Tuesday, November 21, 2017

A 15 year milestone this Thanksgiving week...

Happy Thanksgiving week to all of my American readers! This is one of my favorite weeks of the entire year - I rarely take vacation days in the summer, and instead use them at Thanksgiving and Christmas to take an entire week off. So I'm home this week, watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel, crocheting in my jammies, drinking tea, creating a dance choreography in the middle of my kitchen...and all while having the house blissfully to myself.

💃

The kids still have school until Thursday, and as much as I love them, I also love being able to hear the thoughts running through my own head, and being uninterrupted as I do...well, *anything*. GLORY.

I've also been reading, and I'm preparing for our first Advent Book Club post late next week, horray! I own the book in print, but sadly I may need to buy it for Kindle due to my eyes' inability to enjoy print books anymore, ugh. FYI for those of you not in the Facebook group where I already posted this, but Kindle Paperwhites are $30 off this week for Black Friday! I snagged one for Henry. 😎

So, I'm reading, but finishing up another book before I start The Christmas Quilt. I'm also coming up against the Christmas crafting deadline, and crocheting and knitting my little heart out. I need to finish a shawl and a scarf, and start on (yikes!) a pair of mittens and 2 coffee cup cozies. And maybe some dish cloths. It's doable, but I must stay focused. 😳

We're hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house, so Mike and I are also busy with food planning and preparation. It's a lot going on, but in the best way possible. I love it.

In the midst of all this, Mike and I are celebrating a personal milestone - November 22nd marks the 15th anniversary of our first date. Back in 2002, we met the weekend prior at a gathering hosted by mutual friends. He set up the double date that week, and we went out on what was a Friday that year. It's also the feast of St. Cecilia, my confirmation patron!

*virtual fist bump to the communion of saints*

We became engaged in the autumn of the following year, and were married just over a year after that, in January 2005. Even though this dating anniversary is a much more informal event to commemorate, we still look back on that time very fondly because of the loving involvement of our friends, who are now also married. I almost didn't make the party that weekend because I was scheduled to visit my sister, brother-in-law and nephew for his birthday on November 15th, but a storm on the east coast prevented the trip. And so I met Mike instead.

Our first date was at a restaurant called Cecelia's (I'm not making this up, she's clearly a busy woman up there in heaven), and we go to dinner there often for date nights. Ever since our 10th wedding anniversary, we've started going to Cecelia's every November, on the Tuesday evening prior to Thanksgiving, to mark our dating anniversary. The restaurant sends us a coupon for it and everything. :0 This year is 15 years, and that feels really special!

I remember being in my 20's and wondering if I'd ever meet anyone. Mousy wallflowers who like to read and crochet don't exactly attract the star of the football team, if you know what I mean. I dated a few guys, but not many, before I met Mike, and none of the relationships were long-term or very serious. I feared that my reserved, introverted nature meant that I would never find a companion with whom to share my life.

And then I met another reserved introvert, and the rest is history. :) 15 years later, I'm more in love with my husband than ever, and very glad that God brought us together. *heart*

What are you up to this week, dear readers? How are your Thanksgiving plans shaping up? I'd love to hear from you!

8 comments:

  1. Congrats on the first date anniversary! I've ordered The Christmas Quilt and can't wait to get started. I'm totally the same way with reading books in print -- for some reason it really aggravates my eyes. Everyone always says that reading on electronic screens is so straining, but I actually have a lot more luck reading that way. Anyway, I ordered The Christmas Quilt in print, so hopefully my eyes hold out a little longer. Haha, I sound like such an old man.

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  2. Happy Anniversary. :)

    I've got Christmas crafting to do to. Finish a shawl and then restart a scarf (for the third time). If I have time left I'll work on something for my new nephew.

    I'm organizing Thanksgiving this year but everyone is bringing something or multiple somethings. Still this is the week of grocery shopping. Yesterday, I was at Costco, today is a grocery store and tomorrow a different grocery store.

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    1. Thanks Melanie!

      I finished my gift shawl! *virtual fist bump* Onto mittens. :0

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  3. That is crazy about meeting on St. Cecelia's feast day and eating at a restaurant named Cecelia! What are the odds?!!?

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  4. I was doing a search on Chaplets and came across your blog, and FB page (I requested to join). What a wonderful blog! Thank you for posting such great stuff.

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    1. I just approved you, hee! So glad to have you here!

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