Thanksgiving break is over and I'm back to work. It actually wasn't as hard to go back as I thought it would be - probably because we didn't go away or do a lot over the break. Well, we did a lot of work. I wrote music like crazy and Charles did homework. Fun fun.

On Thanksgiving we did go out, though. We decided to go see a movie, if the cinema was open. Apparently everyone in KY goes to the movies on Thanksgiving - the place was packed! We saw Beowulf in 3D, which was pretty cool! And since we got there right after it started and had to wait around for 2 1/2 hours, we went to the Pub across the parking lot (which was the only restaurant open) and had appetizers (best battered mushrooms and onion rings ever) to kill time. That was fun!

It was fun to spend Thanksgiving with Charles, but I have to admit that I'm really looking forward to this weekend and having Thanksgiving with my whole family! Also, not being around my extended family and doing the normal T'giving traditions, I didn't reflect much on what I'm thankful for, which I try to do every year.

And it's weird to think that last year at this time we were serving a big dinner to 4 of our most favorite Aussie friends, giving them (at last for 2 of them), their first T'giving ever!! (sigh) Those are happy memories.

But I decided that I need to make a list of things I'm thankful for. I don't think I express my thankfulness near enough - either to God or the people who bless my socks off. So here's a little list. (It will be much more condensed than my last two lists - but I'm thankful for many of the same things, so you can always read my posts from the past 2 years if you have that much time on your hands!)

- I am most thankful for my salvation and that I serve a God who loves me unconditionally. I'm thankful that God is faithful and that no matter how many times I fall, He always is there with open arms to lift me up. I can't imagine how I must hurt Him sometimes but He never fails me. He continually draws me nearer to Himself.

- I am thankful for my husband. We are nearing 2 years of married life and it gets better all the time (in an over-arching kind of way - some days are definitely better than others!). Since last Thanksgiving, I have experienced the most difficult time of my life by far, and Charles has been there for me through it all. We have grieved very deeply together - many tears, a lot of anger, fighting temptations to withdraw within ourselves and shut the world out... but we have made it through! Charles held my hand and fought for me and has borne so many of my burdens. I am so thankful for this incredible man than the Lord matched me with. It's funny for me to think back over our last couple Thanksgivings together and see how far we've come. Three years ago we spent our first Thanksgiving together. He came with me to PA (which was monumental because it was the first time my parents had let me take a boyfriend on vacation) and it was one of the best weeks of my life - we had so so so much fun that week!! And now I get to spend every T'giving with him! I am so thankful!

- I'm thankful for my family. Even though I am not near them (and I miss them terribly), I feel like we get closer and closer all the time. I know that I have their support and their love and that they are always praying for me - and that they are praying for Charles as well! Words can't express my gratitude to God for making me a part of this wonderful family!

- I'm thankful for Asbury! It has been a place of great healing for me these past few months and I am so grateful that God led us here. I love my job, I love the community, I love the weather, I love the people, I am even growing attached to our little apartment! :D

- I'm thankful for St. Patricks Anglican Church. Charles and I are so blessed to have settled there. Every week I am blessed and challenged by the preaching and the liturgy. I find it so meaningful and beautiful! I love going to church every Sunday and passing the peace of Christ and feasting at the Lord's table - it truly is a feast!

- I'm thankful for all our Australian friends who mean so much to us and who loved us and encouraged us through our difficult time there, and who are still loving us and encouraging us even though we are back home. Our times with them in Australia are some of my fondest memories and I will always be thankful for them! I thank God for the opportunity we had to travel and work there and meet so many wonderful people!

I guess that's it for my condensed list, although I'm thankful for so many other things - friends, music, cheese, that I get to go home (aka BOSTON POPS CONCERT) in 1/2 hour... :D

And, whoever reads this, I am most probably thankful for YOU!

1) Kate left. She is a ton of fun! If we end up being family, that will be the coolest thing ever! I'm glad she'll be back for J-term.

2) Phil came and left again. At first he was lost, but then he was found. It's a long story and I lost some sleep over the whole ordeal. It worked out in the end, however, and we had a fun time with him. We played in the leaves (which are still falling), hiked a beautiful trail to a waterfall (more like a water trickle), introduced Phil to real Mexican food and American pizza, and showed him the heart of American culture - a Wal-Mart super center. :D

3) Yesterday the Registrar and Financial Aid Offices decorated for Christmas! It was a really fun day and really put me into the Christmas spirit. Normally I am anti- Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I guess since Christmas last year didn't really seem like Christmas at all, I'm ready for it a little earlier this year!

4) Charles and I are officially victims of credit card fraud. We got a call yesterday from AmEx verifying that we spent $2500 on home decorations. That DEFINTELY didn't happen. I'm glad they call if anything looks out of the ordinary. So we are getting new cards. We also bought a Wii, but things have been fishy with that. So we'll see if we actually end up with one or not.

5) We had some friends over for dinner last night and Charles and Jason took apart the refrigerator to swap the door hinges. And then, when the whole thing was apart, realized that they couldn't fix it. They had fun, I guess, but I'm a big advocate for not fixing things that aren't broken. Call me practical... I dunno. Meanwhile, Danie and I ate chocolate bread and watched them in amusement.

6) I'm really glad Thanksgiving break is here, and it will be nice to have some time to relax after having so much company, but I will be sad to not be with family. :( Maybe we will go to the races!

7) Charles and I are getting glasses today. Neither of us have gotten new glasses since high school, I don't think. He never ever ever wears his and mine have a huge crack down the middle of my left eye. It will be nice to have some new ones.

7) Shane DeHaven has got to be one of my favorite people ever. Not counting the fact that he and Amy are just AWESOME, and are probably my most favorite people to hang out with here in KY (and not because they let us do our laundry for free or because Shane is an amazing cook and feeds us all the time), but he surpised both us and Amy and got us all tickets to go see the BOSTON POPS play Christmas music the Monday after Thanksgiving!! WOOHOO!!!

8) It's November 20 today and it's almost 70 degrees outside. CRAZY! And there are still colors and leaves on the trees. SUPER CRAZY!! But it supposed to snow on Friday. It's nuts how fast the weather changes around here. But i'm not completing. I like the warmth.

9) We lost one of the keys to our house. Actually, Phil lost it. I think it's somewhere in the leaves. Not that it's a huge deal, but it's annoying to have to keep swapping with Charles, since we are never going home at the same time. I hope the seminary doesn't charge us a lot for a new one.

10) And most exciting, my parents and my BROTHER (!!) will be here in a little over a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they will be here for Christmas in Wilmore, which is a huge event and everyone says it's tons of fun! So that will be fun to do with them.

Yay for fun things!
Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a quote by the carpenter who has been here at ATS for 25 years:

"We may run out of drinking water, but we will never run out of stupid people."

Hahaha! Bobby, I concur.

Phil is coming today! We are picking him up at 10:30 tonight! I am so excited to hear an Australia accent again! :D

That's how I have been feeling this week for some reason - very bleh, very tired... on the edge of a headache... I'm so glad it's Thursday. Work has been... interesting. They are instituting a new health insurance policy next year that has got people all upset. I think it will be okay for me. Maybe. I have to go to the meeting tomorrow. But it's not very good for small families or for anyone with no money (which is pretty much everyone here). It's a shame that it is so expensive to try to get health care anymore.

I got new contacts this week. They are supposed to be the best on the market. But my left contact is fuzzy for some reason. It isn't the prescription. It's just fuzzy. And cleaning it doesn't seem to make a difference. So that's annoying. In a couple weeks Charles and I are getting glasses. One of my friends works there and cut us a good deal!

Rob's girlfriend, Kate, has been here since Sunday. That has been fun. I'd never met her before and she's really cool. So that's all good.

I can't wait til the holidays. And til my family comes.

Weeks are going by so quickly these days. It's hard to believe that Halloween (and October) are over and Thanksgiving will be here in a few short weeks. And then Christmas... oh my goodness. I've already eaten enough chocolate and candy for 3 holidays. In a couple weeks, Phil (from Oz) will be here. It will be so good to see him again!

In the meantime, most discussions as of late, have been about what to do for the holidays. I can't believe how frustrating this all is.

Keep in mind, I grew up next door to most of my mom's family and my dad's family is from PA, which is only 3 1/2 hours away - an easy afternoon trip. So holiday's weren't so difficult. We usually got to see both. We are in a much trickier spot now. It's 10 hours to my parents and 6 to Chuck's parents. So on a short holiday, it makes it pretty difficult to see either one. And there is little to no chance of seeing both. So it's been a frustrating couple of days trying to work everything out.


But on a much, much brighter note, I got some wonderfully delightful news yesterday! On December 2nd, the choir is singing for the annual Advent candlelighting service and they are opening the service with a piece that I arranged! (I don't know if I blogged about that before. If I did, sorry.) This will be the first time that my music is being performed outside of my recital. So I am super excited about this! But I was little sad because this will be the first concert ever that my parents have not been at. (In 24 years... I'd say those are some pretty amazing (and supportive) parents!) And I know I'm an adult now. Things are different. But that little part of growing up makes me a bit sad, especially since we are singing one of my own and I want my parents to hear it.
Well yesterday I called them to see what their Thanksgiving plans were (and to vent that nothing was working out for us) and then they told me that they really couldn't make it down for Thanksgiving (sniff)... because they both got off work and are coming down the next week for my concert!!! :D

So I am super, super excited now! I still have no clue what we are going to do for the holidays but things are looking a little brighter.

On that happy note - it's time to get to work!