Thanksgiving and a weekend re-cap! :)

Well, it is back to the grind today. Let me tell you that my body is not with it. I so wanted to sleep in this morning! I am thankful for the break Thanksgiving provided and thankful that I have a job though, so there will be no complaining here!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and 4 day weekend! It all got kicked off when we found a box on our porch late Wednesday night. I was not expecting anything, so I was totally surprised. All I can say is that I am incredibly blessed with some great friends. I am very thankful for the friendships that have survived me moving to Indiana and still continue to grow. Well, the box was from my friend Vickie. A true friend! She was planning on joining us for Thanksgiving but plans were cancelled due to flight schedules and costs. Since she couldn't be with us she said she wanted to send "a piece of Florida" to Indiana. That girl touches my heart!

Here is the package:

And the contents of the package:

Yep, those are Pilgrim Mickey and Minnie salt & pepper shakers to add to my collection. I LOVE them. Really, I think I squealed and danced when I opened the box. Stephen will vouch for this!

Thanksgiving morning we were up around 9am to watch the Macy's parade in our PJs. We also prepared the things we were taking to the family Thanksgiving dinner: mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. Yummo! We ate at Stephen's parents house and had way.too.much.food-as always! For some people their favorite thing about Thanksgiving is probably the food, or the turkey. Not for me. My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is family coming together AND spending hours looking over the sales ads. I love it!

After feasting on the traditional Thanksgiving dinner; cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, green bean and corn casserole...and spending much of the afternoon browsing the sales ads, we made our way home. I had to change quickly and pack a bag for our Black Friday shopping trip. Us girls pulled out around 9pm and headed to the outlet mall! We had made a hotel reservation...well, I had made a hotel reservation incorrectly so it was not actually close to the mall. We decided to head to the mall instead of first checking in at the hotel. In the end, it all worked out! We shopped until we dropped. Literally. We left the mall and decided to skip the hotel and just head back home at some hour early in the morning. Seriously. The sun was coming up. It was daylight and sunny when I made it home. I was pretty exhausted after shopping all night, so I took a shower and then a 4 hour nap. It was lovely!

Shopping at the outlet was not bad at all. I think maybe it is calmer there because their are no outrageous electronic sales or anything. Regardless, I like it and I think we all had a great time! Most of the things I purchased have been wrapped by my Santa (read: Stephen), so I will have to wait until after Christmas to share them with you! The other things I purchased (for other people) have already been wrapped too. Just trust me when I say that everything was a good deal!

After my nap we decided to take Louie to the vet. He had his last heart worm treatment on Wednesday and had been having trouble keeping his meals down. I was worried about him and he just was not acting himself....so to the vet we went. They could not pinpoint what was wrong, but they did give him a shot that seemed to help very much. He has been on the mend since Friday and has been keeping his food down. We actually had to run to Wal-Mart to buy baby food for the pup since he was on a white rice and baby food diet all weekend. We are slowly adding in his regular kibble and hoping for the best! I just hate it when he is sick and hurting!

After the trip to the vet, we left him at home to sleep while we scouted out our perfect Christmas tree. We snapped some pictures in the back yard on our way out:

My eyes were just too tired and dry from wearing my contacts all night, so I resorted to my glasses for this shopping trip. My eyes are still a little irritated from this weekend actually...so glad I have these glasses as a backup!

The above coat, friends is my new peacoat. Thank you Old Navy Black Friday sales! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and got the best deal. It was on sale for $29, but the store was an additional 15% off and I had a coupon that I won for having a picture of Louie in my phone while I was in line the check out. That meant my coat was $20!!! Score! It was quite entertaining in this line-there was an employee asking for things in order for people to earn coupons. For example, my sister in law got a coupon for not having on white socks and some other girls near us got coupons for singing their favorite Christmas Carol. See what I mean? Fun and entertaining!

We went to 2 Christmas tree farms looking for trees and found this one:

I had my heart set on a Frasier Fir, but ended up not getting a Fir at all. Apparently they are very expensive around these parts! We tagged the above tree because we liked it...just didn't love it. I thought that we could find a better looking one, and we did!

While we were tree shopping we got to see the prettiest sun set I have seen in awhile:

Isn't it beautiful? Seeing something like this, I just can't understand people who say there is not a God!

At the end of the night we ended up with a tree! We settled on a Spruce Pine Tree and I must say...I LOVE it! It was pretty fun trying to make it fit in the back of my car...which is small, but bigger than Stephen's. We had to put the back seats down and push it through the trunk. The trunk still would not close! Guess it was a good thing I had rope and bungee cords in the car that I had purchased last week for Stephen's stocking! They came in handy!

Getting it out at home was easier than getting it in the car...maybe because I knew no one was looking at me so I didn't care how crazy we looked? Who knows! Here it is:

Louie was excited...okay, maybe not. But, he was feeling better!

On Saturday we put the tree in the stand and got to work decorating:

The tree's new home (until Jan) is in our dining room bay window. I love the way it looks inside and from outside at night. Plus I just really love having 2 Christmas trees...it may have always been a dream of mine!

Sunday we went to church and then spent the day being lazy at home. In my opinion, it was wonderful! I think Stephen might have gotten a little bored at points but it's okay. We don't have lazy days like that very often. We watched several Christmas movies...so many that we only have one left to watch. I sure hope "Santa" brings some more Christmas movies!

How about you-how was your Thanksgiving?

Did you join the crazy people in Black Friday Shopping?

Whoa-just realized how long this post was. Bravo if you made it to the end!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I cannot believe that the end of November is already upon us, and before we know it the New Year. Where in the world did this year go? Maybe it did not fly by for you, but for us it moved at lightening speed!

We have so many things to be thankful for, and I just wanted to touch on a few of them since I have not participated in any thankfulness countdowns that have been going on.

Here goes:

1. I am thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without his sacrifice I would be nothing. All blessings flow from him and the closer you grow in your relationship with him you will realize this.

2. I am thankful for my husband and the marriage that we share. We respect each other, giggle with each other, love each other, support each other and most of all we are growing together daily. Marriage is an incredible blessing and something to be very thankful for!

3. I am thankful for my family in Florida and Indiana. We love all of you and appreciate your endless support in our lives!

4. I am thankful for my job. I really enjoy doing what I do and working where I work. My boss is appreciative (something I have never experienced in a working environment) and understanding. I have learned so much in the time I been there. I can only imagine how much more I could possibly learn.

5.  I am thankful for our home. It is a wonderful blessing and security for us to have our own home. Not only that, but it is beautiful, warm, safe and cozy-the perfect place to make memories and start raising a family.

6. I am thankful for Louie. He is the sweetest pup and we both just love him. I am especially thankful everyday that I can see the steps he is taking. He has already come so far since we rescued him. People who abuse animals have no hearts in my opinion.

7. I am thankful for our health. Even with a chronic disease I am thankful. Why? Type 1 Diabetes is manageable, and it is easy to put myself in other shoes when I am having a down "diabetes sucks" kind of day...and this disease is always easier than the alternatives. So I wear some medical devices in my pockets...who cares? I am healthy and living my life!

8.  I am thankful for our church family. They are always so welcoming and quick to help if needed. What a blessing!

9.  I am thankful for this season in our lives, and this season of the year-yay snow!

10.  I am SO thankful that my family from Florida is coming up over Christmas. I cannot wait to see them and have them as guests in our home!

And some pictures of things I am especially thankful for (some are listed above):

This list could go on and on, as I am sure yours could too! BUT, I had to find a stopping point. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family! Stay safe shopping on Black Friday if you are brave enough to go out! I am headed to an outlet mall tomorrow evening with my MIL and my two SIL- we will be staying at a hotel before coming home...I am so excited! Let the shopping begin!!!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, 

in everything give thanks;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

New Furniture!

First, I want to report the delivery of treats to our neighbors. We went out last night around 7pm-hoping that the time would not intrude on their dinners or anything, in the freezing rain to make our deliveries. We have 3 neighbors we were delivering to, and 2 our of the 3 were home. I think they really appreciated the gesture and were maybe even a little bit surprised by it. The first delivery was at the house on our right (that's for sale) and the woman answered the door. This is the woman that we have not met, but tricker treated at our house. I introduced us and explained that we made a sweet treat for Thanksgiving and that we hoped they had a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving. She smiled and said thank you and even reach to shake my hand...but never told us her name. So we have met, but I still do not know her name. This kind of disappointed me. The second stop was the house on our lefts- upstairs apartment. We already know the gentleman who lives there, so it was pretty easy to deliver his. He too was surprised. I hope they enjoy them!

Now onto the real post today:

 About a month ago Stephen and I went furniture shopping and made a purchase we were quite excited about!

A week ago that purchase was finally delivered to our house.

Of course the delivery time was smack dab in the middle of the day (10-2). Why do places always do that? Luckily it worked out for Stephen to leave work early and get home in time to meet the delivery men. We were a little nervous about getting the furniture in the house since we had such a struggle getting our previous furniture in. Of course, our salesman was completely confident that everything would fit even though he did not know any specifics about our house. In the end we loved the furniture (and the price!) so we took a chance. Guess what?! It fit perfectly and without any stress at all.

Praise the Lord for that!

Here is a shot of our new loveseat and ottoman:

And the couch:

And the full room:

I was so anxious to get home from work and see the new furniture. The afternoon seemed to go on FOREVER for me, but finally I made it home. It was so exciting to come in and see new furniture in our living room. I was over the moon! Until...

I noticed the above hole in the couch. That's right. Our new furniture was delivered with damage. After calling the furniture store I was told that they would send a repairman out from a furniture upholstery shop. I was okay with that. Have they called or come yet? No. So, this afternoon I called the furniture store again. I mean, it has been a week that we have had the furniture and are not sitting on it because we don't want to make the hole larger! Today I actually talked to our salesman who said he was not told about the damage and that nothing was reported. Umm, really? All seems to be well now because he is trying to get us a replacement. I am thankful for that at least. I know that this was not the store fault, or any ones fault really-it is just a little disappointing to make a large purchase, look forward to it for weeks and then find out that it is damaged. Agreed?

I am hopeful that we will get a replacement sofa soon. Please pray that he finds one in this color, because they have been discontinued...hence the great deal we got!

Also, the room was very heavy with the large ottoman and coffee table. We decided to give the room a chance without the coffee table and so far I am loving it. We moved the coffee table to the basement before selling it or donating it just to make sure we were not going to miss it. I think removing it from the room was a good decision!

All in all, we love the new furniture. The loveseat is super comfy-and we know this because it is the only furniture we have been sitting on while waiting for the sofa to be repaired/replaced. Have you ever experienced poor customer service or damaged furniture?

I CANNOT believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Where did November go!?

I am determined...

...to meet our neighbors!

Before we moved into our house I was looking forward to meeting our neighbors. I guess I just kind of thought it would happen. I didn't expect a welcoming quite like you see in the movies, but I did expect our paths to cross and an opportunity for introductions to present itself. Well, I was wrong in my thinking.

We have lived in our house since the end of July and have yet to meet all of our neighbors. In fact, the wife of our house next to us tricker treated at our front door with her child and did not introduce herself. I only realized she was our neighbor when I noticed the child-who we have met. Obviously she knew we were her neighbors, so why would she not say "oh hey, I live next door-I think you have met my husband but not me. It's nice to meet you!" I don't think that would be too difficult...maybe I am expecting too much?

Anyways, I have been bound and determined to meet them, introduce ourselves and let them know that we are right next door if they need anything. Anything like eggs, or someone to get their mail while they are out of town. You know; the normal neighborly duties. Well don't you worry about us meeting our neighbors any longer (if you were worried in the first place), because I came up with a plan!

Last night I spent some time making some cracker candy and putting together cute little fall mason jars full of the sugary treat. Have you ever heard of or had cracker candy? My husband had not and well, turns out that he LOVES it. I sent him to work with the extras today to share with his co-workers and they LOVE it too. Looks like I might be making more of this soon! We plan on delivering the jars to our neighbors this evening-if it is not raining. No matter how awkward it is for us to walk up to our neighbors house and ring the door bell, we are going to do it. I am excited and nervous and anxious to deliver these. I hope they are well received and enjoyed by our neighbors! :)

In addition to our neighbors, I left a special treat in the mail box this morning for our walking mailman/mail lady. We have talked to the man who delivers our mail once, but he and a woman switch off. I don't know who will be the lucky one today to get the treat!

What about you-was it difficult to meet your neighbors? Like I said; I hope that we can establish a good relationship with both houses on our left and right! Oh, and the house on our right is for sale...any takers?

New furniture post is coming tomorrow...I promise! Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Weekend Wrap-Up...in Pictures!

First of all, Happy week of Thanksgiving! Can you believe Thanksgiving is already here? Didn't we just start this month? Regardless of how fast time is whizzing past us, I am excited! Though, I am not sure if I am more excited for Thanksgiving or Black Friday shopping...? Let's just say both!

Friday night we did our usual thing...grocery shopping and getting dinner. We are crazy, y'all! We also ran to Big Lots because I was in search for some specific garland that I was pretty sure they would have (and cheap!), which they did! We had planned on decorating for Christmas on Saturday, so the boxes had already been brought up from the basement and I had started sorting what I wanted to use:

Yep, this is what our dining room table looked like Friday night and Saturday morning. Talk about overwhelming me! :) It is no secret that I like organization, so this mess was just a little much for me. I am glad to tell you that it is no longer there and the house is mostly decked for the Christmas season!

Saturday we put up tree #1 in the living room. We plan on getting a real tree this weekend to put up in the dining room. I.cannot.wait for the fresh pine smell-that is the best! Here the lights are starting to go on:

And this was Louie all day on Saturday:

I think he was confused by all the boxes and activity and smells I am sure. He just laid on the sofa and watched us for most of the morning. The sweet pup approves of the new furniture...but he is not allowed on it directly. Please picture me following him around with a blanket and putting it down before allowing him to jump on the furniture...I am not sure how long that will last yet. We will see!

I just realized I never posted about getting our furniture. There is a story there! :) I will try and get that post scheduled for tomorrow with pictures from delivery day!

The tree is done and wrapped presents are underneath it:

LOVE :) We decided to add aqua to this tree to tie in the colors in the living room and I am so glad we did that. I love they way it looks and blends with the art and pillows in the room!

The banister was almost the death of me. Seriously. I could not get anything to look "right" for me and was getting irritated with the task pretty quickly. Thank goodness Stephen is patient with me! After wrestling with ribbons and garland for awhile I decided to tie big bows and call it a day. I must say that I kind of love the result. We have wooden clothes pins to pin Christmas cards we receive up on the garland and I can't wait so so that!

Speaking of Christmas cards...when are you sending yours out? I think I may mail ours next Monday. They are already ready to go out!

In the dining room we hung ornaments from our light that is over the table. We used all the colors on both trees to tie it all together. Surprisingly, this was not a Pinterest inspired idea but an idea I got from an old co-worker in Jacksonville. There is not a centerpiece on the table yet, and there might not be...the ornaments just kind of handle it on their own and I love it!

Here is a view of the living room from the entrance. You can see our new loveseat and ottoman!

And the fireplace:

Up close and personal :) This one is for you, Mom!

And the glowing tree:

I just LOVE Christmas time, it is the best. The lights, the smells, the garlands, the baking, the presents celebrating Jesus' birth. I love all of it! I cannot wait to put up tree #2 this coming weekend!

On Sunday we went to church and out to lunch before heading to the gym to watch our niece's basketball games. After the games, we went out to dinner to celebrate Stephen's brother Greg's birthday. We ate at a Chinese Restaurant that was SO good. We really enjoyed the company and getting to celebrate Greg's birthday with family. It was a great time. We ended the night by watching a Christmas movie at home...my idea of perfection!

And lastly, our sweet pup Louie who may be just a little bit spoiled. He is so sweet, don't you think?

That's all folks! Hope everyone has a great Monday and short work-week, yay!