Is it too late to be Thankful?

Well friends, things have been MIGHTY BUSY around these parts as the semester wraps up. Between being sick, the holidays, and trying to finish up reading Shakespeare in every class I teach, things have been hectic, but I can't complain. I'm lucky to love what I do. Is it too late to be thankful? I know Thanksgiving is over, but man oh man... even despite the bad days, I am so thankful for what I have. They're just bad days, not a bad life. I've got a great life. I've got a fantastic husband, a job I love for a supportive district, great family, good friends... I wish I had more time to catch up on sleep and scrapbooking, but who doesn't, right? Let me catch you up.

One of Ben's private cello students has a new baby brother. We had the family over for dinner at our apartment, and got to hang out with the little man. I'm thrilled that I've got a couple babies coming soon to people in our lives, so that I can have baby time until we are ready for our own!

Ben's mom also sent us the greatest Thanksgiving package from Indiana. Hand-written notes, hand-made gifts, and my favorite chocolate in the world. YUM!

This year, we spent Thanksgiving in Kansas City with my family. We started the morning with our own homemade Thanksgiving breakfast. I'm hoping this will be our own little tradition. Food at my parents was our traditional set-up of turkey, ham, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, carrots, etc. I made my famous deviled eggs. Overall, it was a good day. We also got to spend that weekend with Ben's extended family that lives in KC over turkey, pie, and California wine. :)

Ben and I got to put up our first Christmas tree in our own home (along with a few other decorations). My parents gifted us a tree as an early holiday present.We decided to stick with green, silver, and white ornaments. There are a few special Hallmarks and a KC Royals ornament that don't follow that, but you win some, you lose some. I love the way it turned out, and the hot chocolate while we put it up didn't hurt either!

Chiefs season is still a FREEZING full swing. I've been fighting a cough and runny nose for weeks after standing outside for hours... but this too shall pass. I love being able to spend time with people I love so often.

 

Finally, and most recently, Ben and I took our first little mini-vacation to Branson. The time off and together was much needed. We were able to enjoy Lambert's on the way down; shopping at the landing; coffee, ice-cream and walking hand-in-hand downtown, and a fun tribute show on the strip. The Elvis impersonator in the show was the 2013 World Champion Elvis Impersonator. It was so nice to go somewhere just the two of us for some quality time, but naturally we saw about five people we knew including family and former professors! :)

With Christmas coming, I can't help but be thankful that I've been blessed with a few good days of health lately so that I could enjoy the holidays. Ben and I adopted two children off of the angel tree and bought them Christmas gifts instead of buying for each other. We think this might be a new tradition considering our wedding anniversary and Ben's birthday are within a week of the holiday. Why get more stuff when we can bless someone else?

We're also looking forward to traveling to South Bend for Christmas with Ben's family. It will be my first Christmas away from home, which is sad, but I'm looking forward to my first holiday with the Duvalls as a Duvall. :) I'm also looking forward to maybe getting into Chicago to see Alli for a couple hours, and getting ALL OF THE CHOCOLATE to bring home.

I'm looking to set up coffee and dinner dates for break. This married/working full time/medical problems life is busy, busy, busy so I'm looking forward to a little time to rest and see some beautiful faces! xxx