thanksgiving week | wednesday

After church tonight we had a "pie potluck" (which we actually called a Pie Social). All the ladies brought a pie or two or five and I had a little of four! We love pie.

With Missions Conference two weeks away, guess which group thought it would be a good idea to learn a new song or two without sheet music? Two and a half hours later...I'm hoarse, but it was so much fun.

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving Day!!!

thanksgiving week | tuesday

Today was the only day this week with nothing planned... so here's how I spent it!

This will be mailed Friday morning on our way to our families' Thanksgiving celebration, so I'm trying to have it all ready by tomorrow afternoon and enjoy the long weekend!

I bought some fabric for a skirt awhile ago and since today was the only "free" day I decided I "needed" a new skirt for the holidays. It's hanging in my closet right now! (My mom did 95% of it but I'm getting there.)

And finally, around 9:15pm I finished this pie for tomorrow night. I feel so much better when I can be ready ahead of time!

thanksgiving week | monday

 

Making cupcakes AND frosting from scratch isn't always my idea of a good time, but during the holidays it's my favorite thing ever. I started Thanksgiving week early this morning by mixing these up at 7am. I did not have one for breakfast, but the finished product this afternoon was well worth the wait. Try them out! 

An annual party that kick starts the holiday season around here! There were 53 ladies that participated in the White Elephant style ornament swap. It took awhile, but it was so much fun. I'm so grateful for sweet church members and friends willing to host that many people for so many years in a row!

3. beholden

be·hold·en bəˈhōld(ə)n/ adjective 

adjective: beholden owing thanks or having a duty to someone in return for help or a service.

Thanksgiving is next week and although we have a lot to do to prepare I am SO excited! Here are a few of my semi-recent pictures!

We had a beautiful fall. It was short as always, but every now and then I'll spot a bright orange, red, or yellow tree that hasn't lost all their leaves yet. This was taken in our neighbor's yard, and I love Lena Rae's panic stricken expression!

At a Missions Conference earlier this week I was able to spend some time with my friend and her beautiful little girl. I'm missing so very much of her growing up years, and the time there was sweet.

I'm not a fan orange, but I'm less of a fan of being sick. My mom has us stocked on all these things this time of the year!


That's all for this week! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I hope you all have a wonderful one!

2. appreciative

Y'all. I love Fridays. Like, seriously love Fridays. I think one of the things I miss most about being a kid - or even a teenager - were those endless days in summer when I would wake up, and after falling back asleep and waking up again, get out of bed and think "Hm, wonder what I'll do today?" Now it's more like I roll out of bed at the first alarm because I can't trust myself to go back to sleep, and think, "Hm, wonder how I'm going to get all this done today?" And I know, I know - it'll only get worse the older I get.

But Fridays. Y'all, Fridays! I still have to get up early, but somehow it's easier on Fridays because the sooner I get to work, the sooner I can come home, and as soon as I do, it's "Weekend Chores in Fast Time." Which means: do my laundry, vacuum, dust, and mop my room, clean my bathroom and shower, wash my makeup brushes, tidy my bookshelves, take out my trash, tidy my drawers, and then during the in-between stage of clothes drying and clothes folding/ironing, I plan what I'll do next. (Yes, I do all this weekly because I'm just that way.)

Today, I think I'll bake cupcakes if we have the ingredients and do a small re-purging of my closet. I like to do this every few weeks after the "main purge" because I still keep a few things I'm just not sure about yet. Re-purging is done with a better idea of what I need or use, and keeps my life (and closet) in a more simplified state. I'd also like to wrap up a couple gifts I'm taking with me on a quick trip next week, and order something with my $20 ThredUp credit!

And all this means I have Saturday morning to sleep in, wake up, and think "Hm, wonder what I'll do today?" Because I did all the "need to"'s the day before! I just love Friday because when I'm done, I'm really done, and somehow the anticipation of Friday afternoon and Saturday is almost better than the actual day. I don't know. Wow, this introduction got rambly. Happy Friday!

This makes me so happy. I love pulling all this stuff out of my closet and then giving it away, donating it (the Yard Sale had already ended when I did this), or just plain trashing it. And now I can buy more stuff and do it and again in the spring! This is what I call the Main Purge. The purge I'll do today will have a small stack of things I don't wear anymore. This picture is all the junk that had gotten shoved to the back of my closet during the hectic weeks of summer.

These donuts are everything. As if Friday wasn't already good enough, we've got a whole bunch of these sitting around and they're dwindling quickly. They're dipped in butter and coated in cinnamon sugar. 'nuff said.

I love being an aunt so much. I tend to have more pictures of Lena Rae because she's a girl and she's always ready for the camera, but a sweet lady snapped this picture during our church picnic back in September and I love it. I love that Jace is in the background because he was willing to go down the slide slowly to help his little sister and stop halfway down when she wanted off. He's nearly seven and he'd prefer going down it 100 mph on his head, but for Lena Rae, he'll do pretty much whatever she wants.

Have a wonderful weekend and everyone stay warm! What are you appreciative for today?