Thanksgiving Menu

I am pumped about Thanksgiving this year! Ever since we got married, I have wanted to make our very own Thanksgiving dinner, but just never had the chance. But this is the year! I’m really excited about starting our own holiday traditions as a family. This is what I have so far:

Morning: watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, eat our holiday breakfast treats

Afternoon: play games, cook, talk, relax

4-5: CHOW DOWN!

After Dinner: play more games, watch movies, nap, etc.

I hope it turns out just like this:

THE MENU

Breakfast:
Sausage balls
Oatmeal crumes-yummy and sweet breakfast treat that's been in John's family for years

Dinner:
Cornbread dressing
Turkey gravy
cranberry sauce
Sister sheubert yeast rolls
Sweet potato casserole
Mashed potatoes
Mac and cheese
Green beans

Dessert
Pumpkin cheesecake
Chocolate pie

Any family traditions that you do every year? I would love suggestions since I feel like this is our first official Thanksgiving dinner.

Also, if you have some ideas for a great side dish, I could use some help in that area too!

Gobble gobble ya'll!

Hubby's Bday Extravaganza

Yes, I know that my husband's birthday was almost and entire MONTH ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Oh well!

Let me start by bragging on John a bit. He is not only the best friend I have ever had, he is also incredibly kind, patient, loving, giving, funny, laid back, generous, trust-worthy, and dependable person I know. He is basically the best person I know, and I feel so lavished with love by my Jesus that he would pick him to be mine!

I stress out and struggle with planning birthdays for John. Part of my problem is that I want things to be absolutely perfect. He is also REALLY good at planning birthdays and surprises for me, so I don't want to be the one that doesn't do an equally good job. I felt that this years plans were pretty good, but still have some tweaking to do for next year.

1. Lunch and dessert in Uptown: pad thai and frozen yogurt

As you can see, the frozen yogurt was a success

2. Spend the afternoon at the Dallas Arboretum
The Arboretum is AWESOME! It was the perfect day and they have a pretty incredible pumpkin patch set up. Next year, we will definitely come back-with a picnic lunch!

3. Dinner at Medieval Times with friends

We had both never been to Medieval Times. We had so much fun! We both wished we had more time to visit with everyone that came out for his bday, but so glad we got to go.

4. Spend time with friends

Some of our fave people (we did not make the guys wear crowns for their photo opp)

The action

5. A cookie cake is a MUST!

6. Treat him like a king!

7. Shower him with the perfect gifts

I struggle with picking out gifts as well. I just want him to LOVE what I get him, especially because I usually LOVE what he gets me. This year he got cologne, a nice sweater, and a PS3 game.

8. Take him out for dinner, just the two of us

For dinner, we went to Cool River, which is one of our faves. The Pecan Bread pudding was amazing!

Free Bagel Friday

You have probably figured out by now that I love to get a good deal. Even more than that, I love getting things for FREE!! My latest, favoritest free deal is at Einstein Brothers. Every Friday for the month of November, they are offering free bagels before 11 a.m.! I think you need a coupon, but you can reuse it every week (I find mine in those advertisements in your mail box that come with grocery store ads).

Today, I got my free bagel and iced coffee for $2.33. All you have to do is pay for your smear, but I like peanut butter on my bagels so I just bring my own.

Now if that’s not a good deal, I don’t know what is!! I know where I will be every Friday morning for the next few weeks…

Halloweenie

John and I had a pretty fun Halloween this past weekend. Our Sunday School Group, The Tree, had our monthly potluck dinner on Friday night, and we incorporated some Halloween fun! We had all sorts of fall food, pumpkin carving, and a costume contest (although John and I were lame and did not dress up). Brandon and Stacey Marx were kind enough to open their home to us, thanks guys! It was so nice to see everyone outside of class to fellowship, carve, and stuff ourselves silly with some yummy food!

John planning his attack...

Amy, Mandy, and I with our finished pumpkins

It's a cookie monster pumpkin!


I like our pumpkin

Halloween itself was not so festive. We spent the majority of the day cleaning and running errands, ain’t being a grown-up fun?? We did treat ourselves to a pumpkin-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy’s and watched an un-scary movie (we don’t do scary!).

My Favorite Things

I am woefully, shamefully behind on posting! I have lots of pictures of John’s birthday festivities and Halloween events, but sadly they are on my other computer, so I will have a posting party soon. But for now, I will share some of my present obsessions:

1. Simply Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookies
John and I LOVE our chocolate chip cookies, and we like to treat ourselves with hot, fresh out of the oven cookies. The best thing about these is that they have no partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. And, they are delish!


2. Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers
We can’t seem to make it a full week without indulging in these tasty treats. The chicken is fried just right, the crinkle fries are amazing, and the special sauce is very special indeed. If you are the in DFW area, check it out!


3. Neutragena Skin Clearing Makeup
My dermatologist turned me onto this a few years ago. It seems to be the ONLY makeup I have ever used that actually matches my skin tone, so no weird makeup masks. And, it has salicylic acid in it, so it keeps my skin clear and blemish free!

4. Trident Gum
There are several reasons I love chewing trident gum. I have found that chewing after I eat really helps keep away the cravings for sweets. I don’t just have one sweet tooth, ALL of my teeth are sweet! ha! Also trident has Xylitol, which helps fight cavities. And if you are cavity-plagued like me, that’s a good thing!

5. Be Thankful Candle (Yankee Candle)
I am pretty crazy about having my house smell good, but also pretty picky about candles. Yankee Candle is on my short list of places to get candles, plus they send me coupons from time to time. I am crazy about this slightly spicy fall scent! I burn it every night, and leaves a warm and cozy feeling in my living room!

6. Camel Bak Water Bottle
This may just be the best water bottle. Ever. It is BPA free, not too big to fit into cup holders, and I can actually drink water out of it when I am on the treadmill without having to stop running. I got mine in pink, naturally!

7. Nature Made Vitamins
These are just as good as the more pricey versions of vitamins. I like that they are liquid softgels, which are easier to swallow. And, I can find them on sale at Walgreens for buy one get one free!

A Fun-Filled Fall Weekend!

This past weekend was jam-packed, but I still got some down time with my hubby, which is pretty essential for me.

Friday night we went to see “Couple’s Retreat” with our friends Audrey and Jason. We saw it at Studio Movie Grill, but I was craving Olive Garden (it could be the 10k race I was anticipating in the morning and wanted to carbo load), so we stopped by there before the movie. I love me some breadsticks! The movie was really funny too, and we love getting together with Audrey and Jason.

Saturday morning I signed up for the Water is Basic 10k. It was a pretty gloomy morning, but at least it wasn’t raining! Mel and I stayed together the whole time, which really motivated me to run a little faster. We finished 1:06, which is nine minutes faster than the 10k I did last month (and 1 minute faster for Mel)!

The Tree peeps before the race

That night John, Paulette, and I were invited to a carnival-themed Halloween party that one of my co-workers was having. I didn’t want to spend a lot on our costumes (shocking, I know), so I decided that a tiger costume from WalMart for $17 would do the trick! We got John a hat and whip, and he was my “trainer”. I thought our costumes turned out pretty cute!

Some of the costumes were AMAZING! Unfortunately, I didn’t get lots of pictures of those, so just take my word on it! But as you can see, the food was very popular (as it usually is for us!)

grrrr....

John and Paulette enjoying the queso dip

Oh, and grandma update: the surgery went well, and she is on the road to recovery! Thanks for the prayers!

Prayers for grandma

As you might be able to tell, my grandma is a pretty precious lady. She is having some health problems, so I am in prayer-mode for her today. If you happen to glance at this post, please lift up a little prayer on her behalf. She is the kindest, sweetest lady you would ever want to meet, and always thinks of others before she thinks of herself. This is one of her many qualities that I hope to inherit.

A couple weeks ago, they removed a tumor from her bladder. This turned out to be a good thing, because they found that this cancer had spread to the tubes that connect to one of her kidneys. They would not have found this out through tests, so the need for the first surgery turned out to be a blessing!

I am very confident and optimistic. I know that my God will heal and protect her. And, I haven’t had my babies yet, so she MUST be around for that!

Below is a pic of me and grandma on my wedding day. For me and my family, getting my grandma to my wedding in Florida was a big deal. John and I really wanted a destination wedding, but it HAD to be somewhere that my grandma could get to. Having her with me was one of my sweetest memories from that day.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your prayers!!!