FAVE BLESSINGS FOR GRATEFUL DAY 21.

 

Here it is Friday again and the week before Thanksgiving!  I know I say it alot but time really does go by fast  when one is busy with family, ministries, managing the home, etc etc. No wonder I was tired when I was also teaching full time on top of all these other things!

I'm pausing this morning to share FIVE of my FAVE blessings from the week. Things that made me smile and say Thank You, God!!  To learn more about the FFF, head over to Susanne's blog....she's the host!

Front door 

Side door to kitchen 

• DISCOUNTS!  This past week, H*bby L*bby had a major discount on all of their Christmas decor. I was able to get the cute wreath in the star shape at 50% off!!  ( I will never pay full price for a Christmas decoration when I don't really need one).  I was wanting something different for the front door and that wreath just beckoned to me. 😊 The other wreath was on sale at Target of all places.....and I love the look for my kitchen door (side door) that we come through all the time from the garage. In fact, we rarely use our front door.  I am thankful for good discounts and pretty decor. 

Living room with our 3 foot tree 

• DUSTING DONE! Dusting is my very least fave chore to do around the house. I tend to dust every other week vs every week like when the girls were preschoolers and I was at home with them. I would do it while they were in preschool and I was "obsessive" about keeping my house tidy at all times. As I became older, I found myself not dusting each room weekly. Now, I dust the bedrooms twice a month and the family room once a month; the living room as needed (usually every other week when the windows are open and every month during the winter). I finally dusted, then mopped the bamboo floor and all of the surfaces and arranged the furniture to our "Winter look" so the tree can fit in front of the living room window that's closest to the stairs and front door.  We used to keep a tree, when we had a real one, in the  corner where the couch chaise is now. I'm very thankful this chore is done for a few weeks and that the tree is up (the photo was before I added the ornaments on Sunday), because we will be gone for Thanksgiving week and when we return, I'll only have 2 days to do the rest of the house before my small group gathers for a Christmas party on December 2nd. 

• SURPRISE! On Monday morning, I had to leave early for class (I take a Proverbs class at my church)  to get gas in my car and while I was pumping gas, I ordered via my *$app, a coffee from the place near my  church so it would be ready for me to just dash in and pick it up. I ordered a tall, hot latte with almond milk and 1 shot of espresso with 1 pump of mocha syrup.  When I went to pick it up, there was a gift card on the top of it, with "Your next one is on us".  You can see me holding it in my hand.  This was a  fun surprise on a chilly Monday morning. I'm thankful for thoughtful baristas! 

On the Woodland Loop Trail

On the Enchanted Forest trail 

• HIKES! I had 2 SoulSteps hikes  planned for this week and they were the last of our November hikes as a group. For the Monday afternoon one, it ended up being just two of us and I neglected to take photos as my phone battery was very low due to the temps only being 32 with a wind chill of 22. It was an easy 2 miles  hike in a local nature preserve  right here in town, that I've hiked in many times before. It was Annette's first time to hike here. Then on Wednesday, I originally had 6 members signed up but only 1 was able to make it due to all kinds of things popping up for people.  We headed to this nature preserve and it was Melanie's first SoulSteps hike (she just joined the group in October when I had an opening). I've hiked in this preserve before and have even done trail running in the past, but this time we chose 3 trails and 2 I had never hiked. It was a beautiful November day in the south-eastern Adirondack mountains. This preserve is only about 55 minutes from my house. We hiked the Enchanted Forest trail loop to the Woodland Trail loop (much more challenging with a ridge to climb down and many switchbacks back up and over the ridge) and then we walked the easy Stony Creek trail.  We hiked a total of 4 miles and the sun was glorious with a temp of 34.   I'm so thankful I was able to get two more hikes, although short, easy ones, in before Thanksgiving vacation. 

a little fairy along the ridge trail!

Stony Creek 

• SPONTANEOUS DINNER:  Our oldest daughter said she had a lot of laundry to do after choir rehearsal on Sunday so I spontaneously invited her over to do it (so she could save some money...the apartment complex charges almost $7 for a load (washer and dryer). I had made Turkey Stew in the slow cooker and it came out great. I had also made a chocolate tea bread that we had for dessert with steaming cups of cinnamon-vanilla tea. She then stayed and we watched 2  more episodes of the final season of The Handmaid's Tale.  We now only have 2 left. What a well done series!!  (other than the crass language at times!). I'm thankful we could have our oldest daughter over. 

Courtney 

BONUS FAVE:  Our youngest daughter, Claire, had asked for an artificial Christmas tree for her birthday (which is 12/21).  Courtney, Dave and I decided to go in together on the gift and I ordered it last week. We were told it wouldn't arrive to our home until the day before Thanksgiving which meant I'd have to get a neighbor to bring it in for us as we will be away. I can't have packages sent to Claire's apartment because stuff gets stolen there all the time. So she has stuff sent to our address.  Anyways, glory to God, the tree arrived Wednesday aftenroon and I was able to get it to her yesterday (Thursdays are her Saturdays) and now she can set it up on Sunday before leaving for MA. I'm thankful I was able to get it to her before December and also that I got to see her and surprise her with a fave bagel from a fave coffee shop. 

That wraps up the Five Faves I'm most thankful for this week. 

For all of you bloggers who live in the USA, I hope you have  a special Thanksgiving Day with the people you love, doing the things you love and take some time to reflect on all that God has blessed us with!