thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving.

The mother of all food-eating holidays.

I’m a fan. As a self-proclaimed “foodie,” I consider it a sort of second-birthday.

(Eating all day, with no judgment!)

I am no stranger to the food coma, (followed by the second wind and refilling of turkey, pie, etc.) let me just say. Especially on this particular of days.

While I am a strong advocate of being grateful everyday, I do think it’s important to take this special occasion to really ponder on blessings that seem to abundantly flow. What a wonderful world we live in! Life is so good.

Being from Virginia, getting home for the Thanksgiving holiday is not always feasible. It’s definitely hard to be away from family, and often around this time, a flood of nostalgic memories make me yearn for the Thanksgivings at home helping out Mama Baldwin cook, hearing football blaring from the living room, and talking with the group of friends and family squeezed into our little kitchen. The green bean casserole, and non-calorie-counting rolls. Turkey, and entirely too much pie. Hurriedly switching into elastic-waistband pants before crashing on the couch. So content. This holiday in college, by contrast, usually means catching up on TV shows (and sleep) I’ve missed during the busy school weeks prior, and playing Christmas music by myself. This used to make me sad. But every year I’ve had away from home, Thanksgiving has always been an incredible blessing, and I feel so grateful for those who have acted and become like family, and so graciously included me in their festivities. I am so blessed to know so many wonderful people who reach out. This year, my sister and her husband Joseph came up from Texas, and how I’ve missed them! Joseph’s family let me tag along and share this day with them. It was a beautiful, cool November day filled with lots of pie, football games, and laughter. Just like home.