a sure sign......

of Thanksgiving.

(and this was just the girls.)

Thankful

Giving thanks for my family.

(and stacilphotography)

a good day

So I'm relaxing (as much as I can with a jacked up tailbone) in my parent's recliner with my warm laptop and the scent of homemade cookies and coffee filling the air. Who makes cookies before 9am, you ask. My mom, I answer. She is da bomb.

Today is going to be a good day. My to-do list is significantly shortened due to the fact that I am far from my home where the piles of dirty laundry loom, the tub begs to be scrubbed and the clutter prevents me from relaxing sans guilt. Instead, I am at my childhood home..... where the kids are not bored with the toys, where there are no stinky washcloths rotting in the sink, where the shower is not sprouting, where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day. Don't get me wrong. I adore my grown up home where I get to pretend that I'm a grown-up with grown-up responsibilities, but I DO appreciate a day when my list of things to accomplish is limited to
1. catch up on blog-reading
2. play the piano
3. make fudge
4. take a long hot shower with great water pressure

Did I mention today is going to be a good day?

Help me feel like a winner......

......by voting for my submission to Michaels handmade Christmas contest. Vote now. Vote later. Vote before you go to bed. Vote when you get up tomorrow. Vote from your blackberry when you're sitting quietly in your deer stand waiting for that buck. Vote while you're waiting for the chocolate chip cookies to come out of the oven. Vote during the Office commercial breaks tonight. Vote! Vote!! VOTE!!!! Thank you:)

Michaels Photo Entry - Personalized Name Pendants

Michaels Photo Entry - Personalized Name Pendants

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Priceless Gift

As you know, Steve was laid off almost 2 months ago. Well, several weeks after his lay-off, I got an email from a friend from church who happens to be a phenomenal photographer. I had been trying to convince Steve that hiring her for a photo session with our family would be something well worth the money.......something we would treasure forever and never regret. And I wanted to do it soon......before Gwen lost her chubby baby face (and while my P90X butt was still on the smallish side.....totally relative, I know). Anyway, I was still working on him until we got the news of the lay-off, at which point I realized it was totally out of the question. Then, this email........not only was Staci offering me a bunch of clothes that her eldest had outgrown, but she wanted to photograph our family.......FOR FREE!!!!! Including a disc with all the pictures! WOW! I was dumbfounded and really struggled with how to accept such a generous gift. Staci was so incredibly gracious, insisting that she wanted to do this for our family and wanting nothing in return. And so, she did. Unfortunately, I have totally fallen off the healthy eating/exercising bandwagon. It started with our vacation and continued with Steve's unemployment as I apparently decided to eat all my stress. Not pretty, but also not the point. Regardless of my growing butt and thighs, Staci took amazing photos and I couldn't be more grateful! This is a gal with a huge heart who definitely practices what she preaches. She is AMAZING! Check out her blog and some of the pics she took of our family here. What a priceless gift.

What to do when money IS an object and "Thank You" just isn't enough?