Thanksgiving Day with the Fam!

For the past 35 years, I have spent every Thanksgiving (at least part of it) with my dad's side of the family. Actually, there was ONE year we only went to Paul's parent's house, and that was when Paul was deep into his chemo and radiation treatments and just wanted a very low key holiday, because face it, he was sick.

This year, we spent the afternoon with my family and the evening with Paul's. Here's what went down!

We arrived at Cousin Steph and Ken's house in Mechanicsburg around noon. The whole family was already there! In attendance were...

My mom, dad, brother Tyler, and his wife Debby, and their kids: Ellie, Clementine, and Clark.

Auntie Eileen, Uncle Rick, and my cousins Nick and Alex.

Aunt Patti, Uncle Randy, and their kids: Steph and Brian. Plus Steph's husband Ken and their kiddos: Zach, Jacob, Caleb, and Emma.

And of course me and Paul!

It was a full house!

Before we ate, we all just hung around and chatted with each other. I hadn't eaten yet, so I picked at Auntie Eileen's veggie/cheese/pepperoni/cracker/olive plate. 

BREAKFAST!!!!

Ken was outside deep frying a turkey! This was a new thing this year and everyone was excited for it.

Finally, it was time to eat. There was so many of us that we sit at two different tables.

After the big meal, everyone just did their own thing. There was football on TV, video games in the playroom, and lots of kids outside. At one point, all the cousins got together to play Code Names. We laughed so hard! I love my cousins!

 Clark and Grandpa

 Cousin Nick and Auntie Eileen

 Caleb and Emma can't wait to chop the head off the butter turkey!

 The Uncle Ricks playing with the kids.

 Clark, Emma, Jacob, Ellie, and Caleb

 Mom and Aunt Patti

Debby

She cuts her own hair!!! I wish I had her skills.

 Nanny and Clark

Misty girl!

Clark and Tyler

Me and my bro Tyler

Me and Cousin Steph

Paul, Cousin Ken and Cousin Brian

Cousin Brian, Cousin Alex, and Tyler

Clementine and Ellie

Grandpa and Clark wrestle

Time flew, and before I knew it, Paul and I had to say goodbye to everyone so we could go to his parent's house.

Luckily, it's only about a 25 minute drive, so we got there around 5:20. It was just his parents and brother Keith. Paul's dad is a GREAT cook and made the whole meal. I didn't have to bring anything!

Paul and I had a drink, then it was time to eat. 

After dinner, Paul's dad read a story to us about his childhood. It included in anecdote about how on the day JFK died, he played hooky from school, but his mom never found out because it was such a crazy day.

After dinner, we kept jibber jabbering, and then it was time to go home. Paul and I were both exhausted!

I wish my whole family got together more often. They are fun, kind people and I love hanging out with them.

So much to be thankful for this year!

Where do you go on Thanksgiving? How many people?
Are you close with your cousins?

Weekly Workouts

Hola Peeps!
Here are my workouts. Nothing too crazy.

Saturday- Rest. I was still getting over a stomach virus and didn't want to push it. I raked some leaves for about 45 min, but other than that, it was couch time!

Sunday- 6 neighborhood miles. I was super bummed because I had planned to run a trail half in York but the weather said wind speeds would have gusts at 57mph! Um, can't run in that! I ran around my hood around 7am when the gusts were only at 22mph. I was very slow, and upon reflecting, I realized it was good I didn't do the half because I was exhausted by mile 4!

Monday- 6 miles. I had ZERO energy and I know why... I had dinner on Sunday at 3:30pm and then didn't eat anything else! So I was going on 15 hours with no food. I wasn't hungry but I was weak. I'm still trying to get over the stomach bug and get back to 100%.

Tuesday- 6 neighborhood miles. I felt great on this run other than being hungry. Maybe I have to start eating in my morning- at least a little something. I decided that I would count how many Christmas lights I saw up in my neighborhood. I did not count orange lights because they could be for Thanksgiving but I did count clear lights. I only saw three houses (besides ours!) in the Christmas spirit!

Wednesday- Lifting at home. It was beautiful out but I really needed to lift something heavy since I hadn't done it in awhile! I did a full upper body workout but not with my heaviest weights. I took it down a notch. I also raked leaves and cleaned the house so I did get a lot of moving in that day.

Thursday- 8 miles. Turkey Day! My Thanksgiving tradition has always been get up, make the green bean casserole, go for a run, shower, and then head to my family's for a big lunch! And that's just what I did today. There is always something magical about running on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The weather was beautiful on my run and 8 miles was easy.

Friday- 5 miles on the AT. We drove to Duncannon and did the AT there. Paul hiked and I ran. I did an out and back up to Hawk Rock and beyond. Paul took a couple wrong turns, so who the hell knows where HE went!? He was out there longer than I was!

How were your workouts this week?
Did you run on Thanksgiving?

Friday 5: My Favorite Christmas Songs

Hey all! I am linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 5 2.0!

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, you can listen to Christmas music without anyone bitching at you!!!!!

Today, I'm just going to share 5 of my favorite Christmas songs! Thank you to my friend Molly @ The Sassy Sub for giving me the idea for this post!

A a music teacher and a Christmas lover, I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!!

In general, my favorite songs are the traditional hymns- Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night, The First Noel, and other songs like that.

Here are my favorites... (or at least the first 5 favorites I could think of!)

1. The First Noel - Josh Groban and Faith Hill. If Paul is in a good mood, he will sing this in the car with me. I love Josh Groban's voice and I love the harmonies created by the duet. Fun fact: We call Josh Groban "Grob-piece" or "The Grobinator".

2. Carol of the Bells - performed by any choir! The first time I heard this song, I immediately loved it! Luckily, I have been able to perform it a couple times. Here is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing it... don't mess with the MTC! They rock!

3. Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Amy Grant. I love Amy's voice in this song and that she sings it "straight". It is my absolutely favorite performance.

4. Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth. I love the voices of both of these men. And I love how "old timey" it is. It makes me feel very homey.

5. Do You Hear What I Hear by Bing Crosby.  Okay, I can't get enough of Bing Crosby! I love the back up choir in this version as well.

I hate that I only get to pick 5 songs! I want to include  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, O Holy Night, and Go Tell it on the Mountain! And as soon as I hit post, I'll think of three more songs I want to include! I should have done a Friday 50 instead of a Friday 5!

OMG AND BLUE CHRISTMAS PERFORMED BY ELVIS!!!! I LOVE BLUE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

Happy Thanksgiving (some recipes, & some thanks!)

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

I love Thanksgiving because we get to spend the whole day with our families. I love our families so much, and nothing is better than the time we get to spend together.

Today, we are going to my cousin Stephanie's house to celebrate with my dad's side of the family. If the usual crowd is there, we'll have over thirty people! Luckily, Steph and Ken have a big house that fits all of us!

Then we are headed to Paul's parent's house. I'm not sure who will be there because there is no yearly tradition of attendees. Paul's dad is a great cook! I love his stuffing and green bean casserole! (It's way better than mine!)

This year, I am bringing my usual dishes: Green Bean Casserole and Grandma Arla's Fingers. Below are the recipes to share with you!

I'm very much looking forward to my Auntie Eileen's homemade cranberry sauce. It tastes so good on everything!

A Thanksgiving Day post would not be complete without mentioning a few things I am thankful for... My family, my kitties, Paul's health, a warm and comfortable home, and a good job that I love. My cup runneth over!

That's all for now! I hope your day is wonderful!

Here are the recipes for Grandma Arla's Fingers and Green Bean Casserole!

Grandma Arla's Fingers:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Slice pre made pie dough into long slivers.

3. Melt butter and mix in brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. The mixture should be runny.

4. Spread the mixture onto the pie dough and then fold up the sides and pinch together.

5. Put on a sprayed cookie sheet and sprinkle with more cinnamon.

5. Bake 10-15 minutes. (check on them!)

Green Bean Casserole:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a big bowl, dump in the follow ingredients and stir:

- 2 bags of frozen green beans

- several diced roma tomatoes

- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup

- lots of shredded mozzarella cheese

3. Pour into a casserole dish and top with a lot of french fried onions.

4. Bake for 30ish minutes.

What are you up to this Thanksgiving Day?
Have you ever put tomatoes in your green bean casserole?

I have a problem.

Friends, I have a problem. A decorating problem.

When I was at Big Lots this weekend, there were SO MANY OUTDOOR DECORATIONS. Alas, I didn't need any more. Paul didn't want us to have anymore. We have a small yard and we don't have room for more!

But...

There was one more outlet. One more place to plug something in. It was just OUT THERE IN THE YARD waiting to be filled.

And fill it I did...

I bought an 8 foot inflatable gingerbread man with a Santa hat. Paul thinks it's ugly. I think it's borderline ugly but I love it!

The neighbor girl helped me set it up. She's six. She needed to hold it in place while I put the stakes in. It's 8 feet tall! If no one held it, it would fall over!

Paul is not thrilled but he got over it. Especially since I assured him this was it. NO MORE. Want to see a picture in the dark? Of course you do!

I finally feel like my life is complete, now that I have my 8 foot gingerbread man... I don't know what came over me after work yesterday. I just HAD to go to Big Lots and get it.

After I left Big Lots, I popped into Payless. I got a new pair of shoes! I love them! They're so cute! Only $19.99. I think they will look great with some of my jeggings.

Have you ever just HAD to go back to a store and get something???

Day in the Life

Hola! Today's Day In My Life post captures Monday, 11/20.

Yeah, can I get a "Wooooo!" for the quick turn around on this one? I woke up at 4 this morning so I had time to finish it up before it went live at 5:30.

On Sunday night I did not sleep well at all thanks to Christmas and Jelly. This whole "no feeding the cats in the middle of the night to shut them up" thing is really affecting my slumber!

My alarm went off at 5:30. I did my normal getting ready routine: drink iced coffee, update podcasts, go to the bathroom, get suited up to run.

Despite not eating since 3:30pm the day before, (I had a REALLY early dinner) I enjoyed my run. I was a little lightheaded and had no energy at all, but I wasn't hungry. It was cold and smelled like winter, which made me excited for the holidays.

After my run I got dressed for work.

I've had better outfits but today it was all about comfort.

I leave for work by 7:30 so I get there at 7:55. I dropped my lunch off in the faculty fridge, made myself some coffee, then headed down to my classroom where we were having a faculty meeting. Yes, a faculty meeting on Monday morning...

Pretty much!

We discussed safety procedures for the school and reviewed what to do in any number of situations. The meeting went until the bell rang so I had to rush to my stair duty. 

If you're ever wondering where I am from 8:40-8:50 on Monday-Friday, it's at the bottom of the EPE stairs...

Luckily, my plan period was first thing in the morning so I had some time to prepare before I had a class. One of the things I did was fix up a little prize box. I've got some good stuff in there!

My first class of the day was third grade. We sang the song Tender Shepherd from Peter Pan. Then we added resonator bells and hand bells.

I really want to buy more of these for my classroom next year but they are rather expensive. But WORTH it because they're good for getting all ages to play music. I am super excited to create some more lessons with these.

Fourth grade came next. We're learning all about The Nutcracker because we're going to see a performance of it in a couple weeks. I love The Nutcracker!!!

Then it was time for lunch but... I had no appetite. I'm not sick anymore, but it has been difficult to get my body back in order. Instead of eating lunch, I sent some emails to make sure my December chorus concert was in order.

Speaking of chorus, they were my next class! We only have a couple more rehearsals until out concert so it was ALL BUSINESS during our half hour rehearsal.

After chorus, I had a couple first grade classes in a row. They played a music game in groups. Of course there was drama. There's always drama when first graders are in groups...

Oh, I ate lunch while managing all the drama- quinoa surprise and grilled chicken.

My last class of the day was fourth grade. Before we dove into The Nutcracker, we had a competition that needed to be held. Here's the back story:

A couple weeks ago, I realized that even though the fourth graders had a big unit on The Star Spangled Banner in music class, some of them still didn't know the words! So I told them we're having a competition. I cut up all the phrases from the song and in their small groups, they had to put them in order. The group with the fastest time would win and gets to pick a prize! I gave all the students the music about two weeks ago so they could study. I was excited to see how well they would do.

Well it turns out, not many of them studied and they readily admitted it. I was shocked! How hard is it to learn the words to the National Anthem, especially since they play it EVERY MORNING AT SCHOOL!!??! Luckily, I did have three groups (well, it ended up being partners) who were able to do it in under five minutes so I gave all six kids a prize.

School is over at 3:40, and I left right away. I had some errands to run. First, I went to Michaels to get some more beads for the ornaments I'm making for Christmas. It looked like Christmas exploded in there!

Not only did I get the beads, but I got a cute pair of socks and a notepad for the fridge. I can totally see myself wearing these socks sticking out of ankle boots.

Then I went to the mall because I had a hair appointment at 5:15. I had time to kill, so I walked around for awhile. It was busy. I guess everyone is shopping for the holidays already. I was homesick. I don't like to be out after dark on a school night!

I went into H&M even though I never find anything in there. Their clothes seem to be so cheaply made. Why are all their shirts and sweaters see through?

I also went in Express. They had really cool leggings that were thicker and fancier than normal but... THEY WERE $59.95. What the heck!? I know, I know, all you express shoppers are going to tell me, "sign up for the coupons". It is just shocking to me how expensive that store is.

I will say though, that at least in the past (not sure about now) Express clothes were REALLY WELL MADE. I have a pair of black dress pant capris that I have worn semi regularly since student teaching... That was in 2004. The pants are still in GREAT shape! They haven't faded, pilled, nothing. So I suppose if their stuff is made well and will last over a decade, it's worth it!

My hair appointment started on time and my stylist did the same thing as last time. I have no beautiful "after" picture because I didn't have him style it since I was coming straight home to dye my hair.

And that's what I did! I had the dye on by 6:01 and then I just had to wait a half hour until I could shower. While I waited, I typed up this blog!

Then Paul and I had dinner. I made a huge salad. I've been severely lacking on veggies ever since being sick so my body needed it! 

Oh, look who shows up while making dinner?

That's light ranch and ground turkey.

Chrissy wanted the ranch, cheese, turkey, and croutons.

He's a garbage kitty.

We watched Colbert while eat. We had about 7 to catch up on. We always watch the monologue, comedy segments, and only the interviews that interest us. 

Joe Biden was on last week so we watched him. I freaking love Joe Biden.

Omg I never saw this one before! I'm rolling!

Note: While searching for the perfect Biden meme for this post, I got sucked into a huge Biden meme rabbit hole! People are so funny and creative! I wonder what Biden and Obama think of the memes?

Dessert was donuts leftover from our faculty meeting! I didn't eat one that morning, but put it in a tupperware to take home and eat later! You all keep tupperware at work, right!?

I crawled into bed around 8:30 and fell asleep reading reddit. I have been lurking there for at least a year and on Sunday I finally made a username so I could write a comment on a 13 Reasons Why post. Well, I got 4 upvotes! Not bad for my first comment!

Do you know all the words to The Star Spangled Banner?


If you shop at Express, can you let us know if their clothes are well made?

What are your thoughts on H&M?

What's your favorite Biden meme?