Thanksgiving

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song." Psalm 28:7

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:1-5

"I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation." Psalm 118:21

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

On this day of Thanksgiving, I have a lengthy list of things for which to be thankful.  God's blessings are abundant...His ever-present and endless gifts of goodness, grace, provision, mercy, kindness, faithfulness, compassion, and love. 

This year I am most grateful for the traditions of my family.  I have been reminded what a blessing it is to see 60+ family members (from both sides) over the course of a 24-hour period to celebrate Thanksgiving all together.  We are so fortunate to live close by and for everyone to be in good health. 

My Mom's side of the family had dinner last night and we counted a total of 52 (and 10+ were missing!).  It was an amazing sight for us all to stand in a circle ( a...LARGE...circle) to hold hands as we prayed for our meal.  I can't imagine how Grandma, our matriarch and now a Great Great Grandmother, feels as she gazes around the room and sees all of the fruit on her family tree.  (As I just wrote down this thought, I remembered that when I was little, Grandma had a family tree made of wood that hung on the wall of her home.  Apples with each family member's name hung on the tree.  Let's just say that the tree is long gone because we outgrew it many years ago!)

Today we spent the day with Dad's side and feasted on a wonderful lunch at MawMaw's (all prepared by her for the most part).  I am thankful for her talents in the kitchen and for her willingness to generously give up hours (days!) to spend cooking so that we can have an amazing meal for Thanksgiving.  She even catered to my cousin and me by making gluten free versions of some dishes for us.  For only the 12 of us, we had 24+ main dishes and 8 different desserts.  It's amusing how she says every holiday that she needs a bigger kitchen because the food barely fits on her countertops.  Making less isn't even considered!  The most hilarious part is that she gets irritated when there's food left over. :)  We always have plenty of laughs and enjoy the entertainment Mawmaw provides.  

Pictures soon to come... 
       

Workation

While I probably could have been quoted multiple times this year saying that I didn't really take a vacation, I certainly have traveled a bit (maybe even a lot) to nice locations/resorts/country clubs for work.  Because these trips have not been all work and I certainly have been treated to multiple spa services, luxurious accommodations, and wonderful meals, I've realized that I should coin the term "workation" for all of my many work trips with aspects of vacation.  Despite probably needing to get away and clear my mind from all the clutter and "to-dos", I must say that I have really enjoyed some of my work-related travels...especially my trip last week to Georgia for 6 days. 

I spent the first part of the week in Greensboro, GA at Reynolds Plantation for a golf tournament I helped coordinate for some of our advisors.  I did have a few responsibilities once we got down there, but for the most part, I was on my own for a couple of days while all of the guys played golf.  I must say that I felt quite spoiled...nice room at The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, cable tv, high-speed internet, large bathtub, room service, chocolates on my pillow, and some free time!  I was so overwhelmed with all the choices that I found it hard to figure out what to do. 

   

The only sign of Halloween that I saw on October 31st at The Ritz

   

   

   Beautiful Lake Oconee in the backyard of the hotel

Although the mid-60s aren't exactly optimal temps for a beach day, I was so excited to realize that there was a small beach behind the hotel where I could enjoy the sunshine and work on my bible study.  I sat there for a few hours and savored every minute of it.

One of my "jobs" was to meet the guys out on the course a couple of times on the last day to try to get some good pictures...

This tournament has turned into a great event of friendly competition between our reps from the north versus our reps from the south (hence the name...North/South Shootout).  It's proven to be a tight competition each year and this one was no different.  The winner came down to the last match on the last hole.  All the guys who were already finished gathered at the last hole to watch the ending unfold.  I was glad to get a sneak peak of the final match and get some pictures on hole #18 with great views of Lake Oconee. 

After the golf tournament was over on Wednesday, a majority of us headed over to Atlanta for the three day National Conference that the new firm we just recently affiliated with (and has caused the significant workload increase the past few months) puts on every year. 

This picture below was taken standing in the lobby of our hotel looking up at all the floors/rooms.  Let's just say that I hugged the wall (and I was only on the 8th floor!) as I walked to my room and I certainly was not able to look over the railing.  The all glass elevators weren't exactly my favorite either.  Pretty amazing design, though...

They ended the conference with an evening at the Georgia Aquarium (the largest aquarium in the world).  We had the place to ourselves and were able to wander around through the exhibits before a delicious catered dinner with entertainment by a great live band.  

The next 3 photos were taken of a monster sized tank (we read that it holds 6.3 million gallons of water) that housed manta rays, whale sharks, large grouper, and thousands of other fish.  You could view the tank from many different angles and sides...quite an amazing sight.

  

New Jersey

I made a trip up to Wall, NJ a few weekends back to visit Sarah, Andy and the two girls in their new town and home.  They were very gracious to have me so soon after moving in and to have my guest room all set up, cozy, and freshly painted!  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a glimpse of their new life in Wall and just spending time hanging out and catching up (what we do best!).  Much to my delight, Sarah is as inclined as I am to make special outings especially for picture taking so we spent a fair amount of time outside enjoying fall activities and foliage.  My camera has spent more time in its case than not lately so it was great to finally play with it again in relaxed settings. Now that Sarah & Andy live back in Sarah's hometown, I was also able to spend time with her parents and sister, which was great after not seeing them for a long while.  I'll let the pictures tell more of the story from our weekend...

Their new neighborhood is very charming, established, and a great one for walking or spending time at the park.  As soon as I arrived, Sarah, Maddie & I ventured out on a walk to find the water access (above) that Sarah had been wanting to explore and we also made a pitstop by the park so Maddie could play.

We arrived first thing on Saturday morning at a nearby orchard with the hopes of picking apples and pumpkins.  It turned out that apple season had ended the weekend before (bummer) so we ended up enjoying a hayride, watching the girls run around a field of pumpkins trying to pick the best one, and savoring freshly made donuts at a local store instead.

 The girls seemed as interested in playing with dirt as much as picking out their pumpkins!

A few attempts at a nice family pumpkin patch picture (always amusing to watch the progression)...

See Sarah's version of our pumpkin picking here. 

Rather than picking apples, we stopped by the local store to "pick" apples (from a display) and to grab some of the delicious homemade donuts.  (No, I actually did not eat one. Still avoiding gluten for the most part.) Avvie savoring her donut below. Love her sugar lips! :)

After our morning adventures and sugar, we went for another nice walk around the neighborhood that afternoon looking at all the many houses with Halloween decorations and stopped at the park for some fun on the swings and slides.   

 Gotta love the dress ups on the playground!

  

The girls then rested with Andy while Sarah and I took a quick afternoon trip to the boardwalk to chat and snap some pictures.  It was a lovely time walking along (and on) the beach, enjoying the beautiful fall day, talking about real life stuff, and stopping every now and again to take a picture when something caught our eyes.

                        

We finished off our great day with a girls' dinner at Firefly, an inviting and comforable bistro in Manasquan.  Sarah's sister, Jessie, was able to join us as well and I was so excited to be able to spend some time with her.  (Missed you, Beth!)  It was the first BYOB experience for this girl from VA who was amused that you are invited to bring your own alcohol to have with your meal. 

And a few last photos taken of the girls before I had to head back towards home...

 Nothing like Sarah's homemade hummus by the spoonfuls (handfuls!)...

Thanks for a wonderful visit, Sarah, and all the fun pictures to show for it!