positive thoughts

With everything that I have on my calendar (work, social, family), this will be my moto throughout the next month.  Thanks Adventures in Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone for the inspiration!

sunday: renew your spirit

So in following with FlyLady's plan, today DH and I decided to go on a short hike.  DH has been trying to get me to go hiking for weeks now and up until today I have found every excuse in the book to not go.  But the weather was perfect today (crisp, cool air and sunny skies).  It turned out to be an absolutely lovely time for us to breathe the fresh air and spend some quality time together. 

thanksgiving recap

So Thanksgiving dinner in our home was a success!  We hosted those who could not go home for the holiday weekend and it was the perfect way to celebrate our first Thanksgiving as newlyweds and away from our families.  We cooked up a feast with turkey, stuffing (one veggies and one sausage), mashed potatoes, creamed corn, appetizers, and of course spiced cider!  We borrowed our neighbor/friend's kitchen table to create one long family style table.  I loved it - made me think of how much I look forward to having my family sit around a big dining room table together.  Here's a peek at how everything turned out:

Our kitty, Socrates, was helping to set the table!

 

We also had our friend bring her plates, silverware and wine glasses.  Altogether it looked very festive!

We set up drinks and appetizers on the breakfast bar.

The turkey's done! 

It actually was done way too early, but thankfully it didn't dry out or anything and tasted perfect.

After dinner, we served some yummy alcohol infused chocolates with dessert.  They were from Sam's Club and were a hit!  Everyone loved it!

 One of our friends made gingerbread cookies for us all to decorate.  It was such a great after dessert activity!

At the end of the night, we just collapsed on the couch and felt so grateful for friends to help make being away for the holidays a bit more like home.  It was a wonderful, satisfying feeling to have successfully hosted such a wonderful event in our new home.

so many things to be grateful for....

my husband
my family
friends near and far
my g'ville turkey day family away from home
a great meal
a blessed and fulfilled life
love and laughter

Today I celebrated Thanksgiving away from home for the first time ever.  It was difficult being away from my family, but thankfully I was able to share it with my husband and my g'ville-turkeyday-family-away-from-home.  The table was filled with tons of yummy food and surrounded by great company, cheer, and laughter.  In about four weeks I will be back home sweet home and sharing hugs and laughter with my family -- for that, I am truly thankful. 

In the spirit of the season, I thought I would get back into the blogging world.  The wedding blog never really took off.... I got way too into reading wedding blogs than keeping my own!  I've recently gotten back into blogs and message boards since I began preparing for my first Thanksgiving dinner and joined up on thenest.com.  I'm hoping to share my adventures of being a housewife, balancing a busy career, and enjoying every moment of it!