Being Thankful

On a day that we are to be thankful; I am thankful every day for the wonderful people in my life; those who have touched my heart and have left their finger prints on my soul, those who have come and gone and those who are still a part of my life. I am thankful that I am healthy, that I have a roof over my head, that I have food to eat and that I am alive.

These days our Thanksgivings consist of just the four of us... my mom, my dad, my brother and myself. These three people have been with me through my entire life and I am very lucky to have them. I would not have it any other way. Thanksgiving is of course a time to sit down to remember what we are most thankful for in life, but the truth is I am thankful every day for my family. It makes me happy when we all put aside our busy lives to sit down together and enjoy a delicious dinner.

And on that note it was a delicious dinner...

First you start out with a big ass Butterball turkey, this year we decided to switch it up a bit...

Next you toss fresh herbs, veggies, and a little bit of flower into a roasting bag.

Then take that big ass bird and put it into a roasting pan so it will then look like the picture above *wink*

When it is all said and done the bird looks like this beautiful golden thing before you now!!

A few of the casseroles: corn, sweet potato, and green bean (my favorite). Which casserole or dish is your favorite?

Close up of that beautiful plated *grin*

The whole spread before we dug in...

Three delicious pies: dutch apple, pumpkin, and German chocolate.

My beautiful family pictured in the background *wink*

My brother and I's photo from this year, just look at those crazy kids...

I couldn't leave this cutie out... all tucked in her blanket on the couch with her festive scarf. Say Hello to Shelby... the other cutie will be posted in the next post because I am about to snap a picture of him all tuckered out from this long day *wink*

*Real Talk*
Trying out a new name for this section... let me know what you think.
The Christmas decorations went up soon after the table was cleared and before the food was even put away... but what can I say Christmas runs in my veins *hehe*
There will be a Christmas decor blog within the next couple of days... this post will show the decor at my parents house and then once I decorate my apartment that will be posted.
Also keep your eyes pealed for a couple of Christmas project posts that I have planned.

Now since it is still officially Thanksgiving I want to say that I am thankful for the people who read my blog (although I do not think there are many of you) but no matter the number I am thankful.
It was a long day but it is nice being home with my family.

Christmas Cards

I have been a busy bee over at my apartment getting things done for the holidays. I have been busy making Christmas cards for friends and family members. This year I wanted to do something special, so I decided to make homemade cards.

These cards took a little while to complete but for something special I knew they would take time. I happy with the outcome and I hope my family and friends enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

I used all sorts of crafting supplies to create these festive cards, most I already had and some I had to buy but all went into making these beautiful cards *wink*  paints, gold and silver glitter pens, markers, colored pencils, glue, craft paper, scrapbooking supplies, etc.

First I sketched up some ideas in my sketch book, finding inspiration on Pinterest and from my own ideas.

Now I am only showing you a sneak peak because I don't want my family and friends, who are receiving these cards, to see them before I send them out....

I hope this glimps at my Christmas cards will give you some inspiration to make your own Christmas cards this season.

xo

*My Thoughts*
I have been going through a few things in the past couple of months but I wanted to do something special for some of the people in my life that would not cost a lot of money. I figured homemade Christmas cards would be a good idea and give the receivers a personal touch from me.
I love the way these cards turned out and I hope the people who receive them enjoy them just as much as I enjoyed making them.

Paintings

Now I am not sure if I have mentioned or not... I may have and if I have I apologize for repeating it now, anyways I enjoy painting. I don't do it very often but when I do I really enjoy it. It makes me happy.

I painted two paintings to hang on the wall behind my front door. I have lived in this apartment a little over two months and that wall was just bare. I knew I wanted to do a series of two paintings to hang there and I had an idea in mind; well when I actually started painting I went in a different direction and I am very pleased with the way they turned out.

Now my painting is for me. I do not do it to make other people happy but if other people enjoy it then that is just a perk. I decided to share these with you to give you a glimpse into my personal life I guess you could say.  These paintings just added to the many things I enjoy about my apartment. *grin*

xo

*My Thoughts*
I put a piece of me into these paintings.
I hope you enjoy this small part of me.
I have a few touches to get done before I give the full apartment tour.
  

Wine and Christmas

One of the people I wanted to see while I was in Ohio is my pseudo mom, Mary. We had a date planned for that Thursday. And something that we love to do is finding wineries to go to and of course try all of the wine that we can. *wink*

Mary found a wonderful winery for us to visit called Maize Valley. It is located in Hartville, OH. Hartville has many other sites to see but we were there for the wine. *grin*

When we walked in there were all kinds of goodies: food, produces, wine goodies, etc. The wine bar is located in the back and after browsing through all of the goodies we headed straight for the wine. Jen was the girl behind the counter. Wine tastings are only 25 cents and they have an assortment of choices. Jen handed us a wine "menu" (a list of all the wines they offer) and we got to tasting. 

The inside was beautifully decorated with white lights and garland of leaves. It reminded me of the inside of a cottage.

Look at all of those choices *wink*

Mary holding up the wine menu.

Yes a wine called Mad Cow and Middle of the Road. There was also Red Neck Red, Little Red Pecker and Big Red Pecker... along with many more.

This wine is a combination of three different wines and I liked it mostly because of the bottle and the fact that I love Christmas. The wine was also very good.

After trying all of the wines that we wanted it was time for lunch, we were all getting hungry and a little tipsy *wink* Jen handed us a menu and gave us some wonderful recommendations. 

She recommended this wonderful sandwich. The sweet and spicy chicken, delicious yet very messy. My plated ended up needing a napkin.

and to start out their red pepper soup with Gouda cheese. YUM!

After we left the winery we went to another favorite place of mine and Mary's, Donzell's. The reason I love Donzell's so much is because they really know how to do Christmas!! And Christmas is my favorite holiday.

Yes that is a leg lamp, like the one from A Christmas Story. I love a traditional Christmas and this display was just wonderful, brought back good Christmas memories. I ended up purchasing a few faux TV ornaments.

Donzell's was in the middle of setting up their Christmas displays so they did not have everything out *sigh* I wasn't going to get to see everything they had to offer this year. Mary did promise to take pictures for me though. *wink*

xo

*My Thoughts*
Here is the link for Maize Valley Winery.
And the link for Donzell's.
If you are in the northern Ohio area I highly suggest checking out both of these places, especially if you like wine and Christmas.
Donzell's is a happy place and a wonderful place to visit during the holidays even if you don't buy anything.

Pumpkin Patch and Rittman Orchard

On Wednesday Theresa, Wyatt and I took a trip to Rittman Orchard. Theresa wanted to get some apples to make apple sauce with and then of course we had to pick out some pumpkins for Halloween. 

It was a cold, cloudy, and windy day... even more so since we were at the top of a hill. But the view was amazing and the colors of the trees in Ohio are gorgeous, something we do not get much of in Florida.

As we entered the shop the smell of apples immediately hit my nose. There were many apples to choose from. Plus all kinds of other goodies.

I snapped a picture of these weird looking turnips just for that fact: they were weird looking and I had never seen anything like them. At the register there was one that someone had put googly eyes on... what a clever idea. 

So many apples!

This picture is for my mom since her name is Peg.

This is such a pretty pumpkin.

Pumpkins everywhere

This pumpkin has warts. 

The pumpkins we picked out!

We were all starting to get hungry so we stopped off at a little restaurant in Barberton to have lunch.

These gorgeous trees were right out front. I mean just look at that vibrant red tree! Beautiful.

Theresa and I opted to have this delicious chicken dumpling soup that hit all the right spots on this cold gloomy day. The dumplings were huge and very filling.

After lunch we headed back to Akron to enjoy the rest of our day together.

xo

*My Thoughts*

I miss all of the beautiful colors that Ohio has to offer in the fall.

It's one of the many downfalls of living in a state where it is always summer.

I miss the good home cooking.

I miss the views.

Ohio will always hold a piece of my heart.