Little Things I'm Grateful For...

Hello Everyone!

These past few weeks have been ve-ry hectic for my family, so I haven't been able to blog very much =(.  Last night we got back from yet another road trip and are now gearing up for my friend's wedding this weekend, after which we are going to take a much-needed vacation to a resort in Missouri...

When I woke up this morning (finally in my own bed with my favorite quilt again) I realized there are so many little things that I forget to be grateful for every day, but that I would miss terribly if they weren't there.  I'm the kind of person who likes routine; change is fine in small amounts, but I like my days to usually follow the same basic pattern, and when that pattern changes, I feel disoriented.  Things like being awakened the same way every morning by my brother on the piano, my other brother greeting me with "Gooooddddd morning! Did you sleep?", the same bird calls outside my window, and the same familiar sights every time I go for a walk just make my whole day brighter.  Going on trips is fun and exciting, but for me coming home to your own house, your own bed, and (in my case) your amazing-kitchen-that-you-still-cannot-find-enough-words-to-express-your-gratitude-for is the best part.  It's cliche, but there really is no place like home (especially if your home has an amazing kitchen with a double oven and blue cabinets =P).

 

Bridal Shower...

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a very blessed Easter...mine was very peaceful, thank heavens! Easter week was my time to take a breather and gear up for my very busy next few months, which began this past Saturday.  A dear friend of mine is getting married in May, so I offered to host a bridal shower for her to give her one more chance to relax before her "big day".

One of the bridesmaids enlisted the help of the groom to get a surprise present from all the ladies in our community: a beautiful statue of Our Lady for the couple's new home...the statue hadn't arrived by the time of the shower, so she printed out a picture to show her what it looked like.

The lovely Bride-To-Be and two of her bridesmaids

In addition to several flavors of tea, we also served sparkling lemonade, blueberry pound cake, deviled eggs, several dips, strawberry macaroons, and several other goodies (for the record, at my bridal shower I would like pizza and root beer =))

I'm not entirely sure how we managed to fit everyone in our living room (we had over forty-five ladies of all ages attending) but somehow there were enough chairs and even a tiny amount of room to walk around.

Some friends provided games to play after tea, my favorite being "Bridal Trivia" (I had never heard this before, but apparently the custom of having groomsmen came about because so many brides used to be kidnapped on their wedding day that the groom would gather the best swordsmen he knew to guard her until the ceremony was over! The best man was the best swordsman out of all of them...and bridesmaids were there to confuse the kidnappers in hope that they would be captured instead of the bride =)).

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, so I'd say the party was a success.  After everyone else left, one of my little friends stayed behind to help me finish off the extra lemonade and take silly pictures while our moms visited...

When my mom and I (finally) had our home back to ourselves, we celebrated our success with some Pink Lady Cocktails and a "Once Upon A Time" episode...=)