A Thanksgiving Adventure

So for Thanksgiving every other year my family goes to Dallas for a family reunion. Its basically alot of family in one place, some great food, and football galore...which equals a very nice holiday. Of course the last reunion we missed due to the passing of my grandfather, but this year we were able to make the trip. We had a few interesting moments along the way that of course I will share:

It's good to have a big family.
On our way (as in the caravan of multiple family members vehicles all spaced out on I-20), there so happened to be a traffic jam around Granger, TX where 2 lanes merged to 1. My uncle was about 45 minute ahead of us (being Rob and myself, my parents, and my brother and sister in our own cars) and he informed us about the said traffic jam and to take the service road when we got close. I took his advice and happily zoomed (at the speed limit of course :) past all the people...including my cousin...stuck in the jam. When we finally merged back onto I-20 we had bipassed about 45min-1 hour of the traffic. It was awesome. Of course my parents and brother were not so good at following directions and they got stuck in the jam... arriving at our hotel in Dallas 1 hour behind us. Service road is the way to go! Thanks to my Uncle for making the right call :)

Holiday theft is no fun.
Whilst having our Thanksgiving lunch at the hotel with my many relatives, someone decided it was prime time to break into my parents vehicle...destroying the doorhandles and stealing almost everything. Luckily they left my niece and nephew's car seats b/c it would have been difficult driving back and those are expensive. But yes, they got off with some good things...and the worst part is the hotel had no surveillance cameras anywhere... we will never stay at the Radisson in Irving ever again.

Black Friday...of course.
My sister and I have been looking forward to Dallas for one thing... shopping at places we don't have normally! So, yes I was a black friday participant. At 6am my husband, my mom, and myself ventured into Target to take advantage of the nice doorbuster sales they were having. We even managed to snatch a nice new LG Plasma tv for a great price :) Robert was happy about that one. Then we went back to the hotel, picked up the rest of the crew, and drove to the Grapevine Mills Mall... love that place. Yes it was crowded, but it could have been alot worse, and we knocked out alot of Christmas shopping... so I say job well done!

Friends are Great.
To finish off the weekend Rob and I stayed with my friends Ashley and Douglas who live in Northeast Dallas. We would have stayed till Sunday, but I got sick again (which really needs to stop happening) so we ended up leaving a day early...but whilst we were there we got to hang out at Ashley's parents house (who I stayed with on one of my rotations, so we are like family really), watched a very interesting small town Christmas tree lighting ceremony, and ate yummy burgers. Its always good to see friends and I can't wait to be officially done with school and hopefully have time to visit more friends :)

Hope your Thanksgiving was fun and full of goodness! This is my last week of my rotation... ever!

Thankful for Memories

I had to track down some baby photos of myself for my graduation and I just couldn't help but be thankful for all the memories I have with my brother growing up. Although when I was brought home from the hospital my brother did ask if he could keep me in a drawer... I love him all the same! The same goes for all my family... lets be thankful for memories!


Aren't we cute?

Gobble Gobble

So I'm excited about Thanksgiving this year because we get to go to Dallas for a family reunion... well the family reunion is not my favorite part, but I do love getting to spend the holiday with family. Plus we will be doing some fun shopping and I'll get to see some good friends while we are up there! We leave on Wednesday and aren't coming back till Sunday so pray for our safe travels!

I'm hoping although we are having a catered meal that somewhere in there we will have my favorite family dishes... banana pudding, green beans and cheese, mashed potatoes...mmm.

I just want to share that if any of you know someone who has lost a family member or has a sick friend/relative to give them some extra encouragement and love this holiday. I work with some ladies who shared with me today that they don't get excited about holidays anymore because they are reminders of lost loved ones and loneliness. That broke my heart. I couldn't be more excited about holidays because of the happiness they represent, the get-to-gethers with friends, seeing family, the decorations, and of course the reason behind the season. I know that my grandpa died 2 years ago on Thanksgiving and I will always miss him, but its just a reminder of me to be extra thankful for the time I have left with my family and friends. Won't you be thankful and spread some love to those around you?

Its beginning to look alot like...

yes Christmas! My sister put up her Christmas tree a few weeks ago and we went to their house last night for a chill game night. I was inspired to put up my decorations as well! So this wonderful Saturday, while Robert has been playing with his new Super Mario Brothers Wii game I bought for his birthday (which is alot of fun to watch), I drug out all the Christmas boxes and assembled out tree. Its not decorated yet, but we'll save that for another day. So its starting to feel like the Christmas season in our home!
And if you are wondering why the Christmas cheer before Thanksgiving, well its family reunion year in Dallas so we will be gone for most of the Thanksgiving break which is usually when I put my tree up, so I'm just jumping the gun this year.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay healthy! I was unfortunately very sick all Thursday and most Friday and I hope no one else has to go through that... no fun!

A Checkerboard Cake

Robert turned 24 last week! To celebrate I designed a suprise party for him for all our family and friends (well enough that would fit in our town home). I've never done a surprise party for him, so I was nervous about it... but it went great and he jumped pretty high.

I made his birthday cake designed after a cake I saw on the show Cake Boss on TLC...

It's checkerboard!


It took me multiple secret hours and the help of my mom and another friend to get it put together, but it tasted so good! And it was huge... 4 cake layers high and covered with cream cheese icing... yum! Plus it was fun to see all our family together in our home!

Our Niece, A

Happy Birthday sweetie!

and Happy Birthday to my brother today who is 37... no wait... 27! Hope you enjoyed your dinner last night!

Spiced Pumpkin Butter

My mom subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens magazine for me some time ago... I love this magazine b/c not only does it have fun decorating ideas for the season, but it has great recipes like this one! I was a little nervous making this, but I decided who cares it will be great to have around all holiday season!

Spiced Pumpkin Butter

Ingredients:
4 cups Pumpkin Puree (or 2 15 oz cans)
1 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup apple juice
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients (except nuts) into large pan and heat to a boiling. Stir frequently for 25 minutes (or until thick). Ladle into jars or containers and freeze for up to 6 months or refrigerate for up to 1 week.

It makes alot, but I've found multiples things to add this to such as waffles, pancakes, toast, ritz crackers, any bread thing really, cornbread... possibilities are endless!

If you want to try some you can just come over for a free sample :)

Have a great week everyone and get ready for this Thankful holiday season!

Over the last 3 weeks...

[Deep breath]

holiday parties . Robert's birthday . find a job . study . go to work . talk to friends . church . baby shower . make invitations . send emails . call employers . finish assignments . organize events . youth group . clean the house . buy the groceries . babysit . make a cake . order a cake . do the laundry . hang with family . watch a movie . praise team practice . [deep breath] . return some phone calls . pray pray pray . drink some coffee . order presents . attend a shower . research for work . make a presentation . study . find a job . reserve hotels . buy plane tickets . youth group hangouts . send more emails . make decisions . surprise parties . plan for holidays . clean clean . [deep breathing continues...]

Studying PT things and Bible stories at the Ground Floor
Although we are busy, theres always time to set aside for each other

p.s. I found a job :)