"Give Thanks Unto the Lord!"

Thanksgiving has never really been my favorite holiday but I do look forward to it none-the-less. Not because of the food... I know, how non-american of me... But because of coming together as a family and sharing why we are thankful for everything the Lord has blessed us with. This year was especially exciting because it is the second Thanksgiving with my beloved husband and the first time in 7 years that both my two older brothers were able to join my family on this holiday!

That morning we woke up bright and early to have breakfast with my favorite family-in-love. We had fresh baked cinnamon rolls, bacon (YUM!), sausage, and eggs. It was such a lovely way to spend our Thanksgiving morning and I am glad we made time before they headed up to Chicago for their celebration.  To have such close and wonderful friends turn into family through marriage is a joy most girls don't get. But I have most certainly been blessed to be invited into their lives so happily!

Our family portrait of Thanksgiving 2012!

After saying our goodbyes to the family, we headed to our other wonderful family to celebrate. Here is the table, all set for dinner except for the huge container of puppychow I made right in the middle. My Mom got a picture of us all sitting there with our plates piled high but unfortunately I don't have that picture. So this will have to do... 

Before dinner I helped my parents take the annual pictures of all my siblings. If you've ever been to my parents house you have probably seen the wall in their bedroom which is covered with 8x10's of all us kids and our new families. While I was taking some of them, they took some of me as well.

Group shot of all my wonderful sisters.

And of course, Mr. Handsome had to get his picture taken as well. These past few days my Handsome man hasn't been feeling too good. He had to stay home from work because of being so sick. It was really hard for me to see him in pain and not be able to help him with it. But I was also happy that we had two days in the middle of the week to just relax with each other. That doesn't happen very often which made me thankful for it.

My amazing mother took some pictures of Justin and I together. I think they are both really good but maybe I'm just bias...

After dinner while the guys were playing a round of dominos some of my sisters and I got hold of Garrison's iPad and this is what happened. I still laugh every time I see this picture!!

And my dear Pip. *laughing* This picture makes him look like a collie. Those of you who have seen him before know his face isn't but 2 inches long so this photo is pretty funny as well.

 The whole family together at last! I will say, 7 years without having the holidays together is a loong time but it made us that much more thankful for on this day. I love my whole family SO much and I am so blessed to be a part of each and every one of their lives. I couldn't have asked the Lord for a more loving, caring, and supportive family.



My sweet-handsome-love and I together.



Well that ends our Thanksgiving 2012 post. I hope you enjoyed!

Until next time!
~Melinda

Our 1st Anniversary

On October 15, 2012 Justin and I celebrated our first year of marriage. To think that I can say I've been married for a year is just amazing. In the midst of it all, time seemed to go at a regular speed but now looking back I feel as though it flew by without warning. We have had such a wonderful year learning and growing together experiencing new things and falling more and more in love as each day goes by. I couldn't live without this man of my dreams and I pray that I never have to.

A couple months before our anniversary I was looking online for some romantic getaways. After some searching I found the perfect spot! Only one problem though, it was going to be over $600 bucks to go for a couple nights. Although I knew we didn't have much of a chance I still entered us in a drawing just for fun. When it was 3 weeks away from the 15th I got an email saying that Sybaris (the place I wanted to go) was going to give us a 40% discount as a gift. I about fell out of the chair and then ran to tell Justin! He said if the discount was true then he'd love to go! It was such a wonderful couple of days I cannot even begin to say. The fact that we could wake up whenever we wanted and spend the whole day together was priceless. With Justin's job I hardly get to see him during the day, so this was such a treat for us both.

The is the view you get as you walk through the front door of our room. We get our own private pool included in the package plus a hot tube, sauna, and massage chair. 

Here is another view of the room, still standing in the doorway and looking to the right. 

The lovely bathroom where we were spoiled with two sinks!

Ahhhh the pool. *happy sigh* It was about 16 feet long and 3-4 feet deep. Although I will say it felt a lot deeper than that cause I could tread water without touching the bottom. And it was all our own! 

On our anniversary I gave Justin a picture frame with our vows printed inside. 

For breakfast Justin took me to IHOP which as always, was delicious.

He also bought us both some Starbucks! Normally we don't get it because we call it "fivebucks" but this day was special. 

For dinner Justin took me to Aurelio's for some pizza. I had never been there so I wasn't expecting much but in the end I was very pleasantly surprised because it was fabulous pizza. 

We knew what we wanted but I figured while we waited I would look at the menu. Justin caught me... 

Yummy! Definitely going there again whenever we're up that way. 

On our last day there Justin promised he would buy me some Dunkin' Doughnuts for breakfast. I haven't had those sugar infested things in forever. Man, were they good! But it was totally a sugar overload on my body. *laughs* Well worth it though, in my opinion. :) 

That ends our anniversary trip. I had such a lovely time and would love to go back. The memories surrounding that trip will always be with us though. *happiness*

Until next time!
~Melinda