Good Things in 2011 - November

In the spirit of Thanksgiving this month, I have added something specific that I am thankful for each day.

November 1 - Parenthood never disappoints.  I look forward to watching this every Tuesday night!  (Today I am thankful to have a loving, patient husband who will listen to my rants.)

November 2 - Yummy taco soup and pumpkin muffins at Apples of Gold.  (Today I am thankful that the Lord has blessed us with means to take care of not only our needs, but a lot of our wants as well.)

November 3 - Tim Tam Slam!  (Today I am thankful for fun nights at home with my husband.)

November 4 - Tonight we went to see To Kill a Mockingbird, presented by DTC.  It was our first time to be in the AT&T Performing Arts Center, which is very nice.  What a fun, free date night...Michael wrote a play review, and we got free tickets!  Thanks to Alaina for setting this up.  See Michael's review here.  (Today I am thankful for weekends to get a break from the busyness of the week.)
November 5 - Girls' day in Canton!  (Today I am thankful for Godly women that I can have fun with and share my life with.)
November 6 - 10% off at Albertson's!  (Today I am thankful to have good friends who live close by.)
November 7 - It was great to have an evening at home with Michael to relax and just hang out.  (Today I am thankful to have a husband who likes to cook dinner and who is very willing to wash dishes and clean up in the kitchen while I work on our blog!)
November 8 - I love getting my hair cut!  (Today I am thankful for quiet nights at home.)
November 9 - Tonight was the final dinner for Apples of Gold.  We enjoyed good fellowship and good food.  (Today I am thankful that we have a comfortable bed to sleep in.  It was great climbing into it tonight!)
November 10 - Michael came through tonight with an idea and preparation of a dish for me to take to work tomorrow for our Thanksgiving lunch.  (Today I am thankful for a husband who is not a picky eater and jumps on board with whatever we happen to have a coupon for.)
November 11 - Thanksgiving feast at work!  Celebration #1 was a success with LOTS of yummy things to eat.  (Today I am thankful for Fridays.)
November 12 - We got lots of Christmas shopping done today!  (Today I am thankful for fun, care-free days with my husband.)
November 13 - Worship, great brunch at Cafe Brazil, more Christmas shopping, great nap, and TV time with my honey.  (Today I am thankful for rest.)
November 14 - We took a nice walk before dinner, which I think helped up the productivity for the evening.  (Today I am thankful for a great partner to help run our life at home.)
November 15 - Cowboy Chicken...YUM!  (Today I am thankful for a great group of people to dive in to tough topics with.)
November 16 - I enjoyed Apples of Gold, but it sure was nice to have a Wednesday evening at home tonight.  (Today I am thankful for our health.)
November 17 - Clean up day at work (one of my favorites!) followed by a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with MaMa.  Her home put on a wonderful dinner for all the residents and their families.  Celebration #2 was another success with LOTS of yummy things to eat.  It was a full blown feast, complete with Turkey, dressing, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, corn, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and bread pudding.  They know how to cook up there!  (Today I am thankful for opportunities to spend time with family and loved ones.)
November 18 - It's Friday!!!  (Today I am thankful for the weekend!)
November 19 - We got to go to a friend's beautiful wedding and then spend the afternoon running errands.  Oh, also Blue Bell Christmas Cookies Ice Cream.  Delicious!  (Today I am thankful for friends.)
November 20 - Church followed by lunch with the Avances and Kochs.  (Today I am thankful for rest.)
November 21 - Dinner at Babe's with Michael, Aaron, Mom, and Dad.  (Today I am thankful for my family and time that I get to spend with my brother.)
November 22 - Quiet relaxing evening to pack for our trip.  (Today I am thankful for holiday vacations.)
November 23 - Uneventful trip to Nashville.  We made it!  Jack and Kaye's house is all decked out in Christmas!!!  (Today I am thankful for a patient husband who enjoys driving.)
November 24 - Happy Thanksgiving!  Celebrations #3 and #4 were both wonderful!  We enjoyed a great day with family and LOTS of yummy food.  We have so much to be thankful for.  (Today I am thankful for the time we get to spend in Nashville with Michael's extended family.)
November 25 - Tonight, we went to a movie, and I got new shoes!  (Today I am thankful for sales.)
November 26 - Early Christmas gifts!   (Today I am thankful for the holiday season.)
November 27 - We made it home safely for a nice relaxing evening before starting the work week again tomorrow.  (Today I am thankful for lots of lovingly packed snacks.)
November 28 - Michael got our little Christmas tree set up tonight before I got home.  It is fun to start getting Christmas stuff out!  (Today I am thankful for the means to pay our bills.)
November 29 - Mom's Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner!  (Today I am thankful for my awesome parents!)
November 30 - Pumpkin scones for dessert!  (Today I am thankful to be taken care of.)

Thanksgiving 2011

Michael and I had a great Thanksgiving with all his family in Old Hickory.  After an early morning and a long drive on Wednesday, we arrived at Jack and Ma's house around 5:30.  The first thing we noticed when we pulled up in front of the house was that she already had her Christmas tree up in the window.  Nice!

Thursday morning we had a wonderful breakfast with Kevin, Cathy, KJ, and Nannie Ma.  That was just the first feast of the day.  Later that evening, we had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner at Jack and Ma's.  Every year, I forget how full I am when I go to bed after Thanksgiving.

Friday morning, we went to Nannie Ma's house to put up her Christmas tree.  KJ came over to help us, and it looked pretty good when we were done.  I think Nannie Ma was excited to have her Christmas stuff out.

The rest of our time there was kind of a whirlwind...delivering Christmas gifts, football, leftovers, nap, snacking, new shoes, J. Edgar, DQ's butterscotch dipped cone, Jack's famous chocolate sauce, incredible breakfasts, visiting with Nannie Ma's sisters, turkey hash, Whit's pulled pork, Christmas with Nana, goodbyes, early Christmas for Michael and me, packing, lots of snacks and goodies from Ma, leaving dark and early to return to Dallas.  Whew!

I'm glad that Kaye had all her Christmas stuff out when we were there.  It all looked so good!  It was fun to see her house all decorated for Christmas, and it has me excited to get my decorations up.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving – November (PB&J)

Michael received his 6th shipment tonight for November - Peanut Butter and Jelly.

This seems appropriate since Michael has been on a peanut butter kick lately.  He even made homemade peanut butter one night last week.

He got honey peanut butter and peach a-cot jam.  Both are very sweet and very delicious!  We were headed out for dinner at Babe's, so we just tasted them tonight.  I am anxious to make a sandwich with them, though!

Six down, six to go...half way through!

June – Hot Sauce ü
July – Ice Cream ü
August – Beer ü
September – Sirloin ü
October – Pizza ü
November – Peanut Butter & Jelly ü
December – Coffee
January – Jerky
February – Tea
March – Salsa
April – Lobster
May – BBQ Sauce

Dinner and a Movie

Saturday night, Tim and Stephanie invited us down for dinner and a movie.  We opted for a Christmas movie, and Christmas Vacation was the final selection from all the choices.  While it is a fantastic movie, dinner definitely stole the spotlight!

Stephanie was wanting to try one of Carrie's recipes for this week - Steak with Parmesan Butter.  I hadn't looked at the recipes for this week yet, but the ones I have tried have been great.  Plus, how can you go wrong with Parmesan butter?

While it sounded great, we totally underestimated the deliciousness of this dinner.  It exceeded all expectations!

I was going to make dessert, and Stephanie had requested chocolate chip, pumpkin muffins.  If I call them muffins instead of cake, it makes me think that they are healthier!

We decided that it would be fun to get together to cook everything.  When we arrived, Stephanie had already measured everything out, and Tim had cored apples for our baked apples side dish (also one of Carrie's recipes).  That made the actual cooking quick and easy.  I did the crescent rolls and pumpkin muffins.  Stephanie made the baked apples and prepared plates with the arugula salad (with Parmesan cheese and lemon juice).  Tim cooked the steaks and made the glaze/dressing for the salad.  Michael had fun narrating for us like we were cooking on Top Chef.  Of course, he was also a great taster throughout the process!

The final plates looked incredible and tasted even better!  The Parmesan butter was great on the steaks, and the balsamic vinegar/brown sugar reduction with the shallots really finished it off well.  The apples were amazing with their butter, sugar, and cinnamon goodness.  They make a great fall dish!  As if we needed more after that dinner, we topped it off with some yummy muffins during the movie.

Girls' Trip to Canton

This weekend was First Monday Trade Days in Canton.  We knew it would be crowded with the nice weather this close to the holidays, but Alaina, Elyse, Jeanie, Stephanie, and I decided to brave it yesterday anyway.  Despite the crazy crowds, we had a good time spending the day together.

After filling up Jeanie's cart (and all our bags and backpacks) with clothes, candles, sugar molds, Christmas decorations, shoes, chicken cookers, and tasty treats, we decided to call it a day.  It's a good thing we ended early.  It was so crazy that it took us over an hour just to get out of the parking lot.

Rather than sit in traffic to get back to the highway, we opted for a nice dinner at Savannah Winery and Bistro.  It was a cute little restaurant, and I loved their candle centerpiece.  It was wine-colored wax in a wine glass...so simple, yet somewhat original.

While I was out shopping with the girls, Michael went fishing with Tyler.  The night before, he and I had debated whether it was more likely for him to catch a fish or for me to actually buy something.  HA!  Surprisingly, he caught several fish, and I did make a few purchases.  True to form, all of my purchases were food related.  In addition to the food I actually ate yesterday, I bought some soup mixes and a surprise for Michael.  His surprise consisted of Peanuts Hot Chocolate and a giant peanut butter cup.

We were both pretty excited about the peanut butter cup, but it turned out to be a little disappointing.  It seems like nothing lives up to Reese's.