Third Week of Thanks

Thankfuls:

To have had an hour to wander my beloved Trader Joe's after teaching Zumba on Monday, November 11th, chatting with other devotees, tasting extra samples that the staff opened for us, & discovering new gems! So excited Deep Dark Gingerbread Mix is back! Can't keep my spoon out of my new jar of Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter...

To be able to volunteer at the kids' school, like on Tuesday morning, November 12th.

For getting to feel like a rock star Tuesday afternoon as a fashion model for "Texas Is It!" (The lady who owns the company knows me from taking my Zumba class and asked if I would be willing to model their apparel in a photo shoot. Ummm, YES! :-D) I'll post pics whenever she releases them. I have this candid, though, from after my hat blew off in the swirling wind, and I climbed down those rocks to rescue it out of the pond :-P

It got bitter cold for 48 hours starting Tuesday night. I was so very, very thankful for my soft, warm blankets on that crazy cold night! Not taking for granted that there are people w/o this comfort. (& even though I despised the chill, I was MOST thankful that it was only 2 days of true cold here...unlike the other places we've lived, which have already gotten snow. So thankful to be snow-panic-attack-free!!!)

For big free smoothies from the LifeCafe at my gym on my Wednesday Zumba class!

For JB bringing me home the BEST brownie after work on Wednesday, as well!

For sharing a new friend's birthday lunch on Thursday, November 14th:

For getting motivated to make personalized Disney shirts for our upcoming family trip! (I'll post details about them as I finish; I had to special order the heat transfer material online, so it should be here Wednesday-ish for me to complete with my Silhouette.) I went into ultra shopping mode on Friday the 15th for the blank shirts - so thankful for my deals: got mine FREE w/ Kohl's Cash, got JB's for $5 at Walmart (ugh - I know, but they had what I needed), & the kids' for $2.50 each at Hobby Lobby. SCORE! I'm so glad that we're doing this - with as much as I like personalized stuff & cute family pics, I think I would have felt twinges of regret seeing other families there with them, had we not. Disney is one of the only kitschy places on earth to pull this look off. ;-) Plus, ours are cheaper than buying matching generic Disney shirts at a store there for $$$$$$$. :-D

For one of the greatest football wins I've ever been a part of Saturday morning.

For an early Thanksgiving meal we'd already planned for the afternoon of Saturday the 16th...but that was so much sweeter after the morning's gargantuan upset victory! Roasted sweet potatoes & cranberries dusted with ginger & sea salt, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, whole roasted chicken (b/c we didn't need a 14 lb. turkey for the 4 of us ;-)), etc. I even made my fam's fave pumpkin gingerbread trifle for dessert! Still bursting with joy & gratitude...

[Per request - pumpkin gingerbread trifle recipe: Bake a pan of gingerbread (preferably really dark & spicy! I use Trader Joe's Deep Dark Gingerbread Mix) & let it cool. Make a box of your fave vanilla pudding & let it set up. Stir a can of pumpkin purée into the set vanilla pudding and add your fave spices (pumpkin pie spice, cardamom, etc.) In a pretty glass bowl, (so you can see the layers :-)) crumble 1/3 of the gingerbread, top with 1/3 of the pumpkin pudding mixture, top that with 1/3 of a tub of cool whip or fresh whipped cream; repeat the layers two more times. It's best if you then refrigerate overnight!]

For the lingering glow of that win still on Sunday...

For *FREE* last minute NFL Texans tickets Sunday morning!!! :-O Literally last minute: like, hang up the phone and get in the car to drive to the stadium right away!

It was the kids' first NFL game ever, (and only my 2nd!!!) The seats were amazing (club level!) and we were so very thankful to be blessed with this opportunity...

[I knew we'd get more use out of last year's cheer uniform!]

...even if we *did* have to leave in the 3rd quarter...to get to my cheer division's group cheer practice to learn our Turf Bowl dance. [I've mentioned before how seriously I take my coaching responsibilities. We were even going to turn these tickets down b/c of my practice, until our friend said they'd go totally unused otherwise. Seeing over half the game was SO WORTH it! Awesome experience...and good lesson to the kids & my squad re: not taking scheduled commitments lightly.]

I'm so proud & THANKFUL that almost our entire squad was there at this extra practice!!! Makes me feel better to have left that game. ;-) :-D