Happy Thanksgiving everybody. This year has been a very humbling start to our holiday season... Jason and I headed down to his Dad's house in Washington, Illinois, who's town was devastated by a tornado just a few weeks ago. It's one thing to see it on the news, but to see it in person, to see places that you have been completely obliterated, its just so surreal. Peoples homes, their stories, their memories scattered, they were just lying in piles or up in trees every where you looked. Thankfully everyone in our family was fine, but it really just makes you realize what's important. All this stuff we have, you can't take it with you and it can be gone in a second. It's the people and the connections you make in this life that truly matter. Thanksgiving or not, there is so much to be grateful for, I feel very blessed every single day.
We ended up hosting a very small, second Thanksgiving at our house the following weekend for my dad and aunt & uncle. I decided to change up the menu since most of us had just eaten the traditional Thanksgiving fare so I decided to make: root vegetable soup, maple glazed sweet potatoes with bacon, cranberry spinach salad with candied pecans, and a peach mustard glazed ham. Yum, yum. I also made a batch of flourless almond butter cookies that have chunks of dark chocolate and sea salt that I have been obsessed with making lately. It was good food, good wine, good company. It was a really nice evening I must say.
This morning I pulled my Christmas decorations out and it just put a smile on my face. I am embracing the Christmas spirit this year I have decided, full force, head on!
