Garrett, Remy and I headed up to Houston at around 10:00am on Thanksgiving day. The roads were surprisingly fine and we were excited to be going to Mammaw and Bill's. The snow-covered mountains took my breath away during the drive because it was the first time I'd seen them white! So beautiful.
Thanksgiving dinner was delicious - how could it not be? We had every dish you could think of and yes, I tried them all. There were ten of us total and it was nice to be somewhere, even if we didn't really know everyone. Just being in a group is comforting. It was strange not spending the day with our families, though. Last year we had one giant Thanksgiving dinner at Garrett's mom's house and it was so fun! The best part (to me, anyway) was that the power had gone out earlier in the day. Luckily Angela loves candles so my mom and I were sent to the storage room to search for all of the pillar candles and tea lights we could find. We found a huge box of them and began placing them around the house - probably about 50 candles in total. It made the rooms look so cozy and warm! Just as my mom was placing the last lit tea light onto the dining table, the power came back on! We just looked at each other and laughed then went around blowing them all out. Well, not all of them. We left plenty because they created such an awesome atmosphere.
I was doing fine all day until the after-dinner-chit-chat time began. Usually my family sits around with full bellies and tells stories or just catches up with one another after Thanksgiving dinner. We joke about the tryptophan and complain about being stuffed but still go for that second piece of pie. Last week, there was a family of four that joined us for dinner and were about the same age as my sibling and parents. They ate their dinners then huddled around one end of the long table and got to have their full-bellied tryptophan second-helping-of-pie time together and I just kind of watched. It was like sitting outside on my parents' deck watching a Thanksgiving I used to have with my family. That's when it hit me that I'm far away. I also took a slight jab to the heart when I noticed that my potato salad wasn't as big of a hit as I hoped it would be. I guess with mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, potato salad is kind of like ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE TUBERS but it never really stops me. I knew that if I had showed up at Thanksgiving with my family and they saw that giant bowl of mayo-coated starchy goodness, I would've been high-fived and hugged for a week. Luckily the salad turned out perfect for me and I ate more than my fair share.
We stayed over Thursday night but left before noon the next day. We were looking forward to spending our long weekend together and wanted to soak up some lazy time. We also managed to get Christmas lights up and our little house looks so cute! In my spare time I made some delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that turned out to taste like little cakes and Garrett was overjoyed.
We took a long walk in Kincaid on Saturday and Remy got to run around off leash. The snow really transformed the park and it felt like a different place. There are tons of trails everywhere to ski, walk, snowshoe, and run on! Now if only I had some kind of gear...any kind... We found a little lake and people were ice fishing on it! So many fun things to do.
We also took a long walk by our old stomping grounds from last summer. I wanted to see the park by our old apartment when it's covered in snow. It was actually really pretty! I love how there are so many parks and trails in Anchorage. I think Garrett and I find a new one every week!
Monday was our 8 year dating anniversary! We went to dinner at a nice place downtown on Sunday then spent the morning together on Monday before he had to head to work. That's definitely a perk of my job - no big deal if I show up a little late!
Garrett has been working nights this week and it hasn't been much fun. I get up before he does, I leave for work after only getting a couple minutes to chat with him, I get home and he's gone, I hang out with Remy all night, and he gets home from work by the time I'm half-asleep. I'm hoping today's the last day of that routine!
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