A Thanksgiving Party

I think I can dub this Thanksgiving as the best I've had in three years. My roommate and I woke up early to begin meal preparations. We had invited several of our Chinese tutors to come a celebrate with us. Bethany made chicken (no turkey available), bacon-wrapped green beans, and magically-delicious pumpkin pie. I made mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread dressing, and yeast rolls.

With our tutors and our feast!

When our guests first went through the line, they put just a tablespoon of each dish on their plates, sampling to see what they would like. Then, after sampling, they went back to the table and filled up their plates like a boss!

My first tutor has an adorable little girl who loved the party. She helped make the whipped cream, and loved helping to put up the Christmas tree.

While decorating, we put on some Christmas music and danced around the living room. It was such a fun afternoon!

Slight disparity in the size of our Christmas stockings

Thanksgiving Hike

The day after Thanksgiving, I went with a couple of friends outside the city for a morning hike. Even though it was somewhat exerting physically, it was immensely restful physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

A very wise friend once told me that life was as simple as focusing on doing the things that stir up my affections for the Creator and avoiding the things that rob me of affection for Him. Being out in nature is one of those things that stirs my affections to delight in Him.  Having great and funny friends to make the journey with also delights my soul!

Changchun!