A Lovely Life

I mentioned before that J got a 20lb turkey for 6 people for our Thanksgiving dinner and I have a funny habit of making enough food to feed an army.  That could only mean 2 things: 1.  Everyone went home with left overs 2.  We STILL had enough to have another turkey dinner the following night! We literally had just about everything again, but we added J's brother to the mix!  He flew into town and we were so excited to be able to spend time with him.  He even gave J some pointers on turkey 2.0 carving.  That sucker was big y'all.  And the funny part?  We had enough left overs for lunch on Saturday...we know how to make a meal for sure!   It was great having a repeat dinner and spending another night with loved ones.  <3 Here are a couple more pictures: "Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." -- Marcel Proust

I hope everyone had a great day surrounded by people you love!  We sure did!  J & I hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year.  It included 6 people, 2 dogs and 1 20lb turkey.  I have to admit that I had a bit of anxiety getting ready to host what I considered our first adult Thanksgiving, but everything turned out beautifully. J and I really tag teamed dinner by splitting up the shopping, cleaning and food prep.  We asked our guests to bring a side or two and that really helped take the pressure off!  I seriously don't know how people cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner with one stove and oven.  Dinner was great and the company was fabulous.  We had a ton of pre-dinner munchies to hold us over until everything was ready to go.  I love that we're starting new traditions and are looking forward to hosting again next year!  We may even decided to do the whole dinner next year, too!  On one stove... A couple of pictures...

I'm thankful for lists.  I love them.  So, what better way to show gratitude the awesome-ness of lists than to make a list of things I'm thankful for?!  Here's a list of 30 things since I'll be 30 in less than a month: 1.  Our Home 2.  The ability to say "no" when I need to 3.  Laughter 4.  Lessons learned through others' experiences 5.  Our little family 6.  Our extended families 7.  Wine 8.  Books...like, physical books with pages and stuff 9.  The ability to cook 10.  Friends both new and long term 11.  Quotes! 12.  Personal journals 13.  Having a job 14.  My health 15.  Fuzzy slippers 16.  Fall leaves 17.  The internet 18.  Having the freedom to express how I feel 19.  The Holidays 20.  Lists! 21.  My faith 22.  Pictures of puppies...seriously.  Having a bad day?  Google "cute puppies" 23.  Candles 24.  Music and it...

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! I hope that today is spent with people you love.  I've spent so many Thanksgiving days with family or friends or a mix of both and every year, it's nice to be able to reflect on what we're truly thankful for. Today and every day, I'm thankful for the many blessings I have in my life.... "If you are really thankful, what do you do?  You share." -- W. Clement Stone "I'm thankful for every moment." -- Al Green "The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest." -- William Blake "Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action." -- W.J. Cameron

I tried back in September to post about the annual Bike MS ride that I've been a part of in one way or another for the past 8 years, but it was too hard.  This year ended up being our last as Team Erin's Fight and to say that it's emotional is an understatement.   For those of you who don't know, Erin is my best friend.  It's like God put us both on the Earth and said, "Those two?  Well, they're just gonna have to find each other and the rest will be history."  And we did and it is and I had no idea how much that girl would affect my entire life.  She's family, y'all.  So, when I discovered very early on that she had multiple sclerosis and that the bike ride I wanted to do raised funds and awareness to a debilitating disease, I was hooked.  How easy is that?!  Ride a bike, raise some money and tell everyone I know about the disease that affects my bestie every day.  Game on.   We've participated in this weekend long event e...