Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving this year was super fun - we had it at our apartment (but Kevin had to work)

Dad peeling potatoes 

Marisa, Sherri and Mom

Danny helping peel

Jared with the turkey they're going to fry

The frier 

The fried turkey

Wishbone

Sherri so happy

Mom, Dad, Erik, Sherri, Marisa and Jared

Jules, Danny, me, Mom

Very fun year - the fried turkey is definitely one to remember :)

The group - Danny, Jules, Mom, Dad, Sherri, Marisa, me, Jared and Erik

The epic pyramid - everyone should do a Thanksgiving pyramid!

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - #4

I have a love/hate relationship with this book.  I heard so many great things about it so I decided to give it a chance about two years ago.  I got about 30-40 pages in and couldn't continue.  For my birthday, my good friend Carrie bought it for me and sent it to me (she lives in N.Y.)  I attempted to read it again and got to about page 100.  However, it's been a thorn in my side because I really wanted to know what everyone was talking about and Carrie bought it for me, so I put it on my list.  

I finished it on December 1st (instead of working on a big paper) and I have to say, it took awhile but I did manage to get into it.  I still wasn't obsessed with it but then I started reading the sequel:

I really really liked the sequel - it read much quicker and you already knew the characters (something I felt took the first book forever to establish) and now I'm reading the 3rd one.

30 for 30 Item #3 - the crock pot

One of the things on my list was to finally use the crock pot we got for our wedding about 2 1/2 years ago.  It has been nicely collecting dust in it's nice box on the shelf that is above our sink and runs along the ceiling.  Along with the crock pot sits a box full of champagne glasses, a quesadilla maker and a box of bowls.  

I decided that Thanksgiving was the perfect day to bust it out.  

Kevin opening the box - tearing through the tape.

Pretty, shiny new crock pot :)

I'm attempting to make a spinach artichoke dip for my first go.

Nervous!  Putting it in.

Yum!  2 hours later - delicious dip.

And Sherri, the Queen of dips, gave it a thumbs up

Disneyland with Carrie and her Family

One of my very dear friends, Carrie, left me for New York last year, but she came back to visit for Thanksgiving.  Luckily I was able to meet up with her family and meet her boyfriend at Disneyland (the happiest place on Earth) the day before Thanksgiving.

Justin and Carrie

Carrie's crazy/fun family - Sam, Rachel, Carrie, Justin and Lily

In line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

The boys had their hoods on

Love it at this time of year

Justin, Sam, Rachel, Lily, Briana and Carrie

Carrie's two cousins were hilarious and so much fun.  It was also great to get to know Carrie's siblings, Sam and Lily, and I was so happy to meet Justin after hearing so much about him.

It's always so hard to make time for friends when visiting from out of town (or state) so I was really happy that I got almost 8 hours at Disneyland with Carrie - and spent most of that time in line for all the fun rides.  This gave us lots of time to chat and catch up - and I hope I can visit her in N.Y. soon.