thanksgiving weekend

this break that we've been waiting for- it finally came!
i started my thanksgiving holiday early. i skipped shakespeare tuesday night, and was home and in bed by around 9. it was the perfect beginning to a delicious weekend!


wednesday i spent the morning looking for a cheesecake pan. literally 3 hours of digging through boxes in the kitchen. it was horrible! but i had to find it so i could make a gluten free cheesecake for our dessert night at the vandewydeven's. i eventually did find it, and made a pretty good cheesecake with it. it was actually real good for a first try! my favorite church service is the thanksgiving eve one. i love the thankful pumpkins, i love the beautiful cornucopias, i love how predictable the service is, i love the little ones who tell you they're thankful for their kitty, or their sister. and i love love love that everyone comes home. sitting in the back of the sanctuary with 10 people i love and rarely get to see, getting looks from parents to quiet down...nothing can beat that!
our family also participates in a little pre-thanksgiving dessert feast after church. we usually host it, but because of the move, the vandewydevens had it this year. basically, it's just 5 or 6 families getting together with so many kids (except we're all college students and almost adults now) and a ton of dessert. like 4 pies, cheesecake, brownies, fruit cobbler, cookies, and other desserts i already forgot. we just sit and chat it up for hours. so, so good. miss.kristen and i chilled together most of the time. it was wonderful!


thanksgiving is always spent at my aunt's. this year lynette and i did something new though- we ran a 5k turkey trot in huntington beach thanksgiving morning. it was for a cause my cousin hannah is super passionate about- clean water! so good! our run alone gave 4 people clean water for 20 years!! my brother flew in around lunch time (i am beyond thankful he got to come back!) and we all met at my aunt's. just like we do every year. we sat and watched one of my younger cousin's football film, shared ridiculous roommate stories, and played games. we ate. and ate. i had dinner at 4, and again at 6:30. and we celebrated! hannah and em have birthdays right after thanksgiving, so our day always includes birthday cake and presents too. i had a thankful post already. but i am so blessed, and am so thankful for those blessings! each day, not just thanksgiving! 


yesterday was hannah's birthday. happy birthday to my sweetest, most soft-spoken, loving, full-of-faith, beautiful cousin! i love you hanni!
we celebrated her last night with traditional italian pizza. except i had soup. but i still celebrated. and it wouldn't be an outing with the lew part of my family if we didn't get dessert. so we stopped for donuts and ice cream on the way home. so delicious! thanks for having a birthday hanni!


today is my sister's birthday. i'm celebrating her all day! (currently celebrating from peet's, where i'm supposed to be doing homework..) we're having birthday lunch with her at my mom's (paninis and potatos, with brownies) and birthday dinner with my dad (lucille's!). i'm so thankful for my little sister! thanks for having a birthday emac!


tomorrow's going to be an uneventful day. well, that's what i'm predicting. which is why this post happened today. i don't think there will be anything blog-worthy tomorrow. just some church, sushi, and picking up my best friend from the airport! lots of homework and housecleaning too..
my prayer for you is that you had such a thankful thanksgiving, full of family, friends, and delicious food.


ps. i'll post november pictures during a homework break sometime this week! i have lots to share!

12 things.

it's the season of thankfulness, and because it is the twelfth, i'd like to share 12 things i am thankful for with you! (they aren't really in an order. just what order i thought of them in!)


1. my family. all of it.

2. my roommates.

i'm sorry you've already seen this picture!

3. my friends. all of them. even the ones i might forget to put pictures up of!

yeah, this one's so old! and good! 

so silly.

 

my marathon runner!

4. the opportunity for me to have an education.

i may not always love homework, writing papers, and going to class, but i am so thankful for the opportunity to become as educated as i want, and that going to school is just the norm in my life.

sometimes we even get real clear days at school and they're beautiful!

5. grace.

i'm not really sure how to have a picture of this. and it is so amazing. i think i'm given grace a minimum of a thousand times a day. jesus gives me grace all the time. my professors give me grace, my family, my roommates. i'm so, so thankful for it!

6. calvin crest.

such amazing things happen here. whether i'm a camper or a counselor, lives are touched every time i visit. i'm so thankful for the space we have in calvin crest, and what happens on its campus. 

6.5- so thankful for katie and mer too!

7. clean water. 

as silly as it sounds, it's true. and trips to mexico and swazi remind me of that, and that water isn't something that should be taken for granted. 

8. airplanes.

well, they just take me to see people i love, even when they're far away! and they take me on great adventures.

early morning john wayne flights!

no judgement, because this was after just about 48 hours of traveling.

9. books. (and magazines)

i love reading so much! i also love that you can get books on ipads and kindles. and i'm thankful for the break they provide from real life, and the lessons you can learn from them! and magazines are so good because you can sit and take a little life break for 5 minutes with them. and real simple has the absolute greatest articles.

school books aren't quite as fun. but they're still something to be thankful for. (ps..could elise and my shelves be any more different?)

10. glutino's gluten free crackers.

there isn't a whole lot to this one..i was just seriously missing crunchy crackers.

11. online shopping.

i know, i know, but it has to be said. i'm thankful i can shop online because as a busy college student it is just so convenient. and fun. and such a great stress relief! 

12. dishwashers.

you wouldn't guess it. but after a year of hand washing dishes...i don't know how people used to do that every day for their whole dish-using career! 

my prayer for you this gloomy saturday is that you have time to pause, just breathe, and think of a few things you are thankful for as well!