Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you all have a great weekend and wonderful time with your families. I'm excited to see my everyone tomorrow and for the long weekend. Be safe!

Oh and to all of you brave enough for black Friday... Good luck!

Food, lots of food

Today at work we are doing our annual Thanksgiving potluck. I have never been one to get excited about potlucks, I think it's because I'm a worrier. I worry that the food wasn't kept at the right temperature, there some ingredient I hate in it, and other dumb things that make no sense to be worried about.
On the lines of my last post, I am very thankful for the overwhelming amount of food we as Americans have available to us pretty much 24/7. But food prices have been on the rise and it makes it a bit more difficult to have all the things we enjoy eating. Joe and I have had a lot, and I mean a lot, of pasta, rice and whatever sale meat was there at the store. We get really tired of the same thing and start to run out of ideas on how to make different things out of the same foods. BUT!! We have no reason to make sour faces at the idea of a spaghetti dish once again for dinner even though we had it for lunch from last nights left overs. Not once in my life have I ever had to go to bed hungry, wake up hungry or go through the day with out a meal or even a snack. It might not be that yummy steak with fresh veggies on the side, or fish with some kind of delicious veggie on the side, but its still good food!! I am SO blessed to have a husband who is gifted in the kitchen and truly enjoys figuring out a new way to make an old dish. Our budget is stretched but our stomachs are full. I pray that with this Thanksgiving season we only make what we will eat and don't see an ounce go to the trash.
We were at the grocery store this week and as we were checking out, they asked if we would like to donate a dollar to our local food bank. OF COURSE I WOULD!! I know a dollar isn't much at all but I hope it helps. My brother and sister in law have a donation request right now to feed children in Africa, they made a great video to explain the need and what our contributions can do. Here is the link to the site and the video. http://www.cohcommunity.org/involved_donate_nopeasvideo.html
I know I wont be eating my peas this year!! Hope you don't either.

Thankful

Happy Tuesday to all. I made the title for today Thankful, because I forget to be that sometimes. I don't know about you, but I'm not perfect! So I have been trying to take time during the day to be thankful for Gods gifts, big and small. Whether its being thankful for my friends, family, husband, dogs, food to eat, clothes to wear, or a warm cozy bed to sleep in, I want to be thankful. With all the fires that have been going on and with the losses people are experiencing, I especially feel I need to be thankful. My heart and my prayers go out to the people who have lost their homes, I cant begin to imagine what they are going through now. The fires hit pretty close to home, being my parents house and some of our family friends, and I am so thankful to say that everyone is OK.
On Thanksgiving day people usually go around the dinner table and say things they are thankful for, but I hope to do that everyday. It really helps me when I want to feel sorry for myself because I don't think things are happening the way they should be. I have to be thankful for what is now!! And always know my plan is not my own, and leave it in the hands of the Lord. Sometimes its easier said than done, but that's where being thankful really comes in handy. I can start to list in my head all the things I am thankful for and then I don't have time to worry about what isn't happening that I think should be! Sometimes it's still not easy, and I make a reservation for a pitty party of one. Remember, I'm not perfect. I'm sure someone understands out there ; )

Well the weekend is finally upon us! As if I needed to remind anyone. hehehe. This week went pretty fast for me, I hope you had the same luck. Be safe this weekend and enjoy the heat; well try =/ I'm not looking forward to it.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

Hump day is finally coming to an end, two more days till the weekend! I hope you all had a great day and will have a nice evening.

Our mini vaca

I have to first say thank you to my Dad for putting the pictures on to the computer for me since I forgot my camera in my parents car. I'm excited to share the pictures of our mini get away.

Oak Glen

We had a wonderful day together. When we arrived, we went to the small store and looked at all the fun gifts they had, and decided which apples we liked best. They had a lot of samples of things out and we made sure we tried them all! After the apples, apple cider, and some kind of delicious spread purchase we went to get some lunch at the BBQ next door. We filled out tummies with awesome BBQ then topped that off with amazing apple pie.

Well after all that we needed to walk it off, it was hard to get moving but it was very worth it. There were some small trails behind the orchard which made you feel like you were in a different place. It was very peacful and beautiful.

It was such a fun time and so relaxing, I cant wait to go back again soon. To see more pictures of our trip, click on the title at the top "Our mini vaca".

Case of the Monday's

Monday came so fast I wasn't quite prepared. We had a wonderful weekend spent with my parents. We went to Oak Glen and enjoyed so many things up there. That just reminded me I forgot my apple for today! Grrr. I have great pictures to share but as I said, I was not prepared for Monday coming so soon. I will post those asap! I hope everyone had a great weekend too, and that this week will fly by so we can enjoy another weekend! If you like the cool weather, enjoy it while you can! The weather is turning quite drastically again this Friday =( I like the cooler weather so I am not looking forward to more heat.

Oh, and if you could say a prayer for our little Thor, he seems to either have a cold or he might have asthma. He just hasn't seemed to be feeling well since last night.

Small update, I left my camera in my parents car! So this week will not be so big on the pictures =/ Sorry. I really wanted to get the ones of our trip to Oak Glen up!

Almost Friday

Friday is so close I can taste it! Or was that a bite size snickers left over from the Halloween candy all over the office at work. =/

What a week.

Rain

Thank you God for the rain! Even though it woke me up twice in the middle of the night. Everything looks so different after a good rain, I really enjoy it.

Well we ended our Monday night with a wonderful dinner made by chef Joe, some Mario Kart and two sleepy dogs. We hope you all had a great night too! Be careful on the wet streets.

Rusty's Birthday!

Today is Rusty's 13th birthday, so he was given some special privileges.

He is not usually allowed on the couch, for obvious reasons, there is just not enough room for him! And he rarely gets the remote control.
Thor is pretty jealous of this special attention Rusty
is getting today, well he always is when all eyes aren't on him. Happy Birthday Rusty!! We love you!!

Changes

I can't believe how fast time has been going. Even though it still feels like summer weather, we are well on our way to Thanksgiving and Christmas!
As most of you already know, Joe and I have made the decision to move soon. With a lot of prayer, talking, research, and more talking, we came to the conclusion that Joe will be getting his MAT (Master in the Art of Teaching) in Oregon. He will be applying to Concordia University and also George Fox University. Both have satellite campuses in Portland with programs for working adults. This will take about 22 months to complete. At the moment Joe is preparing to take the CBEST in December which must be passed before applying to the schools. Please keep him in your prayers!
We are both very excited for this new adventure that is to come, but also know leaving behind friends and so much family will be very difficult. But the Lord has blessed us with a lot of family and a lot of friends that already live in Oregon and Washington; and we cant wait to be able to spend more time with them.
So this is why I have decided to make this blog, to keep connected with you! I don't know what we would do without technology these days.
Well, happy November!