Thankful

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I love the holidays, but they feel different this year. I feel just a little warmer and fuzzier than I ever have before.

I think mostly it's the fact that we have only a few short weeks until we meet our son. Our son. Just thinking about that makes my heart race a little bit. I feel like I've waited my entire life to be a mom. I've always wanted it so badly. Knowing we are so close is so exciting. Terrifying too.

This pregnancy has put so many things into perspective for me. I've learned a whole new appreciation for my husband. He has been so supportive and so loving. He's painted my toe nails and majorly picked up my slack when it comes to getting stuff done around the house. He's put up with my absurd food aversions and hasn't complained once about my sudden inability to properly plan meals for the week. He gets a lot of texts from me a the end of the work day requesting a "fend for yourself" dinner night and never fights it. He doesn't complain about my Snoogle pillow or all of the extra space that it takes up in our bed. He doesn't complain about how I keep him up at night when I have heartburn and can't sleep, or my 3 am trips to the fridge that wake up the dogs and make them restless. He doesn't complain about all of the extra painting projects that I've instigated in the last few months {one being the torture of painting a ceiling, probably the worst painting job there is.} He's full of compliments and praise and never misses a chance to tell me that I'm the most beautiful pregnant lady he's ever seen, or to rub or kiss my belly and talk to Grayson.

I'm thankful for Nick all of the time, don't get me wrong but all of these little things have made me realize how truly blessed I really am to have him. They've made me realize that I have already done the most loving thing for my children that I could ever possibly do.

To give them Nick as their daddy.

Thanksgiving

We had such a great Thanksgiving. The weather was beautiful and everyone had such a wonderful time. 

I woke up in the morning and sat on the couch with my cup of coffee and cuddly Cubby dog to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This is one of my favorite traditions and even now I still feel like a kid as soon as it comes on.

 

This year we started earlier which meant that the appetizers came earlier and we had a longer period of time between the appetizers and cheese plates and starting dinner. I was hungry when we actually sat down for dinner which might have been the first time in history. Everything that we cooked was absolutely amazing and I didn't take any photos at all.
Before dinner we had a scavenger hunt and potato sack relay races which were hilarious and took some family photos.

 

L for Losers



The guys won as usual.

Friday morning we woke up went to Target and shopped our little hineys off with egg nog lattes in hand. Target is the only black Friday shopping that I will do and we got so much good stuff!

This Thanksgiving was the first year that I didn't have one of my parents with us and I was a little sad about it but we will be spending a late Christmas with both of them and I think that will make up for it. We just had so much to be grateful for this year. I am so thankful for this wonderful family that I have. I can't imagine what life would be like if I hadn't married into this wonderful family.

5 on Friday - Thankful Edition #2

This has been a weird week. Maybe it is the weather change {finally} or, maybe it's because November is the month of budgets for me at work and I am literally drowning in budget packets, either way I am exhausted.

I'm linking up with April & Co today and reflecting on 5 more things that I am thankful for this month. You can see my first 5 here.

One
I am thankful for my job. I might wake up and sigh a big sigh every morning when I think about going to work, but I am sure thankful that I have a place to go. I don't have the most fulfilling job in the world. I would love to do something that made me feel like I was making a real difference to other people, but that just isn't the path I took when choosing a career. Working for Homeowners Associations can be a thankless and tiring job, but I can't lie and say I don't enjoy it. I work with some pretty awesome ladies and we have a good time. So, for that I am thankful. Also, I'm thankful for my paycheck. Obviously.

Source

Two
I am thankful for my roots. I have blogged about where I come from a little bit here and there but not many details. I was born {at home} in a tiny mountain town at the tippy top of California. Practically Oregon. The closest Starbucks was about an hour away. I graduated from High School with a class of 80. Almost every single person in my graduating class I had known since I was in pre-school. Needless to say I didn't date boys from my hometown. Sorry.. I've watched you pick your nose on the playground dude. Someday I will dedicate an entire post to this, but I truly believe that I am who I am because of where I came from and I think I'm a better person for it. Also, my hometown is quite possibly one of the most beautiful places on earth. How many people can say that a Bing photo was taken in their back yard? Literally, that photo was taken right next to where my dad lives. {toot toot, I know sorry.}

Three
I'm thankful for the rain. We haven't seen much of it here in Northern California lately, until this week. We needed it so badly, and I needed it too. I think a little rain is good for the soul. I love sitting in my cozy cubicle at work with my desk heater blasting and looking out my window to the rain and the streets below {and yes, I do have Christmas music playing.} I love being snuggled in bed with my husband and our baby dogs listening to the rain and wind outside. I even love driving in the rain. I love every thing about the rain.

Four
I'm thankful for my husband. I know, I already said that on my first post, but this is my thankful list and I can do what I want. I am thankful to have married a man that is so supportive, loving, and selfless. He always knows exactly what to say when I need encouragement the most. He has given me such a wonderful life and I cannot imagine what I would do without him.

Five

I'm thankful for the family cabin. It is so nice to have a quiet place that we can escape to, just the two of us. We are going today as soon as Nick gets off work. I can't wait to bundle up and sit by the fire, play some board games, and wear pj pants and Uggs all weekend with no makeup without being judged. I'm thankful that someday we will take family trips and our kids will learn to swim in the lake and play under the pine trees with their cousins.

Happy weekend!

5 on Friday - Thankful Edition #1

2013 has been a really special year for us and we have so much to be thankful for. I think that it is so important to keep in mind how blessed we are, and to give thanks all the time. Not just because of a Holiday, but Thanksgiving is a good excuse to share those thankful thoughts.

I try to make it a point to pray every single day. Sometimes, depending on what is going on, I find myself praying consistently on and off, throughout the day. I am noticing that a lot of the time I am asking for things. Lord, please give me strength. Lord, please... instead of Thank you, God… I am trying to make a conscious effort to express my gratitude not only in prayer but also in my actions. {Believe me this is something that needs work.}

We have a beautiful life and it is important to remember that. Every. Single. Day.

One
I am thankful for my husband. For endless reasons. But really... he gives me butterflies, makes me laugh, makes me feel SO loved and appreciated, and even cooks dinner more nights out of the week than I do. He loves my family, like really loves them.  And most importantly? He puts up with me. My bed hogging, laundry piling, reality TV watching, Candy Crushing, ways are not always a walk in the park. But he loves me a lot and I am thankful for that.

Two
I am thankful for my family. My sister doesn't know it yet, but today, her husband will be loading her onto a plane for a quick 90 minute flight to San Francisco. My mom is driving down and we are going to be able to spend a weekend together for the first time since their wedding in June. I am thankful that my parents are going to be the most loving, sweetest grandparents. That is something that I wasn't fortunate enough to get to experience, being loved and spoiled by a grandparent. {That's a story for another time...} My sister is going to be the sweetest, most loving aunt. Something else I didn't really get to experience. 

 
Three
I am thankful for my husband's family. I have talked about this a million times before, but I seriously hit the in-law jackpot. Nick's family made me their own after we had only been dating a few months. We get to spend so much time with them and I have never been made to feel like an outsider. Not once. They are so welcoming and inviting, loving, and provide so much for us. And, they are so respectful. Of our space, our lives, our plans. Nick's parents are, at times, our favorite couple to hang out with. We have so much fun with them, they like to drink {Husby got his bartending skills from his Pops}, love good food, and are always down for a good time. I got a sweet sister out of the deal too. A sister that wears the same shoe size as me {a microscopic size 5 to be exact}. She's a built in best friend, confidant, and another amazing auntie to be.

Four
I am thankful for our home. Our house is currently undergoing one hell of a transformation. This will be the 4th Christmas in our house. A house that started out as an empty shell, an ex-rental house, a bachelor pad. We had roommates living in the 3 extra bedrooms for the first few years in our house. This helped pay the bills, built our savings, and enabled us to pay off our wedding in full, only months after it was over {another blessing all on it's own.} Anyway, when we had roommates we didn't do much to the house. We kept the décor simple and didn't have any photos of us up or around really. Our house became home, but it still felt temporary. We felt like renters in the home that we owned for the first few years we lived there. For the first time in a long time, we are finally roommate free and are able to start making some real changes to the house. Adding bits of furniture, adding gallery walls with photos, painting, personalizing, making it ours. This is really just the beginning. Once the holidays are over we are going to start some real renovations and I cannot wait to fall even more in love with this home we are building.

Five
I am thankful for our friends. I have always been very particular about who I became friends with. I tend to prefer to have a small group of extremely close friends, rather than a large group of not quite as close friends. When Nick and I started dating, I'm pretty sure I made about 100 new friends. I'm seriously not exaggerating. Nick came with the biggest group of extremely close friends that you can imagine. Many {most} of them are girls. Luckily they liked me and made me their own so quickly. I had never experienced anything like it. They are the most beautiful, sweetest group of girls you can imagine. These girls have never made me feel like they are my friends because of Nick. Of course I have my own amazing girl friends who I love more than life. Each of them is so special to me for different reasons. I wouldn't be me, if it weren't for each one of them. A network of people who love and support you is probably one of the greatest blessings of all.