Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great day filled with love and lots and lots of amazing food! When I think of Thanksgiving Day, a lot of memories come to mind. Growing up, it was almost always just the five members of my family around the dining room table: Mom, Dad and my two older brothers. The rest of my family is splattered across America, so I never really got to see aunts, uncles, and cousins that often growing up. I only remember one or two Thanksgivings actually spent away from home.
Another thing that pops into my mind when I think of Thanksgiving is playing basketball in high school. It takes me back to all the Thanksgiving tournaments we played in. I specifically remember one year we had a tournament before and after Thanksgiving day, so that Thursday was the only real break for the week. Not that I’m complaining though, it just meant that we never really got to travel much around the holidays due to practices and tournaments. Another total random side note is that before high school I also remember James Bond reruns always being on that day?! Who cares about football when you can watch Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery and Daniel Craig!!
College brought on a completely new routine when it came to Thanksgiving. There were some professors who would cancel classes that Tuesday for whatever reason, letting students travel home sooner. I never ended up being that lucky though. I specifically remember two different years where my morning classes were cancelled that Tuesday, but in the one afternoon class, my professors wouldn’t budge. The first time, we got to class that day (with barely anyone there to begin with because most people skip), just to do something random for not even 40-minutes and then he let us go. Another year, the same exact thing happened where all my other classes were cancelled, but this time my teacher let us watch a 12-minute video and then said we could go. I got to spend hours in the morning doing nothing, only to go to a class that was also not doing anything productive that day either. I remember thinking, “I could be home by now!!!!” By the time I finally got to leave campus and come home though, all those feelings evaporated because it meant the start of a great week filled with great food and family. It was weird having time off and being able to go Black Friday shopping, but it was always a fun time.
This Thanksgiving marks a new chapter for me. I’m an “adult.” I don’t have to travel back to school. It’s weird to think how 10 years ago I was only part of a family of five, but now we’ve almost doubled in size with new additions to our family with sister-in-laws and nephews! I’m so grateful for my family and I love spending time with them. This Thanksgiving we actually got to have my grandfather visit for the holiday, who I haven’t seen in almost two years, and the last time he was here in Alabama was almost 7 years ago. I guess you could say it was a “full house.” So today, I thought I’d recap all that we did yesterday! It’s not much, but I thought it’d be nice to look back on in the future of what Thanksgiving was like around this time of life 🙂
The day started with me drinking my cup of coffee first thing upon waking up, watching and admiring my Mom zoom around the kitchen, bouncing from one thing to another. Making frosting, potatoes, checking the turkey… my Mom is a superhero, and she started all of the preparations the day before, even making her delicious homemade cinnamon rolls that you see above. If you’re reading this Mom, thank you for spoiling us with all the food you made, you are the BEST.
It was a pretty quiet morning and early afternoon, just waiting for the rest of the family to get here. As soon as my brothers and their families arrive, the house is filled with love and laughter. Sadly, this Thanksgiving, my Dad had to work the entire day and we all missed him greatly, my nephew especially. It definitely wasn’t the same and we all wished he was there with us. I love spending time with my entire family, no matter what we’re doing. We’re the type of family that doesn’t do too much, we just like spending time with each other and laughing together.
The feast commenced around 3 o’clock, filled with all the usual foods like turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and my all time favorite green bean casserole. The food was delicious as always and I was completely stuffed, but of course I tried consuming even more than I could handle.
Nothing too special happened throughout the rest of the day, just spending time together, listening to the Cowboys lose to the Bills on TV while coloring (yes, there were grown adults coloring in this household hahaha), playing with my oldest nephew, and taking turns holding my baby nephew as much as possible. It was a great, relaxed day with my favorite people.
And that’s basically all we did! Like I said before, we don’t do too much and it isn’t a big get together with tons of people, but that’s what I grew up with and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s crazy to think that this small family of five is steadily growing and growing, and I want to appreciate every moment of it. I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving. I’m so excited that it’s now officially Christmas season and I can listen to all the Christmas music and watch all my favorite Christmas movies!!