turkey for two

I had nervous anticipation for what turned out to be a beautiful Thanksgiving Day here in South Carolina. D was the engineer on-call for the holiday weekend which meant no Louisiana Thanksgiving for us this year. For the first time ever.

I get really attached to tradition, to sitting in the same chair at Mamaw's and watching the Rockettes in the parade. Which is always followed by Mom, Moll and I comparing that year's dance and costumes to the previous twenty-ish performances. Not crazy about the all silver this year, just in case you were wondering. And don't they know that they are all the more adorable with a head piece?

Anyway.

We unintentionally distracted ourselves by cooking all day long. D was bound and determined to grill a turkey. A whole turkey for two people. And I sure am glad he did! It set the stage for our hilarious amount of food we had for two people. We're talking leftovers for weeks!

I was thankful for D to share the day with and a roof over our heads and a grocery budget to afford food and families to miss being with that weekend and dear friends who sensitively checked on us all day long. And for the lessons and growth that come from living a little farther away. Though often stubbornly and tearfully grasped.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving from Cola Town. We hope 2012 was your best yet!

 

building our home

The question I've been asked the most since we've moved has been, "So do y'all think you'll be up there for a while?" Which is understandable seeing how we ask ourselves the same thing. All the time.

The conclusion we've come to is that we are in South Carolina right now (and are thankful for our new location!). We have no way to know when The Lord may choose to move us again. Though willing to go if called, we have decided to keep the mindset that this is where we are now and, in turn, this is where we will do our best to connect and plant ourselves.

So, we're going to build a house.

[My heart dropped a little when I typed that.]

For the last several months, we've had plans to go visit some of Lexington's many new build neighborhoods. Two days ago, we finally had a Saturday to be able to do just that. And the next day we signed the papers!

Being my aesthetically picky self, I knew I'd enjoy picking out all the elements from the ground up. But I woke up early early Sunday morning with all kinds of concerns. My grounded and prayerful husband suggested we go back again for another look. And I'm sure glad we did! Once we had another meeting on Sunday, saw our corner lot on the end if the cul de sac, and realized how every need had fallen into place, we were ready to move forward. We know that wasn't by chance.

The neighborhood stuffed full of young couples and families makes it an exciting transition. And I'm a big fan of the new craftsman style houses which make leaving our historical neighborhood a little more bearable. But the best change is that this will make D's commute to work a little easier. And he deserves that so much!

So this is to commemorate the beginning of the ultimate project! I'm going to do my best to not do three things: 1) Spend too much time on Pinterest, 2) Worry, 3) Drive the builders insane.

We're excited! And feeling way too grown up.

["Land, Katie Scarlett! ...because its the only thing that lasts."]

[The beginning of many, many decisions.]

[This is a similar, unfinished version of what our house will look like one day!]

P.S. Did you know that my friend Caitlyn is up and blogging again with her new little girl? I was able to help her with her blog design and had a blast doing it! Go check it out.

anna's baby dedication

Having a baby around when the family is together really does change things. And I mean for the better! She spends much less time in any kind of chair or bouncy seat as one of us is always in line to hold her next. Each visit (which we make happen as often as possible) brings something new - laughs and rolling over and cereal-eating. And what we miss in between weekend visits we share over endless group texts.

With these beautiful nieces of mine, I'm more and more thankful for the closeness that our parents have instilled in all of us. Really, we border on overly involved. But in the best possible way. To me that means that when my two girls have grown into teenagers, I'll be a secondary source for those adorably embarrassing bath time photos. And, hopefully, I'll still be [cool] Aunt Meg who does her best to not miss a thing.

Our last visit centered around Anna's Baby Dedication. With that brought lunch planning and table settings and dress shopping and church service photos and family game night [where D and I FINALLY gave everyone else a run for their money on pie count].

[Baby-passing while we're out to eat is my favorite pastime.]

[She's a fine baby!]

[Tootsie and her jealousy problems.]

[My favorite family of four.]

 

I guess that's enough baby bragging for now. I'm off to rig up a tripod so we can take our Christmas card picture before the Groupon expires. Wish me luck!