A November Recap

First of all, I want to start off by letting you know that I am wearing a pair of "Mom" jeans. For fun. Not for fashion. And the reason is that I just did a MAJOR overhaul of my ridiculous closet and came across some (TONS OF) items that there was NO NEED for me to still be hanging on to.



It was the hoarder in me. The key word being "was" because after watching the multiple documentaries on TLC, I can't handle the clutter anymore. I even found a small baggie of diet pills. Yes, I said diet pills. That I was hiding in my sock drawer because Kev didn't want me to be taking them.



How crazy is that!? I have NO idea how old they are because I haven't taken diet pills since I was a baby. Meaning - my early thirties. But I felt the need to hide them. Like an addict. But clearly forgot I even put them there. Which shows how dedicated I was to losing weight. And also, how my mind is definitely not what it used to be.



It's pretty sad, really. And embarrassing.

I realize that I haven't posted much lately. And I listed out all the posts I wanted to do to get you caught up on my life. And then decided it would be better to combine a couple of them in to one. For time management. And your sanity.



So - here goes. With the Thanksgiving extravaganza recap.



As I'm sure you realize - I work A LOT during the holidays. It is the career I have chosen and some thing that I am very used to. But family doesn't slow down for a retail manager. So, while every one else is getting entire weeks off and plenty of rest - I am working my tail off in hopes of having "the best season ever". And it is exhausting.



I decided to make the most of this holiday season. And Plan. Plan. Plan. I really got the planning thing down to the minute. And therefore hoped it would go off without a hitch. I was able to take Tuesday off - to get all of the food prepared and my head on straight for the upcoming weekend.



I cooked the entire day. 7 side dishes. 1 main dish. 1 dessert. 1 appetizer. And a HUGE pot of chili for supper so Kev would have something to eat off of for the rest of the week while I was working.

And then I received a delivery from UPS at 5pm. Which I have to admit that I was getting pretty annoyed that it was taking them so long to deliver this "special" package that required my signature. ( UPS had asked for some one to be at my house from 8am-7pm to sign for a delivery) ( Who on Earth has the time to wait at their house for that much time!!!) ( I was pretty annoyed about it) ( And he finally came at 5!!)

So, then I rushed out of the house to purchase my last "special" ingredients from Fresh Market AND deliver the majority of the food so I wouldn't have to worry about it on Thursday.

Not realizing that the package that had me so frustrated was a surprise for me!!

Because ( as you have probably figured out by now due to my "perfect day" post) once I returned home, Kev had the SURPRISE all set up for me.

AND.I.WAS.BLOWN.AWAY!!

Like a million times over. He surprised me alright and AS USUAL did an amazing job!! Canon Rebel SLR with an extra flash and extra lens for TAKING PICTURES OF FOOD!!!

The camera and Kev are my dreams come true!

I am SO in love with this camera. And was able to get some pretty good pics of Thanksgiving festivities. And the pictures are without me having any training. Just great shots of me pointing and shooting.

This camera is my soul mate.

Anyway, I worked ALL day on Wednesday. Got home at 10:45PM. Watched a movie with our guests ( Bethany, Michael, and Ashlynn) and then crashed.

Thanksgiving morning was spent watching the parade and making my last two dishes. Bobby Flay's pomegranate brussel sprouts with vanilla bean walnut butter AND my vegetarian dressing. (Made specially for Bethany even though she is the pickiest eater in the world and she didn't eat a bite of it. No worries, though. Because me and Kev LOVE LOVE LOVE it and we ate on it for a couple of days.)

Our first Thanksgiving is with Kev's family. At our cousin Krystal's home. She prepares so much incredible food that it should be considered a crime! And let me just reiterate that I LOVE to try new things - so, I was all about the delicious sweet potato balls - rolled in coconut- with a marshmallow surprise in the middle- a Paula Deen recipe. And they did not disappoint. So yummy!

And then there was this..... A gingerbread/pumpkin trifle. Too gorgeous to eat. Even though I ate a bowl. And these two characters sat patiently with forks in hand waiting for Krystal to dish it up....
Ashlynn and Mike are regulars at the Snyder Thanksgiving. They have grown up going with us and it wouldn't be the same without them.

Kev with his beautiful Mother...

We all ate SO much. And had ANOTHER Thanksgiving an HOUR later!

These are the times you wish you had a flushing mechanism on your stomach so you could cleanse and re-eat.

I have a lot of those times.

Not to mention that I was wearing Spanx AND an elastic black belt around my waist.

I would have paid a million dollars for a stomach flushing mechanism at this point. It may have been in Monopoly money - but it still would have been a million.

So, Kev drove to my parent's house while we ran along side the car. To try and sweat it out.

It didn't work. But we were dedicated to this day. And were willing to stuff our faces again. Even though Kev had to give me a pep talk because he was worried I would make myself sick. I have been eating HALF of what I used to eat - so, my tummy was not prepared for this feast.

And then we arrived at the most decorated house in town! And I am not even joking! I have never seen so many Thanksgiving decorations in one place... and my camera over heated at the thought of me taking pictures of all of them.

But I did get a couple....

We all fit around the table this year. We had to eat with our hands tied behind our backs for fear of elbow bumping - but we still fit. And that is what counts.

We had Mom and Dad. Shan and Randy and kids. Bethany. And Kev and me.

It was as loud and fun and crazy as you would probably imagine.

And delicious.

We went to see Tangled after our meal. The Disney Rapunzel movie. And I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised!! It was a great movie - with a great story - and minimal singing. PERFECT! Kev even enjoyed it. And it was good to actually learn the story of Rapunzel - because all I've ever known was she was a girl with long hair in a tower.

There is much more to it than that!

And then we returned to my parent's house to celebrate the birthdays of me, Kev, Ashlynn, and Austin.

And eat dessert of course!

I had made a sugar free pumpkin-turtle pie. It was yummy and Kev LOVED it! He has requested it again.

And then I had to call it a night. Because a retail manager has no time for rest during the holidays... and the next day was our biggest day of the year.

But before I end this post... I have to show you a couple more pics. Pics that make me so happy to own a new camera....

I love the clarity. And the colors. And the detail. And once I learn to utilize EVERY button on the camera... I will be the happiest girl in the world.