~Thanksgiving Weekend~

One of my favorite weekends of the year just came to a close and it couldn't have been more fun!  Thanksgiving, Black Friday, my birthday and no work always make for a few fantastic days each year!  Add in a good friend's wedding, saying we had a fun-filled long weekend would definitely be an understatement.

At work we get our birthday off but because mine is over the Thanksgiving weekend every year I'm allowed to take the day before Thanksgiving off.  So, after only working Monday and Tuesday I was free for the rest of the week!  Logan had to work Wednesday so I spent the day helping my mom shop and prepare for Thanksgiving.  I love having that extra day off to enjoy the fun Thanksgiving vibe!

Thanksgiving morning we woke up and Logan ran to the store to grab a newspaper so he could look through all the Black Friday ads.  We're not typically huge shoppers but it's always fun to see what kind of deals are out there.

We relaxed for the morning by watching a couple movies before heading over to my parent's around one.  For the second year running I made these delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  If you'd like the yummy recipe let me know! 

We ate appetizers and hung out for a while before the big dinner at 3:00.  The food was amazing (thank you, mama!) and it's always a good time hanging out with the siblings and kiddos.  Unfortunately we weren't able to stick around for the annual Thanksgiving Bingo competition and the rest of the games but maybe next year!  

Around 4:30 we took off for Logan's family dinner and stuffed in as much food as our poor stomachs would allow.  It was great visiting his family and listening to all the Black Friday deals everyone was hoping to steal that night.  I had actually never been Black Friday shopping before and Logan hadn't been for quite awhile but with so many stores opening around 8:00 he talked me into stopping by Walmart to check out their DVDs.  We showed up around 8:10 and by that time all the movies were pretty picked over but we still got a few $5 Blu Rays so it was definitely worth the trip.  Since we were in Ft. Union we decided to run over to Target as well but the line to get into the store was an absolute joke.  About 30 min. after opening there was still a line of a couple hundred people waiting to get in so we gave up and went home.  We've been keeping an eye out for a good TV sale for quite a while and figured we'd have the best luck during the Black Friday sales.  We actually found a really good deal a few days before Thanksgiving and didn't want to camp out in any ridiculous lines for something that would only save us a little bit more money.  We upgraded quite a bit in size and quality and I know Logan is in heaven!  It's actually going to be our Christmas present to each other so I will save the pictures/details of the TV until after Christmas :).  

Logan had to work the day after Thanksgiving but it worked out okay because that's my day to set up Christmas.  Growing up I loved helping my mom set Christmas up the day after Thanksgiving so I love having our own little place to put together.  I woke up pretty early since my body is used to waking up for work still and took down our few fall decorations before getting all the Christmas things out.  I had so much fun pulling everything out again because I swear I had forgotten half the things I got last year!

I loved adding a third stocking to the ranks this year :) I know Eli still won't be here by Christmas but that doesn't mean I'm not going to stuff his stocking!  I can tell Logan thinks I'm nuts but that's okay. 

I love our tree again this year just as much as I did last year!  You might recall me posting about our brand new tree last year that had a short in the top of the top section so the lights were out.  Well, I had every intention of taking the tree apart after Christmas last year and returning it since it came that way but of course I never got around to it.  You can bet I was completely amazed then when I plugged the lights in this year and they all came on!  I should have known it was too good to be true because a couple minutes later they went out again.  It's a bummer but oh well.  During the day it's hard to notice unless you point it out so I'm not too worried about it.

I added one new advent calendar and 3 Christmas plates (courtesy of my great mom) but other than that everything is the same and I'm super happy with it all.  I'm definitely in the Christmas mood now that I get to come home to a tree every day!  28 more days!

Saturday was just as fantastic as the previous two days as it was my birthday.  I'm not typically one that enjoys blogging about myself but everyone made it such a special day I would hate not to mention it.  Logan was able to get a rare Saturday off (the first one in several months) so that alone was the best present I could ask for!  My brother was in town from MN the weekend before my birthday so we actually celebrated with my family while he was here.  They spoiled me more than I deserve but I think my favorite gift was definitely the Justin Bieber poster from my brother! ;) I'm pretty sure I said this last year but I'm the picture taker of the family so when it's my birthday I don't usually have many pictures.  We are definitely lacking in the picture department from my family party.

Back to Saturday...we woke up and got ready for a close family friend's sealing we were invited to that afternoon.  It was the first sealing either of us had been to other than our own so I loved it!  It was so neat to hear much of what we heard in our sealing almost 17 months ago.  They were such a beautiful couple and I couldn't be happier for them!  Congrats, Mike and Lauren!

After the sealing we spent the afternoon shopping.  Logan was fantastic and wanted me to choose everywhere we went since it was my birthday.  Our first stop was one of my favorite places in existence--Barnes and Noble!  I began collecting Children's Books when I was getting my degree a few years ago and have been addicted ever since.  I added several new Christmas books to my collection and was in heaven :).

 
  

 After Barnes and Noble we ran to the mall and looked through several stores with a little bit of success as well!  Our last shopping stop was another one of my favorites--TJ Home Goods.  I could spend so much money in that place.  They don't have all of their Christmas things out yet so I didn't find much but still had a good time browsing for a bit.

By now we were both super hungry so we went to dinner at one of my all-time favorite restaurants--Texas Roadhouse!  I'm pretty sure there aren't better rolls in existence.  We were definitely enjoying ourselves!

 After dinner we ran over to Mike and Lauren's reception to congratulate the wonderful couple one more time.  I loved seeing how happy they both were and had a great time reminiscing with Logan about our wonderful wedding day.

We finished off the night by heading home and watching Snow White and the Huntsman.  It was the first time for both of us and we were pretty entertained.  (Minus the part where I had a dream that night that I had delivered Eli and lifted up his car seat cover thing when we got home from the hospital and he had turned into an old man!  If you've never seen this movie then that probably won't make any sense but let's just say I was quite freaked out and VERY relieved when I woke up!) Many thanks to my amazing husband for how wonderful he made the whole day!  He always makes me feel so special and couldn't have made the day any better or spoiled me more!  As always, my family spoiled me as well and I am so grateful for them and all they do for me!  I think the best thing about my birthday each year is the following 6 weeks when I get to remind Logan that he's younger than me and was also born in a completely different decade than me, the young 90s baby ;).

Now we're back to reality and pushing through the grind of work and school.  I know Logan can't wait to be done with school in 3 weeks and have a break from it all.  I am now 31 weeks and love that I'm down to the single digits as far as weeks go!  After my appointment this morning (which went wonderfully--no new news), I am now down to two week visits.  I'll go to the doctor at 33 and 35 weeks and then after that it will be every week!  Hopefully between the holidays and more frequent appointments the time will speed up these last couple months I have left.

This is by far my favorite time of year with all of the holidays and celebrations so I'm hoping it will all go by fast like it always does because I have a feeling this little guy will seem way more real on the other side of Christmas.  Until then we are loving life and all that's been going on!