baby, it's cold outside!

Thanksgiving was hard...but not much different from any other day of our lives. It was rough seeing family members with their children, and knowing that everyone was remembering that we didn't have ours with us.
But I must say, it was so nice being surrounded by people who love and care about us on Thursday, and Friday...and Saturday for that matter.
All in all, our Thanksgiving weekend was good. A few bumps along that way (as always), but nice none the less.
Wednesday night was a blessing :) We attended a "Thanksgiving" dinner at church. Very nontraditional as we had Chili & Cornbread. But it was a nice switch up considering all the turkey that we consumed! We ate, had a time of sharing, and just spent time together with a very small group of tight knit church members. It was great. After church we headed home and JB (cousin) and I dove right into deviled egg making. We made eighty four deviled eggs. Is that not absolutely ridiculous?? :) It was fun though - we gave Clif such a hard time about staying out of the kitchen, because it was our "bonding time". I took a million pictures of the egg making process, I'll have to post them sometime!
Thursday morning started off with Clif and me making a mad dash to Food Lion to buy frozen broccoli. Apparently I didn't read the recipe thoroughly because I had planned on making a broccoli cheese casserole for both families get together's. :) Each batch needed TWO bags of broccoli. Oops. They turned out really well, so that was nice! The rest of Thursday consisted of going from my parents house to his aunt & uncle's house. We had a blast.
Then came looking at the sales papers :) I will admit up front that we are nuts. My mother in law and I saw that in Walmart sales started at midnight. And there were several things that we wanted to get. SO us being the smarties that we are (ha!) decided hey! Since we are going out at Midnight, we might as well just stay out all night. Ya see, there were 5am items that both of us wanted to get. I stood in line for 5 hours to get my laptop (from Clif...and I'm not allowed to have it until Christmas), and my mom, friend (practically sister in law), and mother stood in line for 5 hours for GPS. CRAZY, I know.
So needless to say we stayed out shopping for over 12 hours. We started at 10:45 and finished up around 1:30. I was home by two, but didn't want to go to sleep (for fear of not being able to sleep that night). Needless to say, I was up for 38 hours straight. By 8:30 I was delirious. :)
Saturday I got much needed sleep - sleeping in until ten. Then my niece called and said that they were near by, and wanted to come by and see me (haven't seen them since June). So they came over, and we all loaded up into their new truck and went to meet our parents for lunch. Mom took me home afterwards, and I took her inside the house to show her my Christmas decorations. My MIL called saying that they went to get her tree out of storage and it was gone! :) So I had one from last year (bought a new one this year), mom and I loaded it up and took it to her.
Saturday afternoon my friend (again, should be sister in law) came over to my house and hung out until Clif got off of work.Then he and I headed to the Christmas dinner for my work/branch.
Yesterday was spent at the mall :) Where I spent an additional *almost* hundred dollars. Craziness. Good thing though, I'm almost done with my shopping!
Whew. It was so nice to stay busy this weekend. :) So very thankful. So...how was your Thanksgiving??
 Aside from all that...it is FREEZING outside. Brrr!! And since it's SO cold... I just HAD to buy myself a new coat yesterday! :)

The Lord has done great things for us...

I'm sure a lot of people think that I'm not thankful for anything. Everything that I've been through, how can I be thankful for anything. Right?

Wrong.

So...in honor of the upcoming holiday, here is a little list of things that I am thankful for.

• I am thankful for my salvation - and my personal relationship with my Savior. If it wasn't for that, I honestly don't think that I would be sitting here typing today.
• I am thankful for my parents who raised me to do right. For the love that they showed me over the years, and continue to do on a daily basis.
• I am thankful for my brothers, and their families that came along a few years later. Though we may not see one another often, I am still thankful that the Lord gave me family.
• I am thankful for my husband of 3 wonderful years. It's been bumpy at times, but I wouldn't be me without him.
• I am thankful for the *almost* ten months that God allowed me to spend with my baby girl. My little Joy. I am thankful for her as well, and for the way she has changed my life...and the lives of many others.
• I am thankful for my family members. Immediate,distant, and the ones that I gained when marrying Clif. :) I love them all so much!
• I am thankful for the job that God allowed me to find. And for the people that I work with.
• I am thankful for my health, and my husbands.
• I am thankful for my friends. The old ones and the new ones too! You all have been such a blessing!
• I am thankful that I stumbled upon the blogger & BLM community. All of you have been a tremendous help & comfort to my heart during this last year. :) Even though I have never met you all, I love each and every one of you!
• I am thankful for my church family...who has supported me all my life. :) I will forever be grateful to each and every one of you.
• If you are reading this, in some way or another you have touched my life...and I am thankful for YOU.

I hope and pray that each and everyone of you has a blessed Thanksgiving holiday with all those that you love and care for most. :) Eat lots of turkey! And to those of you who are venturing out on Friday (aka-nuts like me!) good luck!!! God bless you all.

xoxox