It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! We had these lovely people over for Thanksgiving dinner and games - speed dice Monopoly is the best!

From the left: Vicky, Warren, Dave, Reece, and Grace.

And we got out our Christmas decorations and spruced up the house with Noel in every corner.

This picture doesn't do the tree justice, but what's a girl to do.

While gearing up for the holiday season it has become abundantly clear that Dave and I have very different ethos when it comes to decorating a Christmas tree. Dave is incredible picky about the tree and all decorations MUST match (this is a bit of a shocker as he is laid back and generally doesn't have a strong opinion on decorating, but apparently Christmas decorations get him all worked up.) and I think that a tree should reflect you and your families history. I want personal decorations almost exclusively and Dave would rather have the tree in the store front window. There were some tense moments at the store and a few at home as well, but we have come up with a solution if our tree decorating needs become more incompatible in the future: we're getting two trees - one for me and one for Dave. It was his suggestion and, though I was slightly offended at first, I've decided that it might be the way forward.

Thankful on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in England is a small affair.

Actually, it's non-existent.

Everyone goes to work as normal and no one eats turkey.

This year I'm not having Thanksgiving dinner until Sunday so that a couple of friends could come over and we could eat our way through the day, but on Thanksgiving I took pumpkin pie into the office for everyone to try. It is a hit and everyone loved it! I added some maple flavoring to the whipped cream and it was amazing!



Even though it didn't feel like Thanksgiving everyone at work tried to make it special. On Wednesday I went out with a few girls after work to celebrate birthdays and Thanksgiving. I made them a quiz all about Thanksgiving and they loved it! And then they gave me a card and a little gift to help me celebrate. How sweet is that? And then at the office on Thursday I got another card and everyone stopped by especially to say "Happy Thanksgiving".

So even though it wasn't a "normal" Thanksgiving, it was still lovely. It makes me thankful for where I am and who God has given me as friends. And I got to talk to the fam on the phone and wish Jon a happy birthday. All in all, a pretty good day.

Apple Cinnamon Candles

I love the smell of cinnamon in the fall. It's warm and cozy and makes me want Christmas to come even sooner.
We have an apple cinnamon candle and I'm slightly obsessed with it.
I kind of want to eat it.
Is that bad?

I have cute sisters

We had an absolutely wonderful time together and here are a few pics to illustrate!

Amy, Corrie and I outside Shakespears house.

Warwick Castle

Corrie can't get the sword out of the stone.

I miss them. Come visit again soon!

They're here!

Corrie and Amy arrived safe and sound this morning! Yippy! The passport control man did NOT want to let them in, but eventually they pursuaded him that they were NOT illegally immigrating and he let them in.
I kept them awake all day and we ended up walking down Ecclesall Road to the Botanical Gardens and then had a drink at Nonna's. It was an absolutely beautiful day for them to arrive! The drink over Snake Pass from Manchester was gorgeous. Though, on a side note, we did see a car that had driven off the road into a pond and was just sitting there with its nose in the water. No one was in it and it looked like they had just decided to leave it there.
Corrie and I made pizza while Dave and Amy played some Mario Kart. I sort of got Amy to eat vegetables on her pizza, so I feel like we're making progress!
I kept Corrie awake until 8pm when she went to bed and Amy stayed up and watched the X-Factor with us. They are sleeping soundly now.
Tomorrow we're heading down towards Warwick and Stratford. I'm really excited!