Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving is amazing, isn't it? And while everyone had a great time, no one is really that sad that it's over either, usually. Because the Christmas holiday is right around the corner! Well, tomorrow may be December 1st, but today I'm recapping our Thanksgiving holiday because it was definitely an interesting and exciting one!

Thanksgiving morning, we woke up and headed out, so that I could run the Turkey Trot! A friend of ours ran with me, and while he did absolutely amazing, placing 2nd in his age group, I did not. A few weeks ago, I discovered some pain in my right foot, and I was told it was a stress fracture. I thought I let it heal enough, but apparently, I'm stubborn (who would have thought?), and I started training back too soon. It felt okay for the race, but at the second water tent, someone was eager to get a cup and stepped on it making me fall and re-injuring it all over again. I ended up walking almost the last mile and then running it in at the end. Thankfully, my husband was there at the end cheering me on with our dog, and I grabbed her to have the push to finish! If he would have known it was hurting so bad, he probably wouldn't have let me, but what can I say, I'm really stubborn sometimes! Earned that medal that day! ;)

Later that day, we went over to a friend's house for Thanksgiving since we were all away from our families. We played games, watched the football games (of course, yay for a Seahawks win! P.S. I'm forced to cheer for them due to my husband. Still a Vikings fan!), and ate a delicious dinner. I was seriously so full that I didn't even want dessert. That's when you know I'm entirely too stuffed!

My family on Thanksgiving. The cat looks upset, but he was purring, so don't let that fool you!

It's so nice having close friends here to celebrate with! I hosted Friendsgiving for a few of my other good friends a couple days before, and it just makes you feel so blessed that you have people you care about (and who care about you) to spend it with! So very blessed and grateful!

On Black Friday, since this is the first Black Friday in four years that I did not have to work in the retail world, I definitely didn't want to brave the crowds for sales, so we opted to go skiing instead. Since my foot felt okay and was just a little sore and not swollen, I thought it would be fine. Well, when we got to the resort, just trying to walk in my ski boots a few steps was more than I could handle and sent me into tears. So much for skiing! We ended up at Urgent Care to make sure it wasn't seriously injured or broken. Turns out it was still the original diagnosis, but I was given a boot to wear. Not my favorite accessory, but it seems to be helping. Just a couple of weeks of it and then a couple more of rest and activity as I feel okay enough, and I should be good to go!

         

Friday night, we finished off another great weekend (Randy's days off are Thursdays and Fridays anyway) by watching his alma mater play that school I work for! There weren't many North Dakota fans there, and they got crushed by the Utes (not that I'm too sad, I'm a Utes fan, too!), but we still cheered them on! 

We both look exhausted from the busy week! Sheesh!

What did you do on Thanksgiving? Anyone brave the crowds for Black Friday, and if so, how crazy was it? I heard it wasn't too bad this year! :)

Happy Late Thanksgiving, and Here's to a Wonderful 2014 Holiday Season!

A Day Off Work! Supposedly....

Two strange things are happening around Utah. Well, at least strange to us since this is our first summer here. First of all, the entire state (at least it feels like it) has the day off work today. Since it's not a national holiday, my husband doesn't get it off, and there are some select people who still have to go to work. I'm not even supposed to have to be at work right now. It's because today is Utah's Pioneer Day! I'll explain more about what that is in a second. The other strange thing that is happening around here is that there are Fireworks Stands still up for Pioneer Day... everywhere! It's crazy to see them, and it still makes me feel like the 4th of July is coming up. If I was going to school this fall or just absolutely loved this hot weather, I'd be overjoyed. But, I'm a fall-loving girl, and since I'm not dreading the start of school anymore (or at least for right now), I'm anxious for September. Pumpkin pies, apple cider (not that I don't drink that all year long--it's my favorite), and warm, delicious, fall drinks at Starbucks. I can taste it now. :) Anyway...

Pioneer Day is a Utah holiday (and some surrounding state regions, I've heard) celebrated on July 24 to commemorate the arrival of Brigham Young and the Church of Latter Day Saint (Mormon) pioneers in the state of Utah from eastern US and Illinois, where they were forced out. It's a very big holiday around here, similar to July 4th. I had a very rough time getting to work this morning because the building where I work (on campus) is close to downtown, and almost all of the major streets were blocked off! It took me over an hour and a half to travel what normally takes 20 minutes. There are so many celebrations happening around the area, hence the blocked-off streets. There's a parade that goes around downtown; a 5K and Half-Marathon (maybe next year I'll participate!); food carts; reenactments; and so many other things! In the smaller suburb where we live, they have what they call "Handcart Days," which is a celebration of Pioneer Day the 23rd and 24th. They had their own parade last night and had a fireworks display at night! We could hear the fireworks but were ready for bed by the time the show was going on since the husband works so early every morning! We also had the pleasure of seeing tons of the floats that were in the parade on our walk last night. Everyone is so excited for the celebration, and it's really neat to see the community all geared up for another big event!

Unfortunately, the reason I wasn't able to be off today (even though the rest of the university is closed) is because this weekend is the start of a research study that we've been prepping for the last month! We have a corresponding author that is coming to town tomorrow, and we're hoping to get most of the data collected by late Monday. So, I came to work today and will come for a little bit this weekend. But, I truly love this job, and I can't complain when I wake up every morning actually wanting to go to work. Not that I don't love coming home every night more, though... :) That being said, it's time that I get some other things done because I've been neglecting the house this week, and it's driving me crazy to see everything out of place. Until next time! :)

Love,