Thanksgiving Recap and Black Friday

Well the dreaded Thanksgiving Holiday has come and gone!  Ha!  Not really dreaded, I just don't really like Thanksgiving food at all, so the food part has never really been a highlight for me!  Call me crazy, I know!  

This Thanksgiving was filled with family, fun, and lots of shopping for me!!  Thursday we all gathered at my grandmothers for lunch and I ended up at mom's helping her decorate the outside of her house and her live tree in the front on Thanksgiving night.  We were worn out so we didn't get quite finished, but we got a great start! 

Somewhere in the midst of the conversation of the day, one of my cousins decided to claim that I am so popular because of my blog- which is a total and complete LIE!  I appreciate those of you who do read, but I, by NO means, think I'm #1, popular in any way, and #2, popular because of this little blog! HA!!  One of my cousins from Mobile chimed in because he didn't even know I had a blog!  He promised to start reading so that he could be kept in the know of what all is happening in my ever-so-exciting-because-i'm-so-popular little life!  NOT! Anyway, I promised Jim a shout-out so here you go:  

HEY JIM!!  THANKS FOR READING!! 

 This is Charlee Kate--- with her eyes closed!  That girl sleeps more than any other baby on the planet I'm convinced!

For years now, the Sister Girls have loaded up on Thanksgiving night and headed to the big city of Birmingham to do a black Friday WEEKEND! Yes, you heard it!  That's shopping all day Friday AND Saturday and then most of Sunday.  

I got almost all of my Christmas shopping done this year--- and I only managed to buy a couple of things for myself.  Look at this though---  TWO HALF POUND REESES PEANUT BUTTER CUPS!!  Ya'll.  Heavenly I'm sure!  It's only $9.99 and I'm surely hoping Sandra D. will find one of these for my stocking!

 The weather was supposed to be pretty nasty on Saturday, so we decided to cover the Summit on Friday and stick with the Galleria on Saturday.  This year, we didn't leave until Friday morning and we were three girls shy on this trip, but we still had a blast!  The first stop we made was to one of my favorite restaurants, Chuy's.  Now, if you're from Meridian, think of El Chico.  Yep- the food is identical and SO stinkin' good!  

 We didn't really see any major fights, or any big crazes being bought this year.  But we did (or I did atleast) add plenty of new items to my already lengthy Christmas list.  As we were loading up this morning in the pouring rain I was able to snap a picture of the back of Mom's Explorer.  Now, it may not look like much, but all of these bags have about four other bags tucked away so that we could make room for our luggage.  My poor grannie was pretty squished on the way home because we had to lay down the back seats to get it all back home!  

Thanksgiving!

I mentioned in my last post how addicted to pinterest I am.  This is another little project I did this week after I saw a smaller example done on a pinboard.  I have been needing something to hang above the big blank wall over my tv and I'm in love with the way this turned out!  It's such a good reminder and prayer for me every single day! 

Oh, yes.  That's the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I've always watched it since I was a little girl.  My favorite part is watching the Radio City Rockettes because I've always wanted to see them live and the parade is the closest I've gotten so far!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, it's TODAY!!  Ya'll I'll be honest.  I have SO much to be thankful for!  This has been a really big year for me- from moving out and learning to be totally independent, which I am thoroughly enjoying by the way, being able to see another cousin come into the world, and waiting for God to reveal His plans for me for tomorrow and the days ahead, I continue to have blessings to be thankful for.  I'm pretty sure that as you get older, you realize just how much your faith means to you.  I KNOW that God's plans are better than ours and that he places certain people in your life and little treasures along our paths every single day to slowly but surely reveal His next big thing for us.  There are days that my type A personality struggles with that, and other days when I'm just thankful that He knows the plans even if I don't!  

I'm thankful for my family and friends.  Yes, they're all in the same category because my friends are my family!  My immediate and extended family are some of the funniest people you'll ever meet and I'm pretty sure that you say that about your family too!  We have family members that can hold their own that you DON'T want to cross and some that have their very own way of thinking about things, but I love them regardless.  The holidays are always funny because you just never can predict what's going to go on!  And my friends- oh sweetness.  They are precious.  I have a few that live here, but the majority are now living out of town.  I miss them so much and can't stand that we're so far away from each other (It's just an hour and a half to Jackson and Tuscaloosa, but it's seems like 23959 miles away).  I LOVE the time we do get to spend together and I never want it to end.  

My health- yes, I'm a healthy as can be for the most part!  I can think of people today that aren't in good health because of the cards they've been dealt and some of them for the choices they've made.  Just since  yesterday I know of two families that are going through a lot of stress this weekend.  One family lost a husband/father/grandfather after he walked in from playing 9 holes of golf and had a heart attack.  The other is a friend of mine that had to have a serious test done and won't find out the results until next Wednesday.  All over facebook, there are people mentioning trips to the ER, and all kinds of illness that's going on today.  So I hope that you are grateful for every breath you take.  That's something none of us need to take for granted.  

I know that you're all thankful for plenty of things in your life.  Don't forget today and the days ahead to thank the big man above for the ways that He works in your life day after day!  Remember that God fights for your attention because He just wants to spend time with you.  Make time for Him and give Him all of the glory for what he Has done and will continue to do in your life!  Happy Thanksgiving Friends!  Love you!

It's Been "Pinteresting"

Thursday may be Thanksgiving, but it's already looking like Christmas time at 2313!! I've had THE best time decorating my first Christmas tree of my very own! 

and purchasing my first pair of Christmas stockings!!

 I've put a few little dates on the calendar for entertaining in my new place this year because it's so cute... atleast I think so :)  If you've talked to me lately, you've heard the word "Pinterest" about 12,203 times!!  It's my newest addiction and what an expensive, but fun addiction it is!!  I've found several different little projects that I've wanted to try and found some cute little trees on a pinboard.  I couldn't stand it until I was able to make my own.  So here's Christmas Pinterest Project #1:

Oh, and Ya'll!!  My mama!!  She's just turned into the most crafty person ever!  She wanted a sewing machine for her birthday back in June.  She started taking a few sewing lessons and I'm keeping her super busy.  This is the second table runner she's made me (the first one being a precious burlap runner with a big ole ruffle on the end... you know us Southern girls love big ruffles).  Isn't this darlin'? 

 And she even had extra material to make another pinterest favorite of mine... look at these fabulous pillows that she made for my chairs on my porch!!!

I paint canvases all the time and have always been pretty crafty.  My mom always has really good ideas when it comes to DIY projects, but I made the mistake one time of telling her that she had good ideas, she just couldn't implement them!!  Whoops!  Yeah, it was a mistake from the minute it rolled off my tongue for sure.  So... Mom... I take it all back!!  Now you can implement every idea we have and I plan on keeping you busy :)  

I hope you and yours have a fabulous Thanksgiving on Thursday!  Don't eat too much or spend too much on Black Friday!  Catch up with ya'll soon!!

Weeks in Review

 A couple of weekend ago, Natalie, Melody and I headed down to Gautier to judge the East & West Jackson County Distinguished Young Woman Program (formerly known as Jr. Miss). For a couple of hours on Friday night, and all day long on Saturday, we sat through 29 total interviews, and and then two programs, one on Saturday afternoon and one on Saturday night.  Those were two long days, but we had so much fun! We were joined by two other friends to make up the fab five and we spent so much time laughing and talking and catching up with each other!!  

 

 And last Friday was Veteran's Day.  Lamar Elementary School asked me to come and sing the National Anthem and a song with their fifth graders!  Aren't they just too cute dressed in their patriotic gear?  We performed once for the entire Elementary School and once for all of the 'big kids' in the High School.  Thank you for having me Lamar- it was great program!!

And Last Saturday was the day for Christmas at the Highlands at Highland Baptist Church.  This is a fun day for women and local business around Meridian and the surrounding areas to come together and showcase their talents and businesses.  I've had a booth for the past three years and it's always a lot of fun.  I also like going back to my home church and seeing all of my friends!  I got to see a really special friend this year...

My 1st grade teacher Ms. Linda Farmer.  She came up to me and said that she read my blog so I thought it was fitting to get a picture of the two of us!!  I love first grade and I love children so I truly appreciate everything that she did for me when I was just six years old. Thank you Ms. Farmer for teaching me and so many others to read and write and for investing in the lives of so many through the years.  Most importantly, thank you for reading and for keeping up with the blog and praying that I continue to make a difference wherever I am!  

I am guilty of decorating my Christmas tree before Thanksgiving... so check back in a few days to see all of the cuteness around 2313!!

Knot Prayer

I ran across this today and thought we might all be able to focus on this in our prayer life:

"Dear God,

Please untie the knots

that are in my mind,

my heart and my life. 

Remove the have nots,

the can nots and the do nots

that I have in my mind.

Erase the will nots,

may nots,

might nots that may find

a home in my heart.

Release me from the could nots,

would nots and

should nots that obstruct my life.

And most of all,

Dear God,

I ask that you remove from my mind,

my heart and my life all of the 'am nots'

that I have allowed to hold me back,

especially the thought

that I am not good enough."

Amen.