Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so thankful for all of the amazing people, things, and experiences in our lives. And thankful that our sweet A is growing up to be such a kind, beautiful, and clever little girl. She is so fortunate to have so many people who love her so much.

We had a wonderful time visiting Aunt Kris, Uncle Neil, and Cousin Avery today. We had a delicious  dinner and desserts and so much fun chatting and admiring their amazing Christmas decorations. I think Kris decorates with the best of them; I can't think of a house that I like better than my sister's.

I did a series of November thankfulness posts again this year. This year included: health/happiness/love in our family, a toddler who was unaffected by DST, modern medicine, amazing grandparents, my mentor, an easy commute, Chad's job, the car we recently sold, Chad, fall colors, veterans, kind people, sweet A, DVR and the internet, chuckles on grumpy days, November snow, tiny little voices, thoughtful graduate students, being finished teaching my graduate personality course, cute viral videos, Chipotle, helpful grant consultants, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, internship interviews, Oklahoma sunsets, the glorious smells of holiday cooking, and of course, our wonderful family and friends.

Thanksgiving always reminds me so much of my sweet little Mamaw. It was my very favorite holiday. We went to their house every year and I miss them so much. Mamaw and Papaw would love Miss A to pieces and I'm so sad that she doesn't get to spend the holidays with them.

I am tremendously excited about getting our tree up tomorrow. I've generated a list of possible things to do during the "25 days of Christmas" which is really exciting for me. I tried to put a mix of things to do at home/away, less/more time consuming, and include more kindness tasks (I can't wait to share our 'kindness family' of elves here!). I am aiming to at least post a picture every day between December 1-25. In the next month we also have my lab party, a visit from Nana, a visit from Papaw, work holiday parties, and a whole lot of craziness at work (including 5 more job candidate visits and reviewing files for personnel decisions and for graduate admission on top of the end of semester busyness!). I'm trying to just hold on tight and enjoy what I can and not dwell on the craziness! Our holiday activities will definitely help keep things fun! I don't want to overwhelm myself or A so we will just select things off the list that seem manageable. She is already excited for Christmas, even though I know she doesn't really understand the fuss yet. I am currently teetering on the line of helping the season's magic really shine and recognizing that, at 2.5, she likely will not consolidate these memories. However, I will. :)