"Oh Christmas Tree....."

Ever since I can remember, one of my favorite times of year was when we got to decorate the Christmas tree. When I was a little girl, I used to beg my mom to let me set up my own "little" tree on the table in the living room...a tree altogether different than the family tree. Since then, I have decorated real trees, fake trees, tall trees and short trees. I have decorated them by myself, surrounded by friends and with my family. I have gone through phases where I adorned the boughs with ornaments all of the same color and other times that I chose to decorate with all of the ornaments that I have collected throughout the years-all of the ones that totally don't match!

White lights, colored lights, red ribbons, candy canes, flocked with snow, silvery tinsel, tons of ornaments...those that were given to me as a baby, those that I made myself, those given to me as an adult. To me, it just isn't Christmas until the tree is lit!!!

What I'm Thankful For....

So, when this time of year comes around, it makes you realize how you have spent the entire year taking for granted your entire world. If you are anything like me, you then want to scream to the world each and everything that you are grateful for. My voice really isn't all that loud and if I screamed, a great many people would not likely hear me. But I really, really, really want everyone to know just how thankful I am, so here goes.....

I am soooo thankful for my Motley, enough said!

I am thankful for the boy who stands by my side, when I am happy, grumpy sad,crying at a movie, or hyper for no good reason at all.

I am thankful for my family.

I am thankful that I have such a talented and kind mother.

I am thankful that I have a strong and hard-working father.

I am thankful that I have a caring sister who is soon going to be a

mommy to my little "blueberry" and I am thankful that she found an amazing husband who will soon be an exceptional daddy.

I am thankful for a brother who never gives up,

even when I have.

I am thankful for my friends.

I am thankful for my nephew Marcus.

I am thankful that I was able to see my best friend get married this summer to an exceptional man.

I am thankful for Facebook--as I have been able to get in touch

with quite a few of the people that I have known

and lost over the years.

I am thankful for the incredible people that I work with...they have become my family away from my family.

I am thankful for the roof over my head, the earth beneath my feet and the air that a breathe...even if it is a little dirty.

I am thankful that I am a vegetarian, but not for Tofurkey (yuck)!

I am thankful that I am healthy.

I am thankful for President-t0-be Barack O'Bama.

I am thankful for Martha Stewart--I love her ideas.

I am thankful for chai tea from Dutch Brothers.

I am thankful for all SHOES.

I am thankful for shopping, even though I don't have

any $$$ to spend.

I am thankful for lower gas prices.

I am thankful for the Buddha.

I am thankful for meetings...hey, at least I have a job.

I am thankful for Diet Dr. Pepper.

I am thankful for the Broncos, even though they let me down.

I am thankful for football in general.

I am thankful for Gossip Girls, Grey's, One Tree Hill, 90210, and well, for way too much TV!!!

I am thankful for pedicures!

I am thankful that I no longer have braces.

I am thankful for my comfy bed.

Most importantly, I am thankful for just being!

So in writing this I have begun to realize that there are many things, large and small, that affect my world, add meaning to my life and I am thankful for so many more things than I could even begin to type!

I hope y'all can take a moment to stop and really think
about what you are thankful for too!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My first one...

NO....for all of you with dirty minds, I am not going to sit here and dictate my first "experience." Rather, I am going to discuss this freaking blog thing and why now, I am so grumpy because it has taken me a good 2 days to get my blog up and running and it has been very difficult trying to decipher my thoughts with billions of little words being thrown at me from my co-workers (whom I love dearly of course!).....

....So here it is, my first, widely anticipated blog. Ok, let's be real...honestly, I am quite sure that there is not that much anticipation surrounding my blog and because it has taken soooo long to actually set my blog page up, I have less than a little bit of creativity left to give you all. My current imagination extends solely to explain the reasoning behind the name for my blog.

Let me just say that with my title I am embracing my childhood with the name. For those of you with dirty minds, 'Escapades' does not refer to anything impure (No Dawn--it has nothing to do with my sleepnumber)! Actually, every year for the holidays, my family sends out a Christmas newsletter that resembles very closely a newspaper. It was called the 'Hargroves Herald' and my column was 'Erin's Escapades'.

So there you have it...that is the reason for the title of the my blog!

I promise, my upcoming blogs will be much more exciting!!