thanksgiving & black friday

we were able to celebrate thanksgiving with my family. well most of my family at least---kyle was still in california.

thursday we had a delicious meal with my family and some good family friends. it was good to see everyone and just sit around and chat and catch up. i love going to my parents house...its always so relaxing!

well relaxing to a certain point. the black friday point. when we got to town earlier that morning, around 10 or 11 am, we drove past best buy and there were already people waiting in line...some with little ice houses/tents. the hubs and i wanted to get a tv for the man cave and a camera...you know the one ive been talking about since forever?!? sooooooo the hubs decided to go sit in line at best buy at around 6. which i thought was early but oh well. well, around 930 we went to visit him & bring him some coffee.

we then went to walmart. now i should mention i have never participated in black friday before. always thought it would be fun to just watch the craziness. well, we went to walmart to check out how they had theirs set up since walmart was open 24/7. so we got there and i saw that they had a good price on a tv too. i was guaranteed a tv at 945 (i was like #38 of 120) so i decided to wait until the hubs knew if he would get a guarantee on the tv. turns out he didnt. so i got to wait in line until midnight.

apparently at 10, best buy starts handing out tickets, you know to try prevent chaos when the doors open. well, our best buy wasnt too organized. at 10, when the guy came out...everyone in line rushed up to him in a mob...so there was really no way to know who was there first. frustrating. and stressful.

thankfully, neither of us was hurt. and we ended up getting what we went for. the camera at best buy and the tv at walmart. and we learned...we probably wont ever be doing black friday anytime soon. if ever again.

and if you want to hear about the hubs' cartwheel and phone answering in walmart...you'll have to ask him.

the rest of friday was spent relaxing and then friday night we went bowling. turns out all that "bowling" i did in highschool was no help. i am NOT a good bowler. but the hubs wasnt too shabby. saturday we headed down to celebrate thanksgiving with the extended family. again, it was good to catch up with everyone and just spend time with them.

volunteer...

err actually more like donate this year. so novembers resolution was to volunteer. and well i looked but with an unpredictable work schedule in addition to the holiday season starting there werent a ton of options. (hindsight maybe shoulda had "volunteer" for a different month, oh well) so instead i decided to donate. its along the same lines right? right.

i found a cool opportunity here in the metro area called CHEERFUL GIVERS. What does that mean? well their website says it best, "We provide toy-filled birthday gift bags to food shelves and shelters so that parents living in poverty can give their child a birthday gift."

this year the floor i work on is collecting items for families in need...getting basic things like shampoo, shaving cream and some fun things like toys so the families can have a great christmas.

and last but not least...this summer our city held a celebration day. they had music, great food, games for kids and a bunch of different vendor booths. one booth that i was interested in was the yellow ribbon one. our city is becoming a yellow ribbon community and i became a volunteer. its basically a group of volunteers willing to help military families in different ways. check out their site here. they've only contacted me once so far, to help babysit kids while their parents were at a party...but i was out of state so couldnt help. but someday it will work out. someday.

and theres the november resolution. only one more month to go. any ideas on some resolutions i/we should try for next year???

thankful

the hubs and i are thankful for a lot of things.

thankful for each other.
thankful for our jobs. even when it gets busy and stressful.
thankful for our family & friends. who are always there to support and love us.
thankful for our new place. our house. 
thankful for the projects we have been able to accomplish. and all the help we have gotten.
thankful delicious food. and dessert :)

happy thanksgiving! we hope you are all celebrating thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family, just like us! we are celebrating with my side of the family. maybe we will even venture to do some black friday shopping? who knows.

stained glass

remember way back...when we mentioned some awesome stained glass my dad made us? well, we finally hung em up in our window. a bit early for the christmas season but who cares? not i sir, not i. so check it:

they havent been hung up more than a week and im always catching myself looking over to that window. im still hoping for a really sunny day to see what they look like but even with no direct sunlight they still look awesome!

thanks dad!!! we love em!

an early thanksgiving...

this past weekend we had some vistors come up to celebrate thanksgiving a bit early. the hubs' parents and grandparents came up to visit and see our new place. (new place. hmmm when does it stop being "new" and just become our place?!? i dunno. guess i hadnt thought about that before.)

well on saturday while kelly was making a delicious thanksgiving dinner the rest of played some games. we taught the hubs' grandparents how to play pit and we played lots of sequence. when we played 3 teams of couples...the champions were don & lila, the hubs' grandparents. so looks like we will have to do lots of practicing for the next time we are all together....

my parents also came up for lunch and it was good for everyone to catch up and just an enjoy a great meal. we watched some movies and the hubs got to try out his new toy.

yup, it snowed. just a bit but it snowed. guess its winter. dang. but the hubs was happy to try out his new toy for the first time. anyone wanna bet how long that will last? where he actually enjoys using the snow blower? i bet by mid december he will be sick of it.

and on sunday...i had to go back to work and the hubs & crew went to church and out for lunch before heading back home. it was so fun for everyone to come up and visit and spend time together, even if the hubs and i werent the champions of sequence...this time!

foto friday

nothing too fancy or difficult here...just a little fall themed centerpiece/table runner out of some shelf liner, discounted pots and some sort of leaf things.

we are expecting some more company this weekend to celebrate an early thanksgiving with the hubs' parents and grandparents. and my parents might make an appearance too. hope you have a great weekend!

one step closer...

one step closer to a finished entry way. we had already hung our "est. in 2010" sign and now we have a coat rack. funny how simple of project this was but what a nice difference it makes! a piece of wood painted black and 5 coat hooks.

now ive just got to make my mind up on what to do for the rest of the entry way. there are too many choices! well i guess we will see what we end up with.

weekend projects...

this past weekend i finished two things. not too shabby. the first was finishing that wreath i mentioned before. the hardest part about making my wreath was the yarn. i bought it at a large garage sale and it turns out it was in a large knot. so toni and i both took LOTS of time to untangle it. and then this weekend i made some felt flowers.

total cost: about $3. the yarn was 50 cents; the felt was 5 pieces for $1 and the wreath "form" was $1, its actually some sort of plumbing piece from home depot. yes its not very thanksgiving-y or christmas-y or even winter-y but i like it. and thats what matters. who knows maybe ill get an "itch" to make one more christmas-y.

and the second thing i did this weekend was read a book. it seems like forever since i have read a book in one sitting. it was so relaxing and i realized i missed that. not worrying about cleaning or the shows on my dvr or the email i havent checked. but just diving into a book and reading...trying to figure out whats going to happen in the story. so im hoping to do more of that this fall/winter. apart from working and holidays and having company of course.

update...

like i mentioned in the last post, last night was girls night. what can be better? a bunch of friends surrounded by delicious food?!?! it was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone and to laugh. to laugh about anything and everything. from scarves to boys to weddings and little ones and so much more.

and now to the change that we are excited for. sorry to keep you hanging. (well only a little bit sorry...toni had the best reaction...and probably always will)

the hubs got a new job! we couldnt be more excited! he will still be working with easements but with a different company. hes looking forward to the change, and he will start in december. but with the change comes a new wardrobe. one a bit more dressy. hopefully that shopping trip goes well :)

and tonight we will be celebrating. at his favorite place. fuddruckers. only a few more hours until hes enjoying a burger topped high with every vegetable possible.

so thats the change. not sure what else you would have thought it would be.... hehehe.

changes...

changes are a coming to this household.
and even though i typically dont like change, i think this is gonna be a good change!

but ive got to jet. girls night tomorrow and this house isnt cleaning itself.

in progress...

we've been working on some projects recently. but nothing is completed yet. heres a sneak peek.

diy wreaths. my friend toni and i are working on making our own wreaths. so far mine is wrapped in gray yarn and i dont know what to accent it with to finish it. hers is well...a lot more work. we've started on making paper flowers from an old book. and well yah, its in progress to say the least.

then theres our entry way. im not 100% sure what i want in this area so we are starting with the easy stuff and i guess we will make decisions as we go. we hung our awesome "est. in" sign and are working on a coat hook rack.

and the hubs hes found some artwork he likes for his man cave and wants to change the frames so they match. and make some frames for some photos he took & printed off.

so thats what we are up to. what have you been up to? do you have any in progress projects? 

foto friday

happy friday everyone! heres a little project we recently completed. its a pretty easy one. i just have to do some labeling yet. but its already come in super handy. a little measuring cup/spoon organizer. no more searching for the right one.

hope you have a great weekend. while im working this weekend, the hubs will also hopefully be working on his to-do list. or maybe he will play some xbox. who knows.