November 2017 Update
At this point in the year it always seems to speed up and things fly by. I hardly even remember November. Seriously.
We did finally get our garage installed this month. That was the last “big” thing on our renovation list. It was so fun watching them put it up in the same day. We also got our shutters installed and I painted the front porch. The outside transformation has been just as drastic as inside. This past week we finished up staining the grout in the kitchen, bath, and laundry area. I’m not sure why in the world I thought I wanted white grout. Thankfully it was a pretty easy $20 fix.
I remember when I was dead set on not living “out that way” near Providence in Mt. Juliet. But the longer we are here, the more and more I’m loving it. The Dancing Lights of Christmas moved “out here” to the fairgrounds and we checked it out before Thanksgiving. When we lived in Donelson, it was literally 3 minutes from our house but we had never visited before. When you live on Pennington Bend you mainly just hunker down during December to avoid all the Opryland traffic. Anyway, the show was quite impressive. I’ve decided that if all the cool stuff wants to keep moving outside the city that’s just fine with me.
For Thanksgiving, we popped down to Birmingham to spend the holiday with my family. We ate so good! We took Onyx with us to meet everyone while our neighbors cared for the chickens. Since our co-op has ended for the semester Skylar decided she would like to stay for an extra week in Bama. I was happy to oblige this request. Mama needed a break. I sometimes wonder who has it better. My sister who can drop her kids off every other weekend or me who saves it up and does it all at once. It’s a pretty good deal either way and I’m so thankful for my family who cares for Skylar so well.
Our pup, Onyx, still continues to be a delight. At her 5 month check up she weighed 30 pounds and they are estimating she will top out around 60-65 which, really, is the perfect size if you ask me! She’s still very much all puppy. Her favorite pasttimes include chasing chickens, sneaking through holes in fences, stealing trash from the burn pile, and chewing electrical cords. She also loves to fetch, pull Skylar on the swing, visit the neighbors, and ride in the car. But the remainder of the time she is chill, chill, chill. We can’t hardly imagine how we ever lived with out her. Her improving guard dog skills are particularly helpful.
I was able to return to yoga class this week and I’m quite happy about that. My recovery from the accident has seemed to stall so this is kind of my last resort to getting better. If nothing else, it’s good for my emotional self.
The past few months have been pretty tough between the accident, work, life, church, and relationships. Being an adult is just plain hard sometimes. But it’s given me a new and fresh perspective on a lot of things and how I want to do things differently in the new year. I’m excited and a teensy bit scared about what I feel the Lord asking me to do but I think it’s all going to work out.
I can’t wait to get my girl back and start celebrating the holidays. Our Lego Advent Calendar arrived and I’m pulling out our Advent Devotions for Busy Families book. This combo is our favorite way to count down to Christmas.
For more November pictures, click here.
