I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance; a scene filled with flowers and friends. I asked him what kind of wedding he wished for; he said one that would make me his wife.
O'Donnell's



This year I am just completely overwhelmed.

I feel so incredibly blessed.  I've ALWAYS been blessed in my life, don't get me wrong.  Really though, look at all I've got this year.

  • A job.  A steady one.  A faithful income.  Awesome employees.
  • A car.  It gets me to and from my job.  Back and forth to see family and friends.
  • A house that is slowly but steadily becoming a home with all our love and finishing touches that are going into it right now.
  • A dog.  Who sometimes drives me completely mad, but is always there to give me kisses and lick up my tears.  He never judges me and loves me beyond what I can fathom.
  • Health.  I can see, smell and feel everything around me.  I can fully enjoy what God has given me.
  • A family.  Who loves me no matter what and is always there.
  • New family. Who accepted me in so easily to their already-made family.
  • Friends.  They are always there. Never judging.
  • A husband.  I think this is the one that puts me over the edge this year.  He went from boyfriend, to fiancee to husband in 8 months. He went from a boy to a man. He made a promise to be with only me for the rest of his life.  That's pretty awesome.  He loves me enough to make these vows. I love him more than I can even describe.
  • Faith.  The past year has shown me a lot.  Learning about God and Christianity is a life long process, but this year we started it.  First me and then us.  It's so exciting.  So enriching.  So. Awesome.
I know there is much more to be thankful for this time of year...but those are my top things.

"Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!" - Hebrews 12:28

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours this season.  Let everyone know you love them because you never know what tomorrow will bring. 

Love.
O'Donnell's
One of our wedding gifts was a lovely Oster bread machine.  I was so excited when I opened it.  Yesterday I unpackaged it and went out on the hunt for bread ingredients. 

I was a little intimidated of the whole process.  The instructions scared me. They talked about the importance of VERY precise measurements. Eek!  At one point after it told me the order in which to add ingredients into the pan it said "Never let the wet and dry ingredients touch."  Um, excuse me?  Don't they HAVE to touch in order to add them into the bread pan.  The picture even had the two touching.  Someone apparently didn't have a good editor look over their booklet...

Anyway! Here's my stash for making the bread for Thanksgiving at the O'D's!



Please excuse the picture quality... these were taken from my phone :)



I spent like what seemed forever measuring ingredients and adding them to the bread pan and finally got it
into the machine.




MMMMMMM... you know that looks good! You know you want some! ;)


Three hours later:




This is a one and a half pound loaf! Dense! It was late when I finished it, so I have yet to taste test it
but I will definitely have some with dinner tonight and let you guys know how it turned out. I am hoping
it turns out really good or at least decent because I have to bring some loaves for Thanksgiving at the O'Donnell household! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

________________________________________________________________

Other shenanigans this weekend included lots of returning wedding gifts and buying new ones! Hooray! Duplicates are great!  My favorite item from the weekend was our new Duvet cover from Macy's. We originally registered for one that we liked and it was on sale now for $199 just for the duvet cover. We purchased a different one we love for $39 on clearance!! Sweet!




And now for a close up!




Yayyyy!

It was a very productive/fun weekend!