Thanksgiving Mayhem

6:30 AM Up and at 'em.

6:50 AM Left my brother's to drive to Daniel's Grandmother's

7:05 AM We were late for Thanksgiving breakfast... this was OK because we weren't the last ones to arrive and we didn't start eating until...

7:30 AM We enjoyed ham, bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits, gravy an oatmeal bar and COFFEE. Sophie especially liked people sneaking her food.

10:00 AM Left for my Aunt's house in Joelton.

10:45 AM Arrived in Joelton. Daniel and Sophie hung out with Jesse to watch the fried turkey get cooked. I visited inside - games and visiting.

1:00 PM Headed outside to play Ultimate Frisbee - where Sophie attempted to tackle me every time I started running. She was an honorary member of the other team.

2:00-ish PM Other family started to arrive and we circle together to pray for Thanksgiving dinner. We proceeded to enjoy my favorite holiday dishes: turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes with mom's gravy, stuffing, 5-cup salad and 7 different pies.

3:00-ish PM More visiting and playing with my niece Isabella.

3:30 PM Played the game of Things.

4:30 PM Headed outside to play basketball (I still win at speed) and a good game of 4-on-4 until it was too dark to see.

6:00 PM Played a game of pinnocle with Grandpa, Mom and Becky. (Izzy got in on the action too - we are teaching them early these days.)

7:00-ish PM I looked up to see Angela, Sophie and Dad all asleep in the living room. Sophie got some serious playing in today. Running with Shadow. Chasing Daniel. Chasing me. Trying to chase us while we tried to play basketball.

8:00-ish PM Heated up leftovers for dinner.

8:30 PM Daniel left to give Sophie a break - she was worn out from lots of endless playing and eating lots of turkey that everyone kept sneaking to her.

9:00 PM Another game of Things.

10:30 PM Mark and I headed back to his apartment.

11:15 Arrived home to find Sophie zonked out on her bed. She wouldn't even lift her head to see who was coming or going. She had a blast, but was completely worn out.

Midnight-ish Dropped into bed exhausted, but thankful for time spent with family.

I Love You Moore than Dishes

The other day Daniel asked me if I could go back in time to when we were still engaged, would I still want to register for china. (No idea where this train of thought came from).

Hmmm... looking back there are plenty of things I would change about what we registered for, but I think I would still keep the nice dishes. It feels good to have the option for "fine dining" at my own table. In the past 7 years, my tastes have changed quite a bit. Maybe they have just become more honed. 

As for our everyday dishes, I am glad we kept the white Corelle ones that I my Grandma gave me (from her own set) while I was still in college. White is timeless and it is easy to add newer serving dishes to the collection. Though we could use some more cereal bowls (4 is not enough and we have had trouble finding our style of bowl). 

This bowl is the closest I have found, but it's not quite the same.

 

I Love You More than Sophie Loves Me

This was a declaration of love written to me from Daniel. I found it in a card left for me while he traveled to one of the interviews he secured.

If you knew Sophie and of her great love for Daniel, you might start to grasp just how much this means that Daniel loves me.

Sophie is attached to Daniel at the hip. She thinks they are bosom friends. Wherever he goes, she goes. And if she doesn’t get to go, she mopes pitifully or cries, hoping he will come back for her.

Don’t get me wrong, she loves me too but she has spent almost all of her time with us hanging out with my currently unemployed husband and she thinks they are soul mates.

It is sweet. I don’t know how she will feel about Daniel going back to work one of these days. I guess we will have to cross that bridge when we get there.

I Love You Moore than Alaska

Daniel's interview with Alaska Rim Engineering went well, though we won't hear anything for a few weeks. While the idea of moving to Alaska is alluring, in an adventurous sort of way, we are trying to be realistic about the whole thing.

Upon doing some research, moving the 4000+ miles to Palmer, Alaska is quite daunting. The expense and planning involved would be equivalent to moving to another country. All of this will factor in, if Daniel were to get an offer.

For now, we will continue to wait and try not to think too much about what it would mean to accept a job so far away.

I Love You Moore than Unemployment

The unemployment saga is continuing in the Moore household. Although we do have some good news to share after 8+ months of unemployment...

Daniel was contacted last week by the small company he interviewed with in Knoxville, TN. Unfortunately, they have been playing phone tag and we do not have concrete news.

Daniel called TVA (based in Chattanooga, TN) and they have been busy trying to secure permits for Bellefante, and have not made a decision yet. They hope to decide something in the "near future." Daniel thinks this is government speak for "We'll let you know when we are good and ready."

Daniel had a phone interview today with a company in Jackson, TN.

And the biggest new news is that a company from Alaska called today to set up a phone interview for tomorrow.

So that is where we are at. Ultimately, we are still waiting, but it is encouraging for things to feel like they are happening. Who knows, he might end up actually  having options.

Things That Make Me Happy

1. Spontaneously deciding to take Friday off of work to head up to the mountains.
2. Hiking Max Patch bald with amazing 360 degree views of the Smokey Mountains.
3. Perfect weather with a Carolina blue sky and lots of sunshine.
4. Letting Sophie run off leash on the bald - she was in doggy heaven.
5. Our little tripod (with strap) that we can use to take photos of us when there are no people around.
6. Getting a camp site beside a river.
7. Spending part of an evening soaking outdoors in hot mineral water springs after an afternoon of hiking. (Daniel thinks it was just heated tap water pumped into the tubs, regardless, it was a nice way to spend an evening).
8. Laying under a majestic starry sky - you don't get views of stars like this in the city.
9. Getting an electric site so that we could use an air mattress and our electric blanket. This was luxury camping for us. Normally we go for a primitive site, but we decided since Sophie had never been cold-weather camping before that we better make sure she would be warm enough. Good thing we did this, she slept under the blanket with us, only getting out a couple times. Then we would wake up and find her shivering and get her to get back under the blanket.
10. Sleeping in because the air temperature is so cold and you don't want to get out from under your blankets.
11. Enjoying a cup of hot coffee mixed with cocoa while you sit on the bank of the river.
12. Eating a country breakfast at the local Smokey Mountain Diner - almost rivaled Bobby's in Searcy. A cup of coffee, two eggs sunny-side up, country ham and toast for me.
13. Hiking the Lover's Leap trail. The views from the top of the French Broad River, the town of Hot Springs and the mountains beyond were beautiful.
14. Getting to sleep on the drive home because you volunteered to drive there.
15. Taking a hot shower at home then going to bed early in your own comfortable bed.