Hey guys, Happy Thanksgiving! This is my favorite time of the year. Amazing weather, awesome food, crazy good smells, and everybody seems to be happier around this time. I don’t know if it’s the fact that they get more time off work, or if they’re just looking forward to Christmas and the slow cooker they made sure everyone knew they wanted. =] BTW, I don’t want a slow cooker… that was just an example.

[In honor of Thanksgiving] Things I am Thankful For - by Danyell

·         Music

·         Friends

·         Sweet tea

·         Green bean casserole

·         The internet

·         Really loud bass

·         Family

·         The smell of pine trees

·         Cold weather

·         A fireplace

·         Brown sugar cured ham

·         Emotion

·         My siblings

·         Girl talk

·         Really comfortable clothes that look good

·         My parents

·         Really cool hats

·         College basketball

·         Cell phones

·         FailBlog.org

·         Pictures[so I don’t have to memorize events, I can just post them on the back of my closet doors LOL]

·         Laughing

·         The bible

·         Singing

·         Song lyrics that explain my feelings better than I can

So I’m at my grandparents house, typing away on my little laptop, getting pumped up about my favorite brown sugar cured ham that I know will be present tomorrow. X] Oh yes, it will be amazing. It really cold in here, so I’m curled up in my slouch pants and a hoodie absolutely LOVING the fact that I am cold. I love cold weather. Almost as much as I love music. Its close… very close…

Last weekend I went with Mackenna on her church’s Family Retreat, and it was a blast! It was at beavers bend and it lasted Friday night to Sunday afternoon. It was freezing cold, but had some seriously awesome high points, my favorites being attempting to build and float a raft with the guys, wading/fording the ice cold river/creek with Mack, Spence, Riede, and Micheal[I spelled it right Micheal!], laughing my head off at the guys trying so hard not to let us trip and soak ourselves in the river/creek, staying up until the wee hours of the morning having almost scary in-depth talks with everyone. I saw a different side of a lot of people this weekend. I asked so serious questions and got some serious[er] answers, I answered serious questions, and laughed too. =] I love my friends. So much! So overall it was a very productive and entertaining weekend. I enjoyed it immensely.

On another note, I think we convinced my grandma that there’s no need for giblet gravy this Thanksgiving! I think only 1 or 2 people actually ate it anyway, nasty stuff. it’s gravy made from chicken or turkey guts, to be specific. Naaaasty!

Ok, I think my aunt sandy, asleep in the living room, is sleep-talking…

I went to Frisco with the Vaughn gals and me Madre and Sister last week. That was SOO much fun. Sharing chuckles with Hannah about funny restaurant names, getting almost ALL of my Christmas shopping done, finding some disgusting coffee mugs and trying to keep my sister from seeing them[I failed…], laughing about funny people in the stores, pining over stuff I wanted but couldn’t afford, making sure EVERYONE knew I LOVED that bag and would use it ALL the time if I got it for Christmas[wink wink], it was an awesome day. I got so much shopping done. I’m almost completely done with all my shopping! Yay! I love Christmas. I spend way too much money on people, but I LOVE giving gifts! I love the looks on people’s faces when I give them something I know they specifically wanted, or sharing laughs when I buy a gag gift that totally makes someone’s day. It’s one of my favorite things to do I think… give gifts I mean… an amazing feeling. =]

Life is pretty dang good right now. I’m happy because of the time of year it is of course. I’ve had a pretty good day today, it started with a massive headache that kept coming back even after drugs, but I got in a better mood after getting to my grandparents. I had a heck of a time trying to decide what to pack for thanksgiving day, yes I’m one of the crazy girls that tries on a hundred different outfits, then I got out here and went with my grandpa to see my dad and sibs who had come down earlier because they’re camping every night were here this week[Hard ground? Cold air? No heat? And they wonder why I didn’t want to stay in the tent with them…], my dad my bros my sis and my two cousins Joshua and Jayla are camping, and then we had to go dispose of a dead calf. My grandpa raises cows and he had a 3 day old heifer [girl] who for some reason died this morning and we needed to drag it off. Poor thing, I hate that but there’s nothing I can do I guess. It was a cute little black calf, tiny little hooves. =] I named it Pecan, in honor of the holiday. Is that bad/ ehh… I think it is LOL. Jeze… I’m such a softie. Naming dead cows. Feeling sorry for them and then chucking them off the side of a hill? That IS bad!

I cannot wait for Friday! It’s Hannah’s birthday and I’m so excited to give her her gift! EHEHE!

Ok never mind, my grandma was in there talking to my Aunt. LOL, that was funny.

Yawns, I need to go to bed. I came home from the family retreat on Sunday and slept from 5 p.m. until 6:30 a.m.! And I only woke up then because I had work! Crazy! Someone once told me “Sleep is for dead people”, and I agree, IF I’m doing something worth staying up for LOL, if not then sleep is UH-MAZ-ING.

“And so, with the scent of cinnamon and spice alive in her nose, and the warmth of the holiday spirit in her heart, she slipped into sleep and into her dreams, where she was already enjoying the brown sugar cured ham stored in the icebox for the festivities in the morrow…” - An excerpt from the critically acclaimed book by best-selling author, Danyell Frankland.

Goodnight guys. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Sweet dreams…