Birthday + Thanksgiving Recap

It has been such a fun week of celebration around here! Working in a hospital, holiday days off can be scarce so I was grateful to have Thanksgiving day off. I hope everyone enjoyed the time with their friends and fam!

On Monday night, Josh surprised me by taking me to Guasaca for dinner where two of my best friends and their husbands were waiting to eat with us for an early birthday celebration! It made me feel so thankful to be here in Raleigh around people we love. That is something I really try not to take for granted.

On Tuesday (my actual birthday) I stayed at work to help out with a volunteer event. Every year WakeMed does a Thanksgiving dinner for the patients, and so Josh and I decided to help out with it. I’m not going to lie- initially I wasn’t super pumped about being at work all day on my birthday. But I asked God to give me joy in serving and He totally did! So it ended up being a really great day.

On Wednesday, Josh and I went on a short hike at Umstead after I got home from work. One thing I love about where we live is that we are about a 5 minute drive from miles of gorgeous trails! I am amazed every single fall at how beautiful the leaves look. That evening Josh worked and I relaxed, did laundry (which actually feels kind of relaxing to me!) and got started on some Thanksgiving recipes. This year I made a side salad and an apple crisp, and Josh made beer bread.

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving! Josh’s parents live about 45 minutes from us, so we headed there for the afternoon to eat and spend time together. His family is a lot of fun and I always enjoy my time with them. In the spirit of authenticity, I will say that despite having a great Thanksgiving day, I did feel that strange feeling of longing/sadness that I mentioned here. I’m curious if anyone else feels this on holidays?!

No big plans today other than work and hopefully some chill time! Black Friday shopping intimidates me, despite the fact that I love a good deal. I think the overwhelming-ness of the crowds outweighs my desire to save money. 😉

This year I am determined not to get myself in a tizzy trying to curate all of these “perfect” holiday moments and instead just soak up each day as it comes. (Side note: my friend Alex wrote an excellent blog post about this here if you want to check it out!) My holiday time off from work is next week, and Josh and I will be spending a few days in Hilton Head with my dad. I’ll be back here in a week or so with a recap! Hope everyone enjoys the beginning of this holiday season!