Oops!

I realized I missed Thankful Thursday last week. =( Time is flying by again and I’ve decided I need to start scheduling time for myself again (for blogging, reading, crafting, etc.) and not feel guilty about it. So, I guess I’m thankful I have a full life with more things to do than I have time. How about that?

Well, Kim is throwing a Blog Party so hopefully that will help motivate me to make time to do some crafting and blogging. I have a few ideas and even got started on a couple, but some weeks will be a challenge. If you’ve got any ideas I’d welcome them. =) I’m not super into holidays other than Halloween but I’m working on it. I do decorate for fall, but not Thanksgiving specifically. But Andy & I will be hosting Thanksgiving this year so that gives me a good reason to get a tablescape going, right? And holiday Traditions…we don’t really have traditions but I would certainly like to start some. I should look into that.

If you’re interested, she’s looking for more participants!

 

Here are the fabulous details:

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 16
Dare to… be thankful!
Take some time making your own DIY Thanksgiving project. It could be a fun Thanksgiving advent calendar, a banner or something completely unique. Post about what you made, how you made it and photos in its new home.

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 23
Dare to… entertain!
Show us your table! If you are not hosting Thanksgiving, take this opportunity to make your table look great. Bring out your dishes and napkins and set your table. I promise you that it will make you smile every time you walk by. Get creative and use new things. Or go true DIY and make something totally new.

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 30
Dare to… eat cookies!
As we begin to attend holiday parties, share your favorite cookie recipe for all to enjoy. It’s like a digital cookie swap. Share the recipe and a review of the cookie. If you can, add a picture. And don’t worry about the extra calories. At Christmas, cookies are calorie-free.

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 7
Dare to… give homemade gifts!
Nothing is more special than a gift made by you. Try out something new to give this year – ideas include bath and body items, kitchen gifts, hand-sewn clothing or home decor.

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 14
Dare to… deck the halls!
Make something new to deck your halls. Did you find something in a catalog that you wish you had? Wreaths, stockings, pillows or advent calendars? Make it! Inspire us all to do the same.

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 21
Dare to… have traditions!
Everyone has traditions for the Holidays. Tell us all about your favorites or start a new tradition to share.

A Good Marriage

Okay, so I’m guilty of posting this late and back dating it, but I’m trying to stick with my weekly schedule of Thankful Thursday one way or another.

This week I am thankful for having a good marriage. No, a GREAT marriage and a wonderful partner. On November 1 Andy & I will be celebrating our 1-year anniversary and I couldn’t be happier. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had so many consecutive days of being happy. And as he always says, “we’ve got a lot of life to live.” I can only hope so.

To celebrate we will be headed to the beautiful little town of Galena this weekend to walk downtown, maybe do some shopping, tour a mansion, enjoy a little wine tasting, maybe catch the Halloween Parade and I cannot believe it,  but Andy agreed to a Haunted Dinner & Ghost Tour! =) See, I told you he’s the best!

What are you thankful for today?

Safe Travels

For today’s edition of Thankful Thursday I am so thankful for Andy’s safe return from the Ukraine. While I don’t mind a few days to myself I was so excited to have him back home again. I could not stop loving on him last night, I missed hugging my Giant. He was exhausted and is still trying to adjust to the time change but at least he is home.

Check out these fun souvenirs he brought back with him:

An authentic Ukrainian weapon (a “good conversation piece” as Andy refers to it):

 

Some of the assumingly most delicious vodka in the world in a very cool bottle:

 

Fun doll toy/knick-knack (I can’t remember the official name of it!):

 

And a cute little amber bracelet:

 

On his flight back they had a layover in Amsterdam. He said it was really neat and that we should vacation there sometime. I’m game for most any international vacation. Perhaps for our 5 yr anniversary?

So Internet, what are you thankful for today?

Update: Choice Home Warranty Makes Good on Promise

It’s Thankful Thursday people and today I am thankful for social media and how it helped me reach the right person who could help resolve our issue with Choice Home Warranty.

Awhile back I posted a “Buyer Beware” warning detailing the experience we had with CHW. You can read in the comments of that post the discussion that went on between me and Mr. James Moss. I am very pleased to let you all know that Mr. Moss did in fact make good on his word and we received our refund a couple days ago. Mr. Moss was polite and never made me feel like he thought I was trying to pull one over on them, unlike the other rep I had been dealing with who refused our claim through the Better Business Bureau.

Thanks again Mr. Moss for listening to your customers and helping us resolve this issue.I think home warranties can be a great thing, especially when selling your home.  I hope that CHW will take this opportunity to research its current process, attempt to pinpoint where the communication chain between the customers and the customer service reps failed, and work towards improving the process so that this does not happen with other customers.

* * *

On another note, I am NOT thankful for this “unseaonably” cold weather we have been experiencing! But I am thankful that by this time next week Andy will be home from the Ukraine. =)

So, what are you thankful for today?

Happy Fall!

Today I am thankful for the season. I never used to get into decorating my house, not even for Christmas (Andy has been working on me on that!) but I do love to decorate for Fall. I put out my stuff last week and even started to do a little Halloween shopping, which I realized I also love!

This isn’t really “tablescaped” yet but I was so excited about my new Halloween purchases that I shoved things aside to put out my skull and spiderweb cake stand!

This was a leftover from our fabulous candy buffet at our reception. (Can you believe it’s almost been a year?!) I just tossed in some cinnamon pine cones and leaves. 

I love me some pumpkins & scarecrows!

 

The Little Things

It’s time for Thankful Thursday and this week I’m thankful for the little things:

A crisp Fall morning. Having a friend that carpools with me on the long drive to work. Bath & Body Works soaps and lotions in the bathrooms at the office. When my dogs snuggle in my lap (especially when all 3 try!) A nice crockpot dinner waiting when I get home at night. An extra long hug from the love of my life. A nice cup of cofee. A good book. Chocolate. A valid reason for not going to the gym (call this the silver lining to this miserable cloud that is my seasonal cold.)

There are so many little things I could go on…but, I’ll save some for later. =) What are the little things for which you’re thankful this week?

Thankful for the Library

I am thankful for public libraries because I’m a geek like that. Ever since I can remember I LOVED to go to the library. Technically, I believe it began with the bookmobile. Did you ever have a bookmobile? They are AWESOME! My Mom used to take us for a walk on Monday nights just a couple blocks away to the bookmobile that parked in the lot of what used to be a  7 Eleven. I’d grab whichever was greater – the number of books my Mom would allow, the number of books the bookmobile people would allow, or as many as my little arms could carry.

I started on the  left side with the kiddie books and quickly progressed to the right side with the young adult and adult non-fiction. You can imagine the eyebrows that were raised when this little elementary student checked out Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People (apparently I knew at a young age I might need some social help!) or V.C. Andrew’s Flowers in the Attic or whatever Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street book she could get her hands on. I must say, I think it was when I ran across the ASL dictionary that I fell in love with Sign Language and I began to teach myself when I was about 5 years old.

Fast forward to today and I am still in love with the Library (especially new libraries like Moline’s beautiful building!) Now that I carpool to work in Muscatine and am often without my own vehicle I frequently walk half a mile to the local library over lunch where I can get online, check e-mail, or grab an interesting book. I can request books from all over the place and they will send them to my closest location AND (I only learned in the last couple years) you can return them to any location within your library network – It’s wonderful!

If ever I was a rich old lady with no friends, family, or dogs, (stay with me here, we’re pretending) I would consider leaving my entire estate to public libraries so others could enjoy the benefits of free books, education, and entertainment. Either that or the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too. 

So Dear Readers, what are you thankful for today? When was the last time you paid a visit to your public library?

Thankful Thursday: Old Friends

Not that I’m not thankful for new friends, but this post is dedicated in particular to two friends I’ve had since the 2nd Grade…my fellow “Get Along Gang Girls”  Stephanie & Natalea. No matter how many miles or situations that happen to separate us over the years, we somehow manage to find each other every now and then and make new memories. Today we are taking a little road trip that I expect we will remember for the rest of our lives…we are off to a Kenny Chesney concert in Bloomington, IL. (If you’re lucky I might be able to provide more details at a later date!)

Do tell…what are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday: Company/Co-Workers

I’ve decided to start a new weekly post…Thankful Thursday. Each week I want to reflect on something I am thankful for; it’s a good practice and should help keep things in perspective.

This week I am thankful for my company/co-workers. I had a rough time last week dealing with the loss of my Dad and they allowed me as much time as I needed to take care of my family. When I returned yesterday I was not overwhelmed with a huge “To Do” pile because everyone chipped in to get my work done in my absence. Instead I was warmly welcomed back by many people , stilloffering their condolences and further assistance if needed.

There are A LOT of things we should be thankful for every day…tell me, what are you thankful for? (Just one…save the rest for future weeks!)