Gratitude

Over the course of the last week we've celebrated Thanksgiving quite a few times. We shared a meal with John Neal's parents last Saturday before they departed for their week-long trip to Virginia. We gathered at Grandmother & Granddaddy's house on Sunday for the Williams Thanksgiving....and then we feasted one final time on Thursday at Aunt Sheila's with Mama & Papa's side of the family. Each one was perfect in it's own way - but they all shared a similar theme of gratitude. I am so thankful we were all able to get together in one way or another to express grateful hearts for family.

An additional benefit to all of these gatherings, is the spread of yummy food to enjoy. And for someone who loves baking - it's a great reason to spend some QT in the kitchen. Pecan pie screams holiday and I was excited to be in charge of the pies for Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to Heather & Scott, I have these super cute pastry cutters from Williams-Sonoma that form different little leaf patterns. I prepared the pie and then decorated the crust with the festive leaves for a fun touch!

By John Neal's request, I decided to make some cake balls as well. They basically consisted of crumbled cake mixed with icing, rolled into little balls and dipped in chocolate. I've only made these in the past with Funfetti mix, but I decided to use chocolate cake, chocolate icing and white chocolate this go-round. If you haven't had cake balls before - they're a treat! 1-2 bites of a rich and tasty dessert!

Click below for the recipe http://www.smithfield.com/recipes/recipe/paulas-cake-balls The pictures of the finished product on this website are a lot more professional than my version to the right...but don't be deceived, they taste better than they look.

I'm also thankful for my VERY first Black Friday shopping experience. There are many folks out there that probably thought they would never hear the word thankful and shopping uttered by me in the same sentence, but it really was great. Despite the alarm sounding at an unpleasant hour - the experience was full of numerous good deals, a lot of accomplishments on my Christmas gift checklist and a fun time with my mom. No promises that it will become an annual tradition, but I'm not ruling it out. ;)

A few pics of my turkeys from this weeks festivities....



Hope you and your family had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas Cards

Have I mentioned I love this time of year? :)

Christmas is a time that generates happiness and encourages quality time with those you love - it's full of family time, decorating for the holidays, baking sweets, Christmas parties, drinking hot chocolate, wrapping gifts, looking at Christmas lights AND getting Christmas cards in the mail. I think if I had to pick one thing I look forward to most it might be receiving and creating family Christmas cards.

My mom used to (and still does) put the cards in a little basket as they arrive in the mail - the basket would hold a variety of photos of newlyweds, growing families with new babies & grandbabies and update letters. I still go to the mailbox with that same excitement - anticipating the collection of cards & pictures from those that mean so much to us.

This year we plan on getting our own card from Shutterfly and I am SO excited. They have such cute designs to choose from that cover a wide variety of tastes and style preferences.

Take a look at this one - so classy and simple. Just the perfect template for a black & white photo...

And this one captures the element of personality for each family member. Multiple photo boxes leave room for each child to have their spot to shine.

And for those who cannot bear the thought of creating a card with all the shopping, cooking and wrapping to be done - wait until the fuss has died down and send a card for the new year!

Check these great card ideas out for yourself and spread the joy and fun of the season to your friends and family this year! www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/christmas-cards

Mully Man

It is hard to believe that this past weekend marked the 1 year anniversary from when we went to get Mulligan. I have mixed feelings because part of me feels like we haven't had him long at all, while the other part of me feels like he's always been in our family. :)

We were scheduled to pick him up from the breeder on a Saturday morning right outside of Louisville, KY. I remember actually getting a little nervous as we pulled in the driveway - I had been begging (and I mean the embarrassing, persistent, annoying-style begging) JNS to get a dog since we got married and all of the sudden I had doubt. Could we handle the dog? Would we be good puppy-parents? Would he like us? Those jitters melted soon as I held the little 8 lb. furball that we loaded up and brought home. We finally had our little furkid and I LOVED him.






Mully on his first weekend at home.

Mully now - he lost the red in his ears, but not the pep in his step! He's our little rascal, energetic buddy, enthusiastic carpenter, garbage man and laundry magician. We love our little Mully. :)

*So Stella*

So last night I hosted a Stella & Dot Trunk Show (jewelry party) and had a house full of fun jewelry, yummy food, and great company. I love jewelry so it didn't take much to convince me to host one, but I truly am a big sucker for gatherings so the real treat was getting to have folks over.

I love anything that gets people together - weddings, family reunions, football games, dinners, Christmas parties, you name it - if it gets some friends or family all in one place for a little while, I like it. :) And last night was really a sweet experience to look around and see so many faces of girls that mean so much to me. Especially my mom - she is always SO helpful to me and my sisters...for instance, she often helps Holly with the girls during the week, takes care of Heather's dogs when she needs it and she spent almost all day at my place yesterday - helping me get ready for the jewelry party! Not to mention she can shop with the best of 'em...She is one special lady. :)

Mom holding baby Reese.

Corey, Laura, Katie & Leen

Katie, Leen and I met in college and were roomies in our years of fun in Pineview; Corey and I were in KD together at UGA; Laura and her hubby, Tim, live behind John Neal and I - all very dear friends that I don't know what I'd do without!

Cassie, Lindsay & Emily

These girls (along with their hubbies) are all in our couples small group through Buckhead Church. I've known Linds since our Freshman year of college...(BTW: that seems like forever ago) and although we just met in August, friendships have already bloomed with Cassie and Emily. Such a blessing this little community has already been (missed you Sal!)

Hadley writing down the grocery list...too cute.

I didn't get any pictures of my awesome co-workers-turned-real friends: Emily & Amy, my manager Diana and her daughter Jessica, my sister Heather, mother-in-law Debbie, or the friends that couldn't make it last night...but you all are such treasured friends and loved ones - you made my night last night by simply being there. Thank you!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I LOVE fall. To me, fall is equivalent to the weekend...I look forward to it almost all year much like you long for the weekend ALL week. :) I can't pinpoint one thing that makes fall so great, and maybe that's why I love it so much. It's the crisp and cool weather, the changing colors on the trees, pumpkins, fires, jeans and long sleeve t-shirts, football (not that I'm a die hard fan or anything, but it does make fall feel special), and apple cider. Fall is the gateway to the best time of year. Fall is like Friday...Thanksgiving being Saturday and Christmas could be Sunday - the last quarter of the year is just an extended weekend of fun!

This past weekend we went to the lake with my parents to relax - we had no plans! Normally when we go to the lake, it's summertime and we cook out, we hang out, we go out on the boat or sit out on the dock....I often feel like these weekends FLY by and always leave me a little sad to head back to the routine of normal life. This weekend was different. We had no agenda, no boat rides to take, no dinners to cook or guests to entertain...it was just us...

just hanging out.

View across the lake

What I loved was that we did take the time to do the things that are often overlooked or forgotten because there isn't enough time. We walked around and enjoyed the fall colors reflecting off the water, we drove around and ate lunch at a new restaurant, we tried a new recipe, read, watched a few movies and chatted about whatever came to mind. It really was SO nice and I'm very thankful I got to have this time with my hubby, my puppy and my parents!




Mulligan enjoying the lake this weekend! It's times like this that I wish this little guy had a big yard to run in everyday - oh, how he loves to play!

Before the holidays get here and everything seems to be busy, busy, busy....soak up all the fun that fall has to offer. It really is the best!