Happy things happening: Thanksgiving this year

After sending my girl to bed on thanksgiving night, hubby and I talked about where we were on Thanksgiving as studying-abroad students in the past years. I remember when every American student starts talking about the schedule of their flight home, it's sweet and sour to me at the same time. Everyone is going home, except for us foreign students. In a small town like Oxford in Ohio, most of students don't have a car, so if you don't find somewhere to go for yourself, you will end up spending thanksgiving alone with your homework.

Luckily, I can just book a ticket to Tucson to see my husband. But more luckily, I don't need to do so. The first year, my friend Emily invites me to join her family. There I have my first American Traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The second year, I almost plan to spend time with my Taiwanese neighbor. Then Emily's friend wants an international student to join her family on Thanksgiving. They are a family with four kids. The young parents are probably just 5 years older than me. They invite me because they want their kids to see different culture, to see the world. Their eyes sparkle with love that I will never forget. It's probably because of them, Thanksgiving's become so meaningful to me, reminding me how supportive my family and my friends are in the United States.

me and Emily in Ohio in 2007

So it is surly a big event in our very own family now.

This year I ordered an already-made big bird from Wholefood like last year. I don't know how much it would cost from preparing the stuffings, spices, and so to roasting the turkey all by yourself, but spending 90 dollars for a 11-12 lbs bird that just needs to heat up again on the day is quite worthy. It makes the thanksgiving meal prepared by one person possible. Along with the big bird, we had super delicious green bean salad with roasted pine nuts as appetizer, brussels sprouts with bacon and mashed potatos as side dishes, and pumpkin pie and sweet potato casserole as desserts.

This is my you-will-never-fail thanksgiving menu. If you have a small family like us, save the recipes for next time. Trust me. They are so easy to make.

In addition to the big meal, I am thinking to add a bit tradition to our thanksgiving holidays. People are shopping crazy on Black Friday starting at 8pm on Thanksgivng night. We can't follow this shopping spree since Lindsay can't stay up with us. However, this year we went on vacation on that weekend with my friend and her family instead. It's so fun that I want to go for a family trip every thanksgiving holiday from now on, when crowds cram into the mall.

Where did we go? We drove 5 hours to White Sand National Park in New Mexico.
I'll post about white sand in next post. :)