Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Adam, Kristina, me, Todd, and Kristen at Muddy Falls in western Maryland.

I am so grateful for my friends and their adventurous spirits.  My friends Tiff and Kristina put together a house in Deep Creek Maryland.  (This means that they rented a house/cabin and then invited a bunch of friends to go in on it and come up for Thanksgiving weekend.)  It was about a three hour drive from my house.  I headed out on Thanksgiving day which worked out wonderfully.  Everyone else went up on Wednesday, but it was rainy and took them a lot longer.  I would not have done well in the rain and darkness.  The roads were really windy too so having daylight and sun was wonderful. 

For some reason when I got there I had tons of energy.  I was just bouncing up and down (very unlike me) and I really wanted to go for a run.  I had not anticipated this so I didn’t bring any clothes to exercise in.  So I improvised with my pajama pants.  I did have running shoes and socks as well as a sweatshirt so I was good to go.

It was a beautiful run out around parts of the lake.  There was a large state park that was closed, but it had running paths and was just very pretty.  I explored around the park for awhile running and walking.  Tiff called me and wanted to know if I wanted to go explore.  She said they were going to look at waterfalls.  Of course I was totally game for that.  I went back out to the main road and ran back towards the house.  I realized that I needed a coat and my glasses so I called Tiff and asked her to bring them.  It didn’t dawn on me until it was too late that I should have asked her to bring me some pants too. :)

There was a beautiful waterfall about fifteen minutes away from where we were staying.  It was just a short walk from the parking lot.  Then we went and walked around the area exploring a little.  We had to leave too soon to get back to finish our Thanksgiving feast.  

Tiff had worn a dress, hose, and running shoes down to the falls so we were quite a pair. :)

Everyone brought something so it made it really easy.  I brought a delicious salad knowing I could eat that.  Kristina did the turkey and used all of these different spices.  It was delicious!  It was nice sitting around the table with friends and talking about traditions.  We found out that there are several names for German pancakes. :)

Afterwards we went on a walk.  The weather was just gorgeous—in the sixties and upper fifties.  I just loved it!  We found an aviary where there were two hawks and two owls.  The owls were gorgeous.  One was called a barred owl.  It reminded me of the owl in the movie Secret of Nymph.  It looked so old and wise.  I was in a very giggly mood so Tiff and I were constantly laughing.  It was great.

It was Tiffanie’s b-day on Saturday, but I had made her a carrot cake—her favorite—which I must say is so addictive.  It’s just so delicious!  I wanted to have some so we sang Happy Birthday and had cake.  There were also several pies, but I was quite pleased to note that people mostly ate the carrot cake.  It’s all about the cream cheese frosting—YUM!!!

That night we were going to get into the hot tub, but it had very strange controls on it so it had been turned down to 90 degrees.  Way too cold to get into!  We played a game kind of to get to know people in the group.  Then we had Karaoke.  Everyone who sang could sing so that was fun.  When I was at Duck they did it and finally I had to leave the house because the people sounded so bad I just couldn’t take it anymore.  That was not the case here. :)

The next morning I got up and went for a walk.  My knees were really hurting (I should not have been running) so I decided to get into the hot tub.  Once I got in both Kristen and Tiff joined me.  I was in there for probably two hours.  It felt so good and of course it was fun to just talk about all sorts of stuff.

I headed back to my house around 1:00 so that I could get home before it got dark.  I really wanted to stay, but Tom was going to take me to Williamsburg that weekend so I had to get back.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I’m so grateful to live in a place that offers so many great opportunities to explore the beauties God has created.  I’m grateful I have amazing talented friends who make me laugh and smile.  I’m grateful for happy memories of people who touch my life.  I'm grateful for an amazing guy who wants to take me on a road trip and explore with me.  I’m grateful I live in a place where I have so much freedom to come and go as I want.

I’m grateful for Christmas and the time it gives me to be with my family and see my dear friend Richard.  I’m grateful that it reminds me of everything Christ has done for me and for those I love.  I love the peace of Christmas and how what’s important comes to the surface.  I love the Christmas trees and Christmas lights.  I put my tree up before Thanksgiving.  I have never done that before, but I wanted to be able to enjoy it for awhile and I’m so busy during this time and then off on holiday that I don’t typically decorate.  This year I just got in the mood and did it.  I love looking at my little Christmas tree.  It gives my place a wonderful sense of serenity, peace, calm, and beauty.