Happy Thanksgiving!

I lieu of the holiday, I would like to share some things I am thankful for:

• My cousin returning safely from Iraq


• The healthy birth of his son, Jackson


• My parent's ability to pay for my college education


• My best friend, roommie


• Of course, my family


• My dog recovering from his initial crisis and diagnosis of Addison's Disease


• The experiences I have gained and the people I have met over the past year


• My job


• The good teachers who have brought so much to my education


• And most importantly, I was blessed by not having to endure the pain of loosing someone close to me this year

I hope all of you have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and are able to give thanks for many many things!

Hump Day

Happy hump day! We are out of school today for the Thanksgiving holiday, and since I usually only work Tuesdays and Thursdays, I won't be doing anything today! Actually, I have to pass a computer proficiency exam on December 6 where you have to know everything about the new versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access. I think I'm good to go with the first three, but I have never used or heard of people using Access. So I will be spending the day studying for that test and possibly helping my mom paint. Oh - I should probably go for a run too, since I will be participating in the Turkey Trot 5-K tomorrow and I have only run once in the past two weeks!

I also need to get many things organized for my other exams in the beginning of December, so this break will be great if I can motivate myself to get all of it out of the way. A few more goals of mine over break are to seriously look into jobs and schools, and update my resume. I also hope to get some books on taking the GMAT and GRE (both since I don't know what I want to study when I get done).

Whew, this break isn't going to be as relaxing as I hoped. What will you do over the holiday? Any travel plans?

Thanksgiving Holiday!

I loveee food. I love to eat, and thankfully my body still allows me to eat the things I want...but I'm sure this won't last long! So I have put together my family's Thanksgiving menu (it's pretty traditional):

Turkey
Stuffing (my favorite part!)
Green beans
Homemade bread
Cranberries (from the can)
Mashed potatoes
Banana nut bread (for breakfast)
Wine
Tea
Pecan, Cherry and Pumpkin Pie (usually frozen)
Fudge - recipe on the back of the marshmellow container

This all sounds pretty normal, I'm sure. I love the meal my mom makes and have loved it all 21 years I have been around. But when I start cooking for my own family I will do a couple of things differently (except for the stuffing - I will NEVER change that):

1. Mom doesn't brine or season the turkey with anything except salt and pepper. I want to go all out with mine and brine it the night before. Also I will flavor it by putting onions, celery, carrots and lemon inside. Who knows - I'll find something besides plain old S&P.
2. I will make homemade cranberries from frozen whole cranberries and orange juice/zest.
3. All pies will be homemade.
4. Homemade bread will not be made from a mix in the bread maker, but by hand and cooked in the oven.

If you can't tell - I like things homemade...not semi-homemade or from a can/box/container. I would love to implement these things into this year's Thanksgiving meal, but I might hurt my mom's feelings. So I'll just have to wait until I get a family of my own to try them out.

What do you cook on Thanksgiving? What is your favorite part? Or do you cook something out of the ordinary?