You may not know this about me, but...

...my name is Tiffany Messer and I am a Thanksgiving lover.

I love, love, love EVERYTHING about this holiday!

I love the colors. I love the food. I love family getting together.

I love the desserts. I love the smell of the fall candles.

I love the books and poems I read to my class

(especially a story titled: A Turkey for Thanksgiving

by Eve Bunting). 

I love listening to the men talk about football.

I love savoring the last few days of my birthday month.

It makes me sad to walk into the stores after Halloween 

and see Christmas items everywhere.

I do not sing Christmas songs before Thanksgiving.

I do not like to talk about Christmas lists, decorations, or cards before Thanksgiving.

Where is all of the turkey love people?!?!

But I must say, the day after Thanksgiving I am in FULL CHRISTMAS MODE!!!

Happy after a successful Thanksgiving day, I woke up Friday morning singing Christmas carols!

I gleefully put away our fall items, and brought out the Christmas items.

Here's Keith hard at work shaping the tree.

Maddy did not like that I wasn't paying attention to her!

I snapped this picture of her jumping up on me,

trying to gain my attention.

So of course I had to take a tree-trimming break and snuggle with her!

Here is a picture of our fireplace

(notice the light up Snoopy, Amy?)

Here is a picture of our mantle so far.

Notice Maddy's stocking is turned to say this:

 We have never fed Maddy people food, 

and unfortunately after her dig through the Thanksgiving trash,

she had quite an upset stomach.

All.over.our.bed. (#2)

Hopefully by Christmas her stocking will say:

We still had more work to do, but it was time to call it a night.

'Tis the season bloggy friends!

Our first Thanksgiving in our New Home!

Keith and I are VERY fortunate that our parents get along so well.

In fact, people often ask me if my mom and Lisa are BFFs...hehe

This year it was decided that instead of running from one family's house to another,

it would be best to have Thanksgiving in one location.

That's right: Our house!

I must admit that I was EXTREMELY excited for this event!

While I opted out of making the turkey this year

(I didn't want people to have food poisoning after my first Thanksgiving),

I enjoyed buying things, cleaning (yes I said cleaning, can you believe it?!),

and preparing for this special day!

Opa & Maddy

Mom & Troy 

Keith & I made homemade mashed potatoes!

Here is Keith using his strong muscles to mash!

Did I mention we had 3 turkeys?! ha

One deep-fried by Steve, one baked by Lisa,

and one baked by Opa.

Believe it or not, we didn't have a ton of leftovers!

We must have been hun-gry!

Lisa and Keith

The flowers in the middle of the table were sent to me

via mail by my mama and Troy wishing us 

love and laughter on our first Thanksgiving in our new house!

So thoughtful!

Opa and Mom

Keith & Steve

Look at my fluffy little baby!

(Note: since this picture she has gotten her holiday haircut!

Thank goodness!)

This is my plate---WOAH BUDDY!

Trin & Jaida

Now adding me :)

Then adding Maddy!

After dinner everyone was FULL and TIRED!

My sisters :)

Nicole & Keri 

 Thanks to my family for making this the BEST Thanksgiving yet!

Cheers to many more!

Bengals vs. Steelers

Since Keith and I moved into our house, we decided that we wanted to start getting together at least once a week with our families.  

As a group, we decided that Sundays were the best days to get together, and we would rotate to different houses each week.

In light of the Bengals vs. Steelers game this Sunday, I will post pictures from their first match up in November.

I chose "Whodey Black & Orange" as our theme for the day.

People attending had to make or buy something orange and/or black.

Check out how we did:

This is a "Two-Timin' Pasta Bake" that I found on Pinterest!

Let's hope the Bengals bring home a win THIS Sunday!

Hope your day is a Who Dey!

More birthday celebrations!

   So, it wouldn't be like me if I didn't get in one more birthday post by the end of the month of November.

I do celebrate my birthday for an entire month, you know!

When we returned from Gatlinburg, I had to snuggle with my little baby!  I missed her so much!

After my cuddlefest, Keith's mom, Lisa, invited everyone to her house

 for birthday dinner and cake!

On the menu: Beef stew, rolls, and funfetti cake!

I chose beef stew because it is a great runner's meal.

It has red meat and vegetables, 

all of which I should be eating more of (but haven't really been doing so well)!

After dinner, we enjoyed the best part of the meal--cake and ice cream!

You're never too old for cake and ice cream!

Lisa always makes special cakes for birthdays.

This year my cake was decorated like a book!

I heart books!

Here are a few pictures of the gang that night:

 

This dog's name is Benji.

Lisa is fostering him until we can find it a good home.

Any takers?? :)

My beautiful nieces, Jaida & Trin, with the birthday girl

Lisa cutting the cake

Aren't they cute?! Nicole, Jaida, & Johnny

Opa and Trin 

Lisa and my mom :)

Take 1 

Take 2

Keith and Keri 

At school the next day, one of my students had her mom make me cupcakes for my birthday! 

So sweet! 

You know what they say, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away!"

I especially agree with these kinds of apples!

 

Finally, my celebrations ended on a wonderful note when Charlie O'Connor called me for a birthday date!

Charlie is the son of my dear friends, Melissa and Kevin.

Melissa and I met when I began teaching at Sharpsburg in August 2006, 

and Charlie was born the following January.

Since then, my bond with Charlie has grown and grown!

I absolutely LOVE this boy and will be right behind his mom when the teenage girls start calling him one day!

Melissa and Kevin are so thoughtful and bought me a travel trivia game since we do so much traveling!

Little did they know that Keith and I often go to Trivia Night at BW3s on Friday nights.

They found a gift that combined two of our favorite things: travel and random facts!

Charlie insisted on buying me flowers--Such a gentleman!

Also in attendance at dinner was my godson, Benjamin.

Ben is such a sweet boy, mellow, and laid back and I am lucky to be his godmother!

I must say that I was definitely spoiled on my 28th birthday.

The best gift of all, though, is having a loving and healthy group of family and friends!

Happy November everyone!

Can you believe December is right around the corner?