This month was such a good one, filled with lots of love from friends and family. It's really ranking up there with some of my best memories of this year (so far).
We started off the month with a fun dinner out with some friends. We discovered a recently opened restaurant/wine bar and wanted to try it out. The food was delicious! We had a great time with our friends.
The next day, L.B. and I went to an adoption shower for our friend C.M. She and her husband are in the process of taking in foster children that they hope to adopt. It was so nice to see them and to celebrate this new journey they're taking.
Later the following week, I headed to Colorado to spend time with our friends there! You can read more about that trip here.
A few days after I got back, we had our second annual Friendsgiving with some of our friends. We had a great night spent around a table with incredible food in front of us. I'm so thankful for the friends that we have and the ways they've continued to touch our lives this past year.
All the ladies at Friendsgiving
The following morning, I had breakfast with some girlfriends before heading to the theater to see Mockingjay Part 2. If you haven't seen it yet, bring lots of tissues. It was so good and such a great end to this amazing series. I highly recommend the books if you haven't read those either.
Our whole group ready to see Mockingjay!
Later that day, we did Thanksgiving with my family. Since my sister and her husband were out of town for the holiday, we decided to spend it all together ahead of time. We had such a great day reflecting on our lives, as well as celebrating my mom and Josh's birthdays a little early.
The following day, we headed out to do some wine tasting after church with some friends to celebrate Josh's birthday. We went to one winery we'd never been to before, as well as a couple of our favorites, so that was a lot of fun. It was a really great day that ended with a pizza night at our place. It was really nice to celebrate my hubby with some of the people we love.
All the ladies
And all the guys
The evening before Thanksgiving, we went out to dinner for Josh's birthday with a couple of friends and then watched A Muppet Christmas Carol! It's one of our favorite Christmas movies and it's become a tradition for us to watch it each year with K.W. and S.W.
On Thanksgiving, Josh and I watched the parade and dog show in the morning. It's become a tradition for us to watch together, if we are able to. After that, we headed to Josh's parents house to spend time with his family. It was great to spend time with all three of our nieces and our nephew. Later that evening, we watched Home Alone, which is a Thanksgiving tradition for me. I remember it playing on TV every Thanksgiving when I was younger, so now I have to watch it every year on Thanksgiving.
Some cute pics my husband took of the kiddos
The following day was Josh's and my mom's birthdays! Josh and I went out later in the afternoon to see if there were any good Black Friday deals and we ended up getting almost all of our Christmas shopping done! We also stopped by a local winery and did a little wine tasting. We know some of the family that owns the winery, so we got to do a cheers with a couple of friends for Josh's birthday. Later that evening, we went out to dinner with our families to celebrate Josh's birthday. While we didn't get to go to the restaurant Josh initially wanted to go to, because they were really busy, we got to go to one of our favorite BBQ places instead and had a really great time. After that, we took our niece and Josh's oldest brother to see Mockingjay.
Also, my bestie had her new baby on Josh's and my mom's birthday!
The following day, we decorated our house for Christmas! I love getting the tree up as soon as Thanksgiving is over so we have the maximum amount of time with the house decorated. After we finished with that, we went to a Star Wars movie night with some friends. We got started late and were only able to watch the first movie (Episode 4), but it was still a really fun night.
We finished off November watching A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Some other highlights from this month:
I started reading through Harry Potter again! I was missing the series and decided I needed to re-visit it.
They started selling Rainbow Chip cake and frosting again! It's true what they say, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. It's seriously so yummy!
I got to enjoy some of my favorite Christmas candy, white chocolate peppermint M&Ms, and I had my first red cup of the season: a chai latte with eggnog added in. If you've never had either of those, I highly recommend them!
We also had other hang outs with family and friends, and we excitedly watched some of our favorite shows (The Walking Dead, anyone?).
Things God has been teaching me this month:
I think one of the biggest things this month for me has been trying to live with a mindset of thankfulness. I was thinking earlier this week about how thankful I am for the friends I have in my life that are like family. I have some incredible people that I can depend on no matter what. I also have an amazing family and am so thankful for their constant support and love. I'm thankful for my husband and his job and how hard he works to provide for us. But most of all, I'm thankful for my Savior and the fact that He loves me in spite of me. Our pastor was talking about how hard it is for us sometimes to grasp that we don't have to do works or good deeds or be a "good person" to be saved. We think we need to earn it, and all we have to do is accept Him. I'm so thankful that He loves me and wants a relationship with me, even when I'm a mess and keep making mistakes.
Being thankful shouldn't just be a Thanksgiving thing, it should be a day-to-day thing.
Well November, it was a lot of fun! Can't wait to see what December brings!
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