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Tag: Thanksgiving

  • A Much Appreciated Thanksgiving Break

    To those of you in the United States, I hope you enjoyed a restful and good Thanksgiving. I always enjoy Thanksgiving and think it’s a great day to reflect on everything there is to be thankful for. If you’re not in the States, I hope you also had a great, restful, and enjoyable week.

    You all have NO idea how much I needed this Thanksgiving break. I’m so thankful that my university gives me a week off, especially considering that I haven’t had a day off from school since Labor Day. It was a much needed and appreciated break, let me tell you.

    I started off my break doing absolutely nothing. I think by Tuesday, I was doing some homework but it was refreshing to think about everything that wasn’t school for at least three days. Wednesday, I went to a volleyball game with my family and I haven’t been to one in a long time so that was actually a lot of fun. After the game, we went to the mall to look at some things for Christmas. The mall was pretty busy and it was honestly really comforting to see it with more people around. It was something familiar again. While the mall is definitely more stressful that way, I forgot what it was like to be around so many people! To our surprise, it was snowing when we left the mall. It’s about time Colorado. We haven’t had any snow yet this year so it was nice to see it. 😊

    Thursday- the big turkey day. I had the chance to help my mom with the food for Thanksgiving this year and it was honestly a lot of fun!! it was a lot of work but it was so worth it. We made our own pumpkin pies and for two of them, we also made the crust. After this year’s Thanksgiving, I have decided that I can only have homemade pumpkin pie. It really is the best!! If you’re ever interested in our recipe, let me know. 😉 I never really realized how rewarding it is to enjoy something you’ve made and see others enjoy it too. So fun. While it was just my parents and sister at the table, we enjoyed a wonderful turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and of course our pumpkin pie. My favorite food this year was the green bean casserole. It has typically always been mashed potatoes with a truckload of gravy glazing it in the past but this year, the green beans were the winner for me! Aside from the meal, it was wonderful to spend a nice, relaxing day with my family. We also had the ability to Skype with my aunt and uncle that night which was another great treat. I haven’t seen them since this summer so it was great to see them again, even if it was virtually.

    After a great Thanksgiving, the week was very low-key. Friday was a fun day too- my sister helped me take some graduation pictures! On top of that, the rest of my break was some tennis, some working out, and also some shopping, and a lot of homework. I feel recharged and ready to finish up my last semester of undergrad now. It’s crazy to think that I have two weeks left of classes and then finals and then graduation!! Exciting things are coming! I hope you all have a wonderful week! ❤️

    Thanksgiving Break

  • Here’s to New Beginnings- Thanksgiving Break 2019

    new beginnings

    My laptop works everyone!!! You might not think it’s that big of a deal but I sure as heck do. I’ve needed it to do some homework, which is now done by the way, but oh my goodness, wowza, I’m so happy. Anyway, I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and have had safe travels getting to and from places if you traveled for the holiday. I shared this in a recent blog, but some of you may know that my grandpa passed away recently. This past week, we held his celebration of life and my sister and I had the honor of speaking at it. My family and I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving with my grandpa in addition to my aunt and uncle, but things were different this year. Things are going to be different now. Different is never bad, but it can be a little scary going into the unknown. Regardless of that, here’s to new beginnings.

    My family and I left for Farmington, New Mexico on Thanksgiving day and roads were good for travel. Thank goodness. My sister and I passed the time napping and talking with our parents. There was no radio because my mom’s car decided to lock us out of the radio so that was a fun time. We saw a lot of snow on Wolf Creek but regardless of that, the trip was great.

    We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my great aunt’s house and it was great to get to spend time with them outside of our traditional Christmas morning breakfast. It was strange though. It was different from what I’ve been used to around that time. It felt good to be with family of course but it just wasn’t the same. My grandpa wasn’t there. Marty wasn’t there either. Losing family is hard.

    After our incredible meal, we went back to my grandpa’s house where my dad and aunt have been doing a lot of packing and moving of things. The house was practically empty when we arrived earlier in the day and it would continue to get more and more empty throughout our time in Farmington.

    On Friday, my family and I attended my grandpa’s memorial service. It was incredibly touching to get to meet all of the people that had the pleasure of getting to know my grandpa. He was a wonderful person and it really warmed my heart to see how many people he had an impact on. Getting to speak on behalf of some of the teachers that worked for him was also such an honor. My sister also crushed it up there when she spoke, so I’m very proud of her. The service was great and the food following the service was also great. Olive Garden catering is thebomb.com let me tell you. The rest of Friday was spent packing up and cleaning up around my grandpa’s house.

    Saturday was also a lot of cleaning and moving things. It was also a day that I did a lot of homework that I hadn’t finished earlier in the week. I promise I don’t procrastinate it’s just that I had a horrible cold earlier in the week and sleeping was more important to me than homework. Priorities! We also visited the Salmon Ruins which is about thirty minutes from my grandpa’s house. It was SUPER cold but it was still really nice to get out, walk around, and revisit a place that I had been to when I was younger. I’ve also always really enjoyed learning about the history of the Anasazi people and ancient civilizations (this place isn’t exactly what I would call ancient but I hope you get what I’m trying to say here haha) so this was fun.

    Sunday we left and spent a wonderful TEN HOURS in the car. Kenosha Pass was closed which resulted in a two hour detour for my family back through Colorado Springs. New beginnings = ghost towns through desolate parts of Colorado? Haha. It also did not help that I had a HORRIBLE headache today. Fun fun. But now, we are all safely home and I will be heading up to finish out this semester in the morning.

    As I said before, different is not bad but different can still make you feel bad. Maybe bad is the wrong word. Sad maybe? I’m not quite sure what the word I’m looking for is yet. I’ve spent a good portion of my life in New Mexico visiting family, living in my grandpa’s house, climbing the trees in his backyard, and calling Farmington practically a second home. So many traditions, so many memories.

    What’s next though? I honestly hope that my family and I continue to visit New Mexico because I’m not sure what I’ll do without the three to four trips we make to New Mexico yearly. I want to continue to see my family in New Mexico and Durango. I want to continue our traditions and even start new ones. Things have changed, but that doesn’t mean that everything has to change. Of course I’m still struggling with the death of my grandpa and also Marty, but with each of these endings, there are new beginnings.

    If any people reading this attended my grandpa’s service, thank you so much for being a part of his life and thank you for also being here. As I said earlier, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you also have a great week. Here’s to new beginnings. See you next Sunday.

  • A Much Needed Break

    A much needed break

    That was a WONDERFUL break, oh my goodness. I hope you all enjoyed time with family and friends this past week, and especially on Thanksgiving. I sure know I did!

    When I first got home from school last weekend, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Marty, Boo, or Bobo so excited. I’ve been home for weekends, but I think they could tell I was staying for a longer period of time, which was adorable. My mom, dad, and sister, were excited too of course! I really missed seeing them every day. 🙂 I love my family and I’m so glad I chose to attend an in-state college. I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t come home on weekends.

    At the beginning of the week, I got back into the swing of tennis which was amazing. I played like I haven’t played in a few weeks so it was quite the scene, but I enjoyed it. Hitting with my dad and sister again was so much fun. Just in general, not having to think about chemistry and my typical pile of homework was FUN!

    As usual, my family and I went to New Mexico to spend time with my aunt, uncle, and grandpa for Thanksgiving which is always a great time. I’m sad we had to come back early this time around though. The weather was crummy yesterday and I had to be back to school today, so we drove back yesterday.

    The time I get to spend with family is always great though. Even though it’s short, we make the most of it. Thanksgiving itself was filled with A LOT of great food and of course, my favorite, pumpkin pie. I get a little too excited for dessert on Thanksgiving because I absolutely love pumpkin pie. I’m pretty sure I ate an entire pumpkin pie by myself throughout my weekend in New Mexico. My family and I played fun games, ate some more, went on a ride with my grandpa (he loves going out to see the airport), and caught up with my aunt and uncle.

    And of course, there was homework for me to do too. I had a speech to write, project to watercolor, and a gigantic post lab to finish for my chemistry lab. I got it all done, but doing homework over break really sucks. I can’t wait for winter break! There will be no homework for six whole weeks and when I come back to school, I’ll be in totally different classes. I’m pumped.

    Only two more weeks til finals and then it’s winter break! Once again, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and if you were on break, I hope you enjoyed that too. 🙂 Have a great week everyone, and remember to find something to be thankful for every day.

  • Thankful

    thankful

    Thank God this past week is over! Wow was that rough. All of my professors and TA’s decided this week was the best week to turn in papers and lab reports and also take exams. I’m SO glad it’s over.

    As we approach Thanksgiving, once again, I just wanted to take some time to talk to you all about the importance of being thankful. When I say this, I don’t mean that we just need to be thankful on Thanksgiving. Being thankful for EVERYTHING is important on a daily basis. There is so much that we take for granted from day-to-day, and that’s not how life should be at all. It’s a miracle that I’m sitting here writing this blog to you all and it’s a miracle that you’re sitting on the other end reading it! 

    Throughout the month, I’ve taken time to reflect on what I’m thankful for every day. I was really wanting to add this list up to 30, for each day of November, but I feel like this is something I’ll continue doing anyway. By taking time to recognize all the good in my life, I feel like there’s really not a lot I can complain about! 

    Here are 18 things I’m thankful for:

    1. It’s November! This year has really flown by.
    2. The fact that I get to help my mom volunteer at COMOM tomorrow.
    3. My mom who helps keep my teeth in good shape and a family that can afford dental care.
    4. Time with family, especially my health and ability to play tennis with my dad and sister 🙂
    5. Pre-dental club and wax whittling (I’m a dork)
    6. The fact that I can handle an honors section biology class. I’m also extremely thankful for Harry Potter and that entire world. In my honors seminar on children’s literature we are reading Harry Potter and I love it way too much. Proud Gryffindor 🙂
    7. Wednesdays. It’s almost the end of the week!
    8. Fun and cool lab substitutes for my honors section biology lab
    9. Fun emails from my dad about foxes creeping into peoples’ yards
    10. Weekends! Sleeping in is pretty great too
    11. Brunch with my roommate and honorary roommate (I say this because she’s in our room more than she is in her own)
    12. No more homework in my honors recitation! Good meetings with pre-health advisors are great too. I feel so much more sure of what I want to do in my life 🙂
    13. Discipline to study hard and hopefully do well on my biology exam (Thanks Mom and Dad!)
    14. My adorable sister who is so so so excited for me to come home (Me too Allyson, I can’t wait!!)
    15. My lab TA for chemistry. He’s a really good guy and he’s also not bad looking (haha). He’s helped me a lot this semester. 
    16. Getting an 85% on my chem exam! This last exam was super duper hard and a bunch of people I talked to failed the exam. I’m thankful for my abilities to study (once again) and go with my gut. Hard work pays off!
    17. BEING HOME! I missed my family and also my doggies and bird. 
    18. Showering without shoes. I’ve been showering in flip flops for the past 3 months and the communal bathrooms are pretty nasty. They’re cleaned daily and I’m so grateful to the cleaning staff (I couldn’t do what they do!) but the fact that a bunch of other girls use the same shower that I use kinda freaks me out.

    Even the little things in life mean a lot. It’s all about perspective. If you ever feel like your life sucks or you’re hitting a rough patch, find one thing to be thankful for. I bet you that someone in the world has it much worse than you do, so that’s important to recognize. 

    I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week and I hope that you all get to enjoy some quality time with friends and family. If you’re in college, like moi, and are on break, you deserve it! I don’t know about you, but I SOOOO needed this break. Honestly, everyone deserves this break. Have a great week everyone! Don’t forget to be thankful. 🙂

  • T-Minus One Week Until Thanksgiving Break

    Thanksgiving Break

    Man has this semester flown by! It feels like I arrived at CSU, blinked, and now I’m sitting at my desk watching the snow fall trying to not be stressed about all of the stuff that’s happening this upcoming week. I need it to be Thanksgiving break!

    This upcoming week I have a chemistry exam as well as a biology exam. On top of that, I have a paper due for my honors’ seminar (which is already done) and a lab report due for my biology lab. I’m feeling ok for my tests, but we shall see what happens. I would love to hold my A’s for both classes heading into finals. 

    So after this week, I’m on Thanksgiving break (woohoo) and then when I come back from that, I’ll have 2 weeks of classes and then finals and then WINTER BREAK! I’m so excited for college winter break because it isn’t the tiny thing I used to get in high school. Oh no no. In college, or at least at CSU, we get six whole weeks off! I’m very excited. I see a lot of tennis in my future. 🙂 

    I’m going to have to end this blog here today, because I have a lot of work to do. I hope this wasn’t too boring and I hope that those of you also getting ready to go on Thanksgiving break are surviving. Have a great week everyone!

  • Here Comes Thanksgiving!

    Thanksgiving is happening this Thursday! AHH! It feels like holidays are coming faster and faster every year. Maybe it’s just me… Anyway, Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on everything we have to be thankful for. I haven’t done an acrostic poem/compilation of quotes in a while, and so now is a good time to do that.

    T- The happiest people do not have the best of everything. They make the best of everything they have.

    H- Harvey Mackay once said, “None of us got to where we are alone. Whether the assistance we received was obvious or subtle, acknowledging someone’s help is a big part of understanding the importance of saying thank you.”

    A- “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” -Albert Schweitzer

    N- “No matter what our circumstances, we can find a reason to be thankful.” –Dr. David Jeremiah

    K- Kay Arthur once said, “God is in control, and therefore in EVERYTHING I can give thanks – not because of the situation but because of the One who directs and rules over it.”

    S- “Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven.” -Thomas S. Monson

    Don’t forget that Thanksgiving isn’t the only day you should give thanks for your lives. Be grateful every day for all you have. Have a wonderful week and a great Thanksgiving! 🙂

    Here Comes Thanksgiving!

  • Thanksgiving Break

    It has been really nice getting to have an entire week off from school for Thanksgiving. A week off allowed for me to relax, do homework, spend time with friends, goof around with my sister, and visit my family in New Mexico for Thanksgiving.

    Getting a week off from school was great and I didn’t realize how much I needed it until the break arrived. I was able to sleep in, work on homework, read, and relax. Two of the books I read over the break were Land of Stories: Return of the Enchantress and Happily Ever After. Happily Ever After is a book that accompanies The Selection series by Kiera Cass (my favorite book series by the way). Land of Stories: Return of the Enchantress is the second book of the Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer. I recommend both series to anyone who enjoys romance and fairy tales.

    Thursday morning, my family and I packed up our car and travelled to Farmington, New Mexico to spend time with my aunt, uncle, and grandpa. On the way to New Mexico, we heard “Alice’s Restaurant” which is a Thanksgiving traditional song three times. Oh boy. There was plenty of wonderful food to eat when we arrived at my grandpa’s house and we had a good time together. In my opinion, spending time with family is very important, especially during a holiday. You get to catch up with one another and have a good time together. I definitely did not go Black Friday shopping, despite the good deals many businesses offered. To be honest, Black Friday shopping scares me. It gets so intense and personal for some people!

    On Saturday my family and I were out and about running errands and visiting family friends. When we had time, my mom, sister, grandma, and I went to the local mall and found a great ugly Christmas sweater. It’s pretty ugly, but the ugliness almost makes it cute. When dinner time rolled around, my entire family drove to Zeb’s which is a buffet restaurant where you can pick a meal from the menu with a side from the salad bar, a meal from the meat bar, or the salad bar as a meal. I ordered a Alpine Burger that had a burger, mushrooms, Swiss cheese, and sour cream on it (I added that from the burger bar). In the end, the food was good and we were all stuffed. Zeb’s is a wonderful restaurant that has a large variety of delicious food and great service.

    Today my family and I packed up and are currently on our way home. Eight hour car trips are the perfect time to work on blogs, haha. It’s been pretty cold so far and there’s some snow up in the mountains.

    Overall, I had a great and productive Thanksgiving break and look forward to more trips to New Mexico, time with family, and breaks in the future. I hope you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Have a wonderful week!

    Thanksgiving Break