Thanksgiving Holiday Hangover

I had a pretty awesome Thanksgiving. Probably the best one in years. It has been way too long since I have been at my Grandma's house. My dad has a big family so it's always fun to see all of the cousins when we go to Missouri.  It was a 9 hour drive which really ended up not being as bad as I thought it would be. 

Things didn't go exactly as planned. Originally ALL of the cousins would be there. Now that hasn't happened in many many years! We were all excited! Then my brother found out he had to work and you can't really say no to the fire department. My sister left Louisiana and had to turn around and go back because her car was breaking down. So we ended up missing two people. =(  I really wanted to see them too because I miss them so much! 

There are ALWAYS lots of tasty treats and yummy food at Grandma's house!

With so many people you kind of just sit where you sit.

Grandma, Grandpa, and the cousins =)

Everyone knows that a trip to Grandma's is not complete without a stop at Bass Pro in Springfield. I don't know why lol. I loved it there as a kid and now Noah thinks it's totally awesome too. They have so mush stuff to look at and things to do there. I wish the one in Louisiana was half as fun. Maybe it's so awesome because it's the biggest? The had their winter wonderland area set up. I took this photo of Noah which did not turn out very well...

We had a great time and I can't wait to do it again! I ate way too much and laughed a lot. Now it's time to get everything unpacked and try to get the house back in order. There are Christmas decorations everywhere and lots of cleaning to do.... Welcome home Bailey family! =)  

9 years

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Tomorrow is also our 9 year wedding anniversary.

I really can't believe it has been 9 years. Things have not always been easy. We have been through a lot. Everything we have gone through has brought us to this point and our relationship is better than it ever has been. Now I'm not saying we never disagree. We have very different personalities and we probably disagree more than we agree =)  It's how we deal with those disagreements that matters.

I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. I love Joey. 

I love him because he makes me laugh.
I love him because he believes in me when I don't believe in myself.
I love him because he has sacrificed for our family and has never complained.
I love that when we go out to eat he already knows I'm going to ask to taste his food and he'll let me taste it AND also set aside a little bit for me.
I love him because he is super smart.
I love him because he helps me to not take life so seriously.
I love him because he makes me a better person. 
I love him because he is good at math and I am not.
I love that I can be completely myself with him.

I just love him because he is him.

I love looking through old photos of us. I have a box filled with letters we've written each other. They are full of hopes and dreams of what our life would become. A lot of those hopes and dreams have come true. Some of them have changed. We have added new ones. I know that no matter what gets thrown our way we have each other and we will get through it together like we always have.

Two Reviews

I've been trying to find time to read for the Winter Book Challenge. It hasn't been easy! I feel like I'm probably way behind. With Thanksgiving coming up and our trip to Missouri to see family for the holiday I know my reading time will definitely be compromised. I am going to bring books with me and TRY to read them. I'm not really hopeful I'll get much done though =)

Image via Goodreads

I actually received The Last Summer as part of the Blogger Book Swap. Fortunately for me this book was also on my book list for the Winter Book Challenge. The book started off really slow. There was a lot of time spent on explaining the back story of each character and about the island where they vacation each summer. Once things started moving along I started to really enjoy the story and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.

Alice and Riley are sisters. Alice is the younger sister. The story centers around Their relationship as well as the relationships they each have with Paul. Paul and Riley have been friends forever. Alice has always been around but not really included. Things start to change though as Alice and Paul struggle with their feelings for each other. How can they be together and not hurt Riley? Can they be together at all? Are the feelings that they have real? 

"Let me love you, but don't love me back. Do love me and let me hate you for a while. Let me feel like I have some control, because I know I never do."

I only wish that the beginning of the book was a good as the middle and the end....

I really expected more from this book. So many people say this book changed their lives. It's the best book they ever read. I just don't see how that's possible. To me it wasn't even really a story. There wasn't a beginning, middle, or end. You could open the book to any page and begin reading and still be able to follow along without missing any important information.  The book just follows Holden Caulfield's thoughts as he spends a few days in the city before returning home to his parents after being kicked out of school again. He tends to repeat the same things over and over again which gets annoying after a while. Reading the book felt a lot like having a boring conversation with someone. I kept waiting for something to happen. He criticizes everything and everyone. He doesn't seem to be a very happy person.  I kept wanting to say, "Stop complaining! Stop Whining!" If you want to follow around a depressed sixteen year old who cusses non-stop and acts more like a young child then by all means rush out and get this book now. If not...just skip it.

Reading Night

So last Thursday night I was getting ready to make dinner and happened to glance at the calendar and saw:

6:30 Family Reading Night 

CRAP! I forgot! I already washed my makeup off and had my oh so comfy pajama pants on... it had been a loooong day.  At that moment Noah came in the kitchen and said, "Isn't tonight Family Reading Night? Yes Noah Yes it is.

So I ran upstairs put my jeans back on and slapped some makeup on my face. I was sure there would be small children there and I didn't want to frighten them.

I am so glad that we went! It was a lot of fun. I really hope that the school does it again. 

They had an amazing story teller come in. She told several hilarious stories that involved participation from the kids. She was just fantastic! (I really wish I had taken my camera but at least I had my phone.)

Noah loved every minute of it. So did I!

They even gave us snacks!

They had a raffle and...

He won a gift card to Barnes and Noble!  Noah loves books so he was ecstatic! They gave away 4 other B&N gift cards. Super Awesome!

The fun didn't stop there. Every kid got to choose a book to take home and received a goody bag. Noah chose a Junie B Jones book. He loves them. Inside the goody bag were several book marks and two awesome book lights. One for the child and one for the mom or dad that brought them. The book light has a timer on it so they can keep track of how much they read each night. 

We had a blast!

Friday's Letters

Linking up again with ASHLEY.

I love Fridays but every time I talk about Friday that awful Friday song by Rebecca Black  pops into my head and I lose a few brain cells. I wish I knew how to stop it but so far there is not a cure. If I just made you annoyingly sing or hum that song I am very very sorry. If you have never heard this song DO NOT google it.Do NOT listen to it. You will regret it.

Dear Eyes,
I am so over wearing contacts. I want to wake up and see 20/20.  the lenses in my glasses haven't been replaced in years and my eye sight has changed a lot. I have terrible vision! Without some kind of correction everything about a foot from my face and beyond is a giant blur. So if I want to take my contacts out I have to wear my glasses.  Since my lenses aren't up to date in my glasses they give me a huge headache when I wear them.  If only I had perfect vision....

Dear New Vision Plan,
You suck big time! Really? You only cover $35 of my lens cost? Really? How can our medical coverage be awesome but you...you are NOT?!?  I have to have my lenses updated and it looks like I'll be paying a huge chunk of money to have it done. This is not okay with me!


Dear Coffee,
I'm not sure what it is but when it starts to get cold outside I drink more coffee. Every night around five I start craving it. This is not good. I've been trying to drink tea and not coffee. 1-because I'm trying to get pregnant and I shouldn't be consuming tons of caffeine and the tea I drink has less caffeine than my coffee. 2- because I load my coffee up with creamer and lots of sugar. In my tea I just add a splash of milk and a teeny bit of sugar...much healthier. Coffee craving go away!

Dear Sweet Bella,
Tomorrow you leave for doggy boot camp =(   I am going to miss you! A week is a long time. I am going to cry but I'll try to keep it together until I'm out of the building and in the car. Geez if it's this hard to be away from my pup for a week I don't think I can allow Noah to go away to college someday. I don't think my heart will be able to handle it.

Dear Thanksgiving,
Woohoo! I can't wait to see my family! Well most of them. I'm super bummed my brother can't be there but I'll see him and the rest of my family at Christmas. My sister and I have been our planning black Friday shopping trip. I don't care if we even buy anything, although you KNOW we will, I'm just thrilled we will get to hang out for a whole entire day! I'm gonna hug her lots!

I hope you all have a stress free and amazing weekend!

Blogger Book Swap

So... as you know I co hosted and participated in Sweet Green Tangerine's blogger book swap. I was IN the moment she suggested it. 

My partner was Kristy from A Happy Heart. We were matched perfectly! We had so much in common and I had a lot of fun emailing back and forth. As soon as I started talking to her I knew what book I was going to pick for her. She ended up loving it which made me super happy.

Kristy sent me The Last Summer of You and Me.

It was on my to read list and ALSO on my book list for The Winter Book Challenge. So it was perfect! I've only read a few chapters and I already like it. 

Participating in the swap was so much fun and I can't wait to do another one!

Up to Wednesday

It Snowed! It only snowed a teeny tiny bit...but it still snowed. Noah had to rush outside to go play in it. 

We went...

Noah really didn't want to go. He was afraid of falling. So was I! He did try it though. If you count skating 15 feet almost falling and then taking the skates off and just watching the rest of the time trying. We told him he has to try it again next time. I know once he learns to skate he'll like it. He's just scared of falling down. I had a lot of fun. Yes I almost fell but I did not actually fall. I'm by no means an expert skater but I don't have to hold the wall anymore lol. I'll still stay by the wall though...just in case!

We used our fireplace for the first time!

I couldn't find my baster anywhere. then I realized I could just use one of our many leftover medicine droppers.....

The boys have been watching lots of football.

I am getting VERY excited to go visit my grandparents 

for Thanksgiving! Woooohoooo!!!!

Have a fun Wednesday!