Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope you all are having a wonderful day full of love, family and delicious food!  

This year, I'm thankful for our health, my relationship with God, our families, friends, jobs, our businesses and so much more!  2016 has been very challenging at times but we are so blessed by God's mercy and goodness and are so thankful for all the good things he has given to us this year.

We are celebrating with our families today and then breaking out the Christmas decorations first thing in the morning!  Be sure to follow me on Facebook & Instagram for sneak peeks :)

What's Up Wednesday

Today is What's Up Wednesday and I'm excited to share a little of what we've been up to with you all!  We are just coming off our big trip to Texas and heading straight into the holidays so we are trying to catch up on sleep and get geared up for the rest of the year and all the fun festivities.  I'm sharing a little of this past month on the blog today and then after Thanksgiving I'll be recapping our trip!

WHAT WE'RE EATING THIS WEEK...

We are so tired of eating out!!! Seriously, it's not even a treat at this point.  We loved eating out on our trip but we're tired of eating out in our town and are so ready for some home cooked food.  Last night was my birthday so we had...

Fazoli's!  I know, not the usual choice but we barely slept the night before before working a full day after our trip so we just wanted something quick & easy!  We'll do my real birthday dinner this weekend when we can really enjoy it :)

Thursday will be full of yummy Thanksgiving food & then we'll be having home cooked food the rest of the weekend at home!

WHAT WE'RE REMINISCING ABOUT...

Thanksgiving last year!

How much fun we had on our Texas trip!

WHAT I'M LOVING...

This dress!!  I took the gray & black on our trip and love them!  SO comfy and perfect with leggings for this time of year.  They run a little big so if you're between sizes definitely size down!

WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO...

Lots of Texas!! 

Busy life in general.  We're so glad the holidays are here so that we can relax a little and just enjoy being home together!

WHAT I'M DREADING...

Nothing right now!  It's my favorite time of year!!

WHAT I'M WORKING ON...

New vlogs!! Have you seen my most recent one:  What's In My Bag: Fall & Winter 2016?!  Be sure to subscribe to my channel :)

WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT...

Lots of things!!  Christmas decorating, wrapping gifts, the holiday season in general.  Also, this is my last week of working full time at my current job!  I'm going to 4 days a week and will spend the other day each week working from home on our lawn care business, my blog and the other businesses I consult for on the side.  This decision took a lot of prayer, preparation & consideration so I'm nervous & excited now that it's finally here! 

WHAT I'M WATCHING/READING...

Watching:

Finishing up rewatching all of Gilmore Girls before the new episodes come out this weekend!  I am going to stay off social media until I finish them as much as I can so I won't see any spoilers of the ending!

Winter finales of all our shows!  Grey's?!  Brought all the tears and so did The Vampire Diaries.  We have so many Chicago PD/Fire/Med, Lethal Weapon, This is Us, Designated Survivor and more to get caught up on.  I'm super excited to watch all the Hallmark Christmas movies I've been recording too!!  Hallmark Christmas movies are the best hands on :)  We're also looking forward to all the traditional favorites too!

Reading:

The Magnolia Story

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO...

A mixture of the news and episodes of Gilmore Girls while I work!

WHAT I'M WEARING...

Lots of plaid & sweaters and boots!!

WHAT I'M DOING THIS WEEKEND...

Christmas decorating!! The weekend after Thanksgiving is always a weekend we spend relaxing at home, putting up Christmas decorations and getting in the Christmas spirit!

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH...

All the Christmas fun!!

WHAT ELSE IS NEW...

That about covers it!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THANKSGIVING TRADITION...

Getting together with family!!  I am so blessed to have the family I have and to have such a good system of love & support!

Birthday & Vacation Recovery

Hello lovelies!! It's my birthday today and we just got back from vacation at about 2am so I'm currently rushing to get ready before I have to head into work. Thank goodness for a short work week!

We had such a great time on our Texas trip & I can't wait to recap it for you all! I'm just trying to stay awake through my work day today so I'll see you all back here tomorrow for What's Up Wednesday!

What's In My Bag: Fall & Winter 2016

Today, I'm sharing the contents of my purse for fall & winter 2016!  I love seeing what other people carry on a daily basis and decided to give you all a peek into my bag today :)

Please be sure to subscribe to my channel & leave me some likes or comments on the videos so I know what you all like & want to see more of!

Birthday Wish List

My birthday is next week so I thought I'd share a little birthday wish list with you all today!  There's really not a ton of stuff I'm wanting right now but there are a few useful and fun things I have my eye on!

I am cold all.the.time.  My feet are like ice so I think these UGG slippers would be comfy and warm!  I love wrapping presents and am even hiring myself out to wrap gifts these year so I'm thinking these pajamas are perfectly festive for me this season :).  I'm looking at getting a new warm winter jacket and have heard great reviews about this one.  I love the white but I think the black one is more practical!  Do any of you have it or have other recommendations?

I am all about the scarves this year and think this one is so cute and I love that it is reversible!!  I need to invest in a new pair of black flats and these are supposed to be seriously comfy.  Nordstrom gift cards are always fun and I have my eye on this watch!  I had my eye on the original one and didn't get it because it couldn't count swimming laps and wasn't as reliable near water.  The new one has all the features I want so it's my big wish list item :)

Be sure to enter this great giveaway too!!

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Friday Favorites

Although I was very happy with our election results locally, statewide and nationally this week, I know that does not hold true for some of you.  It makes me so sad to see the reactions of people across the country to the results.  It is time to band together and realize that God's will was done, pray for our new leadership and focus on making a difference in our local communities.  The more goodness, mercy, love and gratefulness we put into the world, the more common it will become to receive it.  I truly believe that God has a plan for this country to get it back on a more moral and prosperous path and am hoping we will start to see that happen very soon.   No matter your political stance, please pray for ALL of our leaders.  I can't imagine the difficult decisions they have to face daily and they are going to need every prayer we can pray. 

Hacksaw Ridge

We went to see Hacksaw Ridge last weekend and loved it!  It was hard to watch, I threw my hands up in front of my face several times, but it was so worth it.  Seeing the moral conviction of Desmond Doss and his humble bravery was emotional, uplifting and a great reminder of the sacrifices our veterans make. 

I hear people say regularly that they just can't watch war movies.  I get that in a way but I feel like it's important to watch movies like this one so that we can't turn a blind eye to what our soldiers have gone through and so we can get the most basic understanding of the horrors they have seen and sacrifices they have made.  We cannot ever fully understand what they go through but by studying our military history, watching documentaries and movies and talking to the veterans we know, we can gain a better understanding and respect for what they have done.

 Festive Christmas Wear

I ordered this sweater and can't wait for it to arrive!  My family always jokes that I'm really an elf at Christmas so I think this sweater is perfect for me!!

Gilmore Girls

I'm so excited for the Gilmore Girls revival!! I've been binge watching all the old episodes and should finish just in time to see the new ones :)

Christmas Prep

Hanging out in my favorite aisle! I'm hiring myself out locally for gift wrapping this year so I'm extra excited about wrapping paper & bows right now!  I'm already plotting out in my head exactly how I want our house to look for Christmas and I can't wait to get started :)  I'm one of those people that believes trees go up the day after Thanksgiving and trees come down the day after Christmas.  Keeps it special!

Veterans Day

I shared this on Facebook last night and decided to share it here today too:

Tomorrow is Veterans Day.  With all the turmoil happening between political parties, I think it's even more important to reflect on tomorrow. In some countries, speaking out about your beliefs or against your government can have drastic and even deadly consequences. How lucky are we to live in a country where brave men and women are willing to fight for our right to speak our minds, live freely and have the right to participate in choosing our government.  No leader is perfect, we will all never agree on the perfect set of laws and policies to keep everyone happy,  and we may all have our complaints about different areas of government. Our society isn't perfect but if you take a look at the other countries in the world that are war torn, where women and children have no rights and are treated horribly, areas where Christians are persecuted, how can this not make you feel so very blessed to be an American? 

America isn't perfect but there is no other country I would want to live in. I'm so GRATEFUL, THANKFUL, and HUMBLED that our veterans have sacrificed their time, families and even their lives to continue to make this the best place in the world. America's worst day is a dream to people in other countries. Instead of arguing with someone over the election or social issues, posting something mean on Facebook or letting yourself become bitter, start making a change in the world tomorrow by thanking a veteran. If we all lived our lives with more gratefulness for the blessings and rights we do have, I am positive that we would live in a kinder and more respectful world. Veterans deserve the greatest respect we can give and we will never be able to thank them enough for protecting the life we're so lucky to live but a genuine thank you is a great place to start.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! 

GIE Expo + Louisville

I am finally getting around to recapping our trip 3 weeks ago to the GIE Expo in Louisville!   Check it out and be sure to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post :)

We left on Wednesday after I got off work so we were starving by the time we arrived in Louisville!  We grabbed a late dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and headed to bed.  (The chicken piccata there is my fave!)

Thursday morning we were up bright and early for the first day of the expo!  If you aren't aware, Jared and I own an organic lawn care & landscape company (The Green Peacock).  The GIE Expo is a huge event in Louisville each year attended by thousands of people from all over the world.  All the products you could ever want for our company are there.  Tractors, mowers, weedeaters, blowers, trailers, marketing supplies, snow plows, fertilizers & so much more!  The entire expo center is full of equipment & vendors and there is a 20 acre outside demo area where you can test out the equipment.  We love attending each year & this is where we test out and decide on any equipment we're thinking about buying the following year.   I also take advantage of talking to the vendors on the business management side to get ideas for that side of our business!

Checking out the equipment!

This place goes on forever and each vendor has a section they set up with their displays!

My daddy raised me right :)  #johndeeregirlforlife

Headed to the outside demo area!

Like the inside, each company had an area where you could test out the equipment!  So much fun with this sweet guy!

Thank goodness for taking tennis shoes!  I had super cute booties packed to wear but it was rainy the day before and the grounds were so muddy so I'm glad I had these with me to throw on!

After a long day, we visited with some friends of ours and then grabbed dinner at PF Chang's.  I went to college in Louisville and I miss PF Chang's so much!  Chicken lettuce wraps are one of my food love languages.

Day 2!  On the first day, Jared was like I wish it would really feel like fall and an hour later it started dropping and by the beginning of this day it was cold!  #thanksbabe

Bundled up & ready to check it out!

This was an ATV that you could also take in the water.  So cool!

The future of cars?

Friday night, we headed out to the Red/White Scrimmage for Louisville!  (P.S. LOVING this shirt for fall!)

Saturday, we had a tailgate for the 25th anniversary of the McConnell Center.  I was a McConnell Scholar in college and it was one of the best times of my life.  I am so thankful for my experiences and friendships that came from that program!  This is my friend Trisha and she's expecting her first little one!  It was so good to see her :)

Game time :)

We thoroughly enjoyed the game, grabbed some stuff at Trader Joe's (I like to stock up when we're in town), snuck in a quick dinner at the Cheesecake Factory & headed home! 

I am part of an awesome blog giveaway right now so be sure to enter:

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