thanksgiving

no, i haven't lost it. i do realize that Thanksgiving was almost a month ago, but i never had the time to write about it! so here it is...

heidi and i had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, jam packed with good times. we started out our day by doing the Alexandria Turkey Trot. it's a 5 mile long race (i definitely think it was only a 5K last year?), and most people bring canned goods to donate. it's so much fun! people line up along the sidewalks dressed as pilgrims, wearing turkey hats, and holding signs that say things like "Gobble, Gobble!", "run now, eat later", etc. i saw a little girl, maybe about 8, standing on her front porch in her pj's and satin slippers holding a cup of cocoa- it was one of the cutest things i think i've ever seen, and i still smile when i think about it. life really is all about the little things that bring a smile to your face throughout the day, isn't it?

get ready, get set, trot!

post-turkey trot

i confess all the time that i'm a terrible runner. i don't think i've run 5 miles more than once or twice in my life, but i sure do enjoy trying! i hope to someday be one of those moms who pushes her kids in the running stroller and does all the races, never falling behind despite pushing like 70 pounds of child and all sorts of gear in front of her! someday...for now, i was just glad to finish at a 10 minute mile pace! slow and steady. we'll get there, in time.

one of the many signs, "trot on!"

for Thanksgiving dinner, heidi and i didn't really have any plans, so we invited over all the stragglers we could find. this ended up only being 2 people- heid's friend rachael from work and my friend lindsay from school. we had WAAAY too much food for four people, but it was all delicious! i had fun making a turkey again this year and baked some pumpkin pie...mmmm! then we just hung out, watched Love Actually, and played a couple board games (Loaded Questions, anyone? what a fun game.). it was a completely enjoyable day, and i have everything to be thankful for.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." ~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

homemade cranberry sauce bubbling away on the stove

baked mac 'n cheese and sweet potato casserole

on friday, my totally awesome friend dan came to visit us in dc, along with his brother ben and their friend and roommate sean. dan and i met in Mosaic (the young people's ministry at Spring Creek Church, back home in wisco) about 3 years ago? and have some of my favorite friends in common (yep, that's you, Spielman families!). he lived in Cali last year and to my great delight has just moved cross-country to North Carolina to start up a ministry with his broseph and friend (see www.theeternalsunrise.com). so after their family celebration in va beach, they made the trek to dc!

friday night (after playing some frisbee at the park!) we all went down to the national harbor to meet up with some of my church friends and watch the tree lighting ceremony. it was completely freezing, extremely windy and cold which i find highly unusual here in dc, but it was really fun. we went inside the resort lobby for the light and fountain show, but it was too crowded to see anything, but they make it "snow" in the lobby right afterwards which was cute. oh, how i miss the snow! then we proceeded to buy (and spill) coffees and hot chocolates, and went over to see the tree lighting.

 a rooftop view of the dc national harbor

tree lighting ceremony and fireworks

afterwards, we fought traffic and headed back up to capitol hill for some Good Stuff and a personally guided tour of the monuments- by ME. i think the boys chose the coldest night this year to visit and see everything, but it was a successful  nonetheless. i showed them around to every monument and they even got a glimpse of the white house on saturday, followed by some delicious lunch at Heidi's Cafe (which i highly recommend if you're ever up in that area and hungry- everything they have is really good.)

ben, sean and dan- three of capitol hill's finest

sean & dan piggybackin' it at the white house

the boys left in the afternoon and i got to study the rest of the weekend, so that was fun (haha, not.) it really was a super fun weekend though!