Thankful Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I must say that with the help from a few wonderful people in our family assisting us, we successfully hosted our first Thanksgiving! My husband cooked the most amazing Turkey I’ve ever had!  We bought a frozen turkey, thawed it, brined it, stuffed it, and roasted it in the bag. It was delicious. This brings me to my #18 item of thankfulness: my husband’s cooking skills! For those of you who don’t know this, Bryan is an amazing cook! I’m so blessed! When he was choosing what he wanted to do as a career, he was actually torn between nursing and culinary school. He chose nursing, which he is also very good at. His compassion for people makes him one of those nurses that you always hope you get when you go to the hospital. Nevertheless, his love for cooking and creating delicious concoctions still remains. In addition to the perfect turkey, he also made Pistachio Marzipans. Holy moly were they delicious!! Being the perfectionist he is, he said, “I think I can make those better next time…” I thought they were fantastic, but I heard “next time…” and so I figure it’s a win-win for me!

#19: Thanksgiving goodies. Does Thanksgiving not have the best foods or what? Thanksgiving is the one holiday feast that I don’t mind eating days after for leftover. Oh and I have eaten leftovers for days; this is no exaggeration.

#20: My personal favorite: sweet potatoes/ Yams. Any way shape or form, I just love this nutrient-packed super food! This year, we had two side dishes including these wonderful vegetables: sweet potato casserole and Yams with marshmallows and pineapple. Perhaps I love them so much because they are a side dish that taste like dessert!

#21: As you can probably tell our kitchen was busy and our oven full with preparation and cooking of dishes. I sure am thankful for the Market Day fundraiser that I purchased some pies from, because I was able to bake those in advanced! To my pleasant surprise, they were SO GOOD! I purchased an apple and a pumpkin pie. The apple pie, in particular, was the best I’ve ever had—no joke!

#22: After eating as much as I did, I am thankful for my Xbox Kinect because we had some fun burning some calories while playing Just Dance 3. Don’t knock it until you rock it, because it is harder than it looks! You don’t think it will be that difficult, but then a couple songs in you definitely start to break a sweat! Just Dance 4 just came out, anyone get it yet?

#23: After all the hype in prepping for the holiday and then the excitement /exhaustion of the day, some nice R&R was definitely deserved and needed. I am thankful for those much needed days of resting and relaxing with Bryan & Tiger watching episodes of Parenthood.

#24: In addition to the holiday weekend, we also attended my 10 year high school reunion. I must admit…I was nervous. I was nervous all day in fact. I didn’t know what it would be like. Would people be off in their cliques and ignore everyone else there? Would it feel like high school all over again, and not in a good way? I knew most of the people that I was really close to weren’t going to be there, so that high school fear of “not knowing anyone” came rushing back. The only difference is that I had my best friend by my side, my hubby. So despite my reservations, I put on my big girl pants and went. I am happy to say that I actually had a really great time! I got to see people I haven’t seen in forever, laugh with old friends about random silliness, and even talk to people that I was just acquaintances with. Either way I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to go. I’m thankful for the people you are able to pick up where you left off when you do see them. Lastly, I'm thankful that mostly everyone, whether we were great friends or merely acquaintances, was really nice and as excited as I was to see everyone!

#25: I’m thankful for the advent tree at church. Bryan and I have always wanted to give to kids for Christmas that wouldn’t otherwise have one. My church, like most churches, has an advent tree with hundreds of opportunities to give gifts to those in need. We are so grateful to be in the position to do this and for the opportunity!

#26: We are so thankful for our home! For all of the obvious reasons, we are blessed to have a home that is safe and warm. We are also so blessed to have a home where we can host family and friends! I thought of this as I was finding layers of clothes to wear to work because the heat never seems to work in my classroom. I have to layer up my sweaters and sometimes wear gloves, boots, and my coat while I teach, or sit with a blanket while at my desk. It is THAT cold. This makes me soooo thankful to have a warm roof over my head!