Gratitude, Day 30

This past month has been great. Taking the time to be consciously grateful for something every day has really opened my eyes to how many ways I've been blessed in my life.

But right now the thing that I'm most grateful for is that today is the last day of November and I can take a mini vacation from blogging. I don't know if you noticed, but I don't always have something interesting to say, and some days I considered asking Andy to write my blog post for me. I didn't, just so you know, this is all me.

I'll be back in a day or two; hopefully refreshed and ready to resume previously scheduled blogging.

I hope these last few hours of the holiday weekend find you restful and content. Tomorrow is back to the grindstone for many of you, but don't fret, the holiday season has just begun.

Gratitude, Day 29

For the first half of the day I told people that it was the 28th and even printed it on some documents that I had to go back and fix once I figured out that I'm an idiot. If I'd written my gratitude post this morning like I meant to do that wouldn't have happened now would it? Live and learn.

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Getting down to business: today (and every day) I'm grateful for all of my readers. Some of you are people that I know personally and you read my drivel because you know me and you get where I'm coming from. I try to make it obvious to everyone, but it's hard to convey certain emotions in writing. What astounds me is that I seem to have picked up quite a few readers that I've never met. I think that's awesome.

I started this blog as a way to keep friends and family updated on my life. I'm sure many of you have experienced the pain of growing up and growing apart. People move on and don't stay up to date with the ones that really matter. This was my way of avoiding that. It has turned into something else entirely. I've never been a diary keeper, but something about letting the world wide web know my innermost thoughts keeps me posting. Not to say that there isn't a certain level of censorship in what I write. There is, but if we are honest with ourselves we can admit that we censor even the most intimate of relationships. Is there any one person that knows everything about you but yourself? The real answer to that is no.

So thank you for taking this journey with me. I plan to continue to keep things as real as possible around here, and if I can entertain you or cause you to stop and think about an issue along the way, then I'm happy with that.

If you like me then stick around, and feel free to leave your comments. I do love waking up to a comment in the morning.

If you don't like me then just go away. Not that I don't want you to stick around and try to like me, but life is too short to force yourself to like someone. There are plenty of other blogs out there and I'm sure you'll stumble across one that is just your cup of tea.

Idle Chit Chat

The following is one of many ridiculous, but regular, conversations that go on during the holidays with my family.

Up to this point we had been discussing Nair and how it wouldn't be a good idea to use it on your lady parts. We also came to the conclusions that lady parts were unattractive, with or without hair, and then this happened:

As you read imagine the text with a southern drawl. We all have it and it gets worse when we're together.

Mom: Well I just think that male genitals are the ugliest things ever. I mean, don't ya'll just think a pen!s is the ugliest thing you've ever seen?

We laugh and generally agree.

Mom: Honestly I think it was Adam's punishment after the fall of man. I think God made it look ugly after they ate the fruit.

Me: Well if it was his punishment then why wasn't it in the Bible? "And God smote Adam with an ugly pen!s so that he would be less attractive to Eve."

Aunt Pam: It wasn't in scripture because Adam was created in God's image and God is perfect, so they couldn't talk about an ugly pen!s.

Later we relayed the whole theory to my grandmother, the matriarch of my family, who took it all in stride with a look of distaste:

Ma-maw: ::Shakes head::

Me: Don't look at us like that, you raised us.

Ma-maw: Well, I didn't have anything to do with this

Mom: Aw, come on Momma. You know God's probably laughing at us. He has a sense of humor.

Aunt Pam: He'd have to if he created something like the pen!s.

Gratitude, Day 28

Gratitude for family

My parents
Check out my mom's new glasses. Aren't they cute?

My step dad's brother Charles, his wife Mildred
and their grandson Trent

My niece, Veronica, enamored by the Rugrat's movie

My Ma-Maw Bobbie

My Aunt Donna and my mom
They were trying to hide what they consider
to be their old necks...

Cousins Elizabeth and Hannah

Uncles Tony and Todd

Aunt Pam with her constant companion, Sophie

Cousins Luke and Bekah and Aunt Donna

Nephew Alex playing with a really obnoxious toy

Nephew Jerem (he got hot and yes,
those are his underwear hanging out of his pants)
and cousin Caleb

Now, after two days of non-stop eating, please excuse me while I slip into a coma until Christmas.

Gratitude, Day 27

We had an amazing Thanksgiving feast. Yesterday, after I went to spend a little time with some extended family, I came back home and started cooking. Or rather, resumed cooking, because Wednesday was spent in the kitchen as well. Andy and I invited a friend over for dinner and he contributed to our buffet as well. I have to say, I'm really proud of our first Thanksgiving meal. There is a lot of food left though, so if you're in need, please stop by my house.

On the Menu:

Breakfast:

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Dinner:

Maple Brined Turkey Breast (brining is the way to go, the turkey was extra juicy)
Homemade yeast bread
Green Beans (From Tyler)
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potato Casserole (with brown sugar and pecan topping)
Stuffing with Dried Cranberries
Whiskey Glazed Carrots
Homemade Apple Pie (from Tyler)

The Spread

The pie was every bit as good as it looks.

Thanks Tyler!

Gratitude, Day 26

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Tonight I'm grateful that Brunswik just sat through an entire bath without freaking out and soaking Andy and I. This is the first time ever. Milton was another story, but at least one of them managed to behave himself.

I'm also extremely grateful for my incredible expanding stomach that is currently in preparation for the next few days of endless food. For as long as I can remember I've been eating at least 3 Thanksgiving meals, usually in one day, but this year I'm being spared and the feasting is being spread over two days. Our first Thanksgiving together Andy and I spent the day at three different grandmother's homes. We ate at the first two and then when we got to the last that night and I piled my plate high Andy looked at me like I had lost my mind. He just ate dessert and couldn't believe that I could fit that much food into my body, but it's tradition and I'm used to it. I think my body just knows what's going to happen this time every year so it just makes extra room. Andy has since become accustomed to my glutinous ways on Thanksgiving, and I can still eat him under the table. That is quite a feat.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families and make sure you go ahead and have that extra piece of pie. It is Thanksgiving after all.

Gratitude, Day 25

Do you have a redbox at your local grocery store? We do. We kind of live far away from civilization so we just got a redbox a couple of months ago.

It's fantastic though. We have digital cable, but OnDemand isn't available where we are (I told you we lived far out), so renting from the TV is not an option. The closest Blockbuster is 20 minutes one way, plus the $5 to rent, plus the gas to drive back to return it. You can imagine that we didn't rent a lot of movies 'round these parts.

But since we got redbox? I could rent a movie every night if Andy would let me. I can drive a couple of minutes and just pay a buck. I love it. How could they have let us live without this for so long? I'm going out later, so I think I'll swing by and see if there are any new movies in my favorite vending machine.

Gratitude, Day 24

I can't imagine life without stretchy pants. When I'm home I live in pants with an elastic waist.

Andy wears his regular clothes right up until bedtime and I think he's completely off his nut. Why would you want to come home from a busy day and stay in your regular clothes? The first thing I do is switch out my jeans for something softer, and take off my bra, but that's another post entirely.

Gratitude, Day 23

I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes my hair just doesn't do what I'd like. It's sticks up, or lays flat, and don't get me started on the static.

So what's a girl to do?

Put on a hat, that's what. I love hats. Especially in the winter; something about heat escaping through your head and a hat holding it in. It's been running about 30 degrees the last few days. Perfect weather to throw on a toboggan and run. Perfect weather for a bad hair day.

Gratitude, Day 22

They say silence is golden. Sometimes that is true. It's nice to turn everything off and just enjoy the lack of constant stimulation. Then your thoughts start to take over and they are a lot louder than the television or computer could ever hope to be.

For me, this where books come in. I have always loved to read. It's an instant escape into someone else's world. Someone else, who usually has much bigger problems than me. And the good ones have a happy ending, which lends hope that everyone in my reality will too.

Gratitude, Day 21

Hash brown casserole is the ultimate comfort food.

I just took a huge pan of it out of my oven.

Jealous?

Gratitude, Day 20

Sometimes I catch the crazy and have a melt down. They tell me it's all part of being a women. I could do without it.

Thankfully, Andy doesn't run for it whenever the crazy happens. I wouldn't blame him if he did, but lucky for me he has endless patience and never gets tired of me.

Gratitude, Day 19

Do you live in North Carolina like I do? Have you ever eaten at Village Inn Pizza?

If you haven't you should find the one nearest to you and go there immediately. If you don't live here, but will be visiting, then you should go to Village Inn while you're here.

Everyone has that one pizza place that is their own definition of the perfect pizza. Village Inn is that pizza place for me. My memories of this pizza parlor go back to childhood when my family would go there and my brother and I would watch them make our pizzas from our booth. You can see the kitchen and brick oven from the dinning room. We would sit there, backwards in the booth seat, waiting with quiet anticipation for the moment that our pizza would come out, hot, steamy, and delicious.

Sadly there is not a Village Inn where I live now. It's a serious flaw in this community. Sometimes I find myself craving it and seriously consider making the two hour round trip just to have it. My cravings are pretty strong. Pregnancy is going to be interesting for me some day.

Today I made a visit to my hometown. I had a luncheon with sausage and pepperoni. It was heaven. I think if we ever move to another location in this state I'll request that we take into consideration how far we are from the closest Village Inn.

Gratitude, Day 18

UGG boots.

Because I don't have to wear socks or lace anything up, even if they are really, really unattractive.

Winter Wonderland

Snow yesterday, snow today, snow in the forecast Thursday and Friday. It's a good day for fuzzy pants, hot chocolate and a nice big fire.


I couldn't embed this video so you'll have to follow the link. It's the first thing that popped into my head this morning when I woke up.

Gratitude, Day 17

Have you ever had a Mrs. Smith's Apple Crumb Pie with Cinnabon topping? No?

Well let me tell you that you haven't lived until you've had this pie.

Our first married Christmas Andy and I got one for dessert because my job at the time didn't allow me the extra time to whip up one of my usual concoctions. I've been addicted ever since.

All my life I've preferred cake to pie. I think it has something to do with the fact that I can bake anything except pie. Pie hates me when I try to make it myself, so I leave it to the professionals and eat my own cake. One day I'm going to conquer it, but for now I'll settle for eating Mrs. Smith's.

It's snowing outside, my home is toasty warm, and I have a freshly baked pie. It's been a good day.

Gratitude, Day 16

They started blowing snow on the ski slope yesterday and it snowed last night. It's in the teens/twenties tonight and the temp this week isn't supposed to reach 40. The slope should open tomorrow or Tuesday.

I bitch and moan a lot about the ski slope, but it pays our bills and so I can't really complain too much. There are some down sides to Andy working in the ski industry, like the 6.5 day work weeks and working through the holidays, but I'm glad it's there. Without that ski slope there would be no need for Andy's position.

So, while I don't love it all the time, Andy's job is a blessing right now. When so many (including myself) are jobless; I'm glad he has his, and as long as that ski slope is there he will continue to be employed. That is one definite that we can count on in this time of constant indefinites.

Gratitude, Day 15

Sometimes there's just nothing like a day filled with food network and pajamas. As the holidays approach there are going to be less and less days like this. Sometimes the happiest time of year turns out to be the most stressful for a lot of people. I usually get into it, but that doesn't mean sometimes I don't bite off a little more than I can chew.

For now, I'm going to find a good movie on television and enjoy the rest of this lazy Saturday.

Gratitude, Day 14

Can I just tell you how grateful I am for my bunnies? They seriously brighten every day and I can't help but smile when I look at them.


Brunswik is so sweet and cuddly, and Milton has the funniest expressions when he looks at Andy and I.


I know people think I'm weired for having rabbits as pets, but they aren't just lumps that sit in their cages. They hop around and interact with us. They each have their own personality and they make sure we know it.


These are the first pets that Andy and I have had together and they are part of our family. We're putting their picture on our Christmas card this year and I don't care if people think that's strange.


I love my little fur balls.

Gratitude, Day 13

My husband is 100% testosterone filled male. He likes all things outdoors, anything that will send him down a hill at mock speed, and cars.

He loves any car really, but in particular he loves to take a perfectly suitable, roadworthy SUV and make it as un-roadworthy as possible. The bigger the tires, the better. How high can that lift kit take the body? And the flow master mufflers, oh the roar of the flow master.

I give him a hard time about it on a regular basis. Right now he has two cars. A Dodge Ram that, surprisingly, is still in it's original stock condition, and a Jeep Cherokee that is not, at all. He has cut things off the body intentionally and knocked things off unintentionally; he has altered that car within and inch of it's life, and he loves it. If he tells you differently he is lying.

And I'm sure you can go ahead and guess that this car has it's very own flow master. It's really loud. My step dad says it sounds like a logging truck. The sound can be really irritating at certain times of morning and night. It kind of makes you want to take out the battery and hide it so he can't start the thing. But alas, he loves it, so we all endure.

Over the years though I've come to develop a fondness for the familiar roar of the menace. Since it can be heard from quite a ways it signals early when Andy is near. It's a good signal. When we were dating it let me know that my main squeeze would be in my arms soon and now that we are married it sends me into a quiet anticipation for when he will come through the door. Sometimes I'm not quiet and I run around the apartment telling the bunnies that "Daddy's home!" They never hop around and share my excitement, they just sit and look at me like I've lost my marbles. They're aloof like that.

As much chagrin as that muffler has caused me I've come to appreciate it. Even love it. I don't know what I'll do if he ever decides to just have normal mufflers on his cars.

I'll probably rethink all this when we have kids though. The first time he wakes up a sleeping baby with his car will be a bad day for Andy and the flow master.

Gratitude, Day 12

If you read back in my archives (or you're one of the faithful few who have been following this blog) you'll know that back in the summer I started the C25K running program. I have never been a runner, but this seemed to be the quickest and cheapest way to physical fitness, so I sucked it up and started running.

Guess what? I love it.

Granted, I still have moments (sometimes weeks long) that I'd rather just sit on the couch and watch "Friends" reruns, but I have stuck with it. Longer than I've ever stuck with any exercise program that wasn't part of my course credit hours. Running is invigorating and it gives me so much more energy.

But I'm not grateful for running, no, that would be silly. What I'm grateful for is the tiny little electronic device that lives in my jacket pocket while I run. My ipod. It's fantastic.

I've never been a gadget person and didn't own any type of MP3 player before I got my ipod nano back in August. If I hadn't started running I would still not have anything like this. But it has been my savior on days when I just want to stop running, finish the lap in a walk and then drive back to my couch. My soft leather couch calls my name while I'm out there pounding the pavement, and the only thing that keeps me going is the music blaring from my earbuds. If I had nothing to listen to but my own labored breathing I would have given up this running business a long time ago.

So thank you Apple people for making this amazing little device. Technology has come a long way since the Walkman, and I really appreciate all your hard work. I'm sure you appreciate all my money too, but we won't go there.

Gratitude, Day 11

Happy Veteran's day everyone.

Take the time to thank someone in service today or remember someone who has died to protect what we have here in America.

I think in light of recent events this particular Veteran's Day should be particularly resonant with us. Even if you are unhappy about the outcome of the election; I hope that you can take a moment and appreciate all those who fought and died to make something like this possible in our country.

And to those who are still in service and fighting an unpopular war; take comfort in knowing that you have a nation of people who are behind you. Though not everyone is happy about the war's purpose, we appreciate what you do, every day, to keep us safe back home.

Gratitude, Day 10

Andy cut wood this weekend for the winter, so yesterday we built a big roaring fire in our gigantic fireplace.


It isn't easy to find an apartment with a fireplace, especially a big stone and brick fireplace with a hearth and a mantle. I'm so excited to hang stockings this Christmas. I'm kind of spoiled with this already, so it's going to be hard to give this up whenever we move. Of course the hope is that when we move out of here we'll actually own whatever we move into. So add something else to our list of preferences.

Gratitude, Day 9

So yesterday I talked about what great weather we're having and how much I have loved it. But let's face it, this is November and the nights around here are a little nippy. Andy and I pulled out the flannel sheets a couple of weeks ago and put them on the bed.

Have you ever slept on flannel sheets? If you don't have any you should totally go buy some.

We love ours, they are heaven sent. Having them on the bed adds a lot of insulation in the morning when it's so cold outside the sheets.

However, a couple of weeks ago (on Andy's birthday) I was informed of a downside to flannel sheets; something that I had never even considered. We went to Andy's Grandmama's house for his birthday lunch and we started talking about how much we loved our flannel sheets and were so glad we had them. They Grandmama said how she never cared for them because of how she sticks to them and can't roll over. I hope she didn't think I was being rude because as soon as she said that I know my face went blank. I didn't know what the heck she was talking about. Stick to them? How do you stick to them?

Then it dawned on me. Grandmama's pajamas stick to the flannel sheets. 'Round these parts we don't wear pajamas. We don't sleep completely nekid, but neither of us wear enough clothes to bed for it to make a difference what kind of sheets we use. We glide right over them. Once I figured this out I just smiled and nodded in agreement with what Grandmama had said. I didn't have the heart to tell her why we didn't have that problem. Since she is from a different school of though I'm pretty sure she might not have appreciated that tidbit of information.

One day, when we have kids, it will probably be necessary for me to start wearing pajamas again. But for now I'm going to keep on lovin' my flannel sheets in the semi-buff.

Gratitude, Day 8

The weather here lately has been uncharacteristically pleasant. I don't remember such a warm November. I've even had to open the windows the past few afternoons because it got a little too hot inside. It's been great. And even better is that this warm streak is keeping the ski slope closed, which in turn is keeping Andy at home more. As far as I'm concerned it can stay in the sixties right up to Thanksgiving. That'd be great.

I know that isn't likely or realistic and the cold is creeping up on us soon enough, but I'm going to appreciate the great weather while we have it because once the cold hits, look out people.

Gratitude, Day 7

Andy and I have been cleaning out our storage room the past couple of days. We also have unpacked some boxes that were shoved in a corner when we moved in March and never thought of again. I have found a lot of stuff that I had forgotten about. Andy has too.

I found six large zip top bags full of pens and highlighters and mechanical pencils. I know to most people this isn't very exciting, but I LOVE office supplies, so I'm pretty stoked right now. I have all these writing utensils because my uncle works for the company that owns Zebra pen company, so every year for Christmas he gives everyone in the family a bag of pens. We all get very excited. It's kind of silly to see all these adults get so crazy over pens and seemingly forget all the other loot they got that day. I love my pens; I love my uncle.

Thanks uncle Todd for all my pens. I'm pretty sure I have enough to last me the rest of my life, even if I lose a few.

Gratitude, Day 6

Cinnamon.

I love cinnamon. It makes things so much better. This time of year I use it as much as possible. Tonight I made a sweet treat out of a tortilla, honey, cinnamon and brown sugar. Yum.

Gratitude, Day 5

Thank God for the ibuprofen that has been keeping my three day headache at bay. And thank God for whoever invented it.

My day as a politician, Gratitude, Day 4

Remember my friend Julie? I've been talking about her a lot lately right? I have another story to tell you about her. You see, Julie introduced me to a lot of new things early in our friendship, and one of those things was politics. I guess she wasn't so much the one to introduce me to politics, but rather introduce me to her daddy, Philip, politician extraordinare.

Philip loves politics. He gets very involved in local politics. Every time an election rolls around it's like Christmas for him, and he often got his family involved. This is where Julie comes into the story, because he drug her along for the ride and she drug me for company.

One year, maybe a year after we met, there was a local election and Philip recruited us to help. A candidate that Philip was volunteering for needed someone to go campaign for him at one of the polls. Always eager for an adventure Julie and I agreed to go.

It wasn't as much of an adventure as we had hoped. As a matter of fact, it was downright boring. Probably because we were young and didn't fully get the election experience. Hell, I wasn't even old enough to vote yet. Julie was, and she did, then we proceeded to stand on the sidewalk and politic for our candidate. It was torture. Have you ever done this? Do you know how people look at you when you do this? Like you have the plague, and they tend to give you a wide berth when they walk past you.

We were not going to be ignored though. Oh no. It became clear, after a while, that people pretty much had their minds made up and we weren't going to be able to make a whole lot of difference in their selection that day. Particularly because they didn't want to have anything to do with us or anyone else campaigning for that matter.

So this is what we did. We put on our buttons, sat down on the sidewalk, and propped ourselves up against each other's backs, like Forrest and Bubba. I faced the parking lot and Julie faced the building. We were the election day welcoming committee. I greeted voters as they came, "Hello, how are you doing today?" Julie bid them farewell after they had completed their civic duty, "Thank you for voting, have a nice day!" And so we sat, all day long. We did break for lunch, but otherwise we did what we felt was necessary for our candidate and our self preservation.

The other people there campaigning were clearly put out with us. How could we just give up like that? It was pretty clear, that if they had the number to our candidate they would promptly call him up and let him know that he had a couple of rogue campaigners on his hands. But there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it and the voters spoke to us and acknowledged our existence. They saw our buttons and our smiles and that is more than I can say for the other people out there on the sidewalk that day.

And guess what else? Our candidate won that day. He won that election and in particular he won that district. I don't know if our lackadaisical approach to campaigning helped, but I like to think it did. We decided after that to hang up our political suspenders and contribute in other ways to encouraging voters. Campaigning at the polls (being ignored) just wasn't for us.

So here we are, many years later, on another election day. A very important election day. If you haven't already voted, make sure you do. I did, earlier this morning, and I didn't get a sticker. I'm still a little miffed about that. Maybe I'll make one of my own.

If you aren't voting then shame on you, and don't you dare utter one complaint about how the country is being run over the next four years. If you give up your right to vote, you give up your right to complain.

I think it's pretty obvious what I'm grateful for today. My right to vote means a lot to me, and it should to you too. A lot of people fought very hard to allow us this right. First with the American Revolution and then (if you're a woman like me) with the women's suffrage movement. Read a little bit about it, educate yourself.

And if you are a woman, and you don't vote, you definitely need to read about it. Then you need to go rent "Iron Jawed Angels" and watch it. You'll never not vote again.

Gratitude, Day 3

I am a picky eater. I know, shocker, right?

As I have gotten older I've become more adventurous and find myself eating things that ten years ago you couldn't have paid me to eat. Still, there are some things that turn me off, so the small child in me presses her lips together and shakes her head in avid defiance as that spoon full of gross comes at her.

Andy is not a picky eater. Not at all. I've never known him to not try something at least once. If he doesn't like it, go ahead and try to make him eat it again, but usually he adds another notch to the "food I'll consume" column.

You can imagine that we collide often over our two different approaches to new food. He regularly badgers me to try something I've never had and I revert back to my childish ways stinging such verbal bullets as, "You can't make me!"

For the past several months Andy has been fighting a food war with me. A while back he discovered a love for sushi. One food that I had sworn off of for life. Being the patient man that he is, Andy has been slowly picking away at my resolve until tonight he asked again and I said, "Oh, what the hell, why not."

So, tonight my gratitude is directed at the sushi roll I consumed in record time, for its goodness and the promise that I can drive about five minutes to have some more; and to my husband for taking my mother's place as food shover. Thanks honey, that was yummy.

Gratitude, day 2

Tonight I am extremely grateful for my bed. It's been a long day and I think I'm catching Andy's cold, so I'm very much looking forward to crawling into it.

I hope everyone has a great week! Don't forget to vote on Tuesday if you haven't already.

Gratitude

Happy November!

I know I have already waxed poetic about how much I love this time of year, but I just can't say it enough. I especially love November because my favorite holiday falls in this month.

Thanksgiving to me is the ultimate holiday. It's like Christmas without all the commercialism. Sadly, this lack of commercial hype means that Thanksgiving kind of gets ignored. You can't walk into a store, now that Halloween is over, and not get smacked in the face with how many shopping days are left until Christmas. I know in this particular economical climate retail stores need to hype up Christmas even more than normal. I worked in retail last holiday season and sales weren't great then, so I imagine that companies are scrambling to maximize whatever customers they have right now. But here at Planned Spontaneity I refuse to plunge right into the land of red velvet stockings and evergreen trees, overlooking the best time of year.

In order to properly celebrate Thanksgiving during the month of November I'm going to post at least one thing every day that I am grateful for.

So today my gratitude is bestowed upon the best holiday of the year: Thanksgiving. I know for a lot of people this holiday is the symbol of freedoms taken away from others and selfish settlers not trying or wanting to understand another culture. I get that, I do, but for me Thanksgiving is something different (and this isn't a political blog so I'm just not going to go there). It's a time to fellowship with the people I love most, my family. We stop everything in our busy lives for one day and just spend time together. Catch up on the events of the last year, and share our plans for the next. There are no brightly colored packages or flashing lights to distract us, just good food and good conversation. We aren't a football family so no one spends the day planted in front of the television. The whole day is just time spent together. It's one of the most comforting things in my life and it always has been. Sure, when I was a kid I loved Christmas the most, but once I began to appreciate the beauty of giving rather than receiving, Thanksgiving quickly became the preferable holiday.

So if you also love Thanksgiving the most, be sure to come back this month. I'll be sharing with you all of my gratitudes and celebrating Thanksgiving all November long.