Hey guys! I hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving. I certainly did, and because of that, I’ve decided to share a post with you that’s a bit more personal and diary-style. I had the pleasure and privilege of having two family gatherings over the last week and enjoyed both thoroughly. So without further adieu, here’s my recap of my Thanksgiving holiday.
Traditionally, band rehearsal for the church I direct for is held on Thursday nights, but with the Thanksgiving holiday, we moved it to Wednesday night. For the record, it was a fabulous rehearsal. We had a band of 10 people and things went very smoothly.
Thursday morning, I got up, made my hair look presentable (which is honestly a huge to-do), and watched some of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. When my fiancé and I were coordinating and making Thanksgiving plans this year, I decided I was going to have my cake and eat it too. I was going to attend my second Harper Thanksgiving, and also watch the parade, and also go Black Friday shopping. So that’s what I did! Around 10:30am, we departed for his family’s river house and we spent the day with his family. It was a great time. Somehow, I managed to make a full plate of food. This was expected to be a challenge, as I am a vegetarian. Thank God for good homemade sides. I prepared a chocolate chip pumpkin loaf and it was a hit. Whew! I’m new to bringing a dish to gatherings and this was quite the confidence boost. My full-bellied, introverted self got a little overwhelmed by the amount of people and I ended up falling asleep in my chair…for two hours. Shortly after I awoke, it was time to head back home. When I finally made it back into my hometown, I went to Old Navy and managed to snag some really great shirts I can wear on stage for leading worship, a puffer vest, and a sweater. Old Navy has some of the best low-priced classic clothing around, in my opinion. I thought about hitting up Target, but as I passed the store at 8pm, the parking lot was 100% full. No, thank you.
Friday morning, my mom and I took off at 8:30am to go to Khol’s and Target. Target didn’t wow me by any means this year. I grabbed a couple presents for people and some garland to decorate my room with, and moved along. After that, my mom and I put our heads together as we decided to bring some lunch to my cousin and her husband, who was hospitalized and being monitored for high blood pressure. We were tasked to find food that was low-sodium. Do you have any idea how hard that is? We ended up getting some fruit, some muffins from Publix, some Wendy’s baked potatoes, and some Gold Peak sweet teas. I’m sure they were grateful regardless. After we left, we went to H&M (a bust) and Victoria’s Secret (What can I say? I needed underwear!). Then, it was quitting time. Once I was home, I packed up for the river, and headed back to my fiancé and his family. His dad made us dinner, which was awesome, and then we went to hang out with some more of the family.
Saturday morning, I went on a walk with my fiancé and his niece (a Great Pyrenees named Lexi). It was pretty darn cold. I played some games with his family, and then he and I headed off to a town 25 minutes away to go to Walmart and get some matcha. We ended up buying a Christmas tree for his house, which I cannot wait to put up with him. After that, the family got together and we had burgers (veggie for me, obv) at our favorite local joint, and parted ways.
Once back home, we walked into another family gathering. The cousin whose husband was in the hospital was supposed to host a gathering, but my family took it on since they had so much going on. It was a great time.
Yesterday (Sunday), church was great. Our big band did an awesome job. Then, in the evening, my cousin Savannah came over and we had a good old fashioned cousin sleepover. This involved equal parts cooking and exercise. I definitely enjoyed.
I’m taking a bit of time off this week, and honestly, it could not come at a better time, since once December kicks off, it’s really full speed ahead in terms of ministry and just life in general.
What I failed to mention is the online shopping I have been doing! I bought an amazing cast iron skillet that has actually already arrived. Additionally, I bought new contact lenses. Ya know, treat yourself! To some vision! I also bought some stuff from Young Living. You can’t possibly be surprised! Ha!
As far as oils go, I bought some Stress Away, Cypress, Peppermint, Peace and Calming and White Angelica. On Cyber Monday (today) I snagged some of my favorite laundry detergent.
Closing out this Monday night with this – talking to you guys, and some peace and quiet. It’s safe to say, life is good.
SARAH HARPER 