Weekend Up Wrap Up :: Thanksgiving

I know, I know - a weekend wrap up on Wednesday? But it was Thanksgiving weekend and my weekend was jam packed with stuff and it took me several days of work to unwind from the weekend. Yep, it was that great!

For the second year, Joel and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house. All but one sibling and my parents came over early in the day on Thursday to help whip up a delicious Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings. We had a great time hanging out together, eating way too much food, watching game after game of football and feasting on a meal to end all meals.

Here's the table, set and ready for the food!

This is only half the food we had!
Good thing Joel and I put the extra leaf the in the table, we needed the space for the food!

My sister Jaisha celebrated Thanksgiving with her in-laws this year,
so before we started eating, we took this picture to text to her!



After taking the picture for Jaisha, they couldn't wait to dig in!

So Good!



The Baltimore Ravens were playing during dinner, so we kept an eye on the game using the Surface.
Dinner and Football - What could be better??

Joel and I were up early on Friday, not for black Friday shopping, but for the Apple Cup. We had tickets to watch the UW Husky's take on the WSU Cougars and we were excited to watch the game. We made sure to get there in time for all tailgating fun. Our tailgating group was cooking up not one, but two deep fried turkeys! But the best part was the fact that Anna was coming to the game! I was really excited to hang out with my bestie and get caught up on all things baby Ellie!



The Dawgs are in the house! I love cheering on the team as they arrive.
Might be best part of tailgating in the tyee club area!



We may or may not have had a bit of fun with the confetti tube we found.



It's game time baby!



Kick off!



A Washington First Down!
Check out my free paws that I got - so fun to cheer with these!



Touchdown Washington!



Go home Cougar - you're loosing.



It's hard to see, but this is the team accepting the Apple Cup trophy.

After the great game, we ran a few errands before heading home to my waiting family. Yep, they were still there! They went to the Museum of History and Industry while Joel and I were at the game. They said it was great and had all kinds of interesting facts to share with us. I think Joel and I might have to go check it out soon. We spent the rest of the night hanging out and playing games together. It was wonderful!

You would think after two busy days, we would lay low and just relax. Nope. We decided to surprise Jackie with tickets to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker! Chris, Joel and I have been planning this for months now and let me tell you - it was tricky keeping this under wraps. She is very intuitive. She even tried to talk me into buying tickets to the show the night before! She said later that I did a great job of being interested while preventing her from buying. That's right, mad skills. Even though she figured out what we were doing when arrived at McCaw Hall, she had no idea how close we were sitting. We sat dead center, in the second row from the stage! As always, the dancers did an amazing job and I loved every minute!



Photo Via



The dance of the snowflakes is usually every one's favorite dance, but it is my second favorite.
Photo Via

The peacock is my hands-down favorite dance. I love, love, love this part!
Photo Via



Via

We headed home to another night of hanging out at my house with my family, yep - everyone was still there. We drank way too much and played a great game of Things. Seriously, if you don't already own this game, order it now! It would be a great Christmas gift.

On Sunday afternoon we headed over Joel's sister's house to hang out with his family for bit. I guess we had spent enough time with my family, I could pull myself away for an hour or two. Kendall made us all a delicious turkey noddle soup with his leftover smoked turkey and homemade noodles. It was delicious. Poor Connor was sick with pneumonia, so he was a mellowed version of his normal self. We watched more football together and made plans for Christmas. Can you believe it - it will be 2014 in no time!!

Well there you have it. That was my Thanksgiving weekend. I have so many things to be thankful for this year; two great families, wonderful friends, UW has the Apple Cup, and most of all, my wonderful hubby. Life is so good.

Whom do I love?

Day 5: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends.

My friend Anna and I once made plans to live next door to each other so we could just walk over after work, sit on the porch together, drink wine, and be together. But life has temporarily put these plans on hold. We have both found our Happily-Ever-Afters and are living in different cities, about an hour apart. Even though there is physical distance, I feel like we are still as close as ever.

We met in college and when she moved in to an apartment in the same building. We became quick friends and when it came time to move again, we moved in together. Live was great, when I lived with Anna. Some of my favorite memories of college come from that duplex on Puget Street. We discovered Jim Gaffigan, created the Lobcoon, dented the walls and door with champagne corks, drank at the beach, went to concerts, walked Christmas trees home from the store, chilled champagne in the snow when the power went out, and had lazy nights in.

 

We might see each other less often now but we still know how to have fun together. Times change and we grow older, but our friendship just grows deeper! One day, our plans will work out and we will be old ladies together who do nothing but drink wine and tell the stories of our youth. I love you, Anna-my-Birch!

 

Weekend Recap

It was a busy and disappointing weekend for us. Friday night was pretty normal; a quick dinner, a trip to the gym, and some television watching. Saturday started off pretty busy for me. I was up and in the gym by 7:00am so I could fit in a workout before my appointment in Seattle at 10:00am. When I got home around 11:00, Joel and I worked on sorting out the final details for a couple of trips are taking this year. Over Easter weekend, we are heading to the Pacific coast for a little rest and relaxation with Jackie and Chris. We booked our vacation home and are looking forward to getting away at the shore.

Joel and I also worked out the final details for our trip to Arkansas this June. Joel's dad's side of the family is planning a big reunion in Hot Springs, Arkansas and we are excited to be going. I haven't met anyone from this side of Joel's family but have received many thoughtful wedding gifts and Christmas cards from so many of them. Although I am not very excited about visiting Arkansas in late June (historic average temperature is 90* with high humidity). Joel's parents and his sister's family will also be making the trip to the Odell Family Reunion, so at least I already know six people there!

Joel and I decided to plan a couple days after the reunion to explore the Ozark Mountains of Northwestern Arkansas and get some alone time after the craziness of the reunion. We are planning to stay three days in Eureka Springs before heading home. We have plans to visit underground caves, see the largest underground lake in the nation, go on a few hikes in the beautiful Ozarks, and maybe take a quick trip to Fort Smith. We will be doing a lot of driving on this trip, so I am starting to make my list of books to put on my Kindle, so I will be entertained during the several six hour drives.

Sunday we went down to Anna & Robert's house to watch the Seahawks take on the Falcons in Atlanta. The game started off rocky but it didn't take too long for the Hawks to make a come back. Wilson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, doing all he could to pull off the most improbable of comebacks for the Seahawks (12-6).  Just when we thought we had the game in the bag, the Falcons went for a field goal and took the win, 30-28. It was so disappointing and heart breaking! As Robert put it, "His Sea Heart is broken!" What an end to an amazing season! Even through the game didn't go the way we were hoping, we had a good time watching with Anna, Robert, Jeremy, Jerome, John, and Jennifer (aside from the hosts, you had to have a J-name to receive an invite - ha!).

Now it is time to make my lunches for the week, get some laundry done, and get ready for another busy work week! We hope everyone had a great weekend!

Seahawks vs Redskins

Joel and I knew there was only place we wanted to watch the Seahawks take on the Redskins; with Anna and Robert. We joined up with a few other friends at The Birch's house in Puyallup on Sunday to watch the big game.

It is always fun to watch football at Anna and Robert's house because there is always good food, lots of beer, and insightful, if not humorous, conversation! Between Jeremy, Travis, Robert, Jerome, Joel, Amber (the girl and the dog), Patrick, and myself there was nothing but die hard Hawks fans in the room.

Even Amber was cheering on the Hawks from her bed.

Anna knows how to make some good wieners!

Jeremy, Joel, and Jerome enjoying the half-time food.

Travis, Robert and Anna getting fueled up for the second half.

Every time the Hawks scored we all took a Dr. McGillicuddy's shot.

Travis is always educational and informative regarding the game.

RG3's injury replays were very upsetting to Anna, "why do they keep showing it!"

Another Hawks Win!

Amber (the dog), Amber (the girl), Patrick, Travis, Robert, Anna, Jeremy, Me, and Joel

 

Even though the first half was a bit rough to watch, the Hawks managed to pull it together in the second half and take home the 24-14 victory over the Redskins.

 



Here we come Atlanta, are you ready for the 12th Man? Hawk Yeah!!

Husky Football - MAACO Bowl

Anna and Robert invited us to watch the UW Husky's take on Boise State in the MAACO Bowl. We decided to meet up at the The Loose Wheel - Bar and Grill in Puyallup near Anna and Robert's house. When Joel and I arrived, Anna had a bloody mary waiting for me, she is just the best!

A very tasty start to my morning!

We decided to order some breakfast from the extensive menu to get us ready for the game. I ordered the Breakfast Sandwich in anticipation of helping Joel finish his order, The Lineman. The Lineman is a GIANT 20-ounce biscuit topped with 24 ounces of delicious sausage gravy and is served with three eggs and a huge pile of home-fried potatoes. I figured I better order something small, just in case Joel needed some help with his breakfast.

My breakfast sandwich with Joel's monster meal - he nearly ate it all!

I was very impressed with Joel's accomplishment of finishing off his breakfast with minor assistance from me. The Loose Wheel turned out to be a pretty good pick for a location to watch the Husky game. The food was pretty good, lots of Husky fans made the atmosphere fun, and lots of beers on tap to pick from. We might have to come back to watch the Husky's while they are on the road.

Even though the Huskies lost the game (28-26), it was a fun game to watch. UW rallied from an 18-3 deficit but gave up a late field goal and Keith Price threw a bad interception in the final minutes of the game. It was a heartbreaking end to their season, but we know next year, with Joel and I cheering them on, they will have a killer year (fingers crossed!).

Me, Anna, Jeremy, Robert, and Joel - Cheering on the Dawgs!

At half-time and at the end of the game, the bar had a raffle for great prizes including a trip to Mexico and Hawaii.
All we won was this shirt, hat and Frisbee, but I was excited - I never win raffles.

The waitress brought me a WSU glass with my beer order, so we had to fix it.

This was the first time in a couple years that Anna and I have been able to see each other and exchange our gifts so close to Christmas, so it was the perfect start to our Christmas weekend.

Happy Holidays!