Three Thanksgivings, and then some!

I ate turkey about six times last week, I think. First, on Tuesday the ladies in our life group cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner for the guys and served them over at Naldo's. There were a lot of people in that living room, which made it a lot of fun. Then, on Wednesday Matthew and I headed to Pella. We stayed up until about 1:00 helping his mom and sister cook food for the next day's feast. So on Thanksgiving Day we ate turkey again, this time celebrating with the Van Zante's. His aunt had actually rented a small meeting room at a hotel in town for the meal, and so that the girls could go swimming. It was so fun to watch their excitement as they kept running back and forth between the big pool and the hot tub. Swimming on Thanksgiving has to be pretty cool for a kid! And then that night Matt's mom, Arlene, made us some turkey soup for dinner. Round 3.

On Friday we had a get-together with Arlene's side of the family over at Ben and Michelle's, Matt's brother and sister-in-law. For lunch we had turkey again, but really, too much of a good thing ain't bad. It was all pretty delicious. We had so much fun that day with all of the nieces. There are five of them, all five and under- Hannah, Livia, Jaeda (Matt's brother Ben's kids), Elise and Rachel (his sister Kristine's). I'm really excited about this whole auntie thing! Friday evening, after everyone else left, Matt and I stayed with Ben and Michelle and their girls. We went on a walk together (the sunset that night was absolutely gorgeous), played Taboo with Ben and Michelle, and then after the girls went to bed the four of us just sat and talked for awhile, which was so nice. I really enjoyed getting to know them better. They wanted us to tell them the whole story of our relationship, which we did, and then they told us theirs. Michelle said something about how it's so cool to hear the different ways that God moves in people, and I definitely agree! Oh, and we had turkey sandwiches for supper. Round 5.

On Saturday we went to Amana and had another Thanksgiving feast with my family. I really loved being with everybody- Mom, Dad, Natalie, Kevin, Nancy, Matt and Me. It was the first time we've been together as a family since Natalie and Kevin's wedding. We enjoyed all of Dad's tastiest foods, and then went on a brief walk to work it all off! We went up to Cedar Rapids and saw the new A Christmas Carol movie (in 3D!). That story gets me every time. After the movie, I said, "I don't know about you, but I can't eat any more turkey. Let's get some pizza!", which we did, and after Pizza Hut we came home and Natalie and Kevin and Matt and I stayed up until almost 1:00 playing Mario on the Wii.

It was a wonderful trip, and now I'm so excited that the Christmas season is here! I just can't help but smile when I think of all of the fun things coming up in the next few weeks. And there has definitely been so much to be thankful for this year. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Hannah.

Matthew and Rachel.

Jaeda and Michelle.

Livia, drying off from fun in the pool.

Me and Elise.

Hannah, Livia and Elise playing dress up.

Kevin, Natalie and Nancy.

Playing ski ball at the movie theater.

At Pizza Hut...

My parents and Nancy. My dad is so silly!

this one's for you, Liz!

I have a confession to make: I have a girl crush on my friend Liz. She's pretty fabulous. She's a former English teacher, so she has an affinity for language and characters and stories and whimsy that I very much appreciate. Plus, she's adorable as all get out. I feel a certain kinship with her- I think we've struggled with similar insecurities over the years and it makes me feel a certain sense of ease to hear her be so open and honest about things she struggles with, whether she's overcome them or not. Plus, she's stinkin' hilarious. I've really enjoyed getting to know her over the past year or so. And now, added to all of her other attributes, she's a brand-new mom. Her daughter Micah was born just over a week ago. She was born 11 weeks early, and is an itty-bitty thing, but Liz's blog tells us that she's doing well, gaining strength, and they're encouraged. But if you all can pray for Liz, her husband Joe, and baby Micah, I'm sure the Messers would appreciate it. You can read all about their new little one on Liz's blog.

And speaking of women I admire... this is somewhat old news by now (I know, I know, I need to update more often!), but my dear work friend Elaine bid adieu to the arts council a few weeks ago to stay home full-time with her clan of Russian royalty (Alexander, Elizabeth and baby Catherine). Elaine and I got to be buddies way back in 2003 when I was a summer intern. We would occasionally go to the Pizza Hut/Taco Bell on Dodge and we would always share a pepperoni pizza and breadsticks. We'd split the third breadstick in half. Our lives were so different then. She had been married less than a year and had only been at the arts council for a few months, and I was 20 years old and was between my junior and senior year at Mount Mercy. Over the past sixish years, I've followed Elaine into two separate jobs, first as Arts Industry Manager and now as Grants Manager. I've learned an awful lot from her and I already miss her terribly. On her very last day of work, we thought it'd be appropriate to go back to the Pizza Hut and share a pizza. Oh, how are lives are so different now, what with her THREE children and me being engaged and all. I'm just happy that she's not too far away. I plan to go to her house for lunch every now and then to vent and brainstorm and commiserate about whatever's going on at the office.

So, the new job's going okay. It was a bit of a stressful adjustment, but I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable in my new role. I think it'll be good. I'm already learning a lot. It's definitely going to keep me on my toes, which isn't a bad thing.

And I'm going to try to not take too much blog space talking about wedding planning and what-not, but it's bound to sneak in here and there. I found my dress last weekend. It's beautiful. Sorry I can't say anything more, but Matthew will read this, after all. So we'll just leave it at that.