Besides the few years my dad had to work on Thanksgiving (bless his heart), my entire childhood was spent driving up to Richmond, VA to spend thanksgiving with my dad’s family (then do Christmas with mom’s). I remember packing up the car full of pillows and blankets and hitting the road at night so my brother and I could sleep the 8 hours while dad drove (again, bless his heart). My dad’s sister and mom are real life Martha Stewarts, seriously. Every little details was always taken care of from personalized name tags at each seat to small little gifts for the kids at their spots. And the food was always spot on – I will always remember the cookies and the sweet potato casserole my grandmother made. This was always our tradition until my grandmother passed away my senior year in high school and since then we have spent it with my mom’s side of the family.
Until of course Brett and I started dating and then the big question in any relationship is asked; “Who’s family do you spend the holidays with?” We came up with a pretty easy solution: Thanksgiving with Brett’s family and Christmas with mine. I may or may not have made it pretty darn clear when we first started dating that I would spend Christmas with my family every year whether he came or not so this seemed to be the most logical solution. (Look, my family is REALLY fun at Christmas and I can’t fathom missing out on the festivities! Don’t judge!) So for the past few years I’ve been enjoying the Owens family Thanksgiving tradition where we rent a house on the beach in Oak Island, NC and spend the week there. (I have to say I think I got a pretty sweet deal.) It is always so quiet and peaceful at the beach, we can do what we please, eat some good food and catch up on sleep. And we have the beauty of watching the Clemson/Carolina game on tv which I prefer any day over going to the game (btw, USC has beat Clemson ever since Brett and I started dating…).
So what am I thankful for this year?
- An incredibly loving family
- My new in-laws who have welcomed me into the Owens family
- A wonderful husband who is way more patient with me than I deserve sometimes.
- Friends who are like family to me.
- A great new job
- The sweetest puppy in the world
I hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving with friends and family!!
Aww, I know I don't see you much but welcome to the family :). I totally agree with spending Thanksgiving with them and Christmas with your family, especially since we usually have the big family Christmas celebration the weekend before anyway. Have fun watching the game on Saturday- we will be watching it at home too with lots of yummies and goodies to eat.
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