Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Feast





We have a lot to be Thankful for and had a wonderful few days off. We were lucky to be able to spend a lot of Wed, all of Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sunday together. We ate well, enjoyed the weather, caught up on sleep, went to the gym and watched some movies. We were also able to catch up with friends and even went out to a wine bar in Boulder with our roommate Ryan.

This weekend I received an update about a family friend who was diagnosed with cancer over the summer. He is 22 and until then in great health. He was athletic, smart, and ate well. Apparently they've tried all kinds of treatments and clinical trials, but they don't believe he will live until Christmas. This really upset me as I recalled almost the same scenario with my friend Jeff from two years ago. He was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 23 and died a few months later, just before Christmas. It really made me think harder about what I'm thankful for. We all say we're thankful for our family and friends, for our health, for the ability to work and go to school, for the food we're able to afford and for all the other blessings we've had throughout the year. The news of his progressive illness made be doubly appreciate all that I have. I am very fortunate. I have happiness, a wonderful family, the most amazing finace, a dog that is a handful, but loving nonetheless, the opportunity to attend school full-time and give that all the attention I need...I have friends who care about me, a mother and father who do everything they can to help me and for today, I have my health.

Going to nursing school and learning about disease process and all the things that can go wrong can be overwhelming, especially when you have friends who are being diagnosed with cancers that were formerly thought to be cancers in men in their 60's and 70's...I guess for today, I am thankful for my health and for the health of my friends and family.



We started cooking this feast Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Eric made orange-glazed salmon in the back right pan, roasted sweet potatoes (not pictured), and I made vegetarian stuffing in the back middle, dinner rolls (which were really more like mini-loaves of bread!) from scratch, butternut squash soup in the middle, and pumpkin cheesecake pie. In the front right is Emeril's recipe for green bean casserole that Eric and I spent like two hours making! We had to actually fry the onion rings for the top! It was all amazing though!