I Love Friday!

I know I know, we all love Friday...but this has been a particularly long week for me. I've been slammed at work and trying to keep my head above water and I'm also staying strictly in line with my running schedule. Combine the two and I've just been exhausted. My shins have been acting up this week and it's made for a couple of stressful runs. Back when I first started running I had issues with my shins. I grew out of it but I felt discouraged this week with feeling pain again, as I haven't in quite some time. I have file miles scheduled for tomorrow so hoping I can knock it out with ease.

Anyway, back to being happy that it's Friday! I'm having sweet friends over for dinner tonight and I'm cooking homemade chicken and dumplings. This dish brings back such warm memories of growing up. My mom would make this for us as a treat and, each year when the weather turns colder, I instantly think of it and long to be near her. That said, I thought it would be so fun to cook it for my friends and share a little piece of home with them! It's windy and cold here today so I really look forward to some red wine, comfort food, and laughter with my favorite people.

Allison and I also finalized our holiday party invites and got them sent out yesterday. They are SO cute and I'm totally excited to finally throw a party after four (yes four!) years of talking about it. We've gotten great responses so far and I even have a couple of friends who had already planned to be in town the weekend we're having it. So, I really can't wait to share some of the holiday season with people dear to my heart. I absolutely love the holidays and I'm totally one of those people who want the tree to stay up for months, hee hee. So, this plus getting ready for Thanksgiving in LESS than two weeks has me all buzzing with excitement. I love it! :D

On a side note, I read a verse this morning that I thought was so neat. It's from Ecclesiastes 9:4 and it says, "Anyone who is among the living has hope". I mean, wow! That is just the most uplifting 'promise' to reflect on and I share it because I've had a smile on my face since reading it. I love how some verses in the bible are incredibly short "but sweet" and that one is no exception. So, as we go into yet another much needed and deserved weekend, I'm excited by such hope and feel a bit giddy by it, too. I have just a few hours to go before I leave the office, throw my apron on, and get to cookin'. Hooray for Friday!