Couch!

Today Benjamin and I are FINALLY getting a couch. No more sinking uncomfortably into the depths of our lumpy maroon loveseat, no more cramped movie viewing with nowhere to rest our legs, today is the day and the couch I’ve had my eye on since we became engaged shall be mine! Hoorah!!

This is where all of you come in: I need help picking out a matching rug. Since the couch is adorned with a lovely pattern the appropriate rug is proving to be a challenge. I would rather pair it with something a little more daring, rather than your basic solid color, but need help with suggestions.

The couch: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29841039

The pattern is: Hovby white/black (in case the link shows something different).

Responses that include links will win a prize! 🙂

thanksgiving savens style

thanksgiving with the savens this year was tradition at its finest. our thanksgiving routine has changed a bit in the last few years due to house sizes and sibling arguments, but this year was great. the final count this year was 30…we must be crazy i guess. all 30 of us were packed in my grandparents’ house…and when i say packed, i really mean it.  some of you have been to my grandparents house, and it is not that big…and definitely not 30 people big. but like i said, it was great. we had a few family members drive in from st. louis, which was great because it had been about eight years since we had seen them.  everyone arrived around 4 or so, at which time the champagne was popped and the appetizers were rolled out.  this year we had chips and salsa (it is texas after all), a ginormous cheese ball with an assortment of crackers, and deviled eggs (a traditional dish for us that i have yet to partake from :).  everyone hangs out for a few hours, chatting and watching football, eating appetizers, and drinking…a lot.  that’s one thing that the savens do quite well. as everyone is catching up, making jokes, teasing everyone (especially leah and i…the only aggies of the family), and having a good time, my grandma and my aunt are in the kitchen putting the last minute finishing touches on all the food. we have a lot of food.  i mean, it’s a bit ridiculous. this year we had 2 fifteen pound turkeys and a turduckin (this was a first for us). we had a honey ham, 3 crockpots full of mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes covered in pecans, broccoli and cauliflower casserole, homemade gravy (my personal favorite), collared greens, broccoli and cauliflower “sunny” salad (bryan’s favorite), and a couple more casseroles  that i was too full to eat. and of course, the dessert, we had our famous pumpkin gooey butter cake, two pumpkin pies, and two cheese pies. needless to say, we had far too much food. before we all sat down to eat, all 30 of us gathered in the living room and stood in a circle holding hands. we do this circle prayer every time we get together, especially at thanksgiving.  we go around the circle, starting with my grandma and say a prayer or what we are thankful for.  this time is typically filled with jokes and tears, sincerity and silliness, and it’s wonderful.  we end with my grandpa, who blesses the food…then it’s time to eat! we started eating around 7, which of course, was kickoff for the a&m-texas game, so some people sat at the tables we had set up, but we all migrated to the living room soon enough.  the rest of the night consisted mostly of watching football and rubbing every a&m touchdown in everyone’s faces. we had a lovely time.  thanksgiving with the savens is always an event.  this year was one of the first times in about ten years that we had little ones running around again.  bryan used to be the youngest, but we had new little ones this year, and i couldn’t have been happier.  there is definitely something different about the atmosphere when babies are there 🙂 i guess that is really it for the savens thanksgiving. it was a great time and now we just have to wait for christmas eve…believe it or not, we do it up bigger and better then! i hope everyone had a lovely time with family and i wish you all a happy thanksgiving!

I’m curious to know what everyone is doing for Thanksgiving and what your family’s traditional dishes entail?

Last year, newly engaged, I flew with Benjamin to Colorado and spent Thanksgiving with the Loves. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the time spent exploring the snow covered forests in Colorado, the scenery very reminiscent of something out of Narnia (during the White Witches reign). Playing with all of Ben’s nieces and nephews and chatting with his sisters, was all very fun indeed, but the food was so very different from the Nichoson Thanksgiving Day menu I found it a tad melancholy. I was reminded of being a little girl and going to stay the night with a friend whose family had an entirely different routine from my own, and who’s choices for dinner made me incredibly homesick. I can recall fighting back tears between bites convincing myself not to sneak away and call my mother to come pick me up during those sleepovers. In my family the holiday is somewhat defined by the dishes made and eaten and so for them to be something different, suddenly it didn’t feel completely like Thanksgiving. Not to mention the fact that I was ill due to the altitude interfering with my insulin pens (preventing complete delivery, something to do with the pressure) and causing my BG to remain in the 2-300’s most of the trip, which makes ones emotions run rampant. Being ill is, however, a Thanksgiving tradition of mine so that was comforting. 😉

Dramatization aside, what are some of the things your family makes every year? Specifically how do you prepare your stuffing and your sweet-potatoes?

Quick Prayer Request

This week is a big decision week. Ben and I have been working towards and praying for a certain set of things this semester and yesterday we found out they all ended with negative outcomes. Needless to say yesterday had a righteous stench, and to top it off someone stole $40 out of my wallet while I was at work. Neat. I haven’t had too much time to process our new game plan for I had a test and a paper to work on due this morning, and am now feverishly trying to complete a group project before my next class. I admit my thoughts are distracted by fears for the future and I’m having a difficult time not being frustrated, and focusing on my studies. By tomorrow at 4pm I have to have made a decision in some areas and will have a bit more time for the others. Sorry to be cryptic, there just isn’t space enough to explain, nor do I wish to bore you with the details. I apologize for this uninspiring post deprived of any form of eloquence, but I ask you to please join us in prayer. Main topics: wisdom, decisions re: school, favor with financial aid, not having to file with ADA (but if it comes to that then a swift process and favorable outcome), and all the same applies to Ben. If things don’t work out we’ll then be faced with even bigger very unpleasant decisions that I can detail at a later date. Thanks ladies! Sorry again for the nature of this post.

Much love!

~Katherine

ninja movies

i write to you from a new joy i’ve discovered.  for some time now, i’ve been looking for a little coffee shop near me with free wifi, yummy tea and non-coffee drinks, comfortable chairs, table space, and all that good stuff. is that too much to ask? i don’t think so! well it has taken me about six months, but i think i’ve found it! it’s called kick butt coffee and it is located in the triangle off of lamar and 45th.  i have been here for many hours today and haven’t been disturbed once.  well…at least not be a person.  the one drawback to this little wonder is the giant projector in the middle, on which the lovely owners have decided to play the most random movie ever.  i think it is supposed to be some kind of ninja movie, but i wouldn’t know, because instead of playing it, they kept it on the dvd menu for 4 HOURS. so i watched a couple guys get their teeth knocked out and a crazy lady screaming on repeat for the entirety of my first experience.  wow.  if there is one thing in life i do not understand, it’s ninja movies. i mean, how many times can you watch someone get punched in the face? really? i guess it is better when you aren’t watching the same sequence over and over, but still, it’s a bit excessive i think.  all that to say, i have been quite productive today.  i didn’t go to class because i hadn’t yet used my one personal day we are allowed a semester, so i figured it was time.  i ran some errands earlier today and then plopped myself down at my new fave and have been working diligently ever since.  its nice to feel like you’ve accomplished something and worked as hard as you possibly could have on it.  the only problem is that quality work just takes far too long to complete…in my opinion at least. it would be so much easier if i could produce something awesome in about an hour. oh well. such is life i guess…mine at least. that should be all for now then. i decided to keep my first post light-hearted, as i assume there will be many other opportunities for me to heart vomit all over you :).  until then though, i say farewell, or more appropriately, arrivederci. i love you all.

-hayley

This marks the first official entry of our collective online contemplations. Here we shall update, share, and possibly debate upon the goings on of our day to day lives in hopes that we will be entertained, better connected, or even inspired in thought by what is mused here in. Do enjoy!