And Now I'm 28.

Then all at once it's late November. It's cold, it's dark and boots are in full rotation.

We've been apart since October, so can we catch up on some housekeeping before jumping right into confessions and likely my only post of November?

This month I turned 28 years young. My parents joined us for nine nights to see what this new life is all about. We had a great time sharing the sights, the food and the music all while keeping them away from the eye-sores. We've celebrated three birthdays and had way too much sugar. I've been a lackluster participant in the #PluckytoNothin instagram challenge and I'm about to experience my first Thanksgiving in the South away from home. Not only will I miss the traditions of home - like morning drinking and pajamas all day - but I'm scheduled to bring a dish that's going to serve as more of a first impression to the unknown family members than my handshake or hello ever will. 

The part you've waited for, the confessions:

+ The boyfriend made this photo his Facebook profile yesterday and I got dramatic. Not dramatic-happy, but dramatic-blah. I pulled up Excel and did the math on how many days we've known each other and geez, thanks for the FIRST acknowledgement of my face in your life after 841 days. He politely reminded me that he's not active on social media, and this post was his monumental drop-the-balloons-from-the-ceiling-because-you're-a-winner 10th post between Facebook and Instagram combined in those same 841 days. We counted. So, I'm silly and he's forgiven my 3 minute challenge of his public display of love for me. He flew all the way to Portland to meet The Snooks for this one.

+ I loved a custom Christmas gift so much that I let my guy open it... 35 days early.
+ There's been no great sweat in 13 days for a few reasons, yet mostly excuses.
+ However, there's also been no break in a personal relationship-goals streak of 72 days.
+ I'm tossing around the idea of running a race in 2016 just to meet this lady.
+ Recently I posted a photo to instagram that's a few years old and passed it off as a "Happy Friday".
+ After searching many stores, we bought 6lbs of Sun Dried Tomatoes from Nuts.com. Worth it.

That's all and still not enough. Expect something more robust about the visit from my parents because we know that deserves a mention here on the internet. There's so many places where we can confess in blog-land so I'm being generous and linking up everywhere I can. If I find a new one while I'm poking around the internet today, I'll add it here or you can let me know in the comments.  

Wish me luck this Thanksgiving and each holiday after that!

As promised, linking up with Kathy, Nadine, Sarah, Laura, Lauren, Alanna and .... you tell me!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Welcome to December, the most magical time of the year. 

I laid in bed last night and listened to the rain tapping against my window and couldn't help but wish that it was snow. Snow in Portland means that the city shuts down and it's nearly impossible for me to drive in to work. A few more days of pajamas, house-work and time to focus on myself would be my biggest holiday miracle. #LetitSnow

And hey, before we ramble on about how much I ate, drank and slept this weekend - do things look a little different around?

You bet they do! 

I took some time out of this precious 4 days to switch from Wordpress over to Blogger, then did a quick makeover. The makeover is still in progress while I learn some HTML tricks, assign categories to old posts and re-size some photos from posts in the archives. Seriously, don't go exploring around this week - there's bad photos, missing video links and all sorts of weird things that didn't transfer right from one platform to the next. 

If you need to re-follow me on Bloglovin', you can do so using the new Social Media Links in the right sidebar or below:

Normally on Thanksgiving weekend, I feel something like this:

This time was different thanks to all clean foods and no pressure from friends and family to "eat more". 

Turkey (duh)

Paleo Mashed Sweet potatoes

Wine soaked pears

Kale + Cranberry + Pecan salad

Cranberries (no sugar added!)

One thing truly missing from the weekend was the usual homecoming of my brother (who lives in Europe) - so the house was a little quieter and there were more leftovers than usual. We are hoping that we get to see him soon in the new year.  

As far as wrapping up November went, Black Friday was a success and you'll even be proud to know that I completed my revised goal of 50 running miles - considering that I could barely move after another leg day on Wednesday (yes, I'm still stretching this morning)

Hoping that you had an amazing long weekend and that your 17 alarms were able to wake you up!

Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving day was beautiful as always with my mom thinking of every last detail to make the most delicious food and a relaxed yet classic environment. This year was Dan's first Thanksgiving with us and he was quite impressed by how much good food was on the table and how easy my parents made all of the preparation seem.

I started Thursday morning off with Dan on a "fun" run, then we enjoyed latte's spiked with Bailey's, Kahlua and/or Rum while the turkey was finishing up in the oven and the first football game was wrapping up.

Grandma arrived around noon with a bag full of cookies for my brother since he misses the Christmas batch while he's in Europe. She also made her famous pumpkin bread for the dinner table and it was tasty as always.

Conversation was kept light and mouths were kept full at the table, with occasional conversation about our jobs, where Dan grew up and how perfect the turkey was.

Our cousins Rachel and Bethany stopped in right as we had finished eating and we had fun chatting with them over drinks (and sparkling cider) before they were off to their Thanksgiving meal. It was a great day with the family and there wasn't much of a dent made in the food even after Dan, Matt and my dad had seconds and thirds.

If you aren't sick already from your own turkey day leftovers, here's the photo roll of the food and the details. (homemade apple and pumpkin pies not included).

I have so much to be thankful for in my life!

<3 JE