Thanksgiving 2014 | Grateful

I often find myself making lists - lists of things I want to be when I "grow up." Poor Tison has seen and heard  the millions of ideas I have and the plans I have yet to start, but there is something about this time of year that makes you stop wishing for something you don't have and appreciate the things you do. When I look around at all the love that surrounds us- really, what more could I ask for?

I am grateful for:
- an encouraging and loving husband
- a kind spirited and healthy baby girl
- a mother who doubles as a best friend
- a dad who loves and cares for me everyday. 
- two beautiful sisters that just "get me"
- a loving set of in-laws who are wonderful grandparents
- my friends near and far that are supportive beacons of light
- a lovely home that we have started our family in
- and two precious (and stinky) mutts that have made it through the transition of the baby and still love us

I am loved. I am grateful. I am happy.

We had an early Thanksgiving with the Hudson-Merricks and also celebrated Lauren's birthday.  She's expecting a baby in April. Doesn't she look fantastic?

 Fr. Mike shared in the birthday/thanksgiving celebration too.

Friendsgiving is a tradition that began a few years ago. The night before Thanksgiving we would go out with friends to various bars. Well, with children things change. This year we thought we would kick it up a notch and have a whole meal at the house. It was potluck style and it really came together as a nice little dining experience with friends. We sat down at the dining room table and everything! It is always good to see everyone gathered together during the holidays especially those in from out of town.

On Thanksgiving day, we shared the day with the Tisons. Aunt Maria and Uncle Richard came up from Miami and Aunt Janice traveled from Marksville. It was a special day.

 

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! Sending love to you. xoxo

{past Thanksgiving posts}

thanksgiving 2013: my plate runneth over...

We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with the Tison family because the cousins, Megan, Cody, and Madison, were in from Baton Rouge the weekend before. Mr. Tim made a southern style crawfish etouffee that was the perfect amount of spicy for my palate. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, also known as Friendsgiving, we made dirty rice (our contribution to the Thanksgiving meal) and had a few friends over for a backyard fire chat.

Thanksgiving morning we had coffee with the Tisons and then went over to Mom and Dad's house for the big feast. I had asked Mom to leave some things for me to help her with, but I'll let you guess what the counter tops looked like when we arrived.

{this is literally the most amazing turkey in the entire world.}

{my plate runneth over}

{yes, there I am 28 weeks preggo- we're gettin' big here people.}

{Hudson got a "special treat" from Dee Dee- a turkey sucker - and barely left the village room because of the train. He couldn't take his eyes off of it!}

*return with us now to Thanksgiving's of yesteryear*

New Orleans lady...

Remember this little trip to New Orleans? 

My post holiday work (and over)time has been spent planning for our conference this weekend in NOLA. It is back to the beautiful Windsor Court for a weekend of neurosurgical festivities with Katie-bug!

{This is some of the work crew at our department holiday gathering. I've said it before, but it really makes a huge difference liking the people you work with. Everything is more fun!}

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, and I also hope that you don't mind me sharing my Christmas and New Years pictures with you next week! Better late than never :) and who doesn't want to pretend it is still the most wonderful time of the year?

a little gratitude...

Thanksgiving vacation - those 5 glorious days and 4 wondrous nights of pure glutinous goodness - was a week ago, if you can believe it. Now I have pulled out the neon lit tree and ornaments, stockings and garland. It is Christmas time! As lights start coming up in the the yards in my neighborhood, I am trying to hang on to every second of this special time. I am pretty sure no time throughout the 365 days of the year  goes by faster than the next 3 weeks. The calendar fills up with parties and get-togethers, the Shreveport streets are at its most congested with lanes of people in search of the perfect gift...and, hopefully, there is a nip in the air. I have no problem keeping my car radio on the local station that plays nothing but Christmas carols 24-7 or keeping Christmas Vacation in my dvd player.

Before I get too far ahead of myself and end up in the North Pole, let's reminisce on Thanksgiving.

{fried turkey, biatches}

{Tison's potato salad was amazing and included bacon,yes, bacon.}

{This was us prepping for the Thanksgiving meal the night before.}

{Hey Miss Bailey!}

{After gorging ourselves with an amazing display of food at the Tison's house, we went to my parents to catch up with them for some post meal card making. My mother is better than Hallmark, people. She is literally a professional. Any kind of card making tool you are looking for- this woman's got it!}

{Mom bundled up some Thanksgiving leftovers of turkey, stuffing and homemade rolls so I could make my all time favorite Thanksgiving dish- the leftover turkey sandwich!}

{We ended the night with some wine and dominos. I wasn't lying about these glorious nights.}

{Friday was spent recovering from a food coma and watching the LSU game, but Saturday was Friendsgiving!!! Beginning at Superior, then Vintage, and ending at Wine Country.}

I want to say thank you to all of the people that come and visit my little blog about my life with my family and friends. This little corner, my tiny sliver of the enormous piece of the internet pie, is one of my favorite hobbies and it makes me so happy that you visit every once in awhile. :) Happy Holidays!

{see previous thanksgivings here}

visiting the four kingdoms: day 1

I left my heart in Disney World. I am not saying this to be poetic or sweet or anything. It is just the truth! I was spoiled getting to spend every moment of every day with Tison. This morning I threw a pillow over my alarm clock to stifle the radio so I could keep sleeping. I have done more morning grumpy-grumbling than ever since our return. Who would have thought that coming back from an amazing vacation would have such negative effects on my work ethic! Don't get me wrong, I am extremely thankful to have a job, but I just want to play all day! Anyone else experiencing a bad case of senioritis this summer?

In an effort to relive the experience, I am going to walk you through our days spent at the four kingdoms at Walt Disney World, park by park. It is truly the happiest place on earth! Leaving bright and early (4:00 am) we drove from Shreveport, Louisiana to Sandestin Beach Resort, Florida - then left Sandestin the next morning for Orlando. We arrived around 3:00 pm, just as it was beginning to rain. A quick stop in a gift shop for ponchos began our first evening which we spent at Downtown Disney. I highly recommend Downtown Disney for adults as an evening activity. There are tons of restaurants and live outdoor music to choose from.

This is how we spent our first full day at Walt Disney World:

{Hitting the ground running, Tison and I started the day at the educational ride, Spaceship Earth. This is the ride in the Epcot dome. It cracked me up when the computer screen in front of us displayed our future if we keep recycling. I didn't even know they had snapped our picture- Tison's face so hilarious.}

 {I thought I was going to pass out after this ride. The G-force from this ride creates a pressure in your head that made me feel like my head might explode if it didn't release "into space." Why I thought I could handle the "More Intense" version of the ride is beyond me! It literally took us about 4 hours afterwards to feel normal again.}

{Tequila shots in Mexico are a must do!}

 {We enjoyed Bratwurst and Oktoberfest beer for lunch in Germany.}

{I absolutely loved visiting all of the countries! Everything was done with so much attention to detail. Norway, Canada, and the United Kingdom were also visited, but I guess I was still feeling the effects of the Mission: Space ride and didn't take any pictures!}

{Captain EO aka Michael Jackson was amazing. It is a 1986 3D film that follows Captain EO and his crew on a mission to rescue the planet through the gift of music, dance, and light. Need I say more?}

{I was more than impressed with the way Disney grows their own vegetables and distributes it to the resort restaurants. That Tomato "tree" right there produces 36,000 tomatoes a year!}

{After our fun at Epcot, Tison and I rode the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We really squeezed every minute out of this day!}

{We walked around the Magic Kingdom beginning in the area called Adventureland where I wanted to ride The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Ali, Matt, Mrs. Chris and Mr. Tim met up with us there for the Disney classics, It's a Small World and Mad Tea Party; as well as riding Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, and race cars! The fireworks display began while we were on the racetrack and it gave us a perfect view of the show. What a happy accident!}

{My favorite things from day 1: The World Showcase at Epcot, seeing Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom for the first time since I was 9, the Space Mountain ride, and the fireworks of course!}

An Ode to Summer...

Step 1: Craving that calm summer feeling? 
watch this video.
 
An Ode to Summer from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

"summer just opens the door and let's you out"

as seen on andrew+carissa

This is a beautiful reminder for me that even without a designated "summer vacation," moments can be taken to appreciate the freedom of summer.

I am in love with Kinfolk Magazine.This video was made in honor of the recently released Vol. 4.  The quality of the paper is incredible with exquisite photography and design capturing the beauty of small gatherings and shared experiences. You should check it out.

Step 2: Plan your day of freedom

 I plan on packing a picnic and seeking out that fresh grass scent, finding a body of water even if it means having to purchase a sprinkler. This is how I will celebrate this middle of the week independence day.

Step 3: Enjoy your 4th of July, dreamers!

a dreamer's holiday: The Blue Mosque

As I walked up to the Blue Mosque, I was completely overwhelmed by its magnitude and incredible architectural detail. Our tour guide gave a long speech in front about the specifics of the mosque, but I was more interested in walking around and snapping photos. However, I did learn that it is an operating Mosque and all visitors are required to take off their shoes and cover their shoulders. Some were given wraps to cover their legs too. Honestly, who wears short shorts when you are visiting a mosque? I mean really. As you can see in the picture above, I also wanted to cover my head.

After I got over the stench of hot socks that greets you at the entrance, I stood in awe and admiration at the  hand painted tiles covering the walls and ceilings. The Blue Mosque gets its name not from the exterior, but from the blue tiles on the inside. It contains more than 20,000 Iznik tiles and 260 stained glass windows. Thousands of hanging lights created an orange glow inside; I imagined what it must have been like for the person who had to light each one when they were candles.