Thanksgiving, Christmas Trees, and other Festivities

I had a lovely Thanksgiving and break this year.  However, it was not as lovely as most years, simply because final school projects have been hanging over my head for the entire long weekend.  And instead of working hard on them, I worked a little, and decided to put the rest off until school starts back up this week. Good plan, no?  Grad school is  no joke, and there are some days where I find myself asking, "What the heck have I gotten myself into?!"

Regardless, I know it's all a part of God's plan.  And I know I don't have to do it all on my own!  So I am making sure those thoughts are at the forefront of my mind in the final 2.5 weeks of my first semester of grad school!

...But back to Thanksgiving.  Like I said, it was lovely!  We spent half of Thursday with my family, and half of Thursday with Luke's family.  We ate, talked, played board games, and even hung out outside for a bit!  It was a beautiful day, and the warmest Thanksgiving I can ever remember.

Friday I spent most of the day with my mom and sister.  A nearby town was having a tour of a bunch of little craft shops and other different Christmasy things, so we ate lunch there and explored all there was to see.  My favorite was this old Victorian house that we got to tour:

 And following tradition, Luke and I got our tree on Friday, and decorated it that evening.  It's my favorite tree of ours yet.  Mostly because we have a bigger living room this year, and Luke packed 1,200 lights on this tree.

Saturday we went out to breakfast with a bunch of family for my Uncle John's birthday party.  Later some friends came over and we lit the tree and a fire and watched Ohio State beat Michigan!  It was perfect.

I spent the rest of Saturday night hanging out with friends, and all day today relaxing and napping and really not feeling all that well, and also felling a little depressed about going back to school tomorrow.  Luke cheered my up by bringing dinner home after working on our car, so I didn't have to worry about cooking.  I'm so thankful for him!

Now to forge ahead in the next 2.5 weeks before Christmas break.  I have planned some activities for a client tomorrow around "The Little Engine That Could."  I think it might hit home more for my unmotivated self, though.  

I think I can, I think I can!