Our Thanksgiving

Our holiday was absolutely wonderful. We were able to spend it with family and kept it pretty low key. Not to mention, we chowed down on a bunch of yummy food. And this year we have a lot to be thankful for.

1. We got the house!!!! Closing is in a couple of weeks. You know what that means? Living with my parents is almost over. I'm really grateful for the roof over my head and my parents' generosity. But I'm SO ready to be on my own again. It's tough trying to meld a bunch of different people and personalities together.
2. My job. I feel so incredibly blessed to be working again. The people are great and the job is just what I remember it being, something I love to do. I actually thought to myself (yesterday - BLACK FRIDAY- and today) how much fun it was to be working!
3. Ryan's job. It continues to be the main source of income and the only source of health insurance for our family. With all of the economic uncertainty and upheaval, it's truly amazing to not have to worry about how the bills will get paid or how we'll feed the kids. 
4. Ryan and the kids! Seriously, as much as I claim they stress me out, they are the best things in my life. They make me laugh, cheer me up, and love me unconditionally. Even when I lose my temper. But the best thing about them, is that they've taught me to love on a whole new scale.
5. Our family is all happy and healthy. Despite a few minor hiccups i.e. colds, scrapes, bumps, and bruises - our family is incredibly healthy! I've seen so many people get bad health news recently that I am all the more thankful for our good fortune!
6. Friends, I am blessed to be making new ones and to have old friends who are willing to listen or hang out with me when they can. 
7. So much more. I can't even name it all, but I truly felt like this year, Thanksgiving was more than just a big dinner for me. It was an occassion where I truly noted all the things I can count as blessings in my life.

After our delicious dinner, I went out Thanksgiving day/Black Friday shopping. It was crazy but a ton of fun. I was so happy my friend called and asked me to go with her. I was able to get all the Harry Potter movies (nerd alert) for $1.96 a piece and basically stocked up our wardrobes for the winter. Oh and I may or may not have bought little Miss Sarah a pink Christmas tree. It was on sale and glittery and well she's been asking for one. Her eyes when she saw it, were totally worth the crowds and craziness. What can I say? The girl loves pink.

And here are the photos I promised last post. Family ones and a few of the kids from Thanksgiving.

Family portrait session

Thanksgiving Day Photos

Happy November

Still working on a redesign idea and a new name ... but for now enjoy the Thanksgiving festivities.

A quick update on us. House hunting has been a long and time consuming process, and has pretty much been our main focus for the last month or so! BUT We may have found our house! We just finished inspections and are on round two of negotiations with it and I'm hoping we can be moved and settled before Christmas. (Mostly because I want to get a cliche "our new home" ornament. Silly I know.) But I really hope everything comes through, because both Ryan and I had an "ah ha" moment when we walked into this house. You know the "this is our house, stop traipsing all over town to look at more" moment. Suffice it to say, I would be kind of really frustrated if we had to start all over again. So we're praying hard right now that things go well!

I got a job! I'm now a part time barista (coffee shop worker) again. It's something I did throughout high school and college. I'm good at it, well actually I'm really good at it. At one point I had lofty dreams of owning my own coffee place and making a living out of it. Then the economy tanked and real life took over. (One baby right after another.) But for now, I am loving having a job in the evenings. Adult interaction and extra cash, what could be better right? Honestly, it's probably one of the best things I have done for myself and my kids in a long time. Having a focus other than my kids, has been incredibly good for me. I feel more balanced, even amid all the added "busy-ness" of having a job.

The kids are doing well. Both of them are fast moving and into everything. We have most definitely reached the terrible twos. I've come to call it the time when selective hearing develops in kids! Seriously, Sarah hears me but doesn't listen about 90% of the time! Incredibly frustrating, but then she does something endearing like saying "Mommy I lub you sooo much". And I temporarily forget why I was mad, until she starts back up doing EXACTLY what I told her not to do 10 seconds beforehand. Andrew, is learning new words everyday and has made it his goal to find anything and everything that can be deemed climb-able. I think we may have some broken arms in his future. Seriously, the kid climbs EVERYTHING!

So between the house finding, the new job, and my wild and crazy kiddos, life is moving at an incredibly fast pace. Luckily, we had  family pictures Saturday and I think we got some really cute shots. I love that I have the opportunity to document this time in our lives, because I know when I look back on it years from now, I'll wonder how I let it go by so fast! When I get my copy of the pictures, I'll be sure to post some!

And now it's time for a shower and bed so I can start this crazy marathon all over again tomorrow.