Y’all, this week has flown by. I am joining the ranks of people who are shocked that Thanksgiving is but a few days away. As I sit here typing this I can hear the Christmas commercials playing on the TV in the background, and I’m reminded that I need to go ahead get my Christmas Pandora station playing. And I thought that, since I have no recipe for you guys today, I’d just share a few things that I’m excited about. Let’s sit down with a cup of coffee (or tea – would you like some tea?) and share!
This yarn wreath has sparked some kind of wild crafting streak within my soul and I am going to sit down and make my own this weekend. I thought long and hard about the color scheme and what I want it to look like, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the best craft I’ve ever made. Promise I’ll share when it’s done!
(in)courage is a site that I’m sure everyone else in the whole wide world knew about except for me prior to yesterday, but I’m so excited to join this group of women! I highly recommend you check it out – and I dare you to try to not be encouraged.
I absolutely adore cranberries and I can’t decide what I want to do with the bag that I currently have in my freezer. Chutney? Sauce? A cake? Something semi-savory that I don’t even know about yet? The options are endless! What do you recommend?
I was reminded this week of how incredibly thankful I am for our sweet little boy. I remember (and still feel) the terrible heartache of miscarriage, but every time I look at Weston I remember what an incredible and miraculous gift he is. And you know what? I make it a point to tell him every single day that I am thankful for him. We are blessed.
Since Thanksgiving is next week I am obviously looking forward to the fact that the NEXT holiday is CHRISTMAS!!! That means putting up our Christmas decorations, lighting up the tree, blasting the Christmas music (Nate’s totally rolling his eyes over this one), and searching the TV listings to figure out when they’re going to have the standard Elf marathon. Elf and Home Alone are tied for my two favorite Christmas movies ever, followed closely behind by National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
A little running update: I’ve still been running in my amazing Mizuno shoes, and have been consistently running 3 miles pain-free! I’m only running twice a week, which is fine by me, but the fact that I can do it at all blows my mind. The shoes are the best, but I’m also going to say that not worrying about running – not putting the pressure on myself to run all the time – is great. Makes it fun again!
Other workout news: while we were still living in Colorado and for the first month of living in Arkansas I was doing CrossFit-style workouts found on these sites. It was fun and all, but I really found (after a while) that I didn’t understand the reasoning behind the workouts. Truth be told I don’t even know if the people who post the workouts are certified trainers in any way, but since I used to be a trainer and have a massive mirror to check form I felt comfortable doing the workouts. Then, after reading about Janetha & Katie‘s rave reviews of GPP I finally checked out the site. Guys, I’m highly impressed. Since I do these workouts at home I do have to modify, but I really really love the mindset and workout moves that GPP has. That, and the fact that Neil Anderson (the founder) gives the “why” behind the moves, has videos of them all, and talks about what to pay attention to in form. I’m not saying CrossFit is bad and I know there are probably more informational CrossFit sites out there (like the actual CrossFit site), but GPP affirms what I believe in that the workout should serve ME and that I should not be a slave to the workout:
Instead, get your workout in and go home. Go be a human. Do things that interest/edify you. Contribute to your family, your community and/or society. (from the GPP site)
God’s truth. You guys, God is moving mightily in my heart these days, convicting me of things that I never saw before. Things that look like good things from the outside until you see my heart behind them. And it’s all because I am finally making an effort, along with the beautiful She Reads Truth community, to fully understand His word. I am finally understanding that God has made me for something, and I’m finally starting to trust his will rather than trying to shape it all myself. And you know what? It’s totally freeing. It’s completely satisfying. And it is good because God is so so very good.
That’s a lot to be excited about, right? Now it’s your turn: what’s getting you pumped up these days?! And please please please let me know what I should do with these cranberries! 🙂
Much love,
Heather
Warms my heart to read these words. I seriously love that people are starting to do GPP and GET the general physical preparedness method to the workout madness. SO efficient. I have never been in better shape–physically and mentally and emotionally–and I work out way less now. It’s perfect! Wish you could come to Blend and do GPP with me in the flesh–think you can?? Fingers crossed. I know it’s a journey, though. If you cannot, you must promise to come visit me sometime. Love you! Happy Thanksgiving, friend!
I am REALLY hoping that I’ll be able to come to Blend! It’s a little trek but so worth it…saving my $$$!
Heath! I have been reading your site for awhile and so happy you love gpp as much as janetha and I!
Love your blog!
Just saw this post! I am so pumped that you GET IT Heather! So pumped. Exercise is the servant. We are it’s master. Too many people have that backwards nowadays.
Thank you for the shout out.
Amen! 🙂
I just bought a big bag of cranberries too with no plans – I think i’ll put some into my oatmeal. I’ve always liked that!
Christmas becomes greater when we’ve got children ! MIne are 13 and 10 years old and making the Xmas tree together is a huge joy for us !
oh you are blessed! and what a perfect time of year to feel and embrace those blessings.
p.s.
I need to go visit you sis and get a workout in. Does she do crossfit or GPP?
you should go see her! she actually does crossfit – she really loves the competitive and community aspect!
Blueberry cranberry sauce! I put it on oats, yogurt, my face.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, sweet girl!
that sounds like something i’d love to put in my oat, yogurt and face as well 😉
I love your list! The holidays are definitely a few of the things that also excite me. Thanksgiving this year should be interesting since we’re far away from family but we’ll make it work. 🙂 I’m planning on making Jenna’s cranberry bourbon sauce she posted last week – it looks amazing and I love cranberry sauce. Otherwise, I would make some cranberry bread.
I saw that sauce too, it sounds awesome! I’m interested in that cranberry bread though… 😉
Huh, I’ve never heard of GPP–sounds interesting! Might have to check it out. Keep us updated!
So wonderful to hear about God’s movement in your life. 🙂 I <3 She Reads Truth!
You really should try it! I scale down the weight so that I can perform the movements with good form as I build up strength. It’s fantastic though, and I really appreciate the full mindset behind it!
Adding Home Alone to my list of Christmas movies I MUST watch this season. It’s a pretty long list, so I better get started.
I’m making Alton Brown’s Cranberry Dipping Sauce recipe for Thanksgiving next week. It uses ginger ale + brown sugar + maple syrup as a sweetener, so you know it’s good 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever had an Alton Brown recipe I didn’t love!
I LOVE ALTON!!!!!!!!
I finally got a new cell phone yesterday, and have been happy that I’ve had a slow work day so I can play with ti!! And sunny weather; it has been fairly miserable in Ontario this past week, and the sun is shining today.
As for the cranberries, I made a orange-raspberry-cranberry sauce for Cdn Thanksgiving last month; soooo good! Delish with turkey or chicken sammies, even with yougart. I dream of it.
oh, the addition of raspberries sounds amazing!