Thankful Season

No surprise that Thanksgiving is my fav, fav, fav holiday but man!  It goes by so fast!  T arrived very late Tuesday night as she drove from a meeting in Muscle Shoals.  I went into the office for a little bit Wednesday and am so glad my girls are old enough to want to take over the cooking responsibilities!  I received a huge bird from my hotel and our sweet realtor gave us an apple pie that was as big as a hubcap.  My friend LCM recently introduced T to splotchcocking and it cut cooking time in half.  T had also cooked a turkey using this method on Sunday for her B'ham Friendsgiving.  It's not a pretty presentation but it's delicious!

The girls did a fabulous job with their menu -- we had two different appetizers:  a prosciutto-wrapped asparagus and a baked brie with blackberry jam.  Besides the turkey and apple pie, they made green beans, stuffing from scratch, crock pot mashed potatoes, a mixed greens salad with feta, walnuts, cranberries and an apple cider vinegrette.  I really don't mind doing all the dishes if someone else cooks!

The previous weekend was spent w/ the Martins in Oxford.  As always, a super great time!  LCM hooked us up with the most perfect hotel rooms, Z, AG & KJ took care of the tent Friday night and now that KJ and Z are both 18, T and Pony Boy let them tag-along in Oxford.  Coach and Dean-o tormented our server at Old Venice and we did a little bar-hopping and ended up at the Round Table and spent some time at the fire pit at the hotel.  LCM is very creative and made an awesome banner for the tent and her table décor was perfect!  Of course we love walking around the Grove to sneak a peek at what everyone else is doing, too.  Game day started of kind of iffy weather-wise.  The rain didn't hit until 2 or 3 hours before kick-off and we hunkered down in the Grove.  And the rain brought much, much cooler temps and we were all kind of wet and cold and miserable because of the score.  LCM and the girls and I headed back to the hotel while the guys stuck it out at the game.  We had so much fun sitting in the hotel late night, BS-ing, laughing and finishing off our adult beverages and snacks. 

I've only gone Black Friday shopping once and I swore I'd never do it again.  I have been doing a lot of my Christmas shopping on-line and now those Amazon packages are piling up on the front porch.  KJ is at a weird place this year -- she had a bunch of dorm things on her Christmas list.  T and Pony Boy are going to Dublin for New Year's (yes, she has ants in her pants and gypsy in her blood) so her list consists of travel items and clothes.  And Coach continues to be an enigma.  He is the hardest person to buy for.  I mean, seriously.  What do you buy the man who has everything???? 

#SweaterWeather

Folks in the South love to complain about the weather.  It's either way too hot or way too cold.  I'm an Autumnal gal through and through.  I love the Fall.  Always have, always will.  Nothing better than wearing a sweatshirt to a football game or sitting outside enjoying our fire pit and a glass of wine.  I also enjoy the winter.  I've always liked a good snowy day, snuggling on the couch, flannel PJ pants, hot chocolate and a movie marathon.  The weather this Fall has been crazy, however!  Last week it was in the low 90's and we had the A/C on.  Today is cold and rainy and in the high 40's.  And I love it.  I'm finally wearing a lightweight sweater.

The #CosFam has had an exciting couple of months -- Coach and I each celebrated our 50th birthdays, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and KJ's 18th birthday.  We were on our cruise for everything except my birthday since it's in September.  We had a wonderful., incredible family vacation and can't wait to do it again!  It was the first time the girls ever cruised and they both loved it.  They had their own room across the hall from us and it worked out perfectly!  They went to Karaoke each night, Trivia, some weird Scavenger hunt, the 70's dance party and T and Coach won some coin at the casino's.  We also went to the ice skating show one night and the Stayin' Alive musical our last night. 

T flew into Love on Saturday and we had a lovely girl afternoon getting mani's and Pedi's.  Sunday we drove down to Galveston, Monday was a day at day, Tuesday was Cozumel, Wednesday was the Cayman's, Thursday was Jamaica, Friday and Saturday were at sea, drove back to Dallas Sunday afternoon. 

One of the things I really enjoyed about our cruise itinerary was the two days at sea at the beginning, back-to-back-to-back ports of call and the two days at sea at the end.  We were able to get settled on Sunday, relax on Monday, go-go-go Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, relax Friday and Saturday.  We had perfect weather to relax poolside and we all came home nice and tan. 

We climbed a pyramid in Cozumel and swam in a cenote (an underground cave).  I really enjoyed this excursion!  The view from the top of the pyramid was awe-inspiring and the cenote was incredibly refreshing!  The water was chilly but crystal clear.  On the way back to the ferry we were able to visit for literally 2 minutes with Coach's best bud Bob and his girlfriend Chrissy.  They were on vacation as well and were waiting for us at Senor Frogs which is right on the dock.  We kind of held up the ferry and the tour folks were not happy with us but hey!  How often do you get to do a shot with your best friend in Mexico??!!

We did a catamaran/snorkel excursion in the Cayman's and this was Coach's favorite.  We chilled on the catamaran to the dive site and again, the most amazing weather and the most perfect blue water. I think he would have been happy just sailing away on the boat.   The girls enjoyed snorkeling and using their GoPros.  The dive site was neat because the shipwreck had actually moved a couple hundred feet due to the recent hurricanes. 

Thursday, Coach's birthday, was spent in Jamaica (just like we did 25 years ago.  We got married on Sunday, October 11 and Monday, October 12 we flew to Jamaica for our honeymoon!).  We climbed Dunn's River Falls and had a fun group with us.  The Falls guides gathered everyone up in one of the pools and we all sang to Coach and splashed at him.  After the Falls we had a wonderful lunch at a nearby beach club and then we headed to the White River for tubing.  I thought we were just going have a leisurely float in the river but there were some great rapids and drop-offs.  Again, perfect weather, perfect water. 

The days at sea were awesome and just so relaxing.  The girls did the surf simulator a couple of times and  we all went down the water slides.  We did a lot of eating, a lot of drinking (Mango Tangos!) and just really enjoyed some quality family time!  www.TheTravelingTacos.com