What's Cooking In My House for Thanksgiving

Disclaimer: this post has very little to do with food.

I'm pretty excited to be hosting my first (of many) Thanksgiving dinners in my house. This isn't my first rodeo, and ironically, I made mostly vegan foods in years past, so I'm hoping everything goes smoothly. I have a double oven now which makes cooking/baking so much easier, and I'm looking forward to less oven Tetris, where you try to jam in a dozen things at once on one small space.

Last year I don't even know what I did on Thanksgiving. Cried and drank wine, probably? I'd already put an offer in on my house and my mom had promised me (to try and make me feel better, I think) that  I could host Thanksgiving again in my new house going forward. I just wasn't feeling Thanksgiving last year, so I stayed home and wallowed. I wouldn't recommend that to anyone, honestly. It's extra depressing to be alone on a holiday when you're already depressed. (I don't even want to tell you what I did on Christmas last year...weep womp)

But what a difference a year makes, huh? As everyone told me - time heals all wounds. And as I've told myself repeatedly - nothing bad lasts forever. The past year of my life was trying, to say the least, but I'm happy to report that I've come out on top. I learned who my real friends are. I've gotten some exciting new responsibilities at work. I live in the house of my dreams. I've traveled to some new places and met some amazing people. And I've found a relationship with a man who loves me for who I am. Unconditionally. My life is far from perfect, but I can honestly say I'm in a better place than I've ever been in my 32 years on this planet. Progress not perfection.

So whether you're having the best year of your life or are hoping for brighter tomorrows, remember to be thankful for what you have. And maybe even be thankful for what you don't have. Sometimes things in life don't go as we want them to or as we've planned, but bigger and better things are probably in store for you.

Thirty Days of Thankful - Day 22 - Thanksgiving

Note: Today is day 22 in my series "30 Days of Thankful."

Despite the fact that I'm a vegetarian, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the whole year. It's a holiday centered around togetherness, and family, and being thankful for what you have. There's no forced giving. Commercialism. (if you ignore the whole black Friday part) Just you, good food, if you're lucky, your family and/or friends.

Since I'm in the middle of the stressful house buying process and this is my first holiday alone, I spent a pretty low key day with my cats. But next year? There's going to be a feast of epic proportions in the new casa de Roxanne.

Remember to be thankful for what you have today. Even if you're not feeling so great about your life, remember things could always be worse. Life changes in an instant. Cherish the moments you have today.

30 Days of Thankful

I noticed recently that one of my friends started posting updates on Facebook listing things she's thankful for.  I'd call it her November Facebook theme, if you will.  We all have different lives and different backgrounds, so it's interesting to see what other people are thankful for.  Too often we just hear what people aren't thankful for on the interwebs.  But since today is Thanksgiving Eve, I figured I should post some serious and some not so serious things that I appreciate in my life.

So here goes...a list of 30 things that I'm thankful for, in no particular order: