Sunday, November 20, 2005

Thanksgiving Countdown...

(This is a circle journal layout that I did last year about Gratitude. You can click on the photo to see it larger.)

Spending today resting and trying to get RID of this cold that is coming on. UGH. Not what I need right now, Lord, with Thanksgiving 4 days away. David and Noah are gone to church and will go to the grocery store for me on the way home. I had planned on getting some Christmas decorations up today and helping my Mom with hers. Maybe I'll feel better this evening and we can still do that. Noah's little tree is definitely going up today, though. He's so excited. It goes in his playroom and is covered with colored lights, cheesy tinsel, and character ornaments. (Spiderman, Batman, Spongebob, Peanuts, etc.) It's cute and he loves it!

So today I'm just making MORE lists, looking at Black Friday sales online, and watching Food Network's Thanksgiving marathon. It's fun, actually :) I just wish I could be more ACTIVE. But I'll take this as a God-given opportunity to relax and feel better before my busy week!

Anyone else excited about Black Friday? My Mom, 2 of my sisters and I get out the newspaper on Thanksgiving night and plan our trip for Friday. Then we get up and GO at 5:00 a.m., head to Starbucks for Peppermint Mochas, then it's shopping time! I know we'll hit Toys R Us and Target first. We'll be AVOIDING Kohl's. At least I will be. It was horrible last year. At least a 45 minute wait in line. And the sales were just ok. I don't even remember why we waited so long last year. I just remember thinking "note to self: No Kohl's next year!" I love Kohl's, just not on Black Friday. And of course Williams-Sonoma is on the list for the hot chocolate!

I actually SCRAPBOOKED the other day. @@ I finished my Design Team projects for the month. Here is one of the layouts. I just love these papers and colors! (click on the layout) I can't show the other projects as they have Wendi Speciale Designs' stamps on them and they will be part of the Limelight on her site this week. :) WATCH OUT! She is revealing new stamps and surprises EVERY day this week!

Here's an idea I had for Thanksgiving Day that scrapbookers will appreciate :) I'm going to print out a photo of each person who will be in attendance that day. (18 of us!) Then I'll cut out JUST that person's head, in a silhouette style. I'm going to cut out cardstock turkey feathers and at the top, rounded part of each feather, I'll adhere one person's head photo. The idea is to have a turkey full of feathers with a person's head photo at the top of each feather. Then as guests arrive, I'll have them find their feather and write something they are thankful for on the feather and decorate the feather with rhinestones, glitter, markers, etc. Planning ahead here.....the turkey will be sized to fit into my scrapbook, so on a 2-page Thanksgiving layout, the turkey will be page 2. I think it will be really cute and oh so homemade-looking :)

I've got my grocery shopping list for Thanksgiving all planned and I'll be doing that on Monday. One of the recipes on my list is Cranberry Fruit Conserve. It's SO yummy and has a beautiful orange/lemon flavor. VERY good, SO easy, and so much better than the cranberry sauce with the can lines down the side. :)

Cranberry Fruit Conserve
by Ina Garten - Barefoot Contessa (Food Network)
Makes 4 cups


1 (12-ounce) bag of fresh cranberries, cleaned
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 orange, zest grated and juiced
1 lemon, zest grated and juiced
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Cook the cranberries, sugar, and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the skins pop open. Add the apple, zests, and juices and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from the heat and add the raisins and nuts. Let cool, and serve chilled.
-----------------


And I'm so excited! I finally found a ZESTER at Linen's and Things. YAY! I've been looking for one of these for a long time since I use a lot of zest in recipes. And it's the same one that lots of my favorite chefs use. Even better! :)


I'll probably be quite busy this week, so I won't be blogging much. I pray you have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends. God is SO good...all the time.

Happy Thanksgiving!
- Jennifer

"Being thankful is not telling God you appreciate the fact that your life is not in shambles. If that is the basis of your gratitude, you are on slippery ground. Every day of your life you face the possibility that a blessing in your life may be taken away. But blessings are only signs of God's love. The real blessing, of course, is the love itself. Whenever we get too attached to the sign, we lose our grasp on the God who gave it to us. ...We are not ultimately grateful that we are still holding our blessings. We are grateful that we are held by God even when the blessings are slipping through our fingers." - Craig Barnes

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really cute idea for the cut-outs! Should make everyone smile! Great entry!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jennifer...is that a Microplane zester? They are made right here in my town. I know the owner and creater.
Teresa Wilkins

Jana said...

I hope you get to feeling better SOON!! Glad you took the day to relax & blog. :-) Good luck on Black Friday and let us know what goodies you end up with. Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours.

Anonymous said...

Get feeling better soon, ok? Good luck with the sales - I'll be avoiding shopping then like the plague! LOL

Anonymous said...

Jennifer, darlin'... you feel better. I'm so sorry to hear that you are under the weather. {{{HUGS}}.

Okay, I SO WANT TO SEE a picture of how you make the turkey feather thingies. What, exactly, would that be called? Turkey Bouquet? I don't know. But I love the idea and now I need the visual to make sure I'm getting this clever way to gather thoughts of Thanksgiving gratitude.

Oh, and I want to see a picture of Noah's personal tree too. His tree must be so awesome - you know, with all those cool "guys" hanging as the decorations!

Okay, that's all from me, your demanding friends :-)

Feel better!!!

*Heather said...

I hope you are feeling better soon! And have fun shopping! I avoid shopping like the plaque on this day...LOL! I hate crowds like that and I just end up in a bad mood! But maybe if I had some company it would be better...anyways have fun! :)

Anonymous said...

I hope that you are feeling all better by the time you have to hit the kitchen! Love your ideas! And we just got a Kohl's so it was one of the first places I was going to hit on Black Friday! Thanks for the heads up!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Sophia

Jenn said...

Happy Thanksgiving! I love your recipes!

What gorgeous colors on your layout!

Anonymous said...

OMGOSH!!! I watched that same Barefoot Contessa episode where she made that conserve! I'm making it for tomorrow!!! I LOVE HER SHOW!!!!! YUMMMMMM! I love how she always sits around and eats with her friends at the end...usually all men. LOL! So funny. Anyway....I LOVE your CJ layout...it's fantastic!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING JENNIFER!!!!

Anonymous said...

I love your quote!
Have a WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!