Weekly Gratitute Update: 8/20/12-8/26/12

This past week was much better than the previous one so there will be no rantings about my struggling to be positive and such. I have no complaints so I'll get right to it:

1) I made a new friend! I know I sound so rediculous and childish but it's so hard to meet new people when you move to a new town....even though I'm from here. A lot of my friends I had while growing up have moved to different areas themselves so it's not like we can just pick up where we left off. It's just nice to know that I still embrace the skills needed to make new friends. Yay me!

2) I got a sweet text from my sister Jenn (really my sister-in-law but she's like the sister I never had so I've decided to drop the whole "in-law" part). She was worried about me based on a post I had written on facebook about asking God to help me get through the week. Only she and one other friend (love you Sara!:) took the time out of their busy schedules to check in and it made me that much more grateful to the both of them.I love you both so much!

3) Wednesday's are usually my half days. Once a month I have to go back to the office to care for the boarders and clean but it's not so bad. This Wednesday was indeed my half day and I had great plans to clean our own house and get things done that had been put on the back burner for awhile. What did I get done you ask? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I sat on my ass and watched "Bones" on Netflix and then I think we ate frozen pizza for dinner. It was so nice to relax and do nothing. Of course I felt guilty later so I cleaned the house once I got home from work on Thursday. That being said, I discovered that there sometimes is time to take off and do nothing. You just have to make it for yourself. It's not always easy but after the previous week, I managed to find some time to do absolutely nothing.

4) I got home from work the other day and I finally met two of our neighbors; a daughter in her mid 50's and her little old lady Mother. They were the cutest mother-daughter pair I have ever seen and so very nice, offering to help us out if we ever need anything. I just wanted to put them in my pocket. Sometimes I forget that we now live in an actual neighborhood and have actual neighbors to "check in". I feel so domestic! I love it!!

5) My parents came over for dinner on Friday night. I used them as guinea pigs and made a new meal of mushroom stroganoff. Andrew gets freaked out by sour cream so I was worried about making this particular dish. Upon asking me what was in it, I just told him the same ingredients that are in beef stroganoff, substituting the beef with mushrooms. I had managed to keep the secret of there being sour cream in the dish until we sat down and Mom asked what else was in it besides mushrooms and sour cream? So close. I almost got away with it. He was a good sport though and ate a small helping. The rest of the evening was really nice outside of my mild freak-out when I asked Mom to test the temperature of the sauce and she told me it needed more salt. I know she meant well but my sensitivity and nervousness towards creating a new meal after working a 12 day stretch had apparently caught up to me. After dinner we sat on the couch, ate brownies and looked at old pictures. It was a lovely time.

6) Andrew and I went to Dupont State Park on Saturday. This is where one of the scenes in "The Hunger Games" was filmed. It. Was. Awesome! Oh yeah, and really beautiful too. He then took me out to The Laughing Seed (the best vegetarian restaurant in town...where it is rumored that alot of the cast from the movie ate as well). He owed me dinner since the purple couch at the chicken store is no longer there. (That's an entirely different story all together...let me know if you want to hear about it and it could be my next post!) I loved that purple couch....

7) I also discovered on Saturday that the fourth season of "Parks and Recreation" is now available for free on Amazon Prime. Score!! (We've already watched 7 episodes...)

8) My favorite-est pitbull in the whole wide world turned 9 years old on Thursday! Daisy Mae is my parent's dog but she mine as well be one of my own too. I love her so much!

9) Also, we found a pet sitter to take care of our critters when we go out of town and my parents aren't available. You have no idea how much pressure and concern this takes off of my shoulders. I usually spend much of our vacations worrying about the pets. It's nice to have someone we trust coming in to check in on them every day.  We had our Raleigh people and hadn't yet found an Asheville person. Now we have one. Whoohoo!

Well, that's about it. Nothing too crazy but sometimes that's a good thing:). I hope you all have a wonderful week full of love, peace and joy. Always remember, even in the worst times, there is always something to be grateful for, even if you have to dig a little deeper to find it. Sometimes, it's the digging that makes it all that more special.
Love, hugs and positivity to you all and once again, thank you for the support:).