Giving Thanks

Better late than never, right? :-p

Well, back by popular demand (okay, just the lovely Randy, who has had a rough go of it lately- please keep her in your thoughts), here is an account of our 2009 Thanksgiving. Next up, Christmas in July! :)

The day started out with delicious gingerbread pancakes from RightHand!

(And my helicopter mother...!)

The sis and I set about fighting making Pumpkin Pie Bites, courtesy of Bakerella

Leave it to me to endanger the laptop rather than just print the recipe... :)

They turned out pretty well, but then again the artistic one of us (not me!) was on the case

A closer look

And then my toddler fiance made some just for me (Thanks, lovey!)

A sampling (I know I did some of these and I am proud!)

YUM!

After a visit from Elizabeth of Battle Ground lore, the sheeding of PJs and showers, we gathered our goods and took them to the Traylors...

Gee, thank God we made dessert! :-p
(Isn't that just a picture? Literally...)

Another view- breathtaking!!
(Mainly because I couldn't breathe from tight pants after eating all of this ;)

Paul, Jen, and Alison

The beautiful table

Love that shelf and cahndelier!

Other decor

The man doing his job :)

The other happy couple

Another photo as more was added!!

Sophie, the highlight of RightHand's Thanksgiving

The kids' table- yay! (I'm the youngest- haha)

The happy wanna-be family :)

Sophie admiring RightHand- his dream, I'd say: to have a pug's love

Double the trouble!

Trying to capture all of the ladybugs that flew in before dinner
(I've heard of this sort of invasion in other places, but I had never seen it in the South!)

We had a beautiful sunset

The lovers escaped to the porch :)

My first vegetarian Thanksgiving!

My lovely sister from across the table

Then RightHand stole my camera...

And literally set out...

...to take unflattering photos of my mom!!

What a punk!!!
(Joke's on you- she'll be your helicopter mother-in-law for a long time, buddy!! ;)

I actually walked in on the two of them watching football- precious :)

Bein' gangsta with da pug

Full and content.

I decided to love her too

RightHand's favorite picture, he says: Me, a pug, and football :)

Blockage!

"Pwease take me home with you, fake family?" Sure, cutie!

Tamed by the vet. Or all of that turkey. ;)

Hope your Thanksgiving (you know, months and months ago) was full of thanks and giving! :)

Miscellaneous Venues

For the sake of posterity and all of that good stuff, here are the other wedding venues that we checked out (sorry, no pics!) and eliminated pretty quickly for various reasons. I'd be happy to talk with any future brides about these places!

William-Payne House (Heritage at Sandy Springs): http://www.heritagesandysprings.org/
Pros: Really unique venue (public park, historic house), we'd get married basically standing on THE Sandy Spring (that gave the town its name), charming creek near guest seating, great gazebo
Cons: Didn't have full use of the house, would have to hire outside vendors for everything, space was narrow, dinner and dancing were disconnected, just didn't feel like "us"

Primrose Cottage: http://www.primrosecottage.com/
Pros: Incredibly nice staff! Beautiful grounds, you can tell the house and grounds are always immaculately maintained, great local location, cozy brick-walled basement, beautiful ballroom
Cons: Honestly, I really liked this place, it was just a bit "Southern", and that's not the feel we wanted. Also, the entrance/walk down the aisle was sort of strange, but it's hard to explain! :)

The Grande at Kennesaw: http://www.grandeevent.com/
Pros: Liked the flow of the rooms, nice wallpaper, and, um...
Cons: Laminate "hardwood" floors, altar overlooked a chain-linked enclosed backyard (though, yes, I'm sure the foliage fills in after winter...), just had a "cheap" feel, and, again, "Southern", which we didn't want.

Hollycrest Hall: http://www.hollycresthall.com/index.htm
Pros: Close to my house, neat separate bar, neat sitting room, big back patio
Cons: Very close to a major road- lots of road noise and you could see the traffic through some windows, just felt "cheap"

These are just our impressions, and are not meant to offend! I just know how hard it was to look up reviews of venues, etc. and I wanted to give other brides my take. And please note, absolutely everyone at each venue was very nice and gave us their full time and attention.

So, when all is said and done, we simply had to go with...TBA See the choices here: Venue #1, Venue #2, Venue #3. Stay tuned for the big reveal!

Happy Belated Bunday!

Daisy really deserves props, as she has been graciously sharing her space with a certain annoying younger brother:

The look in her also says that she hopes I notice her food bowl is empty.

Side view- so cute! At least someone is using the bed!

Preciousness

Royal really made himself comfortable

Everyone's quite relaxed, as it should be :)

Goodnight, silly kitten!

Happy Belated Caturday!

Gatsby has been extra-cute lately, so I suppose he'll get his own post yet again. :)

A cute snuggle

A rare instance of him being on furniture (It's true! He prefers the floor, and we just don't know why!)

Sleepily guarding Royal's toy

A snuggle with brudder :)

Hope your Caturday was filled with such brotherly love :)

Belated Friday Fotos

Here are my picks for the week! As always, go here to pick yours.

The boy is holding a toy gun, but what an intense image. The look in his eye, the red balloon... can't imagine what life is like there right now.

What a sweetie, and already a refugee at this age. Sigh... she needs so much more than religion.
This picture especially caught my eye because she looks like my childhood best friend, Amanda.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...?

What a lucky kid!!! Wow!

A heart-breaking situation, but I was relieved to see this picture of aid, of progress, instead of desperation.
Also, I never really considered the "skin" color of prosthetics... oh, there's always more to unpack from that knapsack of white privilege!