i give thanks

thanksgiving this year was low key.
i didn't wake up with butterflies of anticipation for stuffing and homemade rolls... although i was excited.
it is perhaps the smallest thanksgiving i've ever experienced... and it was perfect.

we weren't running around the kitchen, stressed, yelping about all the food to be made and the dishes to be decontaminated.
we made food as we went and did dishes here and there {with plenty of snitching, laughing, and christmas music}

{me with my baby-- sweet potato apple bake}

with no set time to feast we ate when the food was ready. 

so simplistically serene. 

glowing candles provided the ambiance as we passed around the delicate china -- dishing up honey-glazed ham, yukon gold potatoes, original stuffing, spicy sausage stuffing,  sweet potato apple bake, bluberry pineapple salad, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, homemade buttery rolls...

i have been keeping a gratitude journal for some time now.

 when i pick it up every night, i have pages of orange ink reminding me of the truckloads of blessings i have been given. 

today i was most grateful for my family and friends. 

they mean the world to me. 

whether they're right here with me {watching psych on our comfy brown leather sectional} or over the sea fast asleep in germany, or surrounded by family down the street or in colorado or seattle or wyoming, or working hard in armenia... my heart grew three sizes {thanks mr. grinch} in love for all of them. for you. 

p.s. here's what i was up til 12:30 last night-- my lovely black friday signs (that only took... 8 hours?) and the army of markers and diet coke.