Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I wont have a chance to post tomorrow so I thought I'd better send my Thanksgiving wishes to you all today. :) I hope that you all have family and/or friends to spend the holiday with and that you have the chance to relax and enjoy yourself and think about all the things you are thankful for.

As for me- I am patiently waiting for the chance to go home. Tonight I am finally going to see the movie Twilight. I'm excited. After that I am going to go home, turn on some holiday music and start baking. I am going to be making cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and apple crisp to go with our dinner tomorrow. And because the only thing that looks good to me anymore is salad, I'll be doing that and veggies w/ dip.

I am really looking forward to this holiday season. Tomorrow Dave and I will be going up to his sister's house to celebrate with his family. There are going to be about 20 of us there. It has been a long time since I have spent a Thanksgiving with that many people. I am going to enjoy it.

After Thanksgiving it is open season on Christmas decorations, so I will be coming home and working on those. :)

Other than that, life is just swell. :)

Wishing you all the best. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Giving

There's a quote that I read somewhere that has stuck with me... it goes something like "The American people love to donate a turkey during the holidays- even if there isn't an oven for it to be baked in." Okay, that's a really horrible paraphrase, but I wasn't able to find the quote online because any time I entered "turkey" into the search string I got recipes and Thanksgiving horror stories. So you get my paraphrase.

Anyway, the point is that we all love to donate around the holidays but we often think only about donating specific things- and not necessarily the most needed thing at the time. I think the rest of the quote goes on to talk about how a jar of peanut butter or school supplies in August could go a lot further than a Turkey at Thanksgiving, but that's beside the point I am about to try to make. Back to the point....

I'd like to suggest some alternatives to the ubiquitous turkey donation... (if you already donated a turkey- kudos to you! You've probably just made a family's holiday complete). I'm going to guess that the needs of people around the country are pretty similar... here's a wish list for some of the homeless here in Salt Lake City...

*Sleeping Bags
*Blankets
*Backpacks
*Hand Warmers
*Gloves
*Coasts, Jackets, Hoodies
*Underwear (for men and women)
*Socks
*Hats and Scarves
*Deoderant (for men and women)
*Lighters or matches
*Batteries
*Toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss
*Tents
*Tarps
*Flashlights
*Bus Tokens
*Fast Food Certificates
*Baby Clothes
*Diapers and Diaper Wipes
*P-38's (Military Issue Can Openers)

Sometimes it's the small things that make all the difference- the ability to clean up or having a fresh pair of underwear and/or socks to change into. Maybe this will give you something new to think about- in addition to that turkey. And remember- canned or dried food items are always welcome as well.

Wishing you all the best.

Birthday

Well it has been a good day. :) My boss took me out to a yummy lunch and tonight Dave is cooking me dinner- an authentic Spanish dish. :) I am so excited. Thank you all for your best wishes. :)

Some of the ladies at work decorated my office for me

Halfway through the week

I am already ready to have this week over with. It's just a slow quiet week and the hours pass so slowly at work. Yikes. I just really want to run off and have an adventure somewhere.

Exciting weekend

Well this weekend was pretty exciting.

Saturday, Dave, his mom, his brother, and I went to the Lion House for lunch and then went to this museum exhibit called "Body Worlds." The Lion House was awesomely good food. :) I would go back there any day. Body Worlds (http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html) is a whole bunch of real dead people that have been plasticized or whatever and are put on exhibit to help show people different aspects of the body. Sounds incredibly morbid yeah? I wasn't sure I wanted to go but it wasn't too bad. It didn't really feel like I was looking at a whole bunch of dead people. I'm sure I would have felt differently about the exhibit if it felt like I was looking at corpses. It was fun to have Dave's brother, Chris, with us because he would reminisce about his own days in med school and explain the intricacies of what we were seeing. That was an awesome touch. And thank you Chris for the wonderful day! It was so much fun to hang out with you. :)

Yesterday (Sunday) was much more exciting, but that's a story for another time. It was good to hang out with Dave's family- they are feeling more and more like home for me. :) Other than that another weekend has gone by so quickly. This week should be a good one. My birthday is coming up too. :)

Time for some good news...

I was going to write a long rant about the state of the world today and my disappointment in the actions of some people. And I was putting together what I would say in my head and how I would counter every argument. And it occurred to me that no one needs to hear any more complaining. I think it's time that every one heard a few good words and something optimistic.

I know I am a little bit early, but I guess this is a good time to write about what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for:
*My family. My husband, parents, siblings, in laws (even though I don't differentiate in laws from the rest anymore), my sole remaining grandparent, my cousins, my nieces and nephews, my aunties and uncles, etc, etc etc. They add so much color to my life and enhance every day.

*My friends. More than I can list- close, far, ones I haven't seen in years, those that I talk to daily. I have been blessed this year to be able to reboot some old friendships. I have been blessed to find new friends. I have been blessed to really focus on making some friendships stronger. There have been some pretty big changes in my life this past year and it has really helped me focus on the friends I want to surround myself with.

*My dog. She's like a living teddy bear. And she cracks me up even when she annoys me.

*My faith. I know that I (and my loved ones) am going to be okay no matter what. Life is never going to be what I expected and I am okay with because often it is much better than I could have expected and more wonderful than I could have imagined, even if the road is a little bumpy and I get off track.

*Stormy weather. It's nice to mix things up everyonce in a while. It helps me to appreciate the good weather more too. Plus stormy dark clouds are just awesome... so much potential. Also storms make me glad for my warm house and the ability to watch them pass by.

*Having to work for a living. I have learned to appreciate what I create and take pride in my work. I have also learned to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I've learned that I can't have everything that I want and sometimes it's better that way- I just get the best of what I want and leave the rest. :)

*Having a job (makes sense if I enjoy having to work for a living). I feel like a part of something and that I do a little bit to make the world run.

*Learning. In the past year I have taught myself to both knit and crochet (with the help of Youtube and a completely unhelpful "teach yourself to knit book"). I have also learned a lot (I really mean a lot) about accounting which helps me at work (and actually in other areas of life as well). I have also learned a lot about people and relationships and God and myself.

*Reading and books and stories. I cannot emphasize how awesome a good book is. Or even just a good story. I still remember stories that my parents told me when I was young. There are books out there that I will read over and over and over again because their stories touched me.

*Seasons. See storms. I love the changing weather. I love watching for the first orange or red leaf of Fall. I love trying to find the first bud on the tree in Spring. I love the heat of summer and the snow in winter (but only until January, after that it should just be spring again).

*Change. I like that every day is different and that I am not quite sure what to expect. I love that I have stopped trying to guess what is going to happen because the most likely outcome is the opposite of what I would have predicted. I'm grateful that change happens regardless of whether we are ready for it or not and that we grow because of it.

*Mt. Dew. In small increments. In a can (versus a bottle). Makes my day. :)

*The ability to write this. For the internet and for the knowledge and that there are enough wonderful things out there for me to sit back and just be grateful.

*For you reading this. It means that you're around and I like that. :)

So there's probably a billion things I could add to this and I am sure that I have missed the painfully obvious ones (like my health, a home, etc) but I really just wanted to point out that there are wonderful things out there and the world isn't all gloom and doom. Just look past it at the wonderful things in your life. You're going to be okay. So will I. :)

Happy Friday.

So proud of myself....

This might sound silly but I am so proud of myself right now. :) I have been craving hot wings for the past week. And last night I finally did something about it... and I actually cooked them myself! :) It was definitely not a healthy meal, but it was so tasty. I fried up the chicken wings myself and then created my own hot sauce. :) Just in case my hot wing sauce didn't turn out I bought some back up buffalo wing sauce. Dave and I both preferred the homemade hot wing sauce to the premade stuff.

Anyway, I am just a little pleased with myself.

Pookie in a sweater

So Pookie is a pretty small dog. And she's really thin so when it gets cold out she really starts shivering. After Wednesday's wonderful snowy day, I decided it was time to get Pookie a sweater. Last year I bought her a coat/cape thingy and she ate it. So this year I am getting her a pull on sweater and I'm not going to let her chew on it.

I love it. It makes me giggle every time I see Pookie bundled up in that thing. I think she likes it though because she doesn't fight me when I put it on her and she's fine to just run around the house in it.

Does it look like November out there?

This is the weather we've had all day....

It was kind of hard to take a picture of the snowflakes falling (white flakes + white/grey clouds = invisible to the camera). But it is coming down pretty good. At lunch a group of us in the office walked five minutes to a restaurant just a block away and we were all covered in snow. It feels more like Christmas than it does the beginning of November. I am not complaining though- I am enjoying it (mainly because I am inside and warm). The only thing that could make this better would be to wrapped up in a blanket at home, watching the snow fall with some soft music in the background, and maybe a cup of hot chocolate. :) But then again, I think that last scenario makes any day better...

Go out and vote!

If you are reading this, and it is still Tuesday, November 4, go out and vote!

Arts and Crafts

So I started working on my Wedding Scrapbook this weekend. I have been compiling cards, pictures, ideas, stickers, etc etc etc until I had collected this bulging book. So last night I finally decided to do something about it. And it's been pretty fun so far so I guess that is good. :) I know I'll be proud when it is all done.

I also started working on Christmas cards and gift ideas. And I have been trying to knit some scarves like mad in addition to making Dave a blanket for Christmas (I was going to try to make it a surprise, but he already knows). I've been enjoying it a lot. And it was pretty easy to sit down this past weekend because of the storms that have been blowing in- good weather for staying indoors.

Oh and tomorrow and Wednesday it is supposed to snow in the valley. :) The snow and stormy weather just makes it that much easier for me to sit inside and work on my various little projects. Now I just need to convince Dave to let me listen to some Christmas music (after 5 years working at a bank, where the Christmas music started the day after Thanksgiving, Dave hates Christmas music).

Anyway, it's just going to be that kind of week for me.