Wheelbarrow

Thanks to our new wheelbarrow contraption we bagged about 20 large trash bags of pinestraw today. That thing is a blessing. It held the trash bag open so it was easy to fill and it took at least half the time to clean up the yard.  It has some cool attachments that make it easier to lift and pull stuff too. Anything to make yard work easier is always a plus!

Fall views

I looked out the window today and was blessed to see this:

Fall may be cold and the leaves may give me allergies, but the colors sure are beautiful. I've been watching the colors change for two weeks and not taken much time to enjoy them until today. So pretty!

O Tannenbaum

Our new Christmas Tree came today!  This beautiful blessing is in the den waiting to be decorated. 

I'm so excited!  My mom has always wanted a tall tree and this one is 10.5 feet. The on/off foot switch we got to go with it is pretty awesome too. 

Gobble, Gobble

For three days in 1621 the first Thanksgiving in America was celebrated. While our celebration may only last one day, it is still a great blessing. How wonderful when family and friends get together to give thanks for each other, God, and the blessings we are given.  

This is our first Thanksgiving in our new home and I'm so thankful to be here. We had a fabulous dinner today. Turkey dressing may be the best thing ever. My mom uses my grandma's recipe and it's always amazing. A friend came by with some amazing cookies today too. Of course Molly and Charlie had no problem taking care of the giblets. ;)

I'm thankful to God for so much and so many people, and I'm thankful for Him. Hopefully, I can continue to carry the Thanksgiving spirit with me, showing gratitude on just one day is not enough.

"A joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful." - Psalm 147   

Late nights and good ideas

Tuesday and Wednesday were late nights working on orders this week, (yay!) and I zonked after and couldn't blog. So again, a double dose. 

Tuesday was the latest night. It's all good though because it was a huge order and that goes towards Christmas present purchases. I feel blessed to have extra cash flow for presents. It's hard for many families to put gifts under a tree. Toys for Tots is an important charity to me, I think this year I'll do a little extra. 

As silly and 1st world as this is going to sound, Wednesday I was blessed with Draino. The water around my ankles in the shower was beginning to concern me. It's an easy and convienient fix, totally not a necessity, but it does free up time for more important (and more pleasant) things than digging out a drain. I also think it's pretty cool that someone had the mind to discover something like that. It's easy to take someone else's hard work for granted.   

Gray skies are gonna clear up!

Check out the double rainbow!

After looking out my office window and seeing black as night storm skies it was very nice to see this walking out to my car!  A perfect of example of how God blesses us with something wonderful after something rough. 

Extra

It's rainy like crazy today!  We still went out to get stuff for Thanksgiving. It ended up that there were a lot of sales and we were able to stock up on some groceries and supplies. I feel very blessed to think there is extra in the cabinet when so many have none. That's good to remember this Thanksgiving, and even better to share, the missions will need extra this time of year. 

Last 2014 home game

Great day for a football game!!  This one was the last home game of the season. It was the Senior Game and they did the Military tribute. Thankfully we won and became bowl eligible!!!! Woooooo hooooo!!!  It's been a tough season so to be bowl ready is huge. The best part is I was blessed to spend the day with these fine people!

We had such a good time!!  

Music to my ears

I went with my mom to see the Transiberian Orchestra this evening. As always, they put on an AMAZING show. The lights were even better than last time. The show on its own was a blessing but there were other parts that were blessings too. About 3/4 the way through there was a medical emergency in the floor seating section. People were yelling to turn the lights up and one of the performers got on the mic and did the same. I'm not 100% sure what happened but the person was alert when the EMTs rolled him off to the ambulance. The guy that kinda heads up the orchestra (excellent guitarist) stayed out on stage the entire time and watched. As the ill man was rolled off, the place began to clap in support of him. The leader guy then proceeded to ask for prayers for him and they continued the show. I was really touched by his compassion and prayer request. The orchestra was fairly behind at that point but they didn't miss a beat, even though there was another show after ours and at that point they probably wouldn't get a break. Then they took the time to recognize our active troops and veterans. All this after they donate a portion of area ticket sales to a local charity. Not only is their talent and show a blessing, so is their good nature. Overall, they are very impressive people.

I'd also like to share a message from the story they told.  I really liked this.  You can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone. 

Designs

Oh, happy day it's Thursday!  I'm very much looking forward to this weekend. I'm even ahead of schedule on the weekly cleaning list! (Yeah, yeah OCD). Aside from some fun activities coming up (to be discussed later), I'm glad to get a chance to try some news designs a friend suggested for the shop. I love when people share ideas with me. I feel blessed that they think enough to help the business out a little. This time of year is a great time for that. I'm very lucky that people close to me promote and patron my little store :) 

Little celebrations

Most of today was fairly routine. Then, thanks to a fabulous tennis team, I had a lovely dinner with fine company and even a surcee!  It's another end of season and I still maintain we have the best team there is. I'm already looking forward to the spring season!

Now, I will most likely stay up too late watching a movie that I have seen more times than I can count because today is the 20th anniversary of it's release and, well, it just wouldn't be right not to watch it. :). 

So today is a day blessed with little celebrations. Sometimes it's the little ones that make the best memories. 

Stop. - Break Time.

Today was pretty quiet at the office. Mostly because I was the only one there but, not a lot was going on either. Sometimes it's good to have catch up days like that but since I've had several of those lately it doesn't take long to get stuff done right now. I took the opportunity to try and get ahead for next year. I was also blessed with some lunchtime visitors!  I love good company and I think a change of brain for a little bit during the work day actually helps me to get more accomplished. Even on busy days I need to remember to stop and change my train of thought for a few minutes. 

Working well with others

In different ways today I was blessed to see groups of people pull together to help others. Even with all the fussing and fighting in the world today, people still care enough to ban together for a common cause. Humanity is a complicated and amazing thing. 

Cozy potato stuff.

It's getting pretty cold, probably going to be one of the coldest winters we have had in a while. Yesterday was one of those multilayer days. As much as I don't like the cold I do like that cozy feeling of a good hoodie with a warm drink or some hot apple pie. I think coziness is a little blessing of comfort to help deal with the low temperatures. 

Today was a fairly lazy day.  Had lots of yummy food thanks to being able to eat most things again. When I couldn't eat much I really wanted a ribeye and my moms potato stuff. You always want what you can't have. Today for dinner- ribeye and potato stuff. The food itself was a blessing, believe me, potato stuff is amazing, but the fact that my mom cares enough to take her day off to make the amazing potato stuff is an even greater blessing!

Slurp

I'd like to start with this - I can use a straw again!!! Woooo hooooo!!!!!  I really don't like drinking without a straw. It bugs me. Now that my mouth is healing nicely and the risk of a dry socket is mostly gone, things are starting to get more normal. Healing is quite a blessing. The body is remarkable if you think about the miracle of healing. It's amazing how the immune system works and the way bones mend. Skin grows back and cuts disappear. Very remarkable actually. Of course there are different categories of healing that are just as remarkable from mental healing to healing of the soul. No matter what kind it is we all heal in different ways in different amounts of time. Each time we heal we get a little stronger. God always sends us just what we need, even straws!!!!!

Blackjack

I'm very blessed to have this amazingly creative and wonderful cousin that just happened to turn 21 today. He's very bright, he'll do something that benefits this crazy world no doubt. We share of love of the arts, although he is the better photographer. Hope to get to see him soon after the new year!

Pay attention!

Everyday we witness history and don't even realize it. Today, the world realized it and I'm blessed to say I did too. The probe Philae landed on comet 67P and made history. The dreams and imaginations of great minds became reality for all of us to see and learn from. There are exciting times ahead if we just pay attention. 

Thank you

Everyday, they are a blessing to us all. 

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." --John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Caaaake!

Ever since I can remember these things in stores they have been my all time favorite holiday treat:

CHRISTMAS TREE CAKES!!!!!!!!   

Today I was blessed to have my first one (two) of the 2014 season.  Lots of good memories with these little cakes. They are more than just snack food, they are sign of the Christmas season approaching!

Visits

Love that we were blessed with visitors all the way from WV today!  Amazing how much the little one has changed since July. It was a great way to end my staycation, back to normal tomorrow!

Second half of staycation week

Okay. So, obviously I'm behind. I have good reason though and I will catch up here. Following my tooth extraction, Tuesday late night and early Wednesday morning I had a reaction to that most wonderful pain pill. I got up in the middle of the night, passed out, slammed my head and shoulder into the wall and broke my glasses. A couple hours after that I became nauseated and sick. Luckily, I made so much noise when I fell my mom woke up and was there to help, I was incredibly confused for a bit. Now I'm okay, just bruised and still a little sore.  That was a very long night, and I'm very blessed that I didn't get hurt worse. I'd also like to add that a friend brought pumpkin ice cream Wednesday night - ALWAYS a blessing, as is the friend. 

Okay, so that brings me to Thursday. I was starting to feel better, still colorful, but better. I laid around a lot with the girls and Lexi, they are fabulous nurses. We went to visit a friend that night and on the way home decided to stop at a drive thru. This is going to sound silly but I had a McDonald's Happy Meal and it was sooo good. My very hungry self was blessed to have salt, grease, and meat. I know the soft food was important and I love soup and even enjoyed the jello, had some fettuccine and a baked potato too, but I needed some seriously solid food. It was yummy.  

Friday I was blessed to spend the day with my friend's three boys. They are such wonderful kids. I even made mac and cheese. This is huge because it wasn't Easy Mac, I actually boiled water. I'm very much looking forward to another adventure with them. 

Today was a good day. My friend's little brother got married today. It's always a blessing to be a part of such a wonderful occasion, especially this one. And cake, cake is good. ;) 

Super Dentist

This won't be a long post tonight. I just want to say that I'm blessed to have been able to have a great dentist that was able to remove a not so happy tooth with very short notice. I'm very thankful to have it taken care of.  Since the pain medicine makes me sleepy I'm going to cut it short tonight.  Glad it's nothing more severe and glad I'm on staycation. 

A little woodwork

A friend put together a wood painting class at a local woodworking studio tonight. It was a nice blessing to try something a little different with such good company. It's a pretty cool place. They pre-cut the wood into whatever design you chose to paint and then are there to help with the design if you need it. We turned out to be quite and artistic group!

All time friends and time changes

It was some kind of cold at football yesterday. First time in like twenty years it was that cold at a Carolina football game in Columbia. The snow that hit some areas that morning proved that. It was a big game too. Not just for the importance of the win (we lost) but because a very special friend came with us this week. 16 years (and a couple months) ago on the last day of sorority rush and the first day of lifelong friendships, also know as the infamous "bid day," I met a girl that didn't know anybody any better than I did and we became instantaneous friends. One of the best actually, and one of the best blessings of my life. We've been through lots of goods and lots of bads. I don't have to talk to her everyday to know she is there but we never skip a beat when we're together. I also think we have a psychic connection but that's a long story. Anyway, we froze out rear ends off at the game, the three of us bundled up like we were in the arctic yelling and cheering lasted three quarters before the desire to feel our toes took over. It was worth every frigid minute!

Time changed today. Oddly enough I have a harder time adjusting to the normal time than I have springing forward. So, as silly as it may seem, I'm blessed today that I don't have to worry about getting ready for work tomorrow and that I, without thinking, took my staycation the week the time changed!  I'll sleep much better not worrying that I stayed up too late and won't be ready to get started tomorrow.