The wait is finally over...

What is the longest you have every waited for something?  20 mins? 1 hour? 1 week? 1 year?  1 decade? 2 decades? 1 quarter of a century?  Wow...that last one actually sounds dramatic!  Even in print...  What would be worth waiting that long for?  Your college graduation?  Your first set of china?  Your one true love?  Some of us get lucky and find our one true early in life - like at age 14.  Then at 18 we marry them and the next thing you know, it has been 25 years that you have been married to your one true love.  This December 27th - I will have been married to mine that long.  But that isn't truly what this post is about...

Since I didn't go to college, let's go back and look at that 2nd item on the list...you know the one about china.  Now let me tell you a little story...since you already know a little about my marriage from the first part of this post, I will keep this part brief.  Girl meets boy, girl dates boy, girl marries boy...that was brief huh? lol  Now fast forward a bit.  Not a lot..just a little.  Maybe a year or so.  Girl's mother-in-law informs her that she gets to pick between the two sets of china that she has.  She purchased 2 sets years ago so both of her sons would one day have a set.  Although I married her youngest son, we were married first so, I get to pick which set I wanted.  One set was more contemporary with small flowers and more pastel colors.  The other was more traditional with lacy edges and a flower pattern in steel grey blue color.  For me there really was only one choice.  I picked the later of the two sets.  What I didn't know at the time was that the set I picked also came with a complete set of enamel pots and pans!  And a fondue set! Bonus!!!

Now comes well, life.  We moved from Norman, OK to Phoenix, AZ then back to Dallas, TX and a few other stops along the way before finally landing in Allen, TX for 13 years.  At all of those locations we never ended up having a dinning room large enough to have room for a china hutch.  So during all these years my china continued to reside with my mother-in-law.  Fast forward to well..2011.

After another move from Allen, TX back to our home town of Ada, OK and a short stint in a rent house, we finally found a house we fell in love with and purchased.  The time had come...I finally had a dining room large enough for a china hutch.  But I didn't have a china hutch!  I noticed I friend of mine was selling a beautiful extremely large dining room table!  It was large enough that my entire family would fit at it.  Even once they each find their own true love.  The only down side was that she did not have a china hutch to match.  So I did some rapid research and actually located the china hutch that matched it!  I now have both pieces and they look awesome.

Now the question comes, how to you get an entire set of china from Phoenix, AZ to Ada, OK without any of them getting broken?  You count on a wonderful mother and father-in-law...and they deliver them to you just in time to use them for Thanksgiving!  Some girls have everything! Well, at least I do...

Unpacking my early Christmas....12 place settings.  :)

Aunt Donna had to much fun thinking of me unpacking these with all this shredded paper! lol

I also have lots and lots of extra pieces...2 sets of salt and pepper and the candle stick holders.

The pattern...

2 gravy boats!

A fondue and a crystal piece that matches some I already had.

Love this piece!

Tea/coffee pitcher and the sugar and creamer.

All unpacked and put away...

And the aftermath... 

And the end result is one happy momma.  Stay tuned for more pictures from this years Thanksgiving dinner....  Creating new family traditions in our new home is worth waiting for....even 25 years.