NaBloPoMo: Day 29 "Turkey-lips"

Today was our big day: a thanksgiving FEAST with two other lovely couples here in Gwangju.

I'm lying in bed now, a stuffed turkey myself, crammed with too much food, soaked in spiced mulled wine... I can barely keep my eyes open, but wanted to throw this next-to-last post up before passing out.

Here's to food and friendship and fellowship!

Carpe November, and happy thanksgiving again!

P.s. I did nothing today for my challenges. :/ I'll definitely be pushing at least 2 days into Dec with these! I did however, mull wine, bake sweet potato orange cups, make fruit salad and spend SEVEN hours of quality time with some dear ones. I'm lucky to have good friends to hang out with on holidays here, to ease the wistful pangs for being at home, with a lot of Bellurys around me. <3

NaBloPoMo: Day 28 "Thankful"

Happy Thanksgiving, USA!

I'm thankful for the magical way the world looked this morning after the first legit snowfall.

I'm thankful for my new job, and the stress-free environment it brought with it.

I'm thankful for this month of challenges, which has definitely been worth it.

I'm thankful for every single Thanksgiving memory I have, because I can't think of one single bad memory from turkey days with my family. We ate, played games, laughed, sang, cooked, talked, watched and enjoyed each other.

I'm thankful for Thanksgiving. Someone recently pointed out that it's a unique holiday these days, because it isn't fueled and driven by base consumerism. It's a holiday that - for a lot of people, anyways - is actually about family and friends and relating and sharing, and taking stock of one's blessings. That's a seriously good reason to celebrate, if you ask me. Plus, delicious food. Lots of it. (Another thing of which I'm a fan)

May your gravy boats overflow in appropriate places, and your turkey meat be the opposite of dry.

Carpe November, folks.

p.s. Abs, nope. Today was a rest day, but I was supposed to catch up from YESTERDAY, so I'm still a day behind! I've decided I'll press on into the first couple days of December so that I can actually complete the challenges. Tonight, there were sweet potatoes, apples, oranges and grapefruits that were more important than abs.
Squats, CHECK and CHECK. I was supposed to have a rest day today.... but I forgot and did all my squats for Friday already. I think tomorrow, I'll do all my squats for Saturday and just be done with the squat challenge a day early! Woohoo!
Minimalism, nopes. Again, the fruits and potatoes took precedence! I have a Thanksgiving dinner with friends tomorrow, and I needed to be prepared. Thanks to Hunky Husband for helping!

Thankvember 11/24

TODAY is the BIG DAY!:

The day that inspired these 30 days of Thankfulness.
I don't remember who it was on facebook who inspired me to begin this Thankvember month (Brandi?), but I'm so happy you did. It's been a refreshing and delightful way to spend my last full month in New Orleans. I noticed someone else (who's also doing the 30 days of Thankfulness on FB) said that it gets harder as you get further along in the month, implying that they were running out of choices. I disagree! I feel like I could write a post a day for the rest of my life detailing something else for which I'm thankful.

:
Friends,
jobs,
family members,
memories,
childhood,
future hopes,
lessons learned,
gifts received,
physical capability,
mental capability,
awards earned,
talents acquired,
love shared,
freedom...
...
...
...

But this is what I'm thankful for TODAY (as tweeted earlier today):

unicornlury Anna Bellury Volle

Day 24 of Thankvember: I'm thankful for THANKSGIVING DAY! Despite historical inaccuracies & blatant greed, it still reminds us to give thanks <3

 

Nothing is perfect. Not history, not this mixed-up-yet-proud country, not the people in it. There are negatives to every positive. As stunning as it was to see those 10+ families camped out in front of Best Buy on WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON to prepare for Black Friday, I know that there are 10 more families sharing meals and quality time together and being thankful for what they've got. 

As much I agree with the Aussie girl in our hostel kitchen chirping about what a load of rot this holiday's history is, I can't help loving what it has been for me and my family/friends. We've always had enough. We have more than enough, now. We are blessed. We are loved.

And I am so thankful.

So thanks, Thanksgiving, for reminding me of all this.