6 Things I'm Thankful For

I've been tagged by Amy to list 6 things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. It's funny because we all sat around the dinner table this evening and had to give 2 things were were thankful for...so I got a little bit of a head start.

Family - I have been blessed to be brought up in a large, loving family! Our immediate family consists of my Dad, Mom, sister, myself and Daren (Bentley too). However, we are extremely close to both my Dad and Mom's side of the family. As I've grown up, I realize not everyone can say they know their aunts, uncles, cousins and even great aunts and 3rd cousins. My parents have always instilled the importance of family. Through every trial and tribulation we are there for another. We have been taught to never give up, reach for your goals, and know family always comes first!

I am grateful for my new family too! Not everyone marries their best friend and I can honestly say that I have! Daren makes me want to be a better person and strive to do the best I can. Together we love more, give more, and want more. Thank you Daren!

Friends - For all my friends; of the past, present, and those to come! This is another way I am truly blessed! I am a firm believer you can never have too many friends. And as Libby stated in her blog, they are your family too! Thank you to all my dear friends for being you and touching my life!

Music - As my family continued to go around the table I chimed in with this extra thing I'm thankful for this year. This morning my family went to a Thanksgiving service at my parent's church, Immanuel Bible Church, and the music was absolutely incredible! It actually brought me to tears. It's so powerful and can say so much! My sister said after going to church this morning she needed to shave her legs again because the music gave her goosebumps...it's so true!

Experiences - Although life can throw you curve balls you learn through experiences. Whether they are good or bad! I am grateful for having the experience to move around the country and overseas due to my Dad being in the Air Force. I am grateful for the experience to go to both undergrad at Miami and grad school at Ohio State. As difficult as it was to fail my PT boards and get divorced, I am grateful for the strength and lessons I learned along the way! With every door closed new one opens!

Freedom - I am extremely proud and grateful for all the troops fighting for our freedom! My Dad taught me it is a gift to live in this country and have freedom. Despite the nasty presidential campaign that just came to an end, I am proud to be an American and respect the men who die for us each and every day! My Dad served for 28 years in the Air Force and I will forever be grateful for him living his dream out. We are blessed to be Americans!

Health - I am grateful for my health and the health of those I care about! I know it's in God's hand's but I am always thankful for the health of my family and friends! You don't realize how your life can be changes significantly once something affects the overall health of someone you love!

Amy, thank you for making us all reflect! We do all have so much to be grateful for this year! Despite the economy and the trials our country has faced in 2008 we overall have a lot to thank God for each and every day! Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family!

5th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

Getting all the pumpkin "inners" (as Daren calls them) out

Busy at work

Masterpiece (our's is the spider)

Thank you Justin and Addie for another awesome Pumpkin Carving Party!  We always look forward to having our lame pumpkin design compared to everyone else's masterpiece!  Just kidding, we really love that you guys do this every year.  Sorry we don't bring a whole lot of talent to the table!  Next year I'll have the spider mastered, just needs more joints in the legs so he doesn't look like a beetle.  

Pumpkins...Pumpkins...Pumpkins

Circleville Pumpkin Show

After eating pumpkin donuts, pumpkin chili AND a pumpkin hamburger

Picking out pumpkin at the pumpkin patch

Ok, so I'm recapping...AGAIN just enjoy October with me.  It went way too fast!  This year Daren and I went to the Circleville Pumpkin Festival for the first time ever. I have been wanting to go since moving to Columbus and never made the trip out there.  As first time goers, we figured it all out. We left home around 10am and only hit about 10 cars of traffic as we were exiting the ramp.  First priority was beginning the morning with a pumpkin donut, YUM!  We walked around all the vendors and streets, ate some more pumpkin goodies and after about 1 1/2 hour we headed back toward Columbus.  Boy were we glad we got there when we did.  Going the opposite direction we passed about 3 miles of bumper to bumper traffic headed toward the festival.  Too late guys...duh!

On our way back we decided we just hadn't had enough pumpkin for the day.  We found this great pumpkin patch, picked our pumpkin, drank some apple cider and enjoyed a few songs from a blue grass band playing under a tent.  If only you could have seen it...HILARIOUS!  Just imagine these adorable old men, about 6 of them playing all sorts of string instruments and down on the imaginary dance floor an older woman (with maybe 6 teeth) dancing a fancy little jig wearing a huge fur coat and white overalls.  We just took it all in!  It made for a great fall day!

The day didn't end there either.  It was then off to the Natalie's for the 5th annual pumpkin carving party!

I Know...Where Have I Been?

Gosh I thought I was going to be better at this! I religiously check everyone else's blog day after day...then there's me...a slacker!  BUT I'll have you know I am no longer a slacker in the kitchen!  I have turned a new leaf!  

I'm often impressed with Daren's culinary skills.  He offers to make a meal, goes in with confidence, and in the end creates this delicious treat.  On the other hand, I attempt to make dinner, 9 out of 10 times am missing a main ingredient, try to substitute, and then result in an "ok" meal.  I know I've passed the test if Daren says, "now this would be something you could make if we have people over for dinner".  Unfortunately, I do not get that response quite as often as I'd like.  

Fortunately, I work in a place where I've become very dear friends with my coworkers, all of which are female.  Over the past couple weeks I finally started asking the girls what types of meals they make, how they go about it, where they get their recipes, and how they do their grocery shopping.  Of course, I have also consulted my mom who made homemade meals for our family all growing up.  Mom says, "AnnMarie, if you know how to read and follow directions you can cook".  

So...last Friday after work I sat myself down with all the recipes I've collected over the past couple years. I picked out ones that had similar ingredients, yet a selection of dinners.  Then I wrote out a grocery list and collected my coupons. I drove myself over to Kroger and away I went.  With this week coming to an end I am happy to report I made a Pot Roast (thank you Great Aunt Cathy for your recipe) on Tuesday, Italian Mac & Cheese (thank you Joelle for your recipe) on Wednesday, and Foil-Pack Chicken, Mushroom & Stuffing (thank you Kraft Foods magazine) last night!  AND...Daren liked them all!  YEAH for me!

I always had this impression that cooking at home would be expensive, time-consuming, and make way too much food.  Well, I'm here to say if you plan your grocery list out with your recipes you can save quite a bit, if you have all the ingredients ready at home your preparation time is quick, and we've enjoyed having leftovers for lunch all week.  I'll let you know how next week goes!

This weekend I am going to get back on board with posting well-overdue pictures too!