Hosting Thanksgiving

So, The Boss and I hosted Thanksgiving this year for the first time in oh, about 7 or so years.  His parents came in from Alabama.  His brother and family cam from Arizona and his sister and her husband came!  So, you know how it is...go big or go home!  We had 12 total at our house and I loved every minute of it.  I have to say Thanksgiving dinner went so smooth...in true O'Brien fashion, we had to have homemade apple pie (for GDad) and I made a twist on traditional pumpkin pie.  We started the prep on Monday, baked pies on Wednesday and finished everything on Thursday.  It was so relaxing.  My sister helped me decorate the table...notice the runner if you will.

We even squeezed in a family pic before dinner.  I have to include the prep one and the real one because the prep makes me laugh!

We watched football, played Apples to Apples and Family Feud!  What a great Thanksgiving we had this year in Texas.  I love my family so much.  I just hate my heart is spread all over the US.  

So when we are together, I soak up as much as I can.

Here's hoping you enjoyed your  Thanksgiving as much as I did.  

Happy Holidays...my most favorite time of the year!

Moments like these

"LIFE...is measured by the moments that take our breath away"
One of my favorite quotes! In the past, I am guilty of being so busy or caught up in what's next that I can't enjoy or even notice these moments.  Yet it is one that always, always, always stands out to me.  This summer while being at home with P and slowing down, well let's say coming to a screeching halt, I have noticed many more of those moments.  
Like sitting outside in the mornings with The Boss and having our coffee...our little bit of time together, or how beautiful it is on a particular day.  Or enjoying my days with P and wishing summer was a little bit longer.  Noticing his love of all things funny, his quirkiness to have things said the exact way they should be, and the fact that he still loves to love on mom and dad!  Oh, and did I mention the fact that he has a huge gap where his two front teeth should be and that I don't see signs of them coming in ANY time soon...I think that gap is so darn cute.

All this talk of sweetness and I have to mention the two dogs, best known as Stanker and Smelly.  We hardly ever call them their real names, Mickey and Elvis.  I love to see the two of them cuddled up to each other.

Even though, once school starts, I will be working more, doing more extracurricular activities with P and volunteering at the school, I vow to keep things at a pace where I can still enjoy and notice THESE moments.  I will post on how I do with this in a few months, you know once the craziness of the school year and working more begin :)
I will leave you with my most recent moment...
On the way home from the pool yesterday, P said, "I have really lost interest in country music.  I like party music.  Except for Jason Aldean, I like his music."
Make an extra effort today to notice your moments.

Roadtrip

My mom and I are no strangers to a good road trip.  You see, we have traveled several times back and forth to Texas, once to New Jersey (that one has some good stories), and I am sure more, but my mind is drawing a blank.  So, when I mentioned road trip, my faithful sidekick was there.  Scottsdale to Lubbock would be no big deal.
Normally, we travel in a bigger car...like an SUV or a minivan or an Econoline van.  This time we downsized a bit, but there were more passengers AND more luggage.  In a Camry, we fit two adults, one child and 2 dogs plus all the things that the movers couldn't take.  Thanks to my brother-in-law for his packing skills, we only had to leave one small cooler behind.
On Thursday morning, we all squeezed in and headed out.  Now this is a 13 hour drive...after you leave northern Arizona, the landscape looks the same and I am not joking.  We took pictures, but they all look the same.  The only way you can tell locations in them is by the signs!  Well, I will say that when you see Albuquerque, it is like the oasis in the desert.  We grabbed a little snack and decided to drive on through.  Thank goodness for good company, a good kid and two lazy dogs!

There is life out here!

The nice flat scenery 

Where Mickey wanted to be...right next to me!

Elvis was happy sleeping next to P.

P was entertained by the Kindle Fire

Northern Arizona...Goodbye beautiful mountains!

Some pretty mountains in New Mexico

There were some very cool mountains in New Mexico.  However they were few and far between.  I have decided after my drive through there and one stop in Albuquerque, that is a boring state and I would NOT want to live there.
About midnight, we pulled into the driveway of our new home.  So nice to be here in Lubbock Texas and back with The Boss!  Oh, and one more bonus, the movers got here before we did.  All my stuff was here, waiting to be unpacked.  We didn't waste anytime, the next day, mom and I got started on unpacking those boxes Ron and John so carefully packed in that truck.  One glass was broken and nothing was missing!  I heart Mayflower.  Thanks Mom for all your help, wouldn't have happened so fast without you.

Bittersweet Goodbyes

After 3 months of being apart from my husband, needless to say, my son and I were ready to be reunited with him.  Working, packing, baseball season, homework, saying goodbye to friends and family consumed our days and nights.  FYI, that was a very hard three months.  But, I know it only brought us closer.  

You see, I thought since we had only been in Arizona for five years, saying goodbye wouldn't be THAT hard.  Boy was I wrong!  I had grown to grown really attached to my family and friends here.   Every time I told someone, it got a little easier.  But when it came time for the goodbye parties and actual goodbyes.  I couldn't keep it together.  What a special circle of people I had in my life!  

I know there is a reason for everything.  I learned a lot about myself, who I am, what I like and what I need to leave behind and what I need to work on.  I am so happy my journey brought me here!  What a wonderful place with wonderful people to share five years of our lives.  

 Katie, my sweet friend (and fabulous photog)!  She took pictures for our tacky dress football.  This was the theme for my going away party at work :)

 Bari, my first friend in Arizona!  A special, unique person with a heart of gold.

 All of my lovely co-workers...this is who I spent most of my days with in Arizona.  Thanks to Sarah and Christy for leading such an amazing team.  You two have something very special.  I sure miss you all!

 My girl Jill...so glad to be able to call you my friend!

 Maria, what a treasure you and your family are.  Thank you for holding us to GNO!!!

Karaoke at Geisha a Go Go..Fun times singing our hearts out!  Thanks girls for a fun night!  You all are very special to me!

The hardest part of driving off that Thursday morning was our family.  We had spent countless days and nights with them.  Vacations, weekend trips, camping, baseball games, pool days, cook outs.... you name it.  They welcomed us to Arizona and showed us the ropes.  We instantly had friends, knew the right places to go, had job connections.  Thanking God for those wonderful times!!  We are counting down the days til Thanksgiving!

As Arizona will always be special to us, opportunity brought us to a new place...but that will be in the next post!