Thankful Series

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!


Today I am thankful for:


1.  Waking up to the smell of turkey.  Heaven help me.


2.  Mashed potatoes....with real butter and heavy cream.  Katie bar the door.


3.  Gravy....even if it I had to make two separate gravies because I cannot deal with the chipped "guts" in mine.  Aagck!


4.  Homemade mac-n-cheese with french fried onions.  Oh my.


5.  Ree's green bean casserole.  Quick! Someone fan me; I am swooning.


6.  Sweet potatoes.


7.  Homemade yeast rolls.


8.  Chicken and dressing.


9.  Coconut cream pie.


10.  Being blessed by the Almighty to be a phenomenal cook.


11.  Seeing the look of pure bliss and contentment on the faces of the people I cooked for :)

I am also thankful to all of those who went before me.  I am blessed to have a warm happy house with electricity and running water and a stove and refrigerator and dishwasher.  Despite the frantic madness of the food preparation, the first Thanksgiving feast was not quite as convenient to prepare.  When thinking of the death and disease and sickness that the early settlers and Pilgrims had to endure just to get here and how the first Thanksgiving was so they could offer thanks to the Lord after having survived in the wilderness for three years...  Thank you.  Thank you to our forefathers who sought a better life.  Thank you for sailing halfway across the world and not having any clue what you were getting yourselves into.  Thank you for establishing a Christian nation and a tradition of giving thanks; so that I too can join hands with my beloved family around a delicious feast in my warm and happy home and give thanks to the Lord Almighty for the bounty of blessings that He has abundantly bestowed upon each and every one of us.

Isaiah 58:11 - The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. (NIV)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends near and far.  I love you all.

(let the Black Friday festivities BEGIN!)

Love,

~~Gena

Thankful Series

Today I am thankful for:

1.  Crisp fall days.

2.  Waking up sans alarm clock on Saturday mornings.

3.  The ability and know-how to prepare a bang-up feast for my peeps tomorrow.

4.  Paper snowflakes.

5.  My daughter's freckles.

6.  My son's brown eyes (like mine).

7.  Guitars.

8.  The prickly ash tree that grows out in the woods behind our house.

9.  The field of wildflowers that grows on our property.

10.  Not having to work the rest of the week!

~~Gena

Thankful Series (Make Up Post)

Well, this is to make up for the post I didn't get to yesterday.

Today (Yesterday) I am thankful for:

1.  Shrimp and grits for lunch.  You people have no idea how I love Cajun food.  Or grits.  Or grits with gravy and green onions and tasso.  And shrimp.  The clouds part.  Angels sing.  Planets align.  I lose consciousness.

2.  Being able to type one hundred strokes a minute.  Especially when I have to work on something that literally takes me all.day.long. to type.

3.  Having a small market/grocery in my rural community and not having to go to Kroger the week of Thanksgiving.

4.  Watching my husband and daughter engage in warfare with paper planes made from pink (for girls) and blue (for boys) paper planes.

5.  Making a more aerodynamic paper plane than my my gladiator husband until he tapes three together to have giant wings and lift and it is like a torpedo coming at me going 78 mph.

6.  Having a gladiator husband, who also doubles as a cowboy and farmer. *sigh*

7.  Having a gladiator/cowboy/farmer husband that loves to play paper planes with a 9 year old little girl and takes her to dentist appointments and then to eat Chinese food.

8.  Having a 9 year old little girl that says the egg drop soup at the Chinese place is almost as good as mine.

9.  Watching my gladiator/cowboy/farmer husband do the Risky Business slide almost every single day on our wood floors.  It makes me smile every time.  One day he will fall.  I would have fallen the first time.

10.  Not cooking supper the week of Thanksgiving and having a family that is totally okay with that.

~~ Gena

Thankful Series

I missed yesterday.  Yesterday was madness.  Tons of appointments, phone ringing off the hook, court, one child with an appointment at the dentist, lunch with the other, visits from hubby and both children and typing up a bill for a client that is going to be more than most people's mortgage.  Sorry about that.  I will TRY to throw in an extra. :)

TODAY, however, I am thankful for:

1.  My daughter making two (2) pecan pies last night.  She is Nine.  She rocks.

2.  Lunch with my son yesterday.  He is definitely not a little boy anymore :(  He ordered caesar salad and shrimp bisque like a grown person. *sigh*

3.  Not having to go back to the grocery store for anything with which to prepare Thanksgiving, as the grocery store will be a very scary place from now until Thursday.

4.  Friday lunch dates with my husband.

5.  Fried rice and chopsticks.

6.  Moscato.

7.  The glorious full moon that we had on Sunday night.

8.  Being the first people in our neighborhood/community with Christmas lights up.

9.  Cinnamon.

10.  Wet autumn leaves.

~~ Gena

Thankful Series

Today I am thankful for:

1.  Wool socks.

2.  Scarves.

3.  Crocheted or knitted hats/toboggans.

4.  Insulated leather gloves.

5.  Boots.  All of them.

6.  Rainbows.

7.  Sweet tea with lemon.

8.  Farmers.

9.  Horses.

10.  Tractors.

~~ Gena

Thankful Series

Today I am thankful for:

1.  Leaving work at lunch yesterday.

2.  Having gainful employment.

3.  Awesome Cousins-in-law ;-)

4. Mylanta and Pepcid (can someone say gallbladder issues?) :(

5.  A husband that VOLUNTEERED to go grocery shopping with me for Thanksgiving. Muhahahaha.

6.  Family photos.

7.  Gingerbread lattes.

8.  Christmas ornaments made by my children.

9.  My big, soft, comfy bed.

10.  Sleeping late.

~~Gena

Thankful Series

I am digging this thankful series.  I will try and continue it through Thanksgiving :)

Today I am thankful for:

1.  Daylight savings time.

2.  The sunrise.

3.  The sunset.

4.  Hot coffee on cold mornings.

5.  The smell of rain in the fall.

6.  Sewing machines.

7.  Sunglasses.

8.  Mulled apple cider.

9.  Eggnog.

10.  Christmas music.

~~Gena

Thankful

Yesterday I posted a list of ten things that I am thankful for.  I think I will do that again today.

I am thankful for:

1.  Being Southern.

2.  My church family.

3.  Being healthy.

4.  Having healthy children.

5.  Thinning shears.  Truly.

6.  Sitting by a fire.

7.  The smell of a fire.

8.  The glorious oak tree on the ridge behind my house.

9.  My son being a senior in high school.

10.  The mountains.

~~Gena

Thankful

Today I am thankful for:

1.  My salvation.

2.  My family.  All of them.

3.  Warm sunshine.

4.  Cool breezes.

5.  The smell of hay.

6.  Leaves in the fall.

7.  Flowers.  All of them.

8.  The sound of my children laughing.

9.  The ability to sing and play guitar

10.  Big strong arms to hold me tight.

What are ya'll thankful for?

~~Gena

Talent Auction

Our Church has an annual talent auction every year where we auction off our talents for the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, which is used by the Southern Baptist Convention to support our international missionaries.  

I decided that I would auction off my talent in the form of some Christmas cheesecakes a couple of quilts.

I am open to suggestions, too.  I asked my neighbor, Audrey, if it would be better to donate cheesecake vouchers or actual cheesecakes and was told that the actual cheesecakes would probably sell for more money, since people would be going to Christmas parties and such.  

How about an eggnog cheesecake in a gingerbread crust? YUM.  Do ya think that would go for a hefty price at auction, or is it just me since I think eggnog is one of the greatest things ever and should be its own food group???

As far as the quilts go, I have one ready for binding and another quilt top finished that is ready for the quilt sandwich.

Here is the almost done quilt ready for binding:

This was made with precuts from Moda "Swanky" by Chez Moi.  I quilted 1/4" on either side of the seams in a standard grid pattern.  Nothing fancy, but a pretty and functional quilt that will hopefully keep someone warm as well as fetch a good price to help spread the Gospel overseas.  Since the blocks are a standard 10 inches, it would measure roughly 50x60....minus the seam allowances, that is.  I could have added it up and did the math but.... well, I just  didn't. :)

Don't forget to leave me some comment suggestions about the cheesecakes!

~~Gena