7 things on the 7th

7 things I am grateful for today:

• Slow cookers. Actually, they've come in quite handy for this past week. Nothing like having dinner cook while you're out shopping!
• Holiday sales. In just a few days I should be receiving a dress coat that I ordered. I've made it 6 years down here in Texas without one, justifying it by saying, "I'll only use it for a few months out of the year." Well, those few months get cold, and I'm ready to finally be warm! And the big surprise of today was that the coat I particularly wanted was on major sale. Yay!
• Cookie Monster, may he rest in peace. Oh sure, you can still find him lurking around Sesame Street, but now he's only allowed to eat one cookie. The rest of his diet consists of healthy vegetables. Come on, people! Sesame Street monsters aren't responsible for making your kids fat! Maybe you should look a little closer to home.
  
• Christmas music. Nothing like a little Bing, Frank, Andy, and Johnny to make you feel nostalgic!
• Bleach. Some things in your bathroom just feel safer after they've taken a bleach bath.
• A free evening. Between the two of us, Adam and I rarely get the chance to just sit together and spend a quiet evening at home. Last week we babysat for our friends (who have the easiest baby in the world!) and had our quiet evening at their house. Sure, we may be a boring couple, but that's all we wanted to do that Saturday night. Never underestimate the value of a good book, a football game, and an evening with no obligations to fulfill.
• Christmas traditions. I'd forgotten how much fun I have while decorating a gingerbread house and putting up a Christmas tree. Adam had just as much fun as my candy gatherer. I'm sure he "gathered" about twice as much candy as actually made it onto the house.
  

And for all my family out there, you can now be jealous of me. Look at the beautiful advent wreath our friend Matt made for us! Handmade from wood, he stained it a beautiful color and even put the wreath and candles on it for us. I have been wanting one for years, and now I have one that is gorgeous! Thanks, Matt! We owe you big time.

Turkey Day

The outside temperature was WAY TOO COLD today! No, not quite as cold as Utah, but I'll bet the people in Utah don't spend eight hours of the day outside dipping their hands in and out of water. It's pretty miserable, and it's not even as cold as it's going to get! I hear this Friday is going to be memorable. Rain definitely, snow possibly. In Texas! If the roads ice over I'm calling in to work.

So now I'm sitting at home in my "comfy" clothes with the heater cranked up and Papa Murphey's pizza in my belly trying to fight off the sleepiness that comes early after a long work day. I know I haven't posted anything of major worth recently, so I'm trying to remedy that by writing tonight. Somehow I'll bet I'm not writing nearly as coherently as I think I am.

I really want to post about our wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! Adam and I had five whole days off together, which is unusual in and of itself, but the fact that I had Thanksgiving off...well that just hasn't happened in the past five years. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with the family up in Austin! I found out that Adam can play raquetball quite well. I thought I was playing well, but then he said, "I am not left-handed" and beat me soundly. We went on hikes and rode bikes, and generally had a great time hanging out with everyone. I tried Mom's rolls again, and they turned out beautifully! It's just not Thanksgiving without Mom's crescent rolls.



Since we're planning on being poor very soon (interpretation: we're buying a house and are trying to stash as much cash as we can in preparation for the day when we don't have extra) we skipped the Black Friday shopping spree and instead made memories while camping on the beach at Corpus Christi.


Neither of us had ever camped by the ocean before, and the weather cooperated beautifully. The breeze on Friday was perfect for flying a kite and made sitting by the fire that much more enjoyable. We had Thanksgiving leftovers in a tin-foil dinner---if you've never tried it, you don't know all the goodness you're missing! Thank you to Jen and David and Katie and Greg for inviting us and feeding us royally! They even brought s'mores for dessert. On Saturday, before we left town, we visited the Texas State Aquarium. It's no Monterey Bay, but they do well with what they have. I, of course, love visiting any place where I don't have to be putting on a show all the time. Adam and I like watching the animal trainers during their show and trying to guess what signals they were giving them.

I loved having the sound of the waves lull me to sleep! It was the best night's sleep I've ever had while camping (minus the air mattress deflating). This entire weekend was just what both of us needed to relax.

(Warning: Lots of pictures to follow)











A special thanks to Anneliese for providing us with random, laugh-out-loud YouTube clips. Here is the latest:
Silent Monks Singing Hallelujah