On the Road: License Plates

Our Thanksgiving journeys took us on a 12 hour road trip one-way to North Carolina's Outer Banks.  The weather was lovely and the company was even lovelier.  Keith's sister, Sara, is a wonderful host and kept us well-fed and well-entertained in the OBX.  We are so thankful that she made our visit so special.

BUT she was not along for the drive where we had to keep ourselves entertained.
We listened to a book-on-CD.  We talked to each other. We played trivia games. We listened to the Browns beat the Steelers! (Woohoo)  And we resorted to a casual version of " The License Plate Game" - you remember this seek-and-find game as a kid, right?  'Casual' just means we didn't keep score ... but I probably I won because I found Alaska (10 bonus points)!

States we drove through:

License Plates we saw:

South Carolina, Delaware, Michigan, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Florida, New York, Texas, Nebraska, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and Alaska

Wow! Everyone is on the road for Thanksgiving weekend.  But not so many got to see this and the waves of the Atlantic crash on the beach...

Beautiful Jeanette's Pier in Nags Head. 

... more reason to be thankful! 

Autumn Things

Mums, autumn leaves, candles and
apple garland decorate our mantle.

Autumn is wonderful!  It seems to be perfectly designed by our Creator as a seasonal link between summer and winter.  The life and vibrancy of summer melt into the richness of autumn's colors. And the blazing fire of colors of autumn will fall to the smoky white of winter's covering.

As Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:
"Where waving woods and waters wild, do hymn an autumn sound."

Although the leaves aren't as awe-inspiring as they were three weeks ago, the air is still crisp and fall colors are still prominent.  Apples and pumpkin goodies are still on menus or even right up front at the grocery store.  Thanksgiving reminds us of warmth and sharing the bounty of an autumn harvest.  It is most certainly true that in a week or so it will be all about winter and Christmas. Even I am guilty of pushing the seasons forward to Christmas by listening to 93.3FM, which is already all Christmas songs, but let's take a moment or two to enjoy the last of fall that remains.  For it is said that "nothing gold can stay".

Pumpkin still looks great on the front porch. 

Kale will give us nice color
even as the rest of the ground looks barren.

Our 3rd anniversary this week is a great time
to celebrate and transition to cozy winter months.

On the Road: IKEA

We've had many a conversation in our house like this:  "We should go to IKEA sometime."  "Yeah, we should."  But this past weekend, we actually did go to IKEA.

Our journeys took us south to the Cincinnati area for AJ & Anna's wedding - a perfect match made in Drum Corps heaven.  The love of the Glassmen family around Anna & AJ was everywhere including the colors, the music, the wedding party and the guests.   On the drive to the wedding, our conversation went more like this: "Should we have cleared out space in the car so we could buy some things at IKEA?"  "Yeah, we should have."

Beautiful wedding with very beautiful people.

Okay... If you have never been to IKEA, to say it is massive is an understatement.  This Scandinavian Home Superstore has a showroom with designated areas for every area in your home. I got really inspired and wanted to take everything home with me.  Textiles, bedding, kitchenwares, living rooms, office, lighting, wall art, curtains, bedrooms, bathrooms, gadgets, sofas, marketplace... have to buy the Swedish meatballs.   

There is a huge restaurant. It is cafeteria-style and really affordable with kids play area.  We got bacon, eggs, potatoes, french toast sticks, Swedish pancakes, and two coffees for $7.19!

The kitchen showroom area had the most beautiful tablescapes.  This was one of my favorites- all decked for Christmas.

Waiting at checkout.  We had a full cart ready to try to get into the car.