Day Fifteen: November in Pictures.

In honor of the last day of my Month of Thanks series, I decided to do a recap of the month of November.  Instead of trying to organize my thoughts and spew them on to cyber paper, I thought it would be more fun to flip through all the still moments that have been captured throughout the month.  There are shots from Mr. M's birthday, and our weekend getaway.  You'll also see random photos of Miss G doing her thing.  And of course, you'll get a glimpse of our road trip to Tennessee for Thanksgiving - there will be more to follow with that.  But for now, please take a minute to share in my favorite moments of November.

The Jacksonville skyline from our weekend away.

Me & Mr. M in Ballis Park.

This was taken from inside MOSH in Jacksonville.

The John T. Alsop, Jr Bridge in Jacksonsville.

San Marco Boulevard.

Miss G.

Pure joy.

This is Mr. M's 34th birthday cake.  For some reason, all we had was a number 4 candle, so he grabbed one of G's magnets from the fridge and stuck it on top.  I guess it worked out.

Our tree was up before Thanksgiving - there's a first time for everything.

One of my favorite ornaments.

Strutting her stuff at a rest stop in Georgia.

The sexy and rugged Mr. M.

This is the view we got to enjoy during our stay in Chattanooga.

This is a shot from the Chattanooga National Cemetery.  There will be another post on this soon.

Day Thirteen: Road Trips.

Miles the Puggle.

Road trips are the shiz.  I've always had a weird obsession with them.  Growing up, my family took many a road trip from time to time.  Of course, living in the country, and at least fifteen miles from civilization, just making the hour drive to the mall seemed like a road trip at times.  But you get used to it.

My dad played wheelchair basketball for years.  Tournaments opened a lot of doors for us to travel.  The biggest trip we ever took that was related to basketball events was our trip to Boston in 1993, I think.  I was twelve, and that was a long drive!  I remember there was snow on the ground and it was March.  That was a completely foreign sight to see for a Floridian.  I also remember going to a ritzy banquet while we were there, and being served this really gross chicken that was stuffed with orange-infused rice.  I have no idea what that was about.  A northern thing, perhaps?  Basketball took us on other adventures, but mainly in the South - Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and various cities throughout Florida.

There were some non-basketball related road trips as well.  Many of those were to Illinois and Arkansas, where my Dad's family is. I haven't been to Chicago in years, but it's one of my favorite cities.  Little Rock was the last family road trip we took in 2006, I believe.  I'm really not good with remembering years - obviously.  It was 2000 and something....I know that much.  In college, my sister and I, along with our good friend Lang, took a road trip to Richmond, Virginia.  We left the day after Christmas in 2003 and drove twelve hours straight.  This is also the trip where Mr. M and I got to meet in person for the first time.  You can read more details in A Borrowed Blog.

The time has come for yet another trip.  As you're reading this, I am cruising up the interstate with Mr. M, G, Grandmom (my mom) and Poppy (my dad) along with a goofy little dog named Miles.  We are headed to Tennessee to visit my sister and brother for Thanksgiving.  I'm thrilled.  This is G's very first road trip.  When she was about nine months old, she and I flew to Chattanooga to visit Nutmeg, but we've never driven further than a couple of hours with her.  I will be sure to give a full report on how she did once we're back in Florida. 

Road trips are tiring, yet exhilarating.  They are sometimes pricey, but cheap fun.  They can be spontaneous, or planned for months.  But whatever they are to you, across the board they're always packed with lots of laughs, lots of car games, and lots of fun.

Happy Thanksgiving & Safe Travels to you!