Thanksgiving 2015

Our Family Portrait

I am behind! I know Thanksgiving wasn't that long ago, but I still feel like I am way off on my blogging. We spent Thanksgiving in South Carolina with my inlaws again this year. Normally we rotate each year, but my mother-in-law will be away this Christmas and we really wanted to drive up to New Jersey to see my extended family and Christmas gives us more time to do that anyway! So Wednesday after work we drove down south. I was feeling pretty woozy most of Thanksgiving to be honest with you, my stomach was just not cooperative, but thankfully it never got too bad! We had a delicious meal with family and spent Black Friday in our pajamas, napping and watching the 80s rewind marathon on VH1. My sister in law has never seen any of the Back to the Future movies and that had to be rectified! We also had a delicious dinner with his grandmother (Skeetsie) and mom and sister on Friday night.

Saturday we got up early and went in to downtown Columbia, a part called Soda City, where they do a sort of street fair/marketplace type thing. I had some shrimp and grits that were pretty decent and a nutella banana crepe that was amazing.

We also walked up to the capitol building and took some pictures near the Christmas tree. All of this is pretty much just like we did last year! Except this year it was about 70something degrees!

We also made a brief stop into the Richland County library so I could look around. This place was HUGE! Three stories easily with tons of space and cool things that made me pretty jealous. The mural below was in their children's area... since I do not have a child I didn't want to be creepy and go in there but I was able to take a picture from the balcony of the floor above. They have trees! Growing in the kids room! So cool.

We ordered some wings and went home to watch the USC/Clemson rivalry game. Honestly we were worried it was going to be a slaughter (with Clemson at #1 and us having a very off season) but it was a surprisingly good game! We almost had a chance at the end but it just was not meant to be!

After the game we drove home and used Sunday to clean, grocery shop, put up some Christmas decorations, and cook for the upcoming week. It was great spending time with family and as always, way too brief!

Thanksgiving 2014

Our Thanksgiving this year was spent at my inlaws in South Carolina and to make it an even bigger family celebration, my parents and brother drove down and spent it with us! So we had all of our parents with us for Thanksgiving this year. Perfection. I love being able to spend the holidays with family and having our complete family together is a luxury that I know many do not have. Very thankful indeed. Especially with our Christmas plans so up in the air it is nice to know we saw all of our parents for Thanksgiving.

Ryan and I with my parents and brother... and the Dup Dup

Selfie style later on with my mother in law and sister in law

We ate so much! I tried to be careful with my gallbladder on the fritz but man I could not resist trying a little bit of everything.

 

Plus there was pie... about four of them. Two apple, two pumpkin plus my mom made pecan pie bars that were so amazing they didn't survive the weekend.

 

As you can imagine we were too full to function much beyond watching football. Naturally my brother insisted on some selfies and I think I broke a top teen rule by taking a screenshot of a snapchat (an app I still don't really understand but have because I have maybe four friends who use it and insist I do too). I don't care though, I love the picture of me and my "baby" brother, who turned 18 years old on the first. Where has the time gone!? We gave him a Casio G-Shock watch that will hopefully last him forever... Ryan has had one since bootcamp and it got him through two deployments and various other crazy situations, so it is a good watch indeed. We also drove to Ryan's grandmother's house and his sister's dad's house to visit that evening.

 

Friday I don't think we got out of our pajamas. We watched a lot of movies, Home Alone, How to Train Your Dragon, The Wizard of Oz, and Love Actually. It was officially after Thanksgiving so I was all about the Christmas movies!

 

Saturday we became productive members of society again and actually got up early to head down to the street fair/market in Downtown Columbia. I love stuff like this! It was chilly bur not freezing and I had some delicious hot cocoa to boot.

I also found pierogies. In South Carolina! Epic, epic win in my book!

 

 

We got some pretty cool things there including home made ravioli (bacon, mozerella and sundried tomato), an art print of Molecular Chemistry that has wine bottles and the chemical breakdown of wine (LOVE), boiled peanuts, hot sauce and some other snacks. Then Ryan realized he never actually showed me Columbia properly in the, you know, seven years we've been together... so I got a tour. We went by the state house and some other really neat buildings and the campus of USC.

Christmas tree near the State House

State House all decorated for Christmas

 

Family selfie in front of the tree

After that we went back to the house with wings (well salad for me) to watch the USC/Clemson rivalry game... and that did not turn out well for us. After winning the last five years in a row Clemson beat the Gamecocks this year. Sad. Well, I guess they can have this one! Saturday night we watched more movies and slept in a bit Sunday before battling traffic to get home again. It took us an hour and a half longer than normal (thanks 95!) but we made it.

Overall it was a wonderful weekend with family and I am so thankful we had it!

Thankful

This year I have so much to be thankful for... well I do every year but this year has been one of many ups and downs, today of all days I am thankful for my ups. Even if they have been accompanied by some downs.

 

I am thankful my husband is home. He is not deployed like last year, he is not working, he is here and able to give me a kiss whenever I bug him for one. Which is often.

 

I am thankful for plentiful Dup Dup kisses too. I don't ask for those often but she gives them always. Especially if you don't want them really.

 

 

I am thankful for amazing friends. For friends who are truly there for me when I need them. Friends who watch football with you on your birthday even though they have no idea what is going on.

 

I am thankful for friends who live far away but are always there by phone call or text whenever you need them. And ones that give you excuses to buy pretty dresses so you can stand beside them on one the most important days of their lives, just like they did for you nearly five years ago.

I am thankful for my crazy, large, wonderful family. For my parents who support me in all that I do. My amazingly talented little brothers who I am convinced will change the world. My awesome inlaws who made me feel like my family doubled in size since before I was even officially married.

 

 

 

I am also thankful for adventures. Ones that happen here at home or around the world. This year there were many firsts. My husband's first trip outside the US that was not to a war zone. My first time on the continent of Africa... and on a camel. My first time stepping foot in some foreign countries like Spain and Monaco. Even little things, like having my first sweet potato in years a few weeks ago and realizing I do actually like them. Adventures.

 

 

Being thankful is something I try to be more than just on Thanksgiving. It is nice to have the reminder, but everyday I am thankful to open my eyes and see this amazing world we live in. I am thankful for my family, my friends, my faith, my home, my Dup Dup, and everything else that I can or cannot think of at this moment.

 

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving, whether you are travelling or staying in or your family is near or far.... know I am thankful for all of you in blogland too.



 

 



Thanksgiving 2013

With Ryan deployed for Thanksgiving this year I was a little nervous. Since we have been married that's one holiday we've always had together. Strange right? Then, you may remember, in October my family went through a series of health scares. My parents decided to go to New Jersey for Thanksgiving and then I panicked. 

Normally it's a ten hour drive for me but with going on 95 most or the way I knew the drive would be way too long. Ryan will be home for Christmas (yes!) so we already knew that would be with my inlaws. Flying is expensive but we had a long talk about it and the second week of October I spent a lot of money to fly to New Jersey for Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful we were able to do that. 

It was a short trip, if I added time in any direction it literally doubled my ticket price! So my friend Donna agreed to house sit and Dup sit for me and I was up bright and early Thanksgiving morning. By 7am I was at the small airport in Jacksonville. No one was even at the check in counter and by the time they checked me in they told me not to bother going through security for at least an hour! Very different from most of my traveling done through DC or Newark airport! I eventually stepped outside on to a tiny plane, landed in Charlotte, ran across the drafted airport, and boarded another plane to Jersey. By 1pm I was there. My dad, brother and my brother's girlfriend picked me up and by 2 I was at my grandparents house. 

Heavenly. 

Our Thanksgiving was smaller this year than some past years, my family, my grandparents, my uncle, and my cousin and his wife who I finally got to meet. Other relatives stopped by on their way other places but having ten for Thanksgiving is unusual in my big extended family!

As usual we had a ton of food! During the blessing I did tear up when my Poppy added a blessing for those who could not be with us. I missed Ryan so much in that moment it almost hurt to breathe, but I went into the kitchen for a drink and composed myself. I think only my mom noticed. 

After dinner my aunt and two cousins came over. My aunt is now two months into extensive chemo treatment and it was the first time I've seen her since her treatments restarted. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit with her. I know having a lot of people around overwhelmed her but we did have a good talk and visit once things settled. My uncle also got out his really good camera and got some pictures which I blatantly stole from Facebook to post here! 

My cousin and his wife left for Best Buy around 10pm and I declined their invitation to go with them! But then my mom thought we should go to kohls. I really didn't want to shop on Thanksgiving but she convinced me that going so late wasn't quite the same. Sorry retail friends! Needless to say we got about four things and then spent an hour and a half in line to pay for them and didn't get home until 1am! Karma right? I was exhausted! We still beat my cousin and his wife home by two hours though. Free phones made it worth it for them! 

Friday we got up semi early. My mom went into the city with her sisters for my aunt's chemo treatment, my dad took my brother and his girlfriend into NYC and I stayed home with Babci and Poppy for quality time. 

My uncle was flying out that morning and my cousins were driving back to Connecticut so I spent time with them before they left too. 

My uncle Dave lives in Florida and I don't see him as often as I like!

After they left my Babci tried to teach me how to crochet. I'm pretty awful! She practically encouraged me to quit after seeing how frustrated I got but eventually it clicked. Sort of. I plan on working more on it but I need a new needle as I think mine was confiscated when I flew back...

You can see with the last three rows where I started to get it! My edges still need work but even Babci was impressed. I had good conversations with her and my Poppy and I was glad to have that time with them. My Poppy has definitely gotten more frail and it breaks my heart to see it. 

My two other half brothers love around the corner from my grandparents (convenient!) so I got to visit them too. I spent about two hours with Sean and I got to see his girlfriend's new teacup yorkie. Oh lord that dog was tiny!! 

Catch Up - Thanksgiving 2012

Blogger Fail. What else is new?

Sigh.

Anyway, this year for Thanksgiving we went down to Ryan's family in South Carolina. We ate way too much delicious food, watched the Gamecocks defeat Clemson for the fourth year in a row and helped decorate for Christmas. We had a wonderful time relaxing with family and definitely need to start that diet after the holidays now...

As usual these two were no help at all on the drives and just slept :P



FOOTBALL and Wings! Perfect for a rivalry game!

I have to update again, about holiday plans and my brief stint as a TV extra, but another day. I did manage to do a guest post for A Boy, A Girl and the Marine Corps, so please read it and let me know what you think! It is my deepest post in a long while.

Thanksgiving

Our plans for Thanksgiving changed multiple times in the time leading up to the holiday, but in the end we had a terrific time together with lots of food, family and friends.

Unfortunately Ryan could not get out of 29 Palms until after class on Wednesday, which basically meant a whole lot of Marines were flying through Palm Springs, Phoenix and even with him in Charlotte! My husband was on a 10pm (his time) flight and did not land in DC until 10am my time. Plus two change overs along the way. That is love.

I got him at the airport and we started the four hour drive to my grandparents' house. And by we started I mean I drove and he slept! Traffic wasn't too bad for Thanksgiving, there was a car break down in the Fort McHenry tunnel, which really sucks considering it is only two lanes, and there was some back up on the NJ Turnpike, but we made it just before 3pm.

Food. Oh man was there food!



Turkey, cornbread, stuffing, cranberry horseradish, stuffed mushrooms, rutebega, gravy, brussel sprouts macaroni and cheese... and that isn't even counting dessert!



My Dad's plum wine, my apple pie (the flower looking one in the picture), two other apple pies, ricotta pie, pumpkin pie, grapes, more wine... it just went on and on!



I look more jetlagged than he does :P



Better!

It was great to see my mom and dad and my brother, even my dog, again. Babci and Poppy as well as one set of Aunt/Uncle/Cousins. Football was watched, champagne was opened and it was a terrific time.



Totem pole? I have no idea what we were doing!



Three generations. My cousin Jill and her mom Joan (one of my mom's sisters), Babci, Mom and Me



Me and Dippy. As my mom said we now have the same colored hair!



LOVE this picture. Babci and Poppy with Ryan and I.

The next day we slept in and spent some more time with Babci and Poppy before getting on the road back to the part of Jersey I was originally from. We stopped by our dear friends Fran and Rob (and Chris and Nicole and Cocoa) for a delicious lunch/dinner that made me so glad I am from Jersey! Sausage and Pepper sandwiches! Also baked macaroni, nachoes, cucumbers and lots of left over Halloween candy. Stuffed.

Then we got back in the car and drove home... Ryan helped this time!

When we got home that night our neighbor Adam got revenge. If you read our Mischief Night story it makes more sense!



Balloons. All taped and netted to our door! It took me forever to pop them all and clean up!

Saturday we slept in, grabbed lunch at ihop, and went and saw the Muppets movie. Hysterical! It was also supremely gorgeous all weekend so we went to the park and watched the sunset. Being by the river and it nearly 70 explains how I have mosquito bites on my ankles. In November.







You may remember we watched the Gamecocks Rivalry game against Clemsucksson and kicked butt! After that we enjoyed many reruns of Storage Wars on Netflix before crawling into bed quite late.

Which made us almost oversleep Sunday. Ryan had to be at the airport for a flight at 2pm, and we barely got out of bed by noon! By the time we showered, got his stuff together and to the airport it was almost 1! Of course I had to cry saying goodbye to him, it never gets any easier, and I spent the rest of the day grocery shopping, making Christmas cards via Shutterfly, and watching Chick Flicks.

Man I miss him already! Three more weeks until Christmas!