The Turkey Diaries

Lots of stuff has gone down since last we spoke... I've been to St. Louis, Independence and back (thanks to a cool 8-9 hours of driving) and I haven't even filled you in on any of it! Poor you! Since you are just dying to know all about it, I will have to start somewhere... Thanksgiving? OK.

I got to go home to STL for T-givs (have I mentioned that I was excited to go home?) and it was great. FAR too brief, but at least I got to see my family and friends and Anthony came along too!
Wednesday night, Ant and I went out with all of my BFF Clayton ladies and we had a nice little rendez-vous with 150+ other of our closest (and non-closest) high school contemporaries. I really didn't count, that was just a very broad estimate. It was a little insane, but I got to see a lot of people that I have been wanting to see for a long time! Aside from wanting to fight this rando bi-otch who parked me in outside of Pin-Up Bowl (clearly not a Clayton grad), it was a successful night.

Unfortunately, that is all that I got to see of my high school friends. I really wish I could have hung out with them more, but the next day was Thanksgiving and the following day is when we left for Independence to spend the weekend with the Knipps.

On a lot sadder note, the night before Thanksgiving, one of my classmates from high school passed away. He was not one of my closer friends from my graduating class, but he was definitely around a lot and we had been out at the same places many times within the past year. At New Years Eve last year, he and Anthony met for the first time and really clicked. Since then, whenever we would be hanging out together, they had a good time and Ant always asked about him when he was in town.
I am so saddened by his death because it is a terrible thing when drugs take over someone's life... to die because of them just seems so unnecessary and like it could have been prevented. My thoughts and prayers are constantly going out to Ryland's family. How devastating it must be to lose a son.
Ironically, I found out about it through my brother Ryan who is 3 years older than us. Just goes to show you how tight-knit our Clayton community is and how even people who never knew Ryland are effected by it. In this difficult time, please think and pray for those whose lives have been touched by Ryland.

Sad news aside, Thanksgiving was a perfect day to just relax and spend time with the family. It is so great when you get to really feel how thankful you are when it is manifested in a delicious meal surrounded by loved ones. I was thankful to be home and just have time to sit back and look at all of the amazing gifts I have been given in my life. It was great. (We really missed Ryan and Becky though... maybe next year!)

After the big meal, some of us took naps (unless bombarded by Johann) and watched TV. That night, we went to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox (very enjoyable) and decided it was definitely not a movie for children, despite the bounty of kids surrounding us in the theater. We went home, did a puzzle (best part of the week, I kid you not) and finally watched more TV and went to bed.

The weekend at Anthony's parents was a lot of fun. We got to visit his cousin and play with her kids on Friday night and went to the KU vs. MU game on Saturday. It would have been an incredible game if we had won. The weather was amazing (60 degrees in late October!?) and we had great seats (thanks dad!!!). We ate a lot (too much) of good food and had lots of down time to relax and spend time together. I also got to hang out with Tiffani a bunch which is one of my all-time favorite things to do! Woo!

When I finally got back to Lawrence today, I brought all my stuff in, did some decorating for Christmas (yay!), showered, and now here I am... The rest is history!

I promise my next post won't be so whirlwindy...