WHW {#68}: Thankfulness

Happy what's hap-"pinning" Wednesday, A.K.A. Thanksgiving-Eve!

Every year I take the time to document the things that I'm thankful for, and wanted to continue that tradition. Likely, not a lot of it has changed, but I still like taking this time to reflect and appreciate the goodness (and greatness) that I have in my life.

{MG} 

He's at the top of my list because, as cliche as it sounds, without him, I'm not sure how I would have gotten through this past year. Having him by my side as my dad fought through his final days, and in the days following losing my dad, I found so much love and comfort from just being wrapped in his arms. Then to go through more of our fertility struggles, and have him be my shot-giver through our IVF process, to my nurse after my egg retrieval and egg transfer. And then getting to celebrate the fact that we would be parents, and knowing that the baby that's growing every day inside of me is equal parts him and me....it literally makes me tear up thinking about it. And then he goes and melts my heart even more when he talks about how excited he is for this baby...

Did I ever want to get married at 31? No. But was it worth the wait to find this man who is so perfect for me? Absolutely 100%. I'm SO thankful that MG is my life partner.

{Our Baby}

It's probably of no surprise to you that this is on the list. For the past two years, I've hoped and wanted so desperately to be at Thanksgiving saying "I'm thankful for this baby" and it feels surreal to be able to say that this year. It's been a journey to get us here, but that journey has only made me appreciate every single part of this process that much more. Seeing, and hearing our baby's heartbeat for the first time, seeing little baby arms and legs kicking and punching on an ultrasound....they make me tear up every time. I can hardly believe that this is real sometimes, but I'm so thankful that it is. This baby is already loved beyond measure and I know that that love will only grow bigger and bigger.

{Family}

This year is different in that we're going to be marking every holiday and special occasion by the absence of my dad. In years past I always spoke about how thankful I was that my dad was still here to celebrate with. And this year, I'm forced to look at things from another angle and be thankful that I have my dad looking out for me in a different way now. But I'm still thankful that I had a dad who showed me what it was to be strong, how important education was, what it means to possess good morals and act on them, and what it means to be loved unconditionally by a man.

I'm thankful for my mom for being so strong through everything with my dad. I'm thankful for her phone calls and visits, and how excited she is about "pumpkin" as she calls the baby. I'm thankful for the love and support she's given to me through all of our ups and downs, and am glad I can be there for her when she's needed it, too.

I'm thankful for my extended family, my in-laws, who I only refer to as my in-laws for confusion purposes, because to me, they ARE my family. I have two sisters who I love, and a mom and dad who didn't give birth to me, but treat me just like one of their own. I'm not lucky, I'm blessed. I know my dad said at one point that it comforted him to know that I had such a wonderful family to take care of me when/if I needed it, if anything happened to him. And I take those words to heart, knowing my dad knows that we're supported, even in his absence. I know not everyone has this kind of relationship with their in-laws which makes me that much more grateful for the ones I have.

And I can't forget Cooper, the furry love of my life. Coop and I have been together since I was a single girl, until now when he's going to be a big furry brother to our little one. Looking into Cooper's eyes while I pet him makes my heart happy, not to mention the nightly cuddles he gives...I know he was made for me and meant to be a part of my life. It's been the best 8 years together and I'm hoping for many many many more!

{Friends}

My IRL and blog friends are my heart. I'm lucky to have so many friends in my life who I can count on through anything. When my dad died, I saw a whole other side of the friendships that I had--how people really reached out and supported me. They say you know what a true friend is, not during the good times, but during the hard times. And this year I'm thankful that I had so many friends who lifted me up during the hard and dark times. I've also made friends with others who have struggled through fertility like we have, and we've helped each other through the process. I can truly say that the friendships that I have in my life right now make me feel truly blessed, and give a new meaning to "richness."

{Our Home}

I'm so thankful that MG have our house that we've made into a home in the last 2.5 years. It's been fun to take on home projects together since moving in, sometimes learning the hard way how to do something (or NOT do something lol), but learning nonetheless. I'm so thankful that we have a big house that holds enough space for our families to come and stay, where we've already made tons of memories, and where we are sure to make more in the coming year when we bring our baby home.

There are tons of other things I'm thankful for, but these are the big ones I wanted to share here today.

I hope that your list of things to be thankful for this year is ever-growing! 
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Weekending Highlights {Thanksgiving}

Happy Monday! I hope you're all recovered from the turkey comas of Thanksgiving! I can't believe how quickly the weekend went by, but let's recap all of the fun!

My weekend highlights included:

~My in-laws arriving Wednesday afternoon (and their dog got sick on the way down which was a bummer)

~Going out to dinner at the Chart House in Old Town, on the water--we all got the most delicious meals. my crab stuffed shrimp was out of this world delicious

~up early Thursday morning to get the turkey going (well, MG was in charge of that 19 lb bird)

~my sister-in-law and her family arriving late morning; having my nugget run into my arms (not so little anymore!)

~cooking and prepping while also getting to enjoy how beautiful the weather was; even got in some time on the deck since it was so nice out!

~my parents arrived and we wrapped up cooking. On our menu: the 19 lb turkey, green beans, balsamic brussel sprouts, my family's traditional squash casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, rolls and stuffing. There was SO much food, but it was all so good!

~celebrated hosting another successful Thanksgiving at our house, this time with double the amount of people we normally have

~apple and pumpkin pie for dessert

~lounging after the clean up, nursing the food comas, and some couch cuddles

~spending time with the fam

~getting everyone packed up on Friday morning and going for a little hike before they all got on their way

~did some online shopping for hubby's birthday....and maybe a little for myself too #oops

~had leftovers for lunch and Cooper recovered from all of the excitement of having a packed house with a pup-nap

~cleaned up the house and got the Christmas decor, tree, ornaments and outside lights up!

~pizza at our favorite spot and went to see Bridge of Spies which was long, but really good

~Saturday started at 4am with Cooper getting sick--he must have gotten whatever my in-laws' dog had

~ran some errands to return a few things and drop off a bunch of stuff at good will

~rooted on our nephew (and brother-in-law who coaches their team) from here, as they won their eastern region football championship in NJ and are headed to Florida in a week for the national championship that will be on ESPN3!

~had a low key night at home, taking care of our sick pup

~rainy Sunday errands and a lazy day at home, reading and watching some football--my Skins ended up moving into the top spot of the suckiest division in the NFL (not much to be proud of there)

~got my hair cut and colored (why do I almost always have hair appointments on days that it rains?)

pardon the lack of makeup in this one

It felt like the weekend totally flew by, but it was really great hosting almost all of our family at once, having the space to have everyone stay here, and getting to spend time being thankful, with the people I'm most thankful for!

I hope your weekend and Thanksgiving were fabulous, too! Enjoy this last day of November (how is it already December tomorrow?!?!)

Linking up with these pretties today:

Thanksgiving Weekend Highlights

There really is nothing better than having 4 days to enjoy family and be away from the stresses of work. You know, other than having more than 4 days off (which I didn't have, but would not have minded having haha).

My Thanksiving weekend highlights included:

~MGs parents getting into town Wednesday afternoon

~Dinner out in Old Town with them, that started off with a very delicious dirty martini

~Cuddles with the pups after they wore themselves out playing

~Yummy and fun appetizers while Thanksgiving food was cooked on Thursday

~Pretty flowers picked out by MG

~A fully set table, with tons of delicious foods, and a special wine paired specifically for a Thanksgiving meal that we got at one of the wineries we went to the other weekend

~Getting to use so many of our wedding gifts with dinner

~Celebrating our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, but even more fun--in our new house, with both sets of parents!

~Full tummies from all of the delicious Thanksgiving foods!

~Stories shared, laughs laughed and lots of memories made with our family

~Friday morning drive to PA to see the rest of MG's family

~Seeing MG's old house from when he grew up

~Bowling and arcade games with MG's sister, husband and kids!

~Shopping for MG's birthday, running into friends from VA at the mall in PA, foot massages at the mall, and dinner out with the family to celebrate MG's bday

~puppy dressed in Christmas sweater (MG's parents' dog)

~Family photo selfie

~Dancing  with both of my SIL's in the basement to oldies music

~Wine in Christmas glasses

~ice cream b-day cake

~Sunday morning drive back to VA to beat the traffic

~Decorating for Christmas (I'll be showing you pics soon of all of our little touches of the holidays at our place!)

~Thanksgiving leftovers!!

And just like that, it's December 1st and there's 24 days until Christmas!

And I need to work out like it's my job this week lol

Hope you have a good post-holiday Monday!

Linking up with these ladies today:

and Biana!!

(and Monday Morning Gossip, but something is up with their linky button)

Holiday Link Up: Thanksgiving

It's a cold Tuesday here in VA, but instead of dwelling on that, I thought I'd warm my spirit (and hopefully yours) by joining the holiday link up with Annie to talk about Thanksgiving.

This is gonna be a mix of things I'd love to do, in combination with some of the things we've done in the past.

Last year was the first time my husband and I (my fiance at the time) hosted our parents for Thanksgiving in our one-bedroom condo, but this year will be the first time we're doing it as a married couple in our new house (and the 3rd time that we've done Thanksgiving together, the 6 of us) :)

Here are a few things I'd love to do...

For the outside of our house, things like this would be awesome to decorate with:

We'd have details around the house like this:

Our table would look something like this:

{via}

...with smaller details like this:

{via}

(I might actually do the above for our place settings because I think it's adorable)

And on each plate, I'd like to print this out, as a nice quote for the holiday:

{via}

Maybe MG and I can get ourselves together enough to make at least SOME of these happen! (and definitely in the future, when we're not DIY'ing ourselves all over the place around the house)

In terms of food, it is tradition that my mom and I always make squash casserole (it's a recipe from my aunt who's no longer with us)--it sounds kinda bland and boring but it is SO good and possiblyeven my favorite food for Thanksgiving.

My mom also makes some incredibly tasty stuffing, too, so that's always a must for our dinner table.

We are also an apple pie family. Pumpkin pie has never been a big thing for us, but apple pie is ALWAYS served during our Thanksgivings.

Neither of our parents have seen all of the updates we've done to the house, so I'm super excited for them to come over and see everything that we've been working hard at around the house for the past couple of months.

Here's a shot from our first Thanksgiving all together, up in Philly, from 2 years ago:

No matter what food is cooked, it will be so nice to have both sets of our parents with us, in our new home, celebrating everything that we have to be thankful for...and thankfully that list is a long one! :)

*most of the above pictures can be found on my Pinterest board, Holiday Ideas

Thanksgiving/Weekend Recap

Phew! This last weekend flew by! But I guess that happens when you have tons of fun, yummy food, and awesome people around you.

It was a very Poodle-y Thanksgiving!

Wednesday I got off work 2 hours early, headed home, and MG's parents arrived shortly after that. We spent some time together before heading into Old Town to the Chart House for dinner. After dinner MG's best friend came over since he was in town seeing his family, and we all hung out more until MGs parents left for the hotel. MG's best friend stayed over because they were running a Turkey Trot in DC the next morning. We also got to watch MG's parents puppy, too (who, at 4 months is already Cooper's height). 

Thursday MG headed into the city and ran a 5K while I got our place ready for our parents and Thanksgiving. My parents got to our place a little later than planned, but we got everything together with relative ease. Overall, hosting our first Thanksgiving was a total hit! The food was yummy, and it was nice spending time with both sets of our parents, who get along really well. The food was so good, and the day flew by. My dad also seemed to be doing better with his energy levels, so that made me happy, too.

Friday morning MG and I drove up to PA with his parents following us so that we could see the rest of the family. Traffic was light and we made the trip quickly. That day/night we got to see MG's sister L and her kiddos. The guys went to see Thor that night and the girls stayed behind to hang out, watch tv and chat. And eat cupcakes. Perfect! :)

Saturday MG's dad had arranged for him to get a shave and haircut at a place called RAZRBAR and surprised me with an early Christmas present in the form of a shopping trip to Loft! It may sound weird to go shopping with your future father-in-law but he has great taste, and it was a lot of fun. Not to mention the haul of items that I got:

This is something that he does with both of his daughters for Xmas, and it made me feel really special that he wanted to include me in that this year. Like I said in my Thanksgiving post, he is one of the most generous people ever.

After MG's shave/haircut and my shopping trip, the 3 of us had lunch together and then headed back to hang out with MG's niece for a little bit before the rest of the family came over for MG's birthday dinner. We went to a place called Firebirds that we went to for his birthday last year and the food and drinks were SO good!

Sporting my new Loft shirt and scarf! :)

After dinner we all hung out at MG's parents house until around 11 when everyone made their way home. We went to bed because we wanted to get up and get on the road before traffic got crazy the next morning.

We left around 10am after MG helped his dad hang some Xmas lights outside, and breakfast, and made it home easily, thankfully. We unpacked and I got to putting up our tree since there were only 24 days left before Christmas!

After a quick trip to Target for the tree topper (and other necessities for the week), our tree was complete!

And now I'm in the post-holiday haze. Also wondering how the heck I'm going to fit into my wedding dress after all of these delicious holiday meals...and thankful that I have some time to fix that. Hopefully anyway :)

I want to take a second and wish MG a very happy birthday today. You mean the absolute world to me and I'm so thankful that I get to celebrate this birthday, and all the ones to come, with you. I love you, always!

I hope your Thanksgiving and weekend were family and fun-filled! And, oh my gosh, it's DECEMBER! When did that happen??