Lets me say right off the bat that I really, really like Thanksgiving. Something about me that you should know is I love to celebrate things. Birthdays, promotions, a really good deal...you name it! Life is too short to not celebrate every chance you get. Holidays are great because it's this mandatory day that everything else stops, family and friends get together and eat and enjoy each others company.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it seems to bring out the good in people. Everyone stops thinking about themselves and puts their focus on who and what they are thankful for in their lives. It's sad that for a lot of people Thanksgiving is the one day a year that they do this, but for me it's the one day where you can go all out in how you feel.

This year we spent it with Jason's family eating way too much food and probably watching way too much football. But it was a great day! Thanks to technology we also got to spend a little bit of it with my family and the party and their house via skype. It was so special because Jason and I were able to tell each of them exactly why we were thankful for them. I kind of put Jason on the spot with my idea to play that "game" but as always he rolled with my punches and I know he blessed them. By the way, have I mentioned who was on the very top of my thankful list? :) I have so many blessings in my life but my sweet husband is the very picture of love. We have grown so much in the past almost 15 months of marriage and it constantly blows my mind how God gave me the perfect man for me to marry! I'm not saying he's perfect in that he does everything right (although he is a dang good husband) but he is my perfect match.

I could go on and on about what I'm thankful for this year but I don't want to bore my readers, so I'll just mention what major thing and that is friends. I've moved around the past few years and never really felt grounded or at home in a place. I had a hard time making connections and growing friendships. Since we moved to Milwaukee, we got plugged in at a church and have just been overwhelmed with their friendliness and how welcoming they are. We are involved with a small group that has just been so amazing to us. We not only have friends now, but we have brother and sisters in Christ that encourage and challenge us. I feel so at home here now and that is something I am incredibly grateful for. God is so good to us.

Well now that Thanksgiving is over we can set our sights on the next holiday, which also happens to be my favorite: Christmas!!! And look who is already in the Christmas spirit:

Bailey and I!

Please ignore the lack of make-up and the wild hair :)

Well, from the looks of these pictures it seems like I have the Christmas spirit and she has the Christmas outfit! Well, we'll work on it! Looking forward to putting up our Christmas tree, buying presents, sending out Christmas cards and CELEBRATING the birth of our Savior this month!!

This past week I had the opportunity to take in a bit of a "coming of age" activity in my family: canning! My mom has been canning everything from jams and jellies to pickles to tomato sauces for as long as I can remember. My personal favorite to can is applesauce because it's a process that requires all family members to be involved! And the long strips of apple peels aka apple shoelaces are so delicious!

I decided to take up canning to help us save money. Don't get me wrong though, I'm definitely easing into things in hopes that I get the hang of it, my confidence grows and then who knows what I'll be canning come next year! :) In the meantime, I quizzed my 12 year old sister (she makes the best chopped cherry jam!) and my mom on speed dial for moral support.

Clean jars and rings ready to be filled.

My Door County chopped cherry jam cooking!

Door County plum jelly was next!

I wish I could have pictures of the process of filling the hot jars, burning my fingers as I put the hot tops on and twisting the rings on but I don't quite have the finesse yet. Maybe next year! :)

Jars flipped over to seal

Beautiful plum jelly

I am so pleased and proud of how everything turned out! I felt like such a good little wife putting my jars of jam in our pantry and Jason loves it too! I think I'm ready to step my game up and try something a little bit more difficult now and test my skills. :)

Another really fun thing this past week was a visit from on of my best friends, Cassie. She stopped for the night as she was driving home for Thanksgiving. We always have a great time together. This visit was filled with lots of talking and eating, which is pretty typical for us. :) The picture below was taken at the Cheesecake factory, one of our favorites, just before we pigged out.

I am so looking forward for the coming holiday. Thanksgiving is one of my favorites! I'm feeling so incredibly blessed for everything that I have in my life and I'm wishing the same to you and your family!

Lets be honest: this was a bad couple weeks of blogging. No matter how you look at it, it was just plain bad. It wasn't that I was too busy or didn't have the time, I was just lacking inspiration. I know that to push myself as a writer, those are the times when I should be writing. But I'm going to give myself a break just this once. :)

It's been a good few weeks. Things have been picking up and getting so busy with the holidays coming quickly but I was able to sneak away for the night last weekend and spend some time with two of my very best friends, Amy and Jessi. We had an absolute blast in the tiny town of Tomah, WI.

Jessi and I :)

Amy, Me and Jess...I have way too much fun with these girls!

Our hotel just happened to be doing karaoke the night we were there and it was too great of an opportunity to pass up! We have a few stories we love to tell and then tell again from our college days that involve karaoke. :) Apparently in Tomah you don't just sing, but you also can wear props which just added to the fun!

I was apparently taking a solo in this one!

We had such a fun night! My stomach ached from laughing so hard with them. I wish so badly we all lived closer, but we're already planning another girl's night (or maybe inviting the boys?) in the very near future. Can't wait!! :)

Remember how I wrote a few posts ago that I'm on a mission to decorate our apartment better and with a little bit more of a personal touch? Well ta-da! I've made one improvement already! It wasn't huge...but it's a start! My mom gave us a mirror she found at a thrift store that wasn't working for the space she needed it in. It originally hung vertically, but with my handy husband at my side, we switched it so it would hang horizontally and it is absolutely perfect for in our bedroom over one of our dressers.

Isn't it fabulous??! I absolutely loove it! It has the perfect classic, vintage-y feel that compliments our room so well. We've had this open space for so long and now that it's there our bedroom looks almost complete! Now onto the dauntingly bare living room walls...ahh wish me luck!!

It's funny how things can change so quickly in a week! This one honestly started a bit rough. I'm getting over a cold, Jason is starting two classes and that's on top of an already busy schedule. I didn't even want to write in here earlier in the week because honestly, I was having a hard time having a good attitude and I want this blog to be encouraging, not a downer!

We had small group on Thursday which was really encouraging and a fun time. We're studying a book that I'm not a huge fan of...actually, I really don't like it. BUT it does spark a lot of conversation and it sends me back to the Bible to double check verses, so I guess it's not completely bad. haha :) The best part of small groups is when we break down girls with girls and guys with guys and do accountability. I've honestly never been involved with genuine accountability and it's a little scary but I really feel like it's the Body of Christ in action. I feel so blessed to have these women in my life too. Although I'm just starting to get to know them I can already see in them a difference and a uniqueness. I've had so many friends that claimed Christianity but lived very different from what the Bible says. Now let me say boldly and clearly that I am in NO way the perfect Christian girl! I struggle with things just as much as anyone else. But I've begun to thirst for a genuineness in people and Christian authenticity and it's hard to find. Even in the Church. I think God has led me to people that aren't perfect, don't have it all together but that desire to obey and love God with their lives. I'm so grateful for each one of them and I can't wait to get to know them better!

Yesterday morning I was doing my devos before work and it closed with this passage of Scripture:

" But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
Acts 3:18-19

When I read these verses the morning after a time of great accountability and vulnerability, I found myself going "Yes! That's exactly how I feel." Refreshed. It felt so incredibly good to get things off my chest and confess what I was struggling with and then look around and see that I'm not alone.

This week I had victory in an area of my life. Where negative attitude and bitter spirits sought to root themselves in me, God wiped them away and replaced them with peace and joy. I'm learning the benefit of dealing with things quickly, as soon as I notice them. I confessed what I was dealing with and then turned to God, the perfecter of my faith and He supplied everything I needed to deal with these issues. He is faithful, He is good and He cares about the little things.

Feeling so refreshed today...and wishing the same for you!

Currently in loooove with...

First of all, let me say I have NO clue why my last post's font was so huge! I kept trying to select a smaller size but nothing helped. Needless to say, if any readers have vision issues, that post was for you. Hope you enjoyed it.

I want to feature a post here and there that focuses on things that I just looove right now! I think it'll be fun to hear what others think about what I like and also to someday look back and laugh at my crazy obsessions.

Lilies
Jason bought me a big bouquet for sweetest day and they could not be more beautiful!
They are all starting to bloom and the scent is taking over our apartment.
It's fabulous.

Needtobreathe
This is not a new band by any means, but one that I've started listening to more and more the past few months and I am absolutely obsessed. There is something so addicting about their funky southern rock that is acoustic one minute and bluesy with pops a gospel the next. And everything about their song "Looks Like Love" gives me chills. I would absolutely recommend them to any music lover!

Pumpkin Spice Lattes
This should go with out saying for anyone who knows me, but I want to give this drink the shout out it deserves. It is by far my favorite drink at Starbucks and in my top five favorite things about fall. So cozy, delicious and comforting. Ahh...I could go for one right now!

Well, that's a pretty good start! Next time I'll try to add some more pictures in. Our mac is in the process of being fixed so pictures will be a little sparse besides the one I steal from my mom's blog or off of facebook so please be patient.

I also wanted to mention and encourage each of my readers to "follow" me online by clicking the button on the upper right side of my blog that says, surprisingly enough, follow me. I have had a lot of people say that they enjoy reading my blog and I'd love to know who some of my readers are. Thanks!

Wishing you a wonderful night!