thank you, thank you, thank you kindly..

So much to be thankful for this year; this difficult, heart wrenching year that has seen its fair share of ups and downs.  In the chaos of our every day stresses, finishing up projects at work, and looking towards the new year, JP and I haven't had a lot of down time to reflect on our blessings.  This year we carved out some time to get out of town, and last minute car troubles not with standing, we got ourselves out of this here town in one piece!  Thanksgiving has always been a holiday my family celebrated in Iowa with my grandparents and cousins, aunts and uncles.  So many of us packed around tables that were set up in every room on the main floor, sometimes with not enough seats for everyone so we had to eat in a kind of rotating dance.  We always ate well, celebrated loudly and closed the festivities with pinochle; grandma of course always made her way to the top table and held her own there for the rest of the night.  My memories of those celebrations are beautiful, and even though I would give a lot for them to not be over, I wouldn't change them a bit.  Now we are moving towards creating our own traditions and discovering different ways of celebrating with both the old and the new.  What better way to welcome in the new than with a vegan celebration with JP's family in Utah!   This time I was feeling much better than our last visit when I was in the midst of my post-haitian stomach troubles, and I even documented a bit!  The food was amazing, and I could even participate in everything except the tofurkey which had the gluten in it.  They made gf cornbread stuffing, broccoli and rice, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and even a gf pumpkin pie!  Yum!  I could eat more at this celebration that I probably could have at others so it was definitely a win!  With four whole days (minus two 11 hour driving days) before us, we packed in the family fun time with, among other things, a hula hoop competition, bowling, friendship bracelets, vegan sushi, guitar playing, tree trimming, lights hanging and homemade hot chocolates.   We were busy, busy!  Oliver and Yin of course barely stopped to breath the entire time, taking in the pack of seven dogs the Berry's have, running around their two acre fenced in yard, and cuddling up to the girls who couldn't help but spoil them with love and attention.  O was passed out cold the entire drive home, and was so exhausted he didn't even puke while we were crossing the mountains, which is an all time first!  Now I am going to throw a hodge podge of photos at you, all of which encompass the fun time we had.  I can't believe we didn't get a group shot though!  Guess we will just have to return soon!

 

 

Which brings me to the blessings I was talking about, and of which there are too many to try to make a comprehensive list.  I'm so thankful, SO THANKFUL for my beyond amazing family.  Each and every one of my siblings and parents are stronger, more dedicated, more caring, more beautiful and more amazing than I can even believe and I am so incredibly grateful to have them to lean on and to prop up.  I can not express the gratitude I feel for being born into such a group of amazing individuals.  I'm so thankful every day that I am living this life with my best friend at my side, who I grow closer to every day, and who has given me so much of himself.  Though our paths were meandering, I am constantly surprised that we found each other not once but twice.  I'm a lucky girl to be sure.  I'm thankful for the Berry's for welcoming me into their home and holidays, and making me feel so loved and appreciated.  It's a great gift to feel so accepted by JP's family in so many ways.  I'm thankful for each of my friends, who all feel like family to me.  They support my crazy academic pursuits, listen to my woes, and cheer me on every step of the way.  In every way I feel blessed, and I am going to work hard to carry that feeling into all that I do.  Thank you for being exactly who you are. 

Perhaps you recognized the reference in the title of this post to the song from Amahl and The Night Visitors, one of my favorite Christmas stories.  In my head whenever I hear that song I can't help but think of my little brother Micah.  When we were younger he had a habit of belting out songs and substituting his name into the original words.  It was so endearing and sweet, and in a lot of cases pretty ridiculous (do the micahrena anyone?), so when I think of this song I hear "this is all we Micah's can offer you!  Thank you, thank you, thank you kindly.. Thank you thank you, thank you kindly..", and it warms my heart.

long time coming

I haven't written on here anything about my dad's cancer for a number of reasons.  Mostly, I think, it's because when I think about it is just makes me cry, and I'm not sure where it would all go.  BUT, today I am making an exception, because he just finished his LAST round of chemo and is doing amazingly well.  I am so proud of him and my whole family for staying strong through this entire experience, and allowing cancer to once again be in our lives without destroying us.  It's hard to describe how we made it through both my mom's cancer and now my dad's, and I am grateful every day for the support I've felt from all of the people in my life.  There are a lot of unanswered questions still out there, but for now we are taking the time to celebrate his accomplishment and to look towards the future with hope.  I thought I would share a video of my dad singing, which he is always doing at some point in the day, from my cousin's wedding we went to back in October.  My brother Joe is on the mandolin and my cousin Liz is on the guitar.  This is one of my favorite songs, Annie and I used to listen to it on the Keepers soundtrack when we were little, and one that my dad and brother have done at more than one family gathering.  Fair warning that it might induce tears!  You can find it here.

on the eve of our second snow

It's November!  We are gearing up (read making sure we have adequate breakfast supplies on hand) for our second snow fall of the year!  This one is supposed to be a foot or so starting at midnight, and JP is anticipating working from home...hence the breakfast supplies.  I've got a debate tomorrow in my genetics class, but other then that I am free all day!  I'm planning on taking the pups out for snow tromping, going to the gym, and coloring in my anatomy coloring book I just got!  Wooot.  Things have been nice lately, I only have a month and a half until I am done with school and I am dreaming of all the things I will need to review before I ever start PA school if I get in.  Tonight I scooted to the store all bundled up so I could make a special dinner for JP who has been having some frustrating days at work lately.   I ended up making spinach and parmesean stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon and mmm were they ever delicious!  I should have gotten a picture, but we scarfed them up too fast!  I wanted to share some pictures from our first snowfall which was last week.  It was beautiful and peaceful and everything a first lovely snowfall is.  Isn't that funny how you can be so inspired at first and then a week into winter you are ready for some grass again?

 

 In the morning when we woke up there was snow all over, and I let O outside to pee.  I think he had forgotten about what snow was cause he was super cautious stepping out into it at first.  Then he started licking it and was SO EXCITED that he could eat this funny white stuff.  As snow was falling from the branches in clumps, he raced around the yard trying to catch all of it.  It was hilarious!  The above picture is our yard that is completely covered in Oliver tracks since no one else wanted to go outside.

  

  

  

We went out for a walk, and all the trees (which had just recently changed colors) were so gorgeous with their colors all covered in snow!  The next day when the snow melted there were almost no leaves on any branches at all so I was particularily happy to have seen it!

 

 

We took them to the reservoir where they usually run around, but I was afraid Oliver would be overzealous and run into the icy water to meet his feathery friends, so we just sat up there and watched the geese for a little while.

  

 My two Louisiana natives were freezing even though they were all bundled up.  JP is wearing the hemp scarf I just knitted a few weeks ago, it's amazingly soft and comfy.  I might never go back to wool.

 
And here are our sad pumpkins that were munched by the squirrels the night after we carved them.