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Bummers and Blessings

Well our week didn't turn out as we had intended. We picked Cade up last Saturday and were bummed that his plane was late because of weather. But we were blessed and glad to have him home and we had a great time hanging out together for the week! He got to play with his friend and have a sleepover. We visited my parents, went for a bike ride (sadly Cade's bike was stolen from our yard-major bummer! :( How can people do that, I will never understand. We're on the hunt for another great craigslist bargain now.) and to the movies. We picked up a Christmas tree and decorated it, too! I finished a book in about 4 days, which is fast for me. Jeff worked on projects. It was wonderful to have the time off-a major blessing! BUT, we were terribly bummed because we weren't able to visit Patsy, Jim, Jennifer, Jake and Hannah as planned :( We didn't check the weather in time to see that there were blizzard conditions on Monarch Pass on Wednesday. Now we know to check way ahead of time so we can leave early if we need to. It was so sad to miss Thanksgiving with the Schurz' and Rehard's. We were all really looking forward to the time with family and the great traditions they have. I'm still pretty sad. We're thankful that Jeff's parents and sister's family live in the same town so that they weren't alone for the holiday. We're also thankful that my parents and grandparents were together here, and we were able to join them-a wonderful blessing. We had a great day feasting and playing, watching football and chatting. We had to get up before the sun this morning to say goodbye to Cade. It's always so sad. At least we get to see him again in 3 weeks for Christmas!

In the midst of a delayed flight, a stolen bike, a canceled trip, we are so thankful for our families, our good health, the chance to be together, the roof over our heads, delicious food and wonderful life we have. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too, and are able to remember the blessings in spite of the bummers! Enjoy the Christmas season!

And now on to the random photos:

Clarence getting ready to read Rudolph


Setting up our new tree!


Isn't it lovely?



Clarence really wanted to go to Montrose, too :(


One of my favorite things EVER, enjoying a lit tree.


Jeff making a delicious cornbread stuffing


Cade giving Ruby some love. I think they would have been happy to stay together for days and days.


The men enjoying the day.



And is this not the funniest picture ever? Dad and Granddad TEXTING!


Jeff and Cade scoping out the Black Friday deals


Thanks for stopping by!

Deck the halls!

Let's face it. I love Christmas! And I love Thanksgiving. But why not enjoy Thanksgiving WHILE enjoying the spirit, lights, bells, tunes, and LOVE of Christmas?! Some may call me crazy. I call me doing what I love.

Here is Clarence. He gets in this box every night now! I think it's too small and cramped, but he still climbs in. Jeff says I'd better not mess with it or Clarence will stop loving it. I don't know...


And on to the Christmas Cheer! We'll be picking out our tree when Cade get's here. YAY!

I Believe!


And here are some steps I built for Chloe (with Jeff's expert woodworking help, of course). She is RUINING our couch with her claws. Poor thing, I think she has arthritis. But if she keeps putting holes in the couch I might go insane. Of course she won't use the stairs. She is scared of them. Now what?!

PS

I love Thanksgiving with all my family, regardless of what is served or how! I was entering a contest with me previous blog post, thus the rambling about being a vegetarian. So, if I'll be feasting with you, don't worry about the food, I will LOVE it! :)

A Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dilemma

Thanksgiving. One of the best holiday’s of the year. Why? Giving thanks, duh. Turkey, duh! But wait. Turkey is meat. Oh dear, what will I do? First of all, let me say I’m not a vegan, meaning I still eat dairy products, things that are given to us by animals. Although I do try to get those products from animals who are treated well. I’m also not a really intense vegetarian who refuses to eat from a kitchen that also serves meat, or won’t even go to someone’s house if they aren’t vegetarians. I mean, let’s face it, food it good! And sometimes food is meat! Therefore, sometimes, Meat is Good! Soooo, during this happy holiday season, what will I do? Let’s keep in mind that turkey isn’t the ONLY delicious food served for Thanksgiving. There is also dressing (or is it stuffing?), cranberry relish, green bean casserole, MASHED POTATOES!, gravy, salad, sweet potatoes, PIES!, noodles (?? Yes, the Smalbergers have noodles with Thanksgiving every year. Try it. You’ll never go back!) and many many more dishes depending on your own traditions. But wait yet again. Gravy? It has meat in it. Dressing? Has meat in it. Many dishes have some sort of meat product, like, well, chicken broth, at the very least. So will I refuse them? Probably not. Don’t forget this wonderful invention, No Chicken Broth. Yep. It’s very close to actual chicken broth, and is meat free!

There are many options for vegetarians during this feasting celebration. We can choose not to feast at all. LAME. We can try to eat only the non-meat dishes such as pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce, which could work very well for some of us. We can prepare our own dishes using non-meat products like No Chicken broth. We can make half of the feast for our loved ones who are carnivores and half for us. Or we can just let it go for a day. No matter what, hopefully we will enjoy the family, friends and food that surrounds us!

AND if you LOVE dressing/stuffing, you can check out this Swanson’s debate/giveaway. Everybody’s doing it-even the vegetarians ;)’
http://thebigmamablog.com/swanson-broth-500-gift-card-giveaway/

Think about it

"We’re moving so fast these days that it’s hard to know how we feel about things, important or otherwise. Our feelings get all cross-wise and we end up getting mad about something we don’t even care about and not caring about something we should be mad about."

Beth Moore

Unity

I have found a new blogger that I love. Rachel Held Evans. http://rachelheldevans.com/blog. I have only read a few things of hers, but what I have read has refreshed me beyond measure. My spiritual journey has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Lately it has been more of a spinning teacup that makes me feel sick. The reasons are deep, personal and complex, and too complicated to address here. But to read the words of a woman who seemingly has had many of the same thoughts and even experiences regarding faith is almost astonishing to me. I've even clicked on other links from her blog and there are more people out there like me!

The point of this particular blog post, though, is to reiterate some of the things she recently said regarding faith, but to apply it politically. These past several years have been most hostile as far as politics go. Causing arguments among friends and family members. Causing polarization and separation. Disdain. Judgement. Sometimes even hate, it seems. I have become overwhelmed and what I used to find intellectually rousing and even fun has come to be tiring, draining, annoying and frustrating. Since the midterm elections were just two days ago, and I read Rachel's blog today, I thought it would be nice to share what she said, applying it to both faith and politics.

(prior to the following paragraph Rachel was sharing about her experience with Calvinists, a doctrine of faith different than her own, and how she found herself being criticized and so criticizing, being attacked, and so attacking, etc.) I have added political words and phrases for my point as she goes on to say:

"I share this with you not to pick a fight but to plead for a truce. As a new generation preparing to tackle the age-old debate about predestination and free will, (government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all and personal responsibility, limited government) our positions don’t have to change but our attitudes can. We can criticize one another’s interpretations of the Bible (or the Constitution or the Bill of Rights or the intentions of our founding fathers) without assuming motive. We can point out the inconsistencies in certain faith (political) traditions without attacking the people in them. We can talk about our disagreements knowing that what we have in common far outweighs our differences...We are the future of the Church (this nation, this world) and we have an opportunity here to change the tone."

Just think about it. In politics. In faith. WITHIN our differences, we can respect each other. We can uplift each other. We can embrace each other. We can love each other. I have been challenged here, have you?

Random

Clarence and his boxes! He just loves to curl up in this duvet cover box by the fire. What a silly!

Speaking of duvet cover, I was ready for a change from our brown bedspread, and here it is! I really like it, especially since we have dark green curtains. A nice new feel for the room, and at a great deal on overstock.com!

before:

after.

Think About It: Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity Speech