Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Thanksvember :)

Growing up with my momma, she always drilled into my head the importance of being thankful.  I've always loved Thanksgiving, not just for the food & being around family; but because it reminds people the importance of thankfulness.  In undergrad I had an AMAZING professor (Dr. Slattery) that suggested in class one thanksgiving for us to take the month & think of something each day to be thankful for.  I've done something similar with my family, but usually it's just the week of thanksgiving, so each November I try to stretch it for the whole month.

So this November I'd like to challenge everyone to remember how many things there are to be thankful for, and spread the good and find something you are thankful for each day; whether you post it on a blog, facebook, twitter, email, a journal, or you just say it out loud to yourself.  Take a minute each day to remember to be thankful. 

If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.

Best October EVER :)

So I had an obviously BUSY October, seeing that I didn't blog once---I know shame on me.  So here is a quick update on the events of October <3

So October has always been my favorite month, but this October obviously takes the cake. :D

October 1, I experienced my first college football game as Steve & I (& Rachelle & Rob) went to a UGA game. (Thanks Sean Canavan) SO much fun!  It was great to experience a piece of Steve's past with him, see where he went out during college & hearing all the stories...Feeling the excitement of the GA fans, I got totally sucked in. :)


October 2, my amazing girls threw us an amazing couples shower!  It was perfect time for us to celebrate with some of our closest friends & a good chance for some of Steve's & my friends to meet. 

Weekend of October 8-9, I had my bachelorette party weekend at Helen.  It was so much fun & definitely a weekend I will never forget.  We made our version of the 'hangover', without a doubt.  So many laughs & crazy/amazing stories!! <3


My family came in Friday October 14, & it was so good to have them there to help me through the craziness.  (My mom, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, aunt, cousin, & sister.) Without them I wouldn't have been able to get all my last minute things taken care of & I would have had a HUGE melt down with the way things started to go a little sour the day before the wedding.  Also that day my amazing in-laws threw our rehearsal dinner, which was amazing!  Stay tuned for the montage Rachelle put together of Steve & I, I will post it soon.

FINALLY it's October 15, 2011 & everything went AMAZING!!!  The unbelievable amount of support that we received that day to help it all go off without a hitch is amazing!! It was a day that I will never forget, and thanks to our great team of photographers/videographers (Raymond, Taylor, Jeff, & Say Yes to the Dress) I will be able to relive it over & over.  I wrote a previous blog about this, but everyone from stranger to friend truly came together to help us have such a special day, and we couldn't thank everyone enough.

So that very next week, October 17, Steve starts his trial medication & I go back to the real world.  We are so grateful for Steve to have the opportunity to be on this trial, but it was a rough week for him.  The way it will happen is Steve will go into Emory for 5 days in a row & have 22 off.  Those 5 days he receives an IV of the medication, which is a painful & long process.  This continues for up to 6 months, and then we find out the next step then.  Steve has a great attitude that despite the pain & inconvenience of this process that he knows it is an opportunity for a cure for ALS, and is willing to sacrifice any of his time to help with this process. 

October 22, is the walk for ALS.  The walk was a huge success & we had a great group of people there to support Steve.  I was so proud of him the walk was 2.5 miles through Atlanta, up & down hills, & he made it the whole way only needing 2 breaks!  This was such a success for Steve (especially for the sudden drop in temperature) & was a huge encouragement.  :)
The rest of that weekend with lots of help, we began the process of trying to organize our house.  This one stay tuned for because when it actually is done, I will post pictures :)  May take me a while ;)


October 26 = Happy Birthday Steve! I nominated myself for wife of the year for the whole birthday I threw him, but main reason was me cooking his steak! ;) (ew.)

Surprisingly we find out we have tickets for the Georgia/Florida game October 29. For those of you who don't live in the south let me fill you in.  This game people go CRAZY for; they are huge rivals & Florida has won the past 18 games they've played against each other.  The game was in Jacksonville, so after receiving the tickets (Thank you again Tori) Steve & I jump on to finding a hotel, and we left for Jacksonville Friday after work.  It was another amazing experience & not just because Georgia won!  It was a blast & it's always great to see things that are spur of the moment come together & turn out well.  I'm also starting to think maybe Steve & I being at GA games brings good luck (so keep the tickets coming ;)) 

Of course in between all these events there has been work & lots of other social things going on, and I must say Steve & I are surrounded by the most amazing people ever & without them this month wouldn't have been so special or fun.  We never take a minute of friendship/family relationship for granted, but that's a whole other blog.....