ahh Thanksgiving :)

Hello blog lovers...we've just returned from good ol' Tennessee. We were able to spend time with John's family for Thanksgiving and it was sooo much fun. We arrived on Wednesday night after a looooong day of driving (yes, we went through Cincinnati twice...if you want to know how, don't ask because I'm still a little bitter about the whole thing). And we were greeted with smiley/sleepy faces and homemade pasta shells (yum!) and a birthday ice cream pie for the birthday guy (John...duh).

Well the next day was Thanksgiving and Heather (sis in law) and I did our best sous chef attempts while Kathy (mom in law) did her thing in the kitchen. Once everything was cooked and baked and people were clean and presentable we were off to JK's aunt and uncle's house! It was filled with relatives and yummy food...a great time to be had by all :) We then returned and this lazy thing (me) went to sleep for 2 hours (sorry again guys) while everyone else did other stuff. We had to rest up because I convinced/held at semi-gunpoint Kathy and Heather to go shopping with me (I mean I HAD to keep the tradition going) the next day.

We got on the road at a reasonable time (9:30 am, mind you that is darn good for me on a vacation). For those of you who don't know...I was raised to be an "after Thanksgiving day shopper" and NO I don't call it Black Friday, because first of all I think it sounds negative (even though my mom explained that its like an economical/financial term) and its stupid. My mother has always gotten up and at 'em at around 5 am every year (the last few years against her will) and ever since I came to my senses and figured out that I was created to be a shopper (around middle school age) I have joined her...at around 10 am. I can't get up early, its not worth it because now those same sales last until about 10-12 and let's put it kindly...I'm a grouch in the morning. So I usually meet her in the morn and we shop sometimes until 10-12 at night. I just love it...I love the good deals you get, I love that you can be snappy to fellow shoppers who are snappy with you first, I love fighting over parking spots and final sales prices...I just relish in it! Anywho...K and H did a good job at keeping up this year. I didn't have nearly as much to shop for since JK's whole side of the family was already done...so the day didn't last too long. It was a lot of fun...here's an example of the difference between trained shopping crazies (me) and normal shoppers (K & H): we drove into the Kohl's parking lot and K was like "oh my gosh, I've never seen it this packed, there are so many people here" and I look to see slight looks of fright on both of their faces while inside my heart is leaping with joy and I can't wipe the slap happy grin off of my face! I can't explain it people...its just who I am, so accept it :) We got some great things and I was able to knock a few more people off of my 'to buy for' list.

But the rest of the weekend was filled with grazing over food, playing with our niece Anna and watching movies. Oh! We also exchanged Christmas gifts!! We all brought the gifts with us so we didn't have to ship them and then we decided to just open them infront of each other instead of at each of our homes. We all got great gifts! Thank you again everyone! And here we are today back in Pittsburgh safe and sound. All in all it was a wonderful Thanksgiving, and wouldn't you know the 2 JKs didn't take any pics...sorry. (By the way, Kathy and Heather if you want to send us any pics we would greatly appreciate it!! Just by email...not actual pics)