Thanksgiving Weekend

We are having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We started with a potluck dinner at a friends house, 18 of us together, each responsible for a part of the meal, grateful to have a large group to share it with. When I asked the kids what they were thankful for, the response was "a warm house" and "lots of food". True, I am thankful for those things too. I am also thankful for a wonderful family, people who love me and support me, people who always want what is best for me. I am thankful for my sweet, attentive husband, for the love and joy, the challenges and struggles, and the life we are creating together. I am thankful for the love of a Heavenly Father, and the forgiveness and grace I find in Him.

We have continued the weekend with family time... as I sit here this afternoon, our home is decorated for Christmas, there is spiced cider simmering on the stove, and soup in the crock-pot for dinner. We have played games, baked bread and cinnamon roles, watched movies, eaten large amounts of food, and sang along to holiday music. We have chatted, laughed, danced, and watched the snow fall.

With all of that, I can say that it has been a perfect holiday weekend. We are most certainly blessed, and I am so thankful for this time of year.

Good People Everywhere

There are good people everywhere. And I find them in the most random places. I was really craving a Ginger Ale tonight. I saw a commercial for one, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I finally convinced Josh that we should run to the convenience store (which is really only 2 blocks away, so it's not like we were going that far...). Anyway, we walk through Chevron, and can't find Ginger Ale anywhere on their shelves. We asked the clerk, and he said they didn't carry it; however, he reached under the counter and pulled one out. He said his wife had packed it for his lunch, and he didn't care if he had it or something from the soda fountain. We offered to buy another soda for him, if we took the one from his lunch, but he wouldn't hear of it. He was simply glad to be able to give me something that I wanted. How wonderful!

It was one of the best Ginger Ale's I've ever had. :) Yes, there truly are good people everywhere.

Friends, Family, and Going Blonde...

Today I had the privilege of spending time with Ms. Eva Jane! :) She was in Boise for a couple of days, and we were able to connect.

I had to cover for the team at work, so was committed to the office, so she came to hang out with me there. It was fabulous to see her! Thanks for coming to visit me, Eva!

After I left work, Josh convinced me to get a hair cut, and then to color my hair. So, shorter, and blonder...

The lady at the hair salon asked what kind of color I wanted, and then flipped through my hair. She said, "well, you're really over 50% gray, so I'm going to go with a gray coverage color." I knew I had a lot of gray, but 50%?!?!?

I even convinced Josh to pose with me. :)

Now for dinner (potato chowder, in bread bowls) and dessert (apple crisp) and then a good book. Josh and Donovan have commandeered the XBox for the night, so I think a nice long bath is in my future. :)

Rainy Days

This weekend has been pretty rainy. Today we decided to take advantage of it by watching a couple of movies. Josh is more comfortable sitting on the floor for long periods of time (a harder surface). To prepare for movie time, I piled blankets on the floor against the couch so I had something to lean against, and we watched movies while drinking hot cocoa and snuggling. :) It was fantastic! What a fun way to spend a rainy day, just being together. :)

Final Paper for Final Class

Woo-hoo!!! I just submitted my final paper for my final class... the only thing I have left to do in my MBA program is to finish offering the workshops, tally survey results, and write my results and conclusion chapter. I'll be working on that as of Thanksgiving weekend, as I should have had enough workshop participants by then to calculate results and draw conclusions. :)

I'm almost done!!!

Josh and Jaime

Pictures of us are hard to come by. Neither of us loves being in front of the camera all that much. However, at our friends' wedding a few weeks ago, the photographer caught us. :) They got their pictures back yesterday, and shared this one with us. I thought I'd share it with you as well!

Josh and Jaime - September 4, 2010

Broadway in Boise

Every year there are 6 or so Broadway shows in Boise. We hadn't had the opportunity to go to one previously, but a friend of mine had season tickets and was unable to use them for yesterday's show. So, Josh and I got to see The Color Purple! The tickets were amazing - 2nd row, right in the center - and the show was fabulous. It was a little different take than the movie... the vocalists were incredible! It was such a treat to see a show... we're inspired to see more!

This season's shows include Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, and Wicked! We'll see what we can do about getting tickets to some of them... :)