Blogmas

Blogmas #1: Thankful list

12:20:00 PM


It has been awhile since I have posted anything on this site, but since it is December I decided what better way than to kick off Christmas this month than to participate in blogmas! I'm not saying I'll post everyday, but maybe 3-4 times a week! 



This year has been one wild year for me. I started to write about traveling over on wordpress but I am currently still unsure about whether I like it or not. 
I have a lot to be grateful for though, and I whipped up a lovely list for you all! 


1. Travel
If you saw on my instagram I was lucky enough to travel to 9 different countries in Europe from January until April. I can't even tell you enough how amazing studying abroad is. 
Travel


2. Best Friends
It took a lot of time to figure out the people who really are my best friends and honestly, I flew 5000 miles, spent time in a different country and finally found them.
Best Friends


3. Work
I started a new job this year and I work with the cutest kids. I talk about them on twitter all of the time. I could be having the worst day but I know I get to hang out with 5-10 year olds and they are all so great. Wow I love them so much my whole soul could burst. 
feels gif


4. Family
They came to visit me in Europe, and that's pretty darn cool to me. 

5. New Friends



I hope you all are having a great start to the holiday season! What kind of Christmas blog posts would you like to see from me? Let me know in the comments. Also, do you prefer Wordpress or Blogger? Or neither? 


Food

Feasting

9:00:00 AM


After a busy two weeks of constant projects, turning in papers and bibliographies and turning my giant to do list into a crumpled piece of paper in my garbage bin, it was time to go home. Breaks from school are always nice, and this time it wasn't just a weekend long trip, where essentially I'm only home for Saturday. Being home for more than one day feels amazing.
If you're not too familiar with Thanksgiving, it's a holiday celebrated at the end of November here in the states, and a bit earlier if you live in Canada. It's when the pilgrims first landed here and had their first harvest feast. There is tons of food to go around on this day and you feel extremely full for the next three days. While everyone goes about their daily lives away from one another, it's nice to come around the table for one big meal, and if you're lucky enough to have two sides of your family living in the same town, you get two big meals. Though you're full for the next three days.

Owls

For me, the typical Thanksgiving day is started with a light breakfast, leisurely watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (that's held in New York City), and finally getting dressed and heading to the first house for lunch. 
There are always nice snacks set out, and I enjoyed munching on pears with strawberry dip and red grapes, as well as caramel corn. We spent some time catching up before everyone else arrived and we got ready to eat the main meal. In many homes, the staple dishes are always different. Also, to make it easier on the hosts each family brings a different dish, this year, for the first meal, my mom made Green Bean Casserole (and I helped). For my family, there is always Turkey, Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Squash, and Potatoes. This year, for the first meal, there were three different types of stuffing

Stuffing
3 types of Stuffing! 
USA Thanksgiving
Top to botom: Broccoli Salad, Green Bean Casserole, and squash
 It seems like it would be very difficult to choose what to eat, but really if you take small amounts of everything, you can take one of everything! My favorite is usually the squash, and I really enjoyed the broccoli salad! 
Thanksgiving
After the meal, and stuffing our bellies with the main course, we all waited a bit just chatting around the table and snacking on these delicious gingerbread finger shaped cookies that my uncle and cousin made! Everyone had one in the spot where they were to be seated. They were a delicious and different dessert. Another staple around the table at Thanksgiving is also pumpkin pie, my mom and I had a bite of some, but I had already eaten my cookie and wasn't very hungry! 
Placemats
We all trudged downstairs to watch some football and rest. I did feel a bit like this dog to be honest. Wish I would have been able to take a nap as well! 
Dog Sleeping
With a two hour intermission between meals, we stopped at home for a bit of a rest and relaxation before heading off to our dinner. Luckily, we didn't have to eat right away when we got there and were able to have a drink and chat with everyone as they got the food ready. The turkey was huge! The food was delicious as always. Another staple in a traditional meal in my family is gravy and bread. My mom made this delicious salad, having eaten salad everyday at school I was very eager to be getting it into my tummy as well as many other foods! 

USAPecan Pie
Aside from the traditional Pumpkin Pie, there is always Pecan and Apple Pie at the second home we go to. I had a thin slice of Pumpkin since I really didn't have any at the last house and a thin slice of Pecan which is my favorite! 

Food
There was also corn and sweet potato as well. I never knew I liked sweet potato before and now I know that I really love it! I even had sweet potato fries when we went out for a fish fry on Friday night! 
Thanksgiving

Though Thanksgiving is a day centered around food, it's also really important to reflect about the people and things in your life that you're thankful for. For me, I'm thankful for all of you, that this semester is almost over, that I had no classes on Tuesday and got to go home an entire day early and that everyone that I know is healthy. Next up is Christmas! Can you believe it? 

I hope you all have a great week! What is your favorite dish (whether it's Thanksgiving or not!) If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, what would your perfect meal be? Can't wait to hear from you in the comments! 
xx Kenzie

 


Christmas

Christmas Eve

10:25:00 AM



It's Christmas Eve! Depending where you are, or what time it is when this post actually goes up, it's almost time to wake up and open the presents!


Christmas has been building up for about two months for me now, since I started making Christmas presents early. And I've actually brainstormed a few more today for  next year, but honestly I'll probably forget and figure something else next year. 
This Christmas eve day, I'm working. I'm bringing my homemade Christmas cookies and a few get their own plates. Then I'm off to church and a christmas dinner. 
Then tomorrow, when I wake up I'll open presents with my family, have some breakfast and hop on back to work. Don't worry, we close early. And honestly, I don't mind work. I actually like it. A lot. But watch for the New Years Eve post, I'll have a proper ramble about that. 
After work, I'll go on to my mother's house to open presents there, maybe have dessert as I work through dinner time. 
I'm ready, for Christmas. Though it will be different this year as I have to work and there will be one less filled stocking with my dog gone this year. Which is still hard for me, and no I don't really want to talk about it. 
Then on the 26th I'm off to Arizona, which will bring plenty of posts of my time out west. 
I do hope you all have a great Holiday, and that you get everything you asked for and more. I'm thankful for you reading this post right now. 
Are you doing anything similar today or tomorrow? Do you have any traditions that always happen during these two days? I would love to hear them so make sure you leave a comment!
I love you. 
See you soon! 
xx
Kenzie

Instagram