Thankfulness

It is easy to forget how truly blessed we are - life is so busy all the time, and life events occur that temporarily obscure our vision. I want to take this moment and space to reflect on what I am thankful for.

Billy- My love, my heart, my balance. :) The fact that we are about to have our home study, which puts us one step closer to our adoption. Our lives together, our crazy pets, our times with money and even our times without money, for we always manage and get by.

My mom, dad, Devin, Chrissy, Jerry, Shellie and my steps.

Brayden's smiling face, Brayden walking and running- something that they said would never happen, but with lots of hard work and love, that kid is doing it.

Sunday nights with Devin and Chrissy, cooking dinner together, laughing and talking.

Having great parents who still support and encourage me, even when other people think I am crazy.

My little second cousins- Melissa's children Madison, Nicholas, and Brian's daughter Chloe.

My friends old and new- from high school, from college, from the shelter and PAWS, from work, from Billy's work, who make me laugh and listen to me cry and support me as much as I support them.

I am thankful that Janel had a healthy, happy, baby girl named Lila. For book club. Lunches with my grandma every Wednesday. For coffee. For nights like the night of the Owl Prowl, where Billy and I were able to stand under the moon in the woods on a beautiful night waiting for owls, with no one around for acres and acres except for the two rangers. For teachers that go above and beyond. For the forgiveness of others for my faults. And for many more things, large and small, that are too numerous to list.

What are you thankful for?

I hope that everyone has a wonderful day today, spent with those they love. Happy Thanksgiving!

Cornucopia of thoughts

October is always my favorite month, I love the weather, the traditions, the reintroduction of soup as an everyday staple into my life.

The events of the past month remind me like leaves on the tree in the fall- they flare brightly for a short colorful time, then gently fall to the earth and become memories.

~ the epic journey this year to Erie Orchards with Devin and Chrissy~ Devin and I have been going there since we were little tiny kids, so about 30 years for me ~ unfortunately it has grown too commercial, so this year was more than likely our last.

~Theatre Bizarre ~ always a fun time, no matter the venue, since it is about the show, and the show must go on.

~ eating crepes in the cold with Billy at Eastern Market, buying cheese and wine and pumpkins to carve.

~Sunday Soup Night with Devin and Chrissy ~ I have resolved to make soup every Sunday until Spring ~ so far we have had Bean Soup and Vegetable Soup. The soup for tonight is Three Sisters Soup from the Moosewood collection.

~A weekend at the Lake House with friends ~ walks through the woods, evenings around the bonfire, friends, dogs, shared meals and wine.

~ Halloween - parties, carving pumpkins, handing out candy, scary movies.

I view Halloween as my last hurrah before winter and November arrive, and I am less inclined to be social, and more inclined to cuddle under blankets watching movies with Billy or reading surrounded by animals. Chrissy and I hope to work on some sewing projects this winter, and I am really excited about this - it seems a perfect winter thing to do, very Little House on the Prairie.

So while I hate to say good bye to October, I am looking forward to November.

Appley Days of Fall

Warm, windy days, chilly crisp nights…fall has finally fallen on Michigan. Or close enough. We are still having some unseasonably warm days here in the mitten, but for the most part, it is the autumn I know and love.

Today was the perfect fall day to go pumpkin hunting. My brother and I have been going to the same apple orchard/pumpkin patch since we were born, basically about 30 years, give or take a few. That is amazing when you think about it! The past ten years or so, the group has lost members and gained a few, such as my husband and his girlfriend, but Devin and I are the constants. The orchard we visit is Erie Orchards, located in, you guessed it, Erie, MI.

Like I said, it was the perfect day, or nearly so anyway. It was a little warmer than I would have liked. I would have loved to wear long sleeves, but then I am that kind of girl, the fall and winter clothes loving one.

Our first order of business was to eat the enormous apple fritters they make there! They are huge gooey doughy wonders. The only thing I didn’t enjoy were the bees that kept landing on my hands and my fritter! After fortifying ourselves with appley goodness, we were ready for the trek back to the pick your own pumpkin patch. As people from the suburbs, this is country living for us.
It was a beautiful walk however. We reveled in the apple trees, my dad and I living up to our shutterbug nicknames and photographing everything we could! Apples, people, dirt even.

Unfortunately, it was a bad pumpkin year this year in Michigan. The patch pumpkins were kind of picked over, the best ones being picked already and taken to the pumpkin barn up front. It was still a nice stroll, so all was not wasted.

So we all trooped back to the front, with thoughts of cider and doughnuts foremost in our thoughts. Sure, we had just eaten that gynourmous fritter, but hey, didn’t we just take a long walk? I am sure we burned off at least a little of that delicous goodness. Billy and I chose our pumpkins, Shellie picked out a few cute tiny ones, and Dad posed for a silly picture. I can always count on him to be the one to pose in the funny cut-outs. By this point it was starting to really get really crowded, so we were ready to buy our stuff and take off. The best time to go is in the morning, around 11 or so, and on a Sunday. By 1 o’clock the place really begins to hop!The store was packed, but we prevailed. This year I only bought a few things, I usually go crazy in the store. Today our purchases (beside the pumpkins) were doughnuts and cider, which I am looking forward to enjoying this evening.

All in all, it was a fantastic day! Pumpkins, doughnuts, cider, a beautiful walk on a gorgeous fall day- what more could anyone ask for? We are going to carve our pumpkins into jack o’lanterns later this week, I can’t wait!