Gratitude

source

Happy Thanksgiving! What a wonderful day to celebrate all the things we are thankful for. I'm especially grateful for my mother for giving birth to me on Thanksgiving 25 years ago. Sorry you had to spend your holiday at the hospital, Mom! Taking our blessings for granted is easy to do, but we all know how much better life is when we are grateful. Sometimes just that change in perspective can turn a bad day or situation around. Here is one of my favorite quotes on gratitude:

"Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love." - Thomas S. Monson

I can always feel God's love when I remember all that he has blessed me with. How could I not? A lot of you have been posting something you are grateful for every day this month which has been fun to read. I decided to just do a month's worth in one post. So here are 26 (of the many) things I am grateful for in my life.

1. God - of course, he has given me everything

2. A husband who loves me 

3. A beautiful daughter who is healthy and happy

4. The rest of my family  - My Mom, Dad, brother, and sister

5. My amazing friends

6. Heating and air conditioning - seriously how did people live in Phoenix before A/C??

7. Food, glorious food

8. My cell phone 

9. My good health

10. My ability to exercise and be active

11. Coke Zero, oh how I love my Coke Zero

12. Disposable diapers

13. Epidurals

14. All the places I've traveled to (so far)

15. Christmas - I know it's Thanksgiving...but Christmas!

16. Birthdays

17. Our car that functions well and is all paid off

18. BYU - besides getting a good education, I met Tyler there!

19. Health insurance

20. Tyler's job, the source of all our income

21. Getting to be a stay-at-home mom

22. Good music

23. My home

24. Summers and Falls

25. Electricity

26. Knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ


I could go on all day but I won't do that to you. I hope you enjoy feasting and counting all the blessings you have today. And hey, indulge in that second (or third?) piece of pie, you deserve it! 

Birthday Weekend

I turned 25 on Sunday. I hate when my birthday is on Sunday because we don't go out or anything but the the upside is I got to celebrate on Saturday as well, 2 days instead of 1! Tyler always does a great job at making me feel extra special on my birthday. On Saturday we went to to see the new Hunger Games movie while we left Lizzie with some friends of ours, they're the best! It was nice to have a little date, just Ty and I. After the movie, Ty put Lizzie down for a nap while I went to get a manicure. I never pamper myself so it was really nice to relax and get my nails done all cute. What do you think?

We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner, delicious! It was a fun day. On Sunday Ty got up with Lizzie so I could sleep in and made breakfast. Instead of asking for a fancy breakfast, I just wanted blueberry muffins. And that is what I got, yum!

We went to church but had to leave early because Lizzie was super cranky, boo. In the afternoon we took Lizzie to the park; it was a beautiful 80 degrees outside!

Outfit details:

shirt - Charlotte Russe

skirt - Forever 21

peep toe pumps - Jessica Simpson 

Ty made dinner that night and even baked me a birthday cake! What can I say, I picked a good hubby. 

It was a fantastic weekend! I'm truly grateful for amazing family and friends who thought about me on my birthday. 24 was a good year, and I'm sure 25 will be even better.

Family Pictures 2015

We finally had family pictures taken! We went up to the Salt River which is located in the Tonto National Forrest; it was so beautiful there. About 4 other groups were getting pictures taken there, so it's definitely a popular photography location. Lizzie just wanted to run around and explore, so she wasn't happy when we made her sit still for pictures. Consequently, we didn't get many pictures of her smiling. Oh well...there's always next year (haha).  If you want to see my outfit details I have posted them here. Ok, here are some of our pictures!

Outfit for Family Pictures

Thank goodness it was cool enough to wear fall clothes! Here are just some details of the outfit I wore for our family pictures:

Sweater - Nordstrom

Leggings - Nordstrom

Boots - Franco Sarto

Casual Weekday Outfit

Just an outfit of the day post for ya! One of my dear friends was kind enough to give me this top. Chambray has been popular this fall, and I like it! It can be worn in many ways, but I mostly like to wear it with leggings. And boots are always a good idea. Outfit details below.

Chambray top - Target

Under shirt - Down East Basics

Watch - Guess

Leggings - Athleta

Boots - Forever Young Shoes

Thanksgiving Dishes

I've hosted Thanksgiving the last 2 years and as stressful as it can be, I actually enjoyed doing it. The first year wasn't as fun because I was pregnant, had morning sickness, and no one knew about it yet so I couldn't even complain out loud. The second time, however, was more enjoyable. This year will be a more laid back Thanksgiving for us, but I want to share some of the recipes I have used for Thanksgiving dinner for those who need ideas!

Citrus Sage Turkey - The star of the show. I got this recipe from my Tyler's cousin. I loved it so much the first Thanksgiving I made it, I had to make it the second time around. My mom, who is usually picky about turkey dryness, commented how it wasn't dry at all. Yay!

Green Bean Casserole - I thought this recipe was too simple to be that good but I got a lot of compliments on it.

Mashed Potatoes - I purposely looked for a crockpot recipe because I only have 1 oven! This is good even without gravy, but gravy is never a bad idea right?

Sweet Potatoes - My favorite dish! My mom makes a spectacular one she got from Williams - Sonoma. I found it online for you, it's so good!!

Rolls and Pies - I'm not going to lie, I did not make these myself. Maybe in the future I will! But I can give a great recommendation of where to get good ones. Kneaders has my favorite rolls that aren't homemade and their pies are fantastic. If you don't feel like baking roll or pies, try Kneaders!

Stuffing- I didn't make the stuffing from scratch either, so if anyone has a great stuffing recipe please share! I just bought the Mrs. Cubbison's brand which was great! But I'm sure a homemade one would be even better.

It wasn't necessarily a fancy dinner but it all tasted great. Good luck cooking for your next Thanksgiving!


photo sources:
 http://www.google.com/imgres?q=thanksgiving+turkey&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&tbo=d&rls=en&biw=1290&bih=658&tbm=isch&tbnid=Pf4WlxJ0IIQYmM:&imgrefurl=http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/thanksgiving/index.html&docid=YvPRsuUSXIIL0M&imgurl=http://img.foodnetwork.com/FOOD/2010/11/23/BT0809H_roasted-thanksgiving-turkey_s4x3_lead.jpg&w=400&h=300&ei=ohSlUJXlOoSnigL6TQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=4013&sig=104123007466545176665&page=3&tbnh=139&tbnw=175&start=53&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:66,s:0,i:342&tx=65&ty=88

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/sweet-potato-gratin-with-pecans.html?cm_src=RECIPESEARCH

http://www.food.com/recipe/green-bean-casserole-47102

http://lecremedelacrumb.com/2014/10/slow-cooker-mashed-potatoes.html

German Pancakes

This is pretty funny looking pancake but man, is it good! I still can't believe my husband had never heard of or tried this until he married me. Now it's one of his favorites! You know me, I love easy recipes and this fluffy concoction is definitely easy to make. You'll most likely have all the ingredients in your kitchen too. So, here it is, German Pancakes.

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

6 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F. Put butter in a 9x13 baking dish and place it in the oven to melt while preheating. Mix together flour, milk, eggs, When butter is melted, take out the pan and pour the mixed ingredients into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. If the pancake is fluffing up like crazy while baking, you're doing it right. It will sink down a bit when you take it out of the oven. You can top with it with powder sugar, syrup, fruit, or jam. 

1 C milk

1 C flour

6 eggs

¼ tsp salt

3 Tbs butter

Melt butter in 9 by 13 pan @ 375 degree. Pour in ba

tter. Bake 25 min.