Our Thanksgiving Holiday

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in the Chattanooga area with my in-laws, at my SIL and her husband's home. Between the six adults, four kids, and ten zillion animals, it was an energetic and entertaining week. When the weather was good, a trip to Ruby Falls happened (in which MK was extremely excited to announce to everyone that she "went inside the earth!") and when it was bad, a trip to the Children's Museum happened (Bryant and I skipped out on this and took my SIL, Storm, to the brewery instead to celebrate her birthday. Beer and mimosas, anyone??). In between those things, a lot of time was spent visiting, laughing and telling stories.

With almost all the adults being full-blown vegans, you might think Thanksgiving dinner was lacking, however, I want to inform you, it was NOT. The only non-traditional thing about dinner was the absence of a turkey. There was stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, Sheppard's Pie, cranberries, broccoli soup, sweet potatoes, as well as a multitude of different dessert pies. And yes - everyone went into a food coma after. #zzzzz

I was able to keep up with my marathon training while there too. Though, it turns out I had to use the Dreadmill quite a bit due to the weather, but I begrudgingly knocked it out. (Word to the Wise: two hours running in the same spot is not really as fun as it may sound. Though I did get to catch up on worthless television. Did you all know Kim K and Kanye almost didn't give their child a last name when she was born?? #WhoDoesThat)

Anyway, here are some photos of the week stolen borrowed from my MIL's Facebook. ;-) I am VERY thankful we were able to spend the week out there with family. I love my in-laws as if they were blood relatives and we always spend our time together laughing and having a good time. :-)

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday!

Happy Birthday to my amazing sister, Storm!

McKenna and Knox collecting fire wood

The Pete

Cousins
McKenna, Meda (The Pete), Knox, & Holland 

Best buddies!
McKenna and Holland

This was where I parked myself for 5 hours worth of 'Gone with the Wind' viewing.

Men doing what men do, I guess....
Please excuse my husband's extreme love of plaid.

Pop and Meda

They Call Me Dean....Paula Dean.

Well, it happened.  And everyone lived through it.  Myself.  McKenna.  Bryant.  The dogs.  The house.  The neighboorhood.  Wow.  A miracle.  A sign from God that his time for us is not up yet.  Yes.  I'm talking about Thanksgiving Dinner 2009.  What was different about this Thanksgiving meal verse years' past?  Well, let's just say that the cooks in my family (a.k.a Bryant, my mom, my aunt, my Grandma, my M.I.L, or anybody else's Thanksgiving dinner I've devoured!) passed the apron, so to speak....to me!  Oh Jesus.  This could have been bad.  Real bad.  Let me preface by saying that I have royally messed up all of the following while attempting to do what they call "cook:"  hard boiled eggs, chicken noodle soup (Campbell's....only to be heated up), Easy Mac, & cheese quesadilla's.  These are all validated.  No lie.  Ask the unfortunate members of my family.  They can, and will, verify. 

I decided to document my Turkey Day adventures in the kitchen with a few photos.  This way there were photos available for insurance purposes after the fact. 

Rather than frying, roasting, basting (what does that even mean?), plucking, or whatever else you can do to a turkey, Bryant & I decided to use the good 'ole crockpot & slowly cook that bad boy to a crisp.  I might have let Bryant take care of decapitating it so that it would fit in the pot.....that weird feeling of mushy, fleshy, dead meat gives me the heebie jeebies & quite frankly makes me want to vomit.  Once it was small enough to fit, we threw a smorgasbord of random crap in there and let it sit for 8 hours.  Nice.  My kind of cooking.

This is what we like to call Obbessive Compulsive Disorder.... I might have HAD to put each items in the container that it would be served in before they were even cooked.  Doing this made everything right in my life. :-)

While the turkey was basting, baking, or whatever it is that turkey's do in crockpots, I decided to make a scrumptcious cheesecake....from scratch of course. 

So to make cheesecake (from scratch), all you have to add is butter....wish I would have seen how easy it was to measure butter before I started scooping it. Damn.

 Regardless, the ending product was in the words of my girl, Rachel Ray, delish.  :-)

Lucy enjoyed the cheesecake too....while Cami just thought she was in trouble for some reason.  Pansie.

Then it was nap & wine break time!!  :-)  World's best baby sitter right here!  Cheers!

I busted out the fine china for the occassion.  Booyah! 

Our feast!  And despite the couple "bumps in the road," like the first round of stuffing burning & almost running out of wine.....it was delicious.  A day for the record books! 

  And then the smell of turkey left-overs & dog food almost made me ralph.  Awesome.

Gobble Gobble Gobble....Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Well, it be that time o' year again.  The time of year where everyone becomes all gushy & mushy & thankful for what they have in life.  My take on it....whoopidee doo.  Shouldn't we be thankful ALL year around??  I know I am.  But I guess I'll jump on the bandwagon & share what I'm most thankful for.

1) The internet - what would I spend my vacation days doing if not surfing the 'net?
2) Shoe Dazzle - already spoke of KK's awesomeness HERE!

3) Franzia Boxed Merlot - a great accessory to the new wine glasses I just bought.  Which is in turn a great accessory to my internet surfing.  ;-)

Okay - just kidding....here's my REAL list....(but don't get me wrong - still thankful for the above list!) :-)

First of all - I have only the best family in the world.  Seriously.  My family would kick the bestestness out of your family.  Just sayin'.  :-) My Mom & Dad - they're awesome.  That's about all there is to it.  Sometimes they're more awesome than other times - like when they're buying stuff for me & babysitting my kid!  ;-)  (Haha!  Just kidding...sort of, but not really! haha! Does that make me selfish?  Damn.  I thought so.)  My nieces, Kailee Rae & Holland.  Kailee makes me laugh so much & turn green with envy at what rock star curls she has.  Think Taylor Swift but on a younger & cuter face.  And Holland - I can't wait for her & MK to get big together!!  My sisters, Katie & Storm - basically, they rock my face off for more reasons that I have time to list here.  Brothers, Stuart, Reed, & Jared.  Jared's the smartest, most caring kid I've ever met.  Reed's an awesome father & friend...to say the least.  And Stuart, he's great.....in a far off, pretend like we're not really related sort of way.  But whatever, I'm still thankful!  :-)  M.I.L. & D.I.L  (internet code for "mother in law" & "dad in law.")  They're the most down-to-earth, generous people I know.  And a great model for Bryant & I to imitate our marriage after.  I mean, for real.  Anyone who can stay with AND STILL BE HAPPY with their high school boyfriend/girlfriend deserves some extra kudos in my book.  Seriously - if I was still with the people I dated in high school....well, let's just say things would probably get a little ugly, on a daily basis.  But whatever, I guess it's Thanksgiving, so I need to be thankful for them too, right?  :-)  So thank you exes.  I appreciate it.

Bryant - geez louise.  Where would I be without my spandex-clad-over-obessive-I-need-to-ride-my-bike-RIGHT-NOW husband???  He keeps me grounded, laughing, & loving.  Plus, he's pretty killer in the kitchen.  Which is crucial, since I lack somewhat in the culinary skills.  And little McKenna Rayne.  Wow.  I have always been annoyed by the parents who "can't put into words" how much they love their kid.  And I still get annoyed by it....unless it's me.  ;-)  MK has shown me what life is really about.  And I can't wait to watch her & help her grow & explore the world as she gets bigger.  What a weird feeling.  Don't worry if you don't understand.  Its totally cool, because I still don't either.  :-)

Then there's my posse.  And posse's of years past.  A short, but loving list include:

- My little Georgia Peach

- The Cajun flair in my life

 

- My CRAZY ASS husker of corn

- My fashionista dollface & rockstar kidney warrior

- My Superman lover (AKA - Lois Lane)

- My recessive co-workers & and maybe just one or two non-recessive ones! 

- ALL the New Mexico amigos that I left out West.  :-(  Sadness.  I miss you all!!!







These are just a FEW of the people that God has blessed me with....and like everyone else this week, I wanted to share who I'm most thankful for in my life.  :-) 

Happy Thanksgiving!!