Let the Festivities Begin...

Well... This year the start to my holiday season was a little different... After much badgering by a great friend, Casey and I signed up for what may become a new tradition for us....

At around 7am on Thanksgiving morning my alarm sounds.... I of course hit snooze (a few times)... 7:30am rolls around and I finally decide if this is gonna happen I'm gonna have to actually get up (UGH!)... So, begrudgingly,  I crawl out of the warmth of my cozy bed and head to attempt to wake myself up enough for what's ahead of me. Casey, eventually gets up too and we get all suited up for our journey.  We walk outside into the 30 degree weather and immediately begin regretting our decision, but we've already made the commitment... So, we push on... We arrive at our friend Colin's house and attach the last part of our uniforms. Head back out into the cold and walk a few blocks downtown where we are surrounded by chipper faces and ridiculous costumes... We take our positions and the buzzer sounds... 29 minutes and 25 seconds later my sweet friend, Tensy, and I arrive to our destination... Aka the finish line!  Yep.... You guessed it.... Casey and I started out our Thanksgiving morning running our first race (with friends of course)! Granted it was only a 5k, we were still pretty excited.  I have to tell you this though, out of 1500 people who ran the race my awesome husband finished in the top 100!! For his first race!! I was proud to say the least. :)

Casey and Colin Getting Ready

Done and Still Smiling

After starting off the morning with a "workout," we felt like we had justification to stuff our faces full of Thanksgiving grub.... And we did just that. Being a newly married couple, the navigation and logistics of holidays can be quite tricky. Never wanting to hurt feelings, and wanting to spend time with everyone in both families is a hard battle.... But one we always face head on... This Thanksgiving we ate with Casey's Mom and Dad and a few of their friends... Eating with them is always a treat, because as much as Casey's mom will NEVER admit.... She is a great cook and a wonderful hostess! We ate our share of Turkey Day grub, hung out for a bit, and then it was off to the next destination...

The next stop was my Uncle Tom and Aunt Terry's house. They had already eaten. So, we just relaxed and chatted about anything and everything. Holidays on my side of the family, however, are a little different than most... You see, my dad passed away just over 4 years ago... So, you could imagine how hard this season of the year is on us, but especially my mom. There were many years since his passing that she wouldn't even consider celebrating a holiday.... But her heart is softening and she is slowly... very slowly coming around :) She came over to my Aunt and Uncle's house without any sort of fight and I cannot tell you how amazing this is!  It's been a huge challenge to figure out how to be joyful and thankful during the holiday seasons, but also be sensitive to her broken heart.... But God is so good and she is healing... Slowly, but there is healing there. Thank you for this, Lord. If you are a prayer, I would ask you to pray for my mom. Pray for the softening of her heart to continue and for her eyes to open to the God who loves her and so desperately wants her to turn to Him.

Thanksgiving came to an end, and our heads hit the pillow once again.  Next thing I knew... it was 3:16am and my stinkin alarm was going off again.... That darn friend who talked me into running on a holiday also talked me into waking up before the crack of dawn to go.... shopping.... Ugh.... I've always worked Black Fridays, but never had the opportunity to experience the madness from the consumer's point of view... This year that changed. I was in line at Cabela's at 4:30am with literally thousands of other people... The doors opened and the craziness began.... People were running all around to get their hands on that one thing they woke up so early to buy... It was pretty funny really... I heard one girl say she had been camped out since 2:30am!! 2:30am!! The store didn't open 'til 5! So, we shopped all morning... (but don't worry Jamie... we didn't have any fun!! ;)) I was back in bed by 11am... Pretty weird day really... Not sure if I'll do it again, but it was actually a pretty good time! I do love the deals!!

Tensy and I waiting in line at Cabela's

This time of year always makes me look beyond the tradition to what really matters and what I'm oh so grateful for... It makes me realize how truly blessed I am... This is a pretty common thought for most people around the holidays... I mean we see Thanksgiving and Joy plastered everywhere we look... So, how can we not be reminded to be thankful...  But I've really felt challenged by all this and I read the other day... Should we only be this thankful around the Holidays.... When we're reminded to be thankful?  Our Lord is blessing us daily... regardless of the time of year... He doesn't wait for the holiday season to love us... He doesn't wait 'til the day when it's "appropriate" to send Christmas cards out to bless us...  He loves us, blesses us, and cherishes us ALL year! Even when the Christmas tree dies and you have to throw it out... He still chooses to loves us and be thankful for us.... But what about our thankfulness towards Him??? We wait until the lights and tinsel are up, and the pies are in the oven to count our blessings.... Or even if we are thankful year round, we can't help but be more thankful around this time of year.... I don't know about you.... but I feel so challenged, even convicted, by not expressing this "magnitude" of thankfulness ALL year.... Lord, forgive me for my selfish heart and help me to be THIS thankful ALL year....