Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

This is a very different Thanksgiving for us. We are 600 miles from our families and are unable to be celebrating today with them. However, I am very excited about this Thanksgiving for this is our 1st Thanksgiving as a married couple. I am excited as we start new traditions to be celebrated annually by us and one day our children. Above all this I am excited for today, because it is a day that is specifically set aside to give thanks. Thanks for salvation, my husband, our marriage, our families, sweet friends, a roof over our head, life, his job, provisions, our health, food on the table, and so much more. We have so much to be thankful for and all praise is unto God alone. Our menu is pretty exciting this year, it is my 1st Thanksgiving to cook. I made my everything from scratch. Last night Mr. Wonderful and I made my Grandma's dressing, homemade cornbread, squash casserole, candied pecans and pumpkin cheesecake. This morning the dressing and casserole are in the oven and I am making deviled eggs to take to lunch. We are having lunch with sweet friends then coming home to make herb and bacon roasted turkey breast, Nana's sweet potato crunch, Grandma's macaroni and cheese and by special request from one of our guests fried apple turnovers. Overall the makings for a wonderful Thanksgiving day. I hope y'all have a GREAT Thanksgiving. Remember to give thanks for all the blessings you have received this year and above all praise Him!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

I'm BACK

So I just had a whirlwind week away as you can tell from my previous post it was packed. I had a great time and saw lots of wonderful friends and family. New Moon was FABULOUS!! I even got a phone call yesterday for a job interview. Today I got back in town and had a job interview at 3 at Durham Regional Hospital part of Duke Health System in their Emergency department. I actually applied for a different job but this is a pilot program they are doing in the ER for new nurses. If I get the job it would start December 7th instead if February. The interview lasted 2 hours, I think it went well, but we will see. I am really excited to get things in order for Thanksgiving we are having lunch with sweet friends. I guess that is about all that is new with us. I have tons of pictures to edit from this past week and the house needs to be picked up, poor Mr. Wonderful has been swamped with work and a paper. If you are traveling this week have a safe trip and Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

(The picture above is of my sister and I from this past week)

This Crazy Week....

I am so excited about this week! It is crazy busy but so wonderful. Today I had tons of last minute errands to run, laundry to do, and cooking for a week to do for Mr. Wonderful because I am leaving town tomorrow. Tonight after dinner with Mr. Wonderful I went to a cooking class at Williams-Sonoma which I LOVED!!! It was Thanksgiving desserts night, I have decide to make the pumpkin cheesecake for turkey day! Anyways Tuesday morning I have to be a the airport by 6:30 am and will be in Albany by lunch! I am so ready to see my family. Then let the craziness begin. I will be offering my self up as the whatever you need me to do since I am your bridesmaid and you were so wonderful as mine little miss helper to Erica. She is one of my best friends and is getting married Friday. Wednesday I am very excited about going to see my grandfather and celebrate Thanksgiving early with him. Thursday is the wedding rehearsal, and bachelorette party....CAN ANYONE SAY NEW MOON!!! SO SO SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Friday is Erica's wedding day :-) and I am so happy for her and Bryan. Saturday I am going to Alabama, yes you read correctly Alabama!!! OH MY GOSH I can not contain my excitement. I am in desperate need of girl time and ready to see my besties even if it is only for one day!!!! Sunday I am visiting our home church in Alabama and then headed back to Georgia to celebrate Thanksgiving early with my family. Monday I get to relax and early early Tuesday morning I fly home to see my man and prep for Thanksgiving. I told you it was a CRAZY week but I am so excited!!! I hope you all are having a great week so far!

The Days Are Flying By...

Lately I feel my days are flying by! I am blaming it on the time change this early nightfall is killing me! I am so greatful that the past 3 days I have had some extra time with my hubby, Mr. Wonderful! I am sad to be leaving him for a week on Tuesday when I travel home. However, I am so excited to be going home to be in one of my best friend's wedding and to see my family! I can't believe it, Erica is getting married in 8 DAYS!!! I hope you guys are having a fabulous day

Today We Say Thank You

Today we say Thank You. Thank you for those who serve and have served in our armed forces. For those who gave and give their lives for our freedom! We honor those in the United States Armed Forces. The men and women who put their lives on the line for this great country we live in.

THANK YOU!!

Because of You, Unknown Soldier

By Courtney Tanabe

Because of you, I am here

Because of you, I am able to live freely

Yet I do not know you

And I have not done anything for you

But there you stand, ready to fight

And there you are prepared to die

For me

You've fought before

And you'll fight again

For someone you don't know

So thank you Unknown Soldier

Fighting for me

I'm here because of you

And I owe my future to you

"All I ask of You"

"Say you love me every waking moment,

turn my head with talk of summertime,

Say you need me with you,

now and always,

promise me that all you say is true -

that's all I ask of you "

I love musical theater. Throughout my life I have been involved in theater, even as a kid I was in a theater group. The stage feels like home to me and I love to perform. It has been 3 years since I have been on a stage on almost 5 since I have been in a musical theater production. Even when not preforming I love to watch musical theater. I love going to off broadway shows and hope to one day see a show on Broadway. My first musical I remember seeing was the Phantom of the Opera. It is a classic! I was even able to see it in Madrid, Spain in Spanish. I was thrilled to discover there is sequel hitting Broadway next November, called Love Never Dies. What brought out my love musical theater on this beautiful day? The excitement of living in an area that gets numerous off-broadway productions which includes two of my favorites, Phantom of the Opera (December) and Wicked (April)! I am so excited and now I will be accepting donations for tickets ;) Below watch this wonderful excerpt from Phantom! (to turn off music scroll to the bottom of the page and press stop on the player)

I Need Your Help...

Oh my sweet blog readers, I am so sorry for my absence! I have been battling lovely sinus issues and been a little stressed, but I am back. I am ready to catch up on my sweet fellow bloggers posts that I have missed for the last week and a half. I have missed posting as well and have lots to catch up on but today I need to ask you a favor. I have a few prayer requests for you guys.

• I am, as you may remember, taking blood thinners, for my DVT. This past Wednesday I went to the doctor and had my usual labs drawn. The results came back and my levels were high, meaning my blood is to thin. So this is not good it places me at a higher bleeding risk. My doctor adjusted my dose and I go back in 5 days for a recheck of my labs.
• My sweet friend Victoria, her husband Cody and daughter Logan are going through a hard time right now. Cody's father was in a horrible motorcycle accident about 2 weeks ago. He is still in the ICU and in critical condition. Please pray for him, his name is Bryan.
• Ok so you may be wondering why I am stressed. It is a little thing called a job. I have had a really hard time finding one. I have applied for 21 jobs and been rejected from all of them since I have no experience. Ugh super frustrating. So I have applied to Duke University Hospital's Specialty Nurse Internship Program. They are accepting applications for new grad RN's. So please pray that I hear back from them soon and get called for an interview or that God opens a new door.
  
• Finally I ask for your prayers for fellow blogger MckMama. Her son Stellan is in the Pediatric ICU. You can read his story and battle for life since the womb here. To find out more about him and his current condition visit www.mycharmingkids.net or follow her on twitter @MckMama.

"With God all things are possible"
Matthew 19:26
"Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD."
Psalm 1:24
"Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands."
Psalm 78:7
"But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love"
Psalm 33:18

Thank you for your prayers.
I am so thankful I serve a AWESOME God who hears our prayers!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.We all have our imperfections and done things we would rather forget. Every Monday MckMama tells about her imperfections and things she certainly did not do and poses the opportunity for her readers to do the same. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Here is goes my first Not Me Monday post.

I was not at all LAZY this past week, not me. I certainly did not sleep past 11 am five days this past week, no not me.I most definitely did not wash a load of towels and then forget about them for two days. Nor did I still dry them and just throw extra dryer sheets in the dryer so they would not smell mildewed, not me. I did not spend most days not doing anything but laying on the couch watching T.V. instead of cleaning my home, not me. I surely did not throw clean shirts I had tried on but not worn in the dirty clothes basket instead of hanging them up. Even if it means I will have more work for me in the end, not me.

What did you not do this week. Write a comment response to this blog it truly is therapeutic!!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and Pumpkins....

Sorry ya'll for the delay, Bob was on fall break from seminary classes last week so he was home a lot more than usual. Therefore, instead of blogging I enjoyed quality time with my hubby. This post is all about pumpkins. One of the first things people associate with the season fall is pumpkins. They come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. I love simply pumpkins, the are great for decor and carving. I was able to carve my first one last year (picture to right) and can not wait to do one again this year. I am hoping in the next few days Bob and I can go pick out our pumpkins. While surfing online for pumpkin ideas I came across some cute sites. So I thought I would share and hopefully upload some pictures of my own soon!

Here are a few links to my favorite sites of ideas:

Hershey's: the offer great tips to carving and templates for free

Country Living Pumpkins: unique carving designs

Pumpkin Lady: this site has templates you can purchase & free ones there are some cute ideas!

Martha Stewart Pumpkins: this site has templates too!

Huggies: They have Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty Templates

As far as Pumpkin Decor:

How about this cutie from Martha Stewart! Pumpkin Creatures

How about this Cinderella pumpkin from Hallmark's Fantasy Pumpkins- I LOVE IT!

I love Her Southern Charm decor:

The Party Dress also has some adorable ideas:

I hope if you were looking for ideas this helps or inspired you to get creative. If you have any great links or pictures of your own online simply post the links in my comments section, I love feedback. If your not a follower of my blog please become one, I love to see who reads my ramblings (simply click follow the blog at the top where the blogger bar is or on the right side there is a followers box)!

Happy Fall Decorating and Carving!

Check out this giveaway...

I went to college with this gal's husband. She is having a giveaway on her blog go check it out!

Click Here!

http://matandwhitney.blogspot.com/2009/09/life-and-times-first-giveaway.html

Happy Friday!