Love/Hate Friday - Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for. Good friends, a loving family, a home I love, a job I enjoy.  Salvation through Jesus Christ and a relationship with Him.

God has truly poured out His grace and crowned my life with lovingkindness this year.

I had the privilege of hosting this year in my new home.  After hours of cooking and just minutes of eating, I think it was a success.  My feet and back hurt, I sliced both my thumbs open, and I'm still doing dishes, but I loved every second of it.

Photos courtesy of my momma.

Table set with squash and greenery from the yard.

Ducks on the left, turkey on the right in the Dutch oven.

  Putting my buffet table to work.

 The guests included my stepdad, his brother and sister-in-law, his niece, and my friend from work (and mom, who's taking the picture)

 Dessert

The hostess with coffee in hand

Happy Black Friday, the official launch of the Christmas season.

Love/Hate Friday - Home Ownership

I love my house.  I love it a lot.  But being a homeowner is way different than being a renter, I'm learning.

For example, I had to call a plumber for the first time today.  Like, ever.  He came right away, and he was quick, and kind, and didn't charge me much, but it was a little surreal that I had to call one at all.  But the shower decided to up and clog, so I had no choice.

And then there's the whole yard maintenance thing.  I have this huge yard that I haven't done a single thing with.  I don't even know how to use a lawnmower.  All summer, I was the neighbor with the ugliest front yard, because I never watered my grass or plants, so I had a brown lawn, a half-dead giant bird-of-paradise plant, and a row of hedges that served primarily as condos for the giant spiders in my neighborhood, who didn't even offer to pay rent.

Don't even get me started on how wild the back yard is - envision the Fire Swamp, without the ROUSes or the lightning sand, but with a giant blackberry bush that is threatening to overtake the garage and the neighbor's house and the fence and has probably already eaten a couple of dogs and a homeless guy.

I basically need a sword and the Man in Black to navigate my backyard

Read more after the jump...

Love/Hate Friday

I've been cleaning a lot lately.  I don't know how the house keeps getting messy/dirty, but it does.  It's like I blink and the sink fills up with dishes.  But I keep cleaning.  And cleaning.

For my friends.
For my family.
For my house sitters.
For the cat.

I don't really hate cleaning when it's for them.  I don't hate it because I want the house to look a certain way.
I want it to look like love.

But here's my love/hate list anyway.

Love/Hate Friday - Post-Vacation Edition

I just got back from Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest, where the trees were aflame with the changing colors of fall, the landscape was green lush and dense with foliage, and the sea and sky were grey and you couldn't tell where one stopped and the other began. 

It rained most of the time I was there, so I wore a floppy black wool felt hat every day.  But the resultant hat-hair was worth it.  I was warm and comfortable, and got lots of compliments from beanie-wearing Canadians.

Now I need to unpack all my socks and sweaters and maple syrup and other souveniers.  Or not.

Love/Hate Friday

I've had one of those Reba reruns/red lipstick/German pastries kind of weeks...they're good stress relievers, in case you've never experienced their healing powers. 

I'm headed out of town for a few days of adventure, which I hope to have some interesting posts about next week.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!



Love/Hate Friday

I love a lot of things.  I also hate a lot of things.  I love when people read my blog.  I hate taking out the garbage.  Things like that. 

So you get to read them.  Every week.  Aren't you the luckiest?!