I've done a much better job about posting lately but the comments aren't reflecting readership. Is it A) because the reader ship is sinking? B) because the readership is shy about commenting? or C) because my posts are too lame to be comment-worthy?

A whole week after I wrote my Thanksgiving thankfulness post, I've thought of a bevy of other things to be thankful for, so since this is my blog and I can't sleep I decided to continue. Here goes...

I am also thankful for:

• my apartment. I could easily describe this apartment as a dream come true. It sounds like I'm making this up, but not a week goes by that at some point as I'm flicking off a light switch or closing the windows for the night I don't think "I LOVE MY HOUSE." It's true. I dreamed for 1.5 years of living in a place big enough to host church gatherings (like the one pictured below) and church sleepovers and have a kitchen big and efficient enough to actually enjoy cooking in it. God provided all of those things, and I feel BLESSED.

(Lacy, you might be interested to see the blackout curtains, the new couches, and the painting on the wall, the only real additions since you left. Everyone else, there were 27 people in my living room that night. And only two fans. This is a group REALLLLY committed to praising God.)

• my students/readers. They really bring a lot of joy to my life, not only because of the funny things they say, but because of the conversations we get to have about Jesus. The help me to see His story with a fresh perspective.
• Mexican food. I feel it deserves to be on the list again. I especially am thankful for the avocados that make guacamole, the tortillas that make chips, and the tomatoes and spices that make salsa.
  
• fruit. Living in Brazil makes you appreciate fruit, because there is just so much of it, and so many different kinds that don't seem to exist anywhere else. And the fruit juices...oh the fruit juices. That's a whole other item...
• fruit juices. There.
  
• the beach. I've never been much of a beach lover, because I always found it a bit too sandy for my taste, but I've learned to appreciate it since living in a city with some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Here's my favorite, Ponta Negra: (This is where I spent Thanksgiving, by the way. And this is not a professional photo. It's just that pretty.)
  
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• the book of Philippians. I really love that epistle. Not sure how to make this not be blue and underlined.
• pictures like this one (Mom please don't kill me.):This photo was taken on one of my last days in the US in April. My mom and I had a twice-daily battle with the family cat, Scout, to squirt medicine into her mouth. This was the only way she couldn't get away. We liked to sing "Magnificat" (just now realized the 'cat' in there...we sang it because it's Mary's song) while holding Scout this way. She did not find it as amusing as we did.
  
• special friends in Natal whom I have gotten to know by just being a part of the neighborhood. I mentioned my doormen in the last post, but I am also thankful for Neide and Meyre, my two favorite bakery cashiers, Rosa, the girl who does my nails, Percy, the guy who cuts my hair, Chagas, the guy who sells me drinking water, and Souza, the best dune buggy driver in the world (pictured below.)

Well, that about sums it up...for tonight, anyway. I'm getting sleepy. Happy Carnatal everyone! (10 points to you if you remember what Carnatal is. It starts tomorrow, which means the church retreat starts tomorrow as well.)