Thankful

In all honesty, it's been a little difficult to be thankful lately.  It's been a difficult few months for me and for my family.  However, that's not to say that I'm not thankful.  I keep a running list of things to be thankful for, so I won't forget how blessed I truly am.  And as a reminder that even when things are difficult, there is still much to be thankful for. 

This year we will be celebrating Thanksgiving at my parents home here in Georgia.  This is only the second time in my life that I will not travel to Chicago to be with my family, to be with my grandmother.  The first was when I was in high school, my sister marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  It's not going to be easy.  My mom and I are cooking on our own, we will have a very small crowd, my sister is not going to be with us, and most importantly, my grandmother won't be with us.  There will be tears, some happy, some sad.

I thought I would share a few of the things I'm thankful for:

1. Long weekends

2. Long conversations with my dad

3. Long conversations with my mom

4. Painting pottery with my sisters

5. A very patient husband

6. House starting to feel more like a home

7. Instagram so I can keep up with my cousins

8. Lighter holiday traffic in the mornings

9. Woman in the car in front of us paying for our Dunkin Donuts 

10. Snuggly puppy

This list may seem trivial, but I'm so thankful for the little things!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Roller Coaster of Emotions

I’m not sure where to start.  The past few months really have been a whirlwind of emotions.  At first I thought it was only September and October, but I guess it really started in the summer, back in June.  I wrote this post about my grandmother being in the hospital and thankfully making a miraculous recovery.  We had the joy of the birth of our nephew in August.  We had the joy of finally after years of searching purchasing our home at the end of August.  We quickly sprinted off to the beach with my family and then returned home to finally settle into our home. 

Unfortunately, life never goes as planned.  And this has always been a tough lesson for me, very Type-A planner.  Early September 28^th, we lost my grandmother.  I was on my way to work when my mom text me that I needed to call when I got to work.  Knowing that at 7:30am this was not normal.  I immediately pulled off the road and called her.  So in a vacant Applebee’s parking lot I learned that we had lost one of the most beautiful women I have ever met.  I knew her health was not the best and I knew that she was having a very hard time remembering us, but it doesn’t make it any easier. 

We flew up to Chicago Saturday to prepare for the funeral.  It was truly a bittersweet time.  I was able to connect with some of my cousins that I haven’t seen in years (seven to be exact, when my grandfather passed away).  We went through so many things from her home, especially pictures.  We put together a board for the visitation that had pictures of her with all her grandchildren.  These are just a few of my favorites.

It hasn’t been easy.  I cry a lot.  I miss her a lot.  I think about her a lot.  My cousins have been sharing stories back and forth on Facebook about her and my grandfather and it’s tough to read.  Some make me smile, some make me laugh, some make me cry so hard it hurts.  I’m not sure my words could ever do her justice.  We read 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 at the funeral and no truer words could ever be said about her.

The following weekend I took a drive down to Auburn.  I debated most of the week whether I wanted to go or not, but I’m glad I did.  It was a nice relaxing Saturday.  Mallory, her sister and law, her mom and I went to the Auburn v. Arkansas game and it was dreadful.  Unfortunately, we are worse than terrible and it was miserably hot.  But, I loved spending time with one of my closest friends and her family.  We ate, we slept, we laughed, it was great. 

My mom had her second knee replacement surgery.  Unfortunately, it did not go as well as the first.  She spent five days in the hospital with a fever and a sinus infection. But, she is home now and doing better every day, hopefully. 

And we have started our first “big” project for the house.  I believe in my previous post, I mentioned how terrible the landscaping or lack thereof is.  I’m not sure what made us do it, but we started taking out the bushes in the front yard.  Ryan took the chainsaw to them, we also cut down a tree in the backyard, talk about mini panic attack, but alas we made it unscathed.  My BIL came over this weekend to pull stumps up out of the ground, these bushes were like trees, and if we had to dig them up by hand I would have quit.  Right now our hard is much “cleaner” we have laid top soil down to map out our plan.  We took a trip to Lowes, Home Depot and Pikes and still have yet to figure out what we want to plant.  We were minutes away from buying an apple tree, but upon further investigation, they grow to be about 15 feet wide, so the front yard is not ideal.  No worries though, I have big plans to clear out the back yard and plant two apples trees back there (they have to cross pollinate to produce fruit).

I almost forgot, in the midst of our landscaping mess, we took a break to head to the pumpkin patch.  It was Lainey’s first trip and I’m so glad we got to go.  Boiled peanuts, homemade ice cream and pumpkins, what’s not to love!

 

Happy Hump Day!

Family Vacation

So we moved into our home and then took off for the beach!  It sounds crazy and probably is a little bit, but the vacation was much needed!  We’ve started taking a family vacation every year to Seagrove, FL.  We used to go as a family every summer but once we were in college it was hard to find the time.  Thankfully now that we are all out of college and we can save our vacation time, we are able to take a trip as a family again.  I took my camera along but unfortunately never took it out of my bag.  Instead relied on my phone for quick pictures.

We took some time one night to take some family pictures.  Not too long ago we realized the boys all had the same shirt, so we had them wear it and turned out quite funny.  And if I do say so myself, this was the cutest baby on the beach, and as my aunt pointed out, she was the only baby on the beach!

We visited some of our favorite restaurants while down there, we had breakfast at The Donut Hole and we went into Destin one night for our favorite Amberjack sandwich at The Back Porch.  There is also a new rooftop bar in Seagrove, owned by a pilot.  Of course we had to check in out for the Bears/Packers.  Who knew a fire pit could be so wonderful at the beach?!

It was a lovely trip and really hard to come back to reality, when reality is unpacking from moving, unpacking from vacation and going back to work.

So Worth the Wait

I saw a onesie a few months ago that said “So Worth the Wait” and I thought it was perfect for Wyatt.  Unfortunately I did not purchase it in time and have not had any luck in finding it again.  I think it sums up just about everything Amy and Kevin are experiencing right about now though, and really the rest of the family as well.  It was a very joyous occasion last Saturday (early) morning as we welcomed Wyatt Edmond Pace at 1:14am.  Thankfully the nurse knew how long we had been patiently waiting for his arrival and let us all in the room to meet the little guy!  

Beach Vacation

We have just a few days left of our beach vacation.  The boys are off golfing this morning, so the ladies are just lounging around.  The week started off great with an Auburn win!  Ryan and I then had a very long, quiet ride down to the beach to meet my family.  We have done nothing but lounge around on the beach and it has been wonderful.  Throw in a few games of boccie ball, some snorkeling, a little reading, beautiful sunsets and that creates a little bit of heaven.

Yesterday morning we ventured out to our favorite breakfast spot, The Donut Hole.  Ryan and Wade proceed to order the "Diet" Plate.  Needless to say, nothing about it was diet, scrambled eggs, cheese, gravy, biscuits, sausage, hash browns.  They didn't eat until dinner.  We also visited our favorite dinner spot, The Back Porch, which is in Destin, right on the beach.  Wade and Ryan took to The Track after dinner.  I'm not big on go carts, so I sat this one out.

Just a few shots from our trip!

Now, I'm going to go enjoy a little more sun and sand before we have to pack up to head home.

Recap

Since it's nice and cold outside and there is plenty of snow on the ground, we don't plan on going anywhere today.  It's the perfect day to catch up on blogging.

For our first Christmas together as a married couple, we had the "perfect" day.  We were able to join in my family's tradition of a holiday party on Christmas Eve followed by church with Ryan's family.  

The ornament my mom gave me this year!

Instead of spending the night with Ryan's family we opted to stay at our apartment to wake up together Christmas morning.  We opened a couple of gifts here but then headed to Marietta to join Ryan's family.  

We had a lovely breakfast together and then opened lots of gifts!  I got lots of Auburn stuff (since my team is playing for the National Championship ;)).  About lunchtime we took the long drive over to my parents house.  It was perfect timing because it had started to snow!!  We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and watching movies.

Danielle's giant present! Turned out to be a new tv!

Ryan got Scotland Yard for Christmas.  He loves being Mr. X

 We eventually ventured out into the snow and Ryan and Wade made a snowman with the little boy next door.  It was a lot of fun.  The white Christmas will be hard to top!!

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Dad had to dust off the propellers so Santa wouldn't crash!   Then Miles had to check Santa out!

Building a snowman

 

Sledding!  Miles didn't enjoy it too much!

For New Years we went down to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl.  Ryan's parents were nice enough to purchase tickets for us for Christmas.  Ryan and I went down on New Years Eve.  We got up about 4am to make sure we got there in time for all the festivities.  Unfortunately it turned into a very long day and we did not make it to midnight (more like I did not make it to midnight).  I don't really care for New Years Eve though, I think it's a little overrated!  We had a great time at the game on New Years Day!  We had great seats and it was fun to see Mississippi State beat Michigan!

 

 

 

 

   

 

It's hard to believe Christmas and New Years have come and gone.  It's even harder to believe that we will be celebrating our first anniversary next weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving

So I have been a little MIA lately, but life has been pretty hectic.  I can't believe it is already time for the holidays!  I can not wait to get my Christmas decorations out, but my husband has been adamant about waiting until after Thanksgiving!  Just a few more days now....

We are headed to Chicago to visit with family for the holiday.  It's a yearly tradition that we have Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house.  This year is extra special because my aunt and two uncles are coming in from Colorado with some of my cousins.  If only the rest of my cousins could make it as well.  We will certainly miss those who aren't with us!  This is the first year that Ryan will come home for Thanksgiving with me, even though it will be a very short trip for him (stupid jobs get in the way now that we are grown ups!) but I'm thankful that he is willing to make the trip!

I have much to be thankful for this year!  The Lord has truly blessed me and my family. 

Many wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving!