Happiest of Thanksgivings to my Yankee friends! 🙂

I was so excited to waken to this gorgeous winter wonderland!!! I scrambled out of bed, donned hat, scarf, gloves, jeans, two jackets, wool socks and boots, and off I went to explore this beautimous morning.

I trudged happily through the fluffy drifts and was soon coated in a thin layer of snow. I gaped at snow-covered trees, delighted in orange berries with their snow caps, and sighed in rapture at a stream smooth like black glass, bordered with lacy white branches.

It was wonderful!!! Now I’m back home, sipping coffee, eating crisp maple bacon and boiled eggs dusted with salt and black pepper, trying to warm up my numb backside.

I’m so glad today is Thanksgiving because I’m fairly bursting with gratitude. Not because things are perfect or easy – mercy me, they certainly aren’t – but because there is goodness in the midst of all the crummy stuff.

The last few weeks have been very rough.  I’m in constant pain these days, but I discovered that a glass of wine or a shot of Bailey’s does wonders for relaxing the achy bits and giving me some reprieve. So thank you wine makers and Bailey’s brewers of the world!

I’ve been missing my siblings and extended family so much, but I’m turning 36 this weekend and am SO happy that I get to spend it with two of my three brothers, my sis-in-law and a houseful of beloved cousins. I can’t stop smiling. 🙂

I’m thankful for other things too:

• a heater, a heating pad, and a fireplace that makes me feel warmer even if it just has candles in it.
• windows that look out onto woods so I can see this winter fairyland from any room in my house.
• a library that lets me get fabulous movies, books, audio books and music for FREE. How amazing is that?
• my parents for letting people they don’t even know come over for Thanksgiving, just because they’re my friends.
• wool socks that look like they were knitted by cute Scandinavian grandmothers.
• red candles that drip and make me feel like I live in an Italian restaurant.
• the best friends and family a girl could ever hope for.
• old family recipes that taste the same every year and carry the most treasured memories.

And I’m grateful for you. X Thank you for loving and supporting me through this first year of my little blog. You brighten my life every day.

Happy Thanksgiving to you! I’d love to hear what you’re thankful for today. 🙂