thanksgiving Archives - Moving Peaces

Thursday Three

December 4, 2014Samantha Gratton

It’s that time of the week. The time when I talk about three random things that have either happened or I have been thinking about in the last week and call it the Thursday Three. Because, come on, who doesn’t love a little alliteration? Ready? Go.

1. I’m thankful for Thanksgiving. We headed out to the mountains for time with the hubby’s family. This meant, we had a great meal with his grandma, hung out with our niece and nephew, did a little bit of hiking, found a few Black Friday deals (I know, it’s been years since I’ve gone shopping that weekend), ate way too many tasty snacks and started thinking about Christmas.

2. Ever burst into tears just because life wasn’t going the way you wanted? Yeah, well, that happened this week. I’m not particularly proud of that, but we can’t have you believing my life is all about holidays and an overload of awesome. To be honest, there are things I wish were different in my life right now even though I have a good life. I’m learning what it means to be okay with life not going how I planned, and that’s not easy. Thankfully there are no photos to show here.

3. Christmas is coming. We have officially entered into the month of December and are starting to prepare. When we were out in the mountains, we bought a tree, and last night we spent some time decorating. I was reading another blog the other day that talked a bit about Advent and how it meant “coming” in Latin. It really stuck with me, so I am going to try to instead of just thinking about how Christmas is coming to also think about coming closer to Christ this year.

Thankful Thursday Three

November 27, 2014Samantha Gratton

In honor of Thanksgiving, let’s make this Thursday Three the things I’m thankful for. Maybe it sounds cliche and maybe these things are of no surprise, but I still think it’s worth saying anyway. Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

1. I’m thankful for family. Flaws and all, family is such a blessing to have. I’m especially thankful for my husband and how well he loves me. Since getting married four years ago we’ve formed a family of our own that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’m so grateful for his patience and kindness, his leadership, his sense of humor and of course, his dashing good looks.

2. Friends make life more fun. Sometimes I just think we have the best friends. I’m so thankful for friends who want to do life together and friends who want to do more than just dinner a few times a year. We have friends who care for us and friends who make us laugh, and I am so glad for that.

3. My home is my favorite place to be. I don’t know that I’d flat out say I was a homebody–I like traveling far too much to say that. But at the end of the day, I love being in our home and am so thankful for it. We were fortunate to find a place in such a great location, near friends and just the right size. I love our little yellow house and am grateful we get to share it with others.

Thanksgiving Sundries

November 22, 2012Samantha Gratton

Thanksgiving is often a great time of gratitude and spending time with family. It can be a time of reflection. For me, it’s also an opportunity to think back to past thanksgivings to see where we’ve been and remember all the sweet memories we’ve been blessed with. Here’s a glimpse at the past five years of celebrating thanksgiving –

2007:The now hubby became the “Let’s be ‘it’s complicated’ on Facebook” boyfriend after a Walmart feast of chicken fettuccine and pumpkin pie with friends. In some ways, it was when our relationship really began.

2008: Following Thanksgiving with my family we agreed to a sleepless night of cheering on mall shoppers and handing out coffee as temporary employees of Rockin’ Shoppin’ Eve. Young and poor, we were thrilled to walk away with $175 at the end of the night but the ridiculous time spent together is what made it all worthwhile.

2009: I ate Shepherd’s pie and spent the weekend in Ireland with a close friend while on break from studying abroad in Greece.

2010: Our first married Thanksgiving started out a little rocky as we dealt with work stress but ended up being a great time in Dubuque with family and friends. We even had the chance to be tourists for the day in Galena and bought the earrings I am wearing today.

2011: In an unexpected turn of events, our family all seemed to make out of town plans that we couldn’t join in on, so we were adopted in for Thanksgiving with dear family friends. Later, we joined the crowd and good friends from out-of-town for some early morning shopping.

These remind me how blessed we are. The good friends we have. The opportunities we’ve had. The family and adopted families who love us. The start and continuation of our relationship. This year is a notably different Thanksgiving, as its spent in a new state, but still another reminder of the many provisions and blessings we’ve been given.