Our Thanksgiving Weekend

I'm lucky enough to work for an awesome company that gives our team a long four day weekend for Thanksgiving! This weekend has been wonderful and just what we needed to kick off the busy month ahead. Scott and I have lots of fun plans in December but they'll keep us busy considering we won't have a free weekend until New Years! Although it will be a lot to juggle, I can't pretend to be anything but excited.

The weekend kicked off with a lunch day with my favorite guy - my Dad. He picked me up after I finished work up for the day an we headed to Tacoma. Along the way I got to by chance see the house Dad grew up in and hear about all of his childhood stories. So fun to hear him talk about life years ago and how different it was than what we know today. Dad and I had to get race packets for Thursday's Turkey Trot so we headed to Tacoma to grab them then  grabbed lunch at an old classic in Tacoma called The Hob Nob where Dad had the "best club sandwich he's ever had" and I had a super yummy chicken salad sandwich. Fun fact - my Grandmother (Dad's side) use to be a waitress many many moons ago! 

Wednesday night was filled with prepping, baking and organizing my dishes for Thanksgiving. I made pumpkin cookies, pumpkin dip, and prepped my Harvest Slaw (recipe to come) but here's a sneak peak. This salad is beautiful when all put together and the family loved it!

We then headed over to my parents so I could learn the secret to my Mom's delicious stuffing so I can take a stab at it next year! It was an early to bed night since Scott had to get up early for the annual Turkey Bowl and I had to do the same for our first annual Turkey Trot!

This was my Mom and Aunt Teresa's first 5k and although I think Jenni and I suckered them into it, they ended up loving it and we'll likely make this a yearly tradition! We talked the whole way and shared fun stories and memories, it was time I will cherish. Plus even though the forecast called for rain, we ended up having a beautiful sunny morning for the entire 3.1 miles, winding through North End Tacoma and constantly reminding me why one day I would LOVE to live in that area.

 

About 20 of my family members spend that afternoon eating yummy food, laughing, scoping out the Black Friday ads and last but not least, watching the Seahawks beat the Niners! My Aunts and my Mom made a wonderful dinner like they do every year, but next year I'm excited to have our generation take on the prep and cooking on Thanksgiving. Remind me that I said that a year from now!

Gunnar getting ready to eat!

Our annual Turkey Day "selfie"

Scott and I headed home about 8pm and I tried my best to go to sleep early since my alarm was set for 3:50am. Yep you read that write, 3:50 IN THE MORNING. I usually can't go on the Black Friday adventure my Aunts embark on every year, but the last couple I've got to tag along since I'm way too old for Christmas presents now!

The alarm went off as soon as my eyes closed (or so it seemed), so I pulled myself out of bed, got dressed and made myself as presentable as that time of the day can be then headed to pick up my Mom. We met my Aunt Karen, Aunt Teresa and Uncle Bob then hit the road for coffee and our first stop-- Fred Meyer. Why you may ask? Because every single year we hit their half priced sock sale and now with so many littles in the family, you can't beat their toy sales! My Aunts hit Freddy's hard and we ended up having to go unload after just one stop!

We stayed out shopping until 4pm, it was a LONG day but I had a blast and most of the other shoppers were in the holiday mood! I love going Black Friday shopping mostly to people watch and occasionally snag a deal or two, but I will never go out on Thanksgiving night or camp out for the $200 Best Buy T.V. For example this guy, was lined up at Best Buy when my Dad and I stopped in on Wednesday afternoon. Why on earth would you want to miss Thanksgiving with your family for a T.V.?

Thankfully between my Amazon addiction and Black Friday finds, Scott and I are only two gifts away from finishing our holiday shopping. I still have quite a few things to finish making but I'm so excited to be almost done and able to truly enjoy the season.

Friday evening and Saturday called for decorating the house. It's my tradition to get our tree up and all of my decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving and although our full day of shopping set me back a few hours I got it all done and the house cleaned early Sunday morning! I just love coming home to the decorations being out and we've already got presents under the tree!

Even Lucy loves all of our decorations!

My hubs helping me decorate the tree.

My Grandma LOVED Christmas and between her and my Mom I have grown to love it too! I still believe in "Santa" even if that just means I believe in the spirit of Christmas. Nearly 5 Christmases ago, before my Grandma passed away she wanted to make sure that her love of Christmas could live on through all of her Grandkids and their future children. She gave each of us an Elf on The Shelf and Santa's Magic Key. Finding those each year gives me a few second of sadness but even more cherished memories. I can't wait to make sure her spirit and love of the holidays continues!

Saturday night after finishing up a bit more shopping, we got to hang out with our nephew Gunnar for a few hours so we took him to Fantasy Lights. The three of us had a blast and Gunnar thought the lights were "super cool". He is talking so much lately and when you couple that plus his excitement over "Christmas lights" it makes for a pretty funny kid!

 

And these my friends are what happens when you get anxious waiting in line for the lights! The funny faces of TeeTee, Gunnar and Uncle Scott!

Checking out the tree!

Scott and I capped off the long weekend with his "famous hot cocoa" and enjoying the second installment of our Sunday Christmas Movie night by watching Love Actually. Love this new tradition of ours!

What did you do over the long weekend? Have you decorated yet? There's only 24 days left people!

10 Things I'm Thankful For

Happy almost Thanksgiving all! Tonight I'll be baking, prepping and getting ready for the busy Turkey day ahead of my family! My cousin Jenni, Aunt Teresa and Mom are starting the day off early with the Tacoma City Turkey Trot. We're doing the 5k walk to help burn off the calories we'll likely consumer tomorrow afternoon! Then it's off to an all day extravaganza at my Aunt's home with the family. Seriously love this time of year for that reason. We'll eat, decorate cookies (family tradition) and watch the Seahawks play. GO HAWKS!!!!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and the holiday season, I wanted to share what I'm thankful for this year! I usually do the daily thankful post on Facebook but I often find myself forgetting to post and it seems like more of a hassle than a reflection.

When I started this blog I wasn't sure what my "niche" was going to be or what I'd write about most but I knew that I wanted it to be a place that was fun and felt "happy". I firmly believe that we're in control of our happiness and that even in the darkest moments there are reasons to smile and be thankful. I value the holidays and although Christmas is my all time favorite, I love Thanksgiving. I mean who wouldn't love a day filled with family, ridiculous amounts of good food and football?

I hope you can all take a few moments during the holidays, amidst all of the chaos and reflect on what you're thankful for. I hope you can unplug and enjoy Thanksgiving with your family or friends and make new memories and traditions!

Here's 10 things I'm thankful for:

1. My Husband. Seriously Scott is an amazing person. He loves every bit of me, even the crazy parts! He supports me on most of my crazy ideas and talks me off the ledge for the others. Scott is seriously the kindest person I know and I hope he knows I'm thankful for him every day, not just during Thanksgiving
2. My Mom. If you know me personally, you know that my Mom is my best friend (other than my hubby). We do everything together, we talk every single day and she knows me better than I know myself. Her strength and character inspire me and I hope to be half of the Mom she is one day!
3. Gunnar. Well you all know how much I love him since I probably talk about him every single day! This little nugget is the center of our family, has more personality than any adult I know and is going to grow up and do great things some day. I'm lucky to be his TeeTee. 
4. My Pops. Dad has always encouraged me to go for my dreams and is definitely where I get my strong willed and tough skinned nature. We have a special bond and still go on Dad/Daughter dates that I cherish! 
5. Family. Lets face it, every family is crazy in their own way, and mine fits in that category but in the best way! We are all very close, most of us get together on a weekly basis and we always have so much fun at holidays and other big events. I always married into a wonderfully close and big family that I'm lucky to be a part of. I wouldn't trade my family for the world! 
6. Friends. I got pretty darn lucky in this category too! My friends are seriously the best and have helped me through tough times and helped me celebrate accomplishments. I'm so thankful for each of my friendships!
7. My Coworkers and Career. My second family would be "Smart Team" I get to work with every day. Our team is made up of people from all different back grounds and experience but we all work great together and learn from each other every day. We have so much fun and through our work at Getting Smart we get to bring impact to education! I LOVE my job and am blessed to have my dream career at 26.
8. My Home. While it is and will likely always be a "work-in-progress", I love that Scott and I have a place to call home that we take pride and make our own! We've made wonderful memories here and sometimes my favorite place to be is in front of the fireplace, watching football and just enjoying a quiet day at home. 
9. Health. As you know I'm working on getting healthier by eating right and working out, but overall I am thankful for my health. I'm not perfect by any means, but this year I've had too many people close to me experience major health issues, so I'm thankful for my small "issues".
10. Blogging. I love having a creative outlet to share my thoughts, recipes and other favorites. The last few weeks I've shared some pretty personal and scary things to make public, but through it I have helped inspire others. It's funny how things work; people say I'm an inspiration, but they're the ones who inspire me! If I can share my story and help one person eat healthier, get moving or just feel more comfortable in their own skin, than it makes every bit of nervousness I feel when I hit "publish" more than worth it!

I hope you and your loved ones have a Happy Thanksgiving!! What are you thankful for this year? And what do you do to celebrate Thanksgiving?