My weekend in pictures

Top of the mornin' to ya, friends! How was your Thanksgiving? Great, I hope. We had a good one here. It was nice to have J off for a four day weekend. He used to get those pretty frequently in the military but now they are scarce (and more treasured!). We spent time with extended family, got some work done around the house, visited the Chattanooga Aquarium, and celebrated Baby A's first birthday.

From Top Left to Right: 1/My great aunt feeding the babe 2/ The boys playing in the leaves we raked up. Those faces! 3/ Cray K was super thrilled about the butterfly conservatory 4/First slice of birthday cake!

I'll share more about the birthday party later this week. I'm going to show you how to create cute, inexpensive ornaments as fillers for your Christmas tree! Also, there'll be creative foods and crafts for a camping themed party. I hope you'll come back and check that out.

Tell me- how was your weekend?

P.S. In celebration of Cyber Monday, ad space is 50% off TODAY ONLY. Email me or comment for details.

Also? All these items are for sale, too. Gently used.

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Have a very happy Monday!

I'm in a good place.

As a prior-military family, you can imagine that we don't really have a routine Thanksgiving that we normally do. In 2009, we spent the day in Fairbanks with new friends after J served his soldiers a big meal. In 2010, we were on a boat floating around Alaska and Canada. Our cafeteria food wasn't quite what we had in mind, but I treasure that time for more than one reason. The photo above was taken shortly before we got on the boat. Then in 2011, I had a sweet (but colic-prone) squishy baby and tensions were high. We celebrated Thanksgiving in Louisiana by ordering a pizza and waiting on his family to get there the next day. Last year, in 2012, I was very pregnant and tired. J's parents came down to Louisiana to fry a turkey with us.

This year, we're planning on making the rounds at my grandparents' houses and counting our blessings.  Chiefly among these are:

These two sweeties. I can't get a blur-free photo for nothin'. I'm thankful for their lively personalities and good health and development! I love them so very much.

My husband- he works very hard for our family:

My health:

This year has been a quick one, but I'm proud of the changes I've made in my lifestyle. Exercising and attempting to eat better has changed my life (and body!). No turning back.

Being back in Tennessee:

I still can't believe it. I look out at our street and can see the church steeple in the distance. We're in town, but we still have an element of seclusion. I feel as if God picked us right up out of the largest city in our nation and placed us in exactly the right home. It was no sweat for him. One day we're settling into our new lives in sunny Florida, the next we're nestled around our dear mountains of East TN.

*Family, friends, a God who never leaves me, coffee, patience, and many many more are also on that list. I'm in a good place, y'all.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
(and a very happy birthday to my sister, Paige. Love you.)

Phooey

Every year at this time, an uneasiness sits heavy on my heart. Call it dread or call it paranoia, but I just know it as memories that won't go away. Thanksgiving is often bittersweet. Life goes on, though...the years passing quickly. Despite the worries that this time typically brings for me, I find it so easy to look around and count all the many blessings that have been showered upon us. For the first time in five years, I'll be home on Thanksgiving day! I can't believe the journey that has brought us back to Tennessee. I know it was orchestrated by the Almighty God; that's the only explanation. We are home and I'm so thankful for that. Even more, I'm thankful for my two delightful, healthy boys who are currently running circles around each other laughing and playing. This post is taking forever to write because I keep pausing to admire K's little curls on top of his head and the sweet smile Baby A gives out to everyone. They are mine? Yes, they really are. I'm so very blessed.

To celebrate this time of year and finally being home, I've already started decorating the house. Every year, I have to fight my husband on this. He would prefer I wait until after Thanksgiving, but because I like to deck (all) the halls it is often a process here. I've been decorating for days now and I'm not even close to being done. I get that from my mama.

To those of you who would say I'm hurrying through life, I'm not thankful, or I'm skipping Thanksgiving to that I say:

PHOOEY!

The excitement my kids express when the trees are all lit up is something I hope to never forget. I want to savor the 5,437x a day I hear K shout, "Christmas Tree!" which sounds a lot more like ChiscasTee. What's so wrong about counting your blessings around holiday decor on Thanksgiving Day? Nothing, I tell you. 

My house won't be complete until we get the real tree up in the den in December, but here's a peek at what I've been up to lately-

6 trees up and at least two more to go!

Do you go what my husband calls "Christmas Crazy" with decorating during the holidays?

Holiday Fun

I'm sure you're wondering just where in the world my Thanksgiving recap post is. If so, look no further. You've arrived. We made lots of good ole Paula Deen food and really indulged ourselves. And when I say we, I don't mean me. Captain J did almost all of the cooking. His mom brought with them some gravy and stuffing, but the rest of the chow was made by that delightful husband of mine. Seriously, I didn't lift a finger. It was awesome.

We fried a turkey (again I didn't...I tried to nap)...

We gathered 'round the food...

We were merry. Cray K wanted nothing to do with mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, salad, turkey, gravy, stuffing, stuffed mushrooms, cheddar and chive biscuits, banana cream pie, cranberry sauce, and/or pecan bars. THIS CHILD. I mean, what 15 month old doesn't like mashed potatoes? He's going to have a rough time fitting in if we ever move back to the real south. Bless his heart.

I went to bed with a full tummy only to wake up the next morning to go to a doctor appointment telling me that I had lost weight over the holiday! Score?

That day, Captain J and I got some much needed time alone thanks to his parents watching the little one for us. K did so well with them. I've heard tell that he didn't cry until about five minutes before we got home. It was a glorious couple of hours where we could pretend we were back in our carefree dating days (well, ya know, aside from my massive pregnant middle). First, we treated ourselves to Starbucks. Decaf Pumpkin Spice Latte, thank you very much. Then, we drove off toward the local movie theatre to see...

I know, I know. I'm that girl. Allow me to explain-

The movies aren't that good. I know this, but I can't simply stop seeing them. I read the books after a quite depressing Harry Potter hangover. I was grasping at straws trying to find another saga to throw myself into. While the books are no Harry Potter, they were decent enough to help with the sting.

I'm glad the movies are over. Breaking Dawn Part 2 was pretty good. The first five minutes were completely cheesy and I wondered if I would make it through the rest of the movie without having to fight the urge to roll my eyes. It got a lot better and I'm happy to have gotten the opportunity to see it on the big screen. That's a rarity in my life these days, ya know.

The following day, Captain J's parents left to head back home, but not before gifting me with this lovely shade of red:

It's called An Affair in Red Square and it's now gracing my newly chewed fingernails. Ugh. Let the process of not biting my nails begin again. I love this color. It's a festive, smooth red.

What's up with you? How was your Thanksgiving holiday?

Be Who You Want Them To Be

(Thank you, thank you for your words of wisdom on my last post! I'm still in the process of writing you all back (some of you are no-reply bloggers! tsk tsk) but I'll get there. I do appreciate your thoughtful words. )

Everyone's favorite thing to do on social media for years running is to post what they're thankful for every day in November. Me? I don't want to deal with all those notifications. But isn't Thanksgiving a wonderful time to remember what all we're thankful for (uhhh, duhh)? Yesterday, a friend mentioned that as a society, we probably skip over Thanksgiving to Christmas because- what's commercial about thanking God for His blessings? It's much more like us to want to buy gifts and receive gifts.

I don't want to skip over Thanksgiving here.

Recently, I've been putting little reminders all over our house. Have you seen my mantel? It says, "Give Thanks". On my refrigerator, there's a note scribbled on the dry erase board that reads, "Count your blessings". Plus I can look into the baby blues of my son and have a flood of thankful thoughts consume me. Opportunities are everywhere!

They're not just in the good things of life, though. Realizing you're blessed can come from the negative experiences, too. Yesterday, someone tried to hurt me with words. While it's not the first time, it was the first time that I decided to take that and make something positive of it instead of wallowing in the thinking that nothing will ever change. I prayed to God and asked Him to give me the reaction He wanted. I asked Him to mold me into the person He wanted me to be. You know what He said? He led me to these words-

Source: playtimebreak.blogspot.com via Mrs. on Pinterest

Isn't that convicting? I started to pray that I could be a better example for K and A. I imagined them as young men and envisioned them being strong yet kind in their interactions with others. I will be their first example to model and I won't mess that up. I look to the examples that I had in my life and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that God gave me the mother that He did. She's the voice of reason, the sometimes Pollyanna that I need to hear from (Thanks, Mom). It doesn't stop there, though. I'm also surrounded by other women in my family that I can look up to. For that, I'm forever grateful...and determined to make it that way for my own children, too.

There's no room for bitterness in my house today or any other day. We've got too much to be thankful for!

Fall Mantel

We have some folks coming over tonight so I thought I'd better switch out my Halloween mantel for one a little more appropriate! Any other year, I'd probably just start my Christmas decorating since we rarely get to enjoy the decorations for long. We go home to Tennessee for Christmas when we can. Anyway, this year we're moving a couple weeks before Christmas so there's really no point in dragging my Christmas cheer out of storage. Instead I thought I'd do a fall mantel. I didn't want to buy anything and I don't have any time anyway! Our guests will be here tonight so as usual I just re-purposed items around the house. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either.

Happy Saturday to y'all.

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"Finding the Good" Part 2

If you missed the first part of this story, you can catch up here.

Thanksgiving Day I woke up in a foul mood. Despite having the perfect little boy to spend my day with and a husband who is safely in country, I had my lame face on. Baby K was fussy and I desperately wanted some space, but I also wanted to be around J and K on this day. I was very back and forth and missing family back in Tennessee somethin' awful.

We decided to go for a walk, then I decided to go for a run, just to get away and have my cry.



I turned on "Lady Gaga Radio" on Pandora and quickly realized how ancient I am because not only did I not know the songs that were playing, but I also only averaged 12 minute miles.

After the run, I sat in the car and felt sorry for myself that I wasn't going to be eating turkey with my family on Thanksgiving Day.

Hubby and I had plans for Pizza Hut.

I started thinking about Thanksgivings past and I realized how completely absurd it was to categorize this year as a bad year. I have so so much to be thankful for. At the very tippy top of that list is the health of my sweet almost four month old!

Later on that weekend, J's parents paid us a visit in Cajun Country. By Saturday evening, we had a Cajun flavored fried turkey on the table, along with mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, green bean casserole, gravy, bread, apple pie, and chocolate cobbler (I'm sure I'm missing something, too)! And wouldn't you know it...Mama got to eat! Baby K was an angel all throughout our meal--and wide awake, too. It felt so wonderful to have my expanding family all at the table.

Of course, I missed my family, but it was so nice to spend the day with his.

My blessings are abundant and I've got pictures to prove it!

Cookin' the bird

My In-Laws

Lazy, rainy Saturday celebration

Psalm 75:1 "We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!
For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near."

"Finding the Good" Part 1

I know you're all itching to know how my Thanksgiving went, but I'd like to share something else first...

My senior year in high school marked the beginning of my negative feelings toward this holiday. Prior to this year, Thanksgiving was easily my favorite time of year. This particular year, though, a terrible accident happened and it made me look at Thanksgiving with sadness. A well-loved former high school alum was killed in a car accident, forever altering my view of my carefree, little world.

Sara was an exemplary person, one who many of our small town's youth looked up to. Her death was tragic for everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her. You can read more about her here.

Then, my senior year in college, I heard word of another accident. I'll never forget. It was the day I had to give my thesis proposal to my peers and professors. My nerves were already elevated, but when I got word of the wreck there was only one thought in my mind and it had nothing to do with the success of my paper. Would my cousin live? Is he going to make it?

His friend (and mine) had already died instantly in the crash-

More heartache felt like more than I could bear. More than I wanted my family to bear. Still, he passed away on Thanksgiving Day.

Trey was 25 when he died. Younger than I am now. It still seems so wrong. But some place deep inside me, I know God is in control of us. I trust in Him. That's all I can do. Trey's sister (Laura Lefler Herzog) wrote this about him. I hope you'll read it because her words say far more than I could ever write and she captured the beauty of Thanksgiving:

Last Thanksgiving, my life changed forever.

My younger brother and only sibling, Trey, was in a very serious car accident and after several days in the hospital he died from his injuries. It was Thanksgiving Day.

There is no doubt that Thanksgiving, and life in general, will never be the same for those that loved Trey, but I believe the timing of his death was significant. It forced us to approach even our darkest day with a spirit of gratitude.

Trey and I both worked for Senator Lamar Alexander for years, and you can’t work or even be around Sen. Alexander for very long without hearing him quote his friend Alex Haley who said, “Find the good and praise it.”

For me, part of “the good” came when we learned that Trey would die the same way he lived, by loving and giving. I like to say that Trey, more than anyone else I know, tried to live his life according to our Lord’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. As a natural extension of his generous spirit he had chosen to be an organ and tissue donor and because of his loving choice at least five people were given new life: two single mothers in their 40s, a 56-year-old mother of two who had been married for 28 years, a 36-year-old gentleman who enjoyed fishing (one of Trey’s favorite pastimes), and a 62-year-old physician and father of four who had been on the transplant list for two years.

My family has learned a lot about organ donation in the year since Trey’s death. In particular, we’ve experienced firsthand that while marking “yes” to organ donation is critical, it’s just as important to share your wishes with family members. As the Tennessee Donor Services Web site states: “A discussion with family now will mean a life-affirming decision later.”

According to Tennessee Donor Services (TDS), Trey renewed his driver’s license at a kiosk in Nashville on May 14, 2007, and marked “yes” to organ and tissue donation. His girlfriend, Jane, also recalled a conversation with Trey just a few weeks before his death indicating his wish to donate “everything.” She remembers him saying, “I’ll be with the Big Guy. Give it all.” As we sat in the hospital waiting room, I struggled with the decision to donate his eyes. It seemed so invasive. But they were not my eyes to give. They were Trey’s, he didn’t need them in heaven, and he had made it very clear to “give it all.”

Many people find talk of organ donation uncomfortable and maybe even morbid. And many people believe organ donation is a good thing, but just put off doing something about it for another day. According to TDS, a survey conducted by the National Coalition on Donation found that 91 percent of respondents support donation, and yet 29 percent have taken no action to indicate their wishes via their driver’s license, donor card, living will, or by simply telling their family. That was me. I’m embarrassed to say that I signed my driver’s license the day that Trey died. I’m so thankful that my responsible brother was not part of that 29 percent like I was.

Because of his decision to be an organ donor, Trey’s story became a resurrection story. Out of death and despair came new life, and our Thanksgiving became an Easter. Through our tears we rejoiced knowing that five families had gotten a call on Thanksgiving Day with news that their loved one would be receiving a life-giving organ. What an incredible Thanksgiving for them!

True story: On my mother’s birthday last March she was having dinner with my stepfather at a restaurant in their hometown, 250 miles from the site of Trey’s hospitalization, when a gentleman approached her and thanked her for the very special gift her son had given him. It was the 62-year-old physician and the keeper of one of Trey’s kidneys. The gift – the good – had come full circle.

Because of his example, I'm a donor now, too.

Every year, around this time especially, my thoughts are with these three individuals who have shown me so much.

There was plenty of good to be found this year. I'll be sure to share all that with you next time I write. Thanks for listening.

Love,

Mrs. K

Thankfulness

I always treasured the old hymn that says, "Count your many blessings see what God has done." It's a practice that should last all the year long, not just on the fourth Thursday every November. God has blessed and enriched my life in so many ways that it would be difficult and lengthy to display in this small space. I'll list a few, though...

* He gave me an amazing blended family. When my parents divorced, it seemed like the worst thing in my little life. But now, as they have re-married other truly awesome individuals, I recognize how God blessed us even in times of trouble. I consider my additional family members part of my true family, too. I am thankful for my stepmom, Julie, and my stepdad, Joe. Thank you both for making my parents so happy! I'm forever grateful and I love you both.

*God also gave me the most beautiful, wonderful family of my own, too. I'm thankful for J's parents who raised him to be the man he is today. I'm especially eternally grateful to God for allowing me to raise my angel, Baby K. I love my little family so much; my heart overflows.

*He provides, too doesn't He? I'm thankful for the promise evidenced in Matthew 6:31-32:

"Therefore, do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'...For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."

I'm thankful for Him providing my husband a job that allows us to have food on the table every night, a roof over our heads, and clothes on our backs. I'm thankful and proud that his job is with the Army, too because there are many opportunities for me to miss him and have him return to me-That way, I can fall a little more in love with him each time.

*I'm thankful to be born in the greatest country in the world where I am free to practice my faith in God the Father Almighty.

*I'm also thankful for cookie dough. Mention of this will open a whole other can of worms, though so I'll just stop right there ;)

*Thank you, dear readers, for sharing in my life with me!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I know what you're thinking- slow down, Mrs. K...tomorrow is Thanksgiving, not Christmas! But we're a military family (and a broke one at that!) and we can't afford to go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Furthermore, we leave our home to head to our real home in Tennessee so early in December that there's not much time to enjoy all the festive decor. Besides, last Thanksgiving we were on a boat eating cafeteria food somewhere around Alaska and Canada. This year? We have plans to order a pizza tomorrow. So perhaps that's why my mind is elsewhere! Either way, I'm still very, very thankful for so many blessings in my life. Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you alllll about it!

Merry Thanksgiving Eve.