November

 

As soon as Halloween ends, it is time to mourn my birthday. I honestly can't believe how fast time is flying. Fortunately, 31 seems a lot like 30, so it was a little less depressing. I told Mark that the only thing I wanted was money for wardrobe purposes. My closet is sad. It is mostly full of YMCA soccer t-shirts and clothes left over from high school. Even though I have acne and braces, I would like to pass off as an actual adult wearing actual adult clothes. Mark came through and hooked me up with a Visa gift card I didn't have to feel guilty about spending. To top things off, he babysat Paige on a Friday night so I could do some shopping with some girlfriends. SO fun! Beth of course can make ANYTHING a good time and Kayla is absolute icing on the cake. These two girls are hilarious, not to mention wonderful examples to me. Love them both! And for the record, after this Beth decided not to be my friend anymore and hasn't hung out with me since. She swears they've "caught the death" or something over there. I feel like it might have more to do with me forgetting to close the dressing room door behind me after I invaded hers and forced her to make decisions for me.

 

 

Beth always takes the best pictures, or really just pictures. My camera roll is bleak without her in my life! I will say we hit up some seriously good deals and pretty much blew through my gift card in one night. But I scored big! We also ate Italian since Mark won't ever let me choose that.

 

So pretty much the day after my birthday, winter came in like a lion. Temperatures plummeted to below zero and so the months of being cooped up began. Since it was freezing, the power company felt it was a good time to do maintenance and cut all power for the day.  Mandi graciously allowed Paige and I to hang out in her heated house for the afternoon. Minnie, Woody, and Fat Baby put on quite the concert.

 

Michelle and I decided to take the littles to the trampoline park and this is the best picture I could get of Paige. She is always on the go and refuses to stop for any amount of time, even for pictures.

 

Of course when we are home, she wants me to take pictures of anything and everything. This particular shot is entitled "Best Friends" per Paige's request. Ok, so it is pretty cute and I am glad she insisted on capturing the moment.

 

Thanksgiving was pretty low key. We went to Mark's parents house along with his brother's family. I have really enjoyed seeing Paige get older and interact more with her cousins. I think she really craves being around other kids. I'm grateful there are plenty of them around to act as pseudo-siblings. I can't believe Brianna is getting so grown-up! She was just a baby when Mark and I got married. Ouch. Makes me feel old.

 

 

That pretty much sums up November for us. It felt like kind of a crazy month. I struggled a bit with anxiety, especially after my dermatologist check-up. I went to a new place and they pretty much told me I was dying. That was fun. Spent two weeks coming off that ledge. We had a few adoption opportunities to stress over, but of course nothing panned out. But it's always fun to get  your hopes up. Around Thanksgiving, the furnace died and since it was the holidays, we were stuck out in the cold, literally, for almost a week. It felt like we were camping inside. Kind of a mini adventure you might say. It reminded us to be REALLY grateful for the everyday comforts we take for granted!