30 Thankful Days - Day 3

Day 3 of 30 Thankful Days!  If you have a post to share, link up over at Dawn's Good Life.  It's pretty fun  and good for the heart to read about what others are thankful for.

Since I missed Day 1, I decided I'm going to post about TWO things today, both of which bring me great joy and happiness.  Ready?

Thankful "Thing" #1:

Ginny, the best puppy-friend ever.  Yesterday she was pretty excited to stay home with me all day.  She spent most of the day sleeping curled up on the couch or asking me to play, but was completely enthralled when the men from the HOA came to shovel our walkways.

She's VERY curious.  And very active, very involved, and very, very sweet.  She's the best cuddle puppy ever. We pretty much can't imagine what life would be like without her.  She waits patiently for an invitation onto the couch with you (although, if you take too long, she might grunt a little, kind of like the Angry Birds pigs do).  She love love loves it if you invite her onto the bed, because that's a rare treat.  She wants to play with you whenever you're willing, and she loves it when you put your tennis shoes on, because she thinks it might be time to go for a walk.  She loves to run around with the "big dogs" at Mom and Dad's (two Siberian huskies) and play until they are all exhausted.  She loves to lay in the sunshine, but is getting more interested in the snow (although she won't ever like it as much as the big dogs do).  And she loves to be with us, wherever we are.

Someone asked us if we were going to get rid of her when the peanut comes.  Are you kidding?  That would be like losing a family member.  We're convinced she's going to be a GREAT big sister.  She makes us happy.

Thankful Thing #2:

Okay, if you know me at all, or have been reading my blog for a while, you should be able to guess what thing that only comes around this time of year makes me extremely, ridiculously, excitedly, joyously, just plain happy....

The Gingerbread Latte.  In a Christmas cup, no less.

Here's my actual first one this morning:

I loved the cups last year with the little carolers and people, but this cup sums up the truth quite well.  Any day with a GBL is a snow day.  A little bit of heaven.  As I explain to my students or other people who think I'm nuts, it's really truly like God's little personal gift to me, Beth.  Happiness overtakes me with every sip, every whiff of it's delicious aroma.

Mmm.  Deliciousness.  Happiness. 

I know it might be silly to be thankful for a cup of coffee, but that's me.  I really feel like it's a little gift for me each time I drink one.  No matter the mood, a Gingerbread Latte lifts my spirits, reminds me of what's good, that it's all in His hands, and that He cares about me.

And yes, I might be obsessed.  (You can read about my love for GBLs here and here if you really want to grasp the depth of how I feel.  I can measure how long I've been a blogger in how many years I've posted on GBLs, lol.

A quick story, before I go to class.  (We have a 7 period chaotic day today, insted of our normal 4 period block, due to yesterday's snow day.)  It was years ago that my BFF Caroline, my cousin, introduced me to the Gingbread Latte.  Caroline is exactly five months older than I am, to the day, and we grew up seeing each other at least once a year, but usually more often, as our families are close friends (our moms are sisters).  It was like having a built in best friend my entire life, and it hasn't changed a bit.  We're now both 29, and when we get to see each other, we laugh, we cry, we have fun.  Caroline is expecting her first baby in just over a month, and when she called to tell me she was pregnant, she told me I had five months to join her to keep the tradition going.   Mission accomplished.  Within 3 - 4 months of her baby boy joining the family, I'll bring the peanut home, too. 

Wait, this wasn't the point of the story.

Yesterday she texted to me that she'd just ordered her first GBL of the season (we had a laugh, as the barista called her "mamacita.")  This morning I texted her to tell her that I was drinking my first - and immediately had a response saying she was drinking one too.... so we enjoyed a moment of "having GBLs together," despite the many, many states and time zones between us. 

GBL Love.  You just can't contain it.

Pumpkin Spice....

Dear Pumpkin Spice Latte Lovers,

I'm sincerely happy that the latte you love to sip is back, and that you're enjoying the deliciousness of it's spicy aroma and flavor.  I hope you'll enjoy every single one you drink until they go out of season again.   I'm quite aware that the Pumpkin Spice Latte signals the arrival of the fall season, perhaps one of my most favoritest (yes, that should be a word) seasons of all, for so many reasons.   May you savor every sip with a sigh of satisfaction.

But would you please stop rubbing it in my face that it isn't quite yet my turn, as the Gingerbread Latte season has not yet arrived?  I don't begrudge you your happiness, but you're doing an awfully good job at making me jealous and a little sad. 

My time is coming however.... and, of course, when it doesn, it means that yours will be at an end.

Sincerely,
A Gingerbread Latte Girl

Best Coffee Ever - And Company

You would have laughed at me if you'd just seen me, friends. 

I have spent the last 15 minutes trying to get a good photo of myself holding a cup of coffee, using my cell phone camera, which for some reason, has a fuzzy film on it I couldn't get off.  I then made it worse by scratching at it, although for a minute it did make it a little less fuzzy.... but that moment was short lived. 

Upon realizing that 15 minutes had gone by and I had no good pictures to show you, I decided it was so funny I'd just upload the ridiculous and fuzzy pictures I took.  And then I just realized that, because I had to get a new phone last week (my old one broke), I don't have this one set up to send my pictures to my email, and I don't have the converter that makes your small memory card fit into the memory card slot on the computer.

Sigh.

All I wanted to do was show you my favorite cup of coffee ever.  Wait, this is a blog, right?  And, while I know that a picture is worth a 1000 words, I should be able to paint you a word picture.....we'll, I'll try.


It's the season I wait for all year long.  It brings me joy, puts me in a good mood no matter what else is going on in my life, and, I think, is God's personal gift to me, Beth.  I love the decorations each year, the sweet and spicy aromas that waft my way, the warm, fuzzy feeling I get.

I am, of course, talking about the Gingerbread Latte season at Starbucks.  You knew that, right?

I kid you not.  With a Gingerbread Latte in hand, nothing can stop me.  I'm unflappable, un-phaseable, un-depressable.  I hoard (not an exaggeration) any gift cards given to me the rest of the year and never spend any money at Starbucks until sometime in November, when the signs switch from orange and brown with the words Pumpkin Spice to elaborate drawings of coffee cups topped with whipped cream and the words Holiday Favorites are written in golds and reds.  I then go through those gift cards at what might seem an excessive rate, but really isn't, as I know I want to make them last until the new year.

A student brought me my first Gingerbread Latte of the season the week they came out, not long ago.  In the middle of a meeting, I glanced up and saw out the window that she was standing there, latte in hand.  No words of explanation needed, I quickly and quietly left the room, thanked her profusely, and almost reverantly sipped my first delicious sip.  Contentment.

I've postponed writing about it, because I've wanted to find the perfect day and have the perfect photo to accompany my post, but today I decided that you, my friends, need to know that I am happy.

This morning I went in for a Venti (a big splurge - but it's the last day of school before Thanksgiving Break), and the card scanner would not read my giftcard.  She tried three times.  I offered to let her try another card. Instead, like an angel or a Christmas elf, she replied, "Oh, it's fine. Just enjoy."

The barista then read the label on the cup wrong and made a Creme Brulee Latte (cbl) instead of a Gingerbread Latte (gbl).  Taking an extra minute, she made me a new latte and put it in the cutest Christmas cup ever.

Whether it's the fact that it's Friday and it's the day before a break, the fact that the coffee was free, or the fact that she made it extra special, this Gingerbread Latte is without a doubt ...

... the best cup of coffee ever.

May your day be merry!

Disclaimer: I know I'm a little out of control.  Like me anyway.  I do think God gave me the Gingerbread Latte as a gift, but the season I love more than the GBL is, truly, Christmas.  More to come on that after Thanksgiving.