not my mother's thanksgiving...

like george washington-i cannot tell a lie. i think i just got home from one of the greatest holidays in my recent past. i went to idaho (i know...great destination)and spent the holiday with an old roommate. the theme for this holiday was "not my mother's thanksgiving". if the title is not enough to imply it, this was our first non-mission thanksgiving away from home. that means, no mom, no grandma, nor aunt to do all the cooking. we were left to fend for ourselves. once again...no lies-i'm pretty sure it was the BEST turkey i've had in my life (and i don't think it was just because we cooked it ourselves). seriously though...it was one of the best weekends i've had in a really long time. lots of rest and relaxation in the form of movies (at least 11 of them) and the wii (we'll not count the hours) and people who love me...always a good combination.
***ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC***
my holiday fling with guitar hero has officially been terminated. indefinitely. when use of my right arm is re-established, negotiations may be opened to redefine this relationship.
***and now-back to our regularly scheduled program***
as i layed in bed thanksgiving morning (extremely thankful for an exceptionally comfortable bed), i contemplated past thanksgivings--the so-called landmarks in my life.
~turkey on a styrofoam plate and a mixed tape of the carpenters~
when i was approximately 15, we spent our holiday painting my grandparents living room. it was great. mom and kelly made turkey, stuffing, rolls, and pie while the rest of us covered the piano and furniture and painted the walls. we took turns eating as the styrofoam plates of turkey were passed around. we also took turns flipping the tapes over and that is where i learned the fatefully true lyrics "rainy days and mondays always get me down"(...still can't figure out how i survived chile). i think it was that year that i realized that it's not just about food. it's about family and being thankful.
~pumpkin pie in south america~
speaking of chile...my thanksgiving there was one of the greatest-not going to lie. it was the year that president hinckley challenged all members of the church to read the book of mormon between august and december. oddly enough, i finished it on thanksgiving day. i would call that strangely appropriate. we had district meeting in our chapel that day so the elders asked us if we could meet them there early so they could have leadership meeting before hand. we let them in and hid in a classroom and i finished the book of mormon. i took moroni's challenge and received my answer. it wasn't any different than any other time that i'd prayed about the book, but it came. i had never been so grateful for the scriptures and a heavenly father who loves me enough to give me a personal relationship with him and the holy ghost and-through those relationships-a testimony of his gospel. i found that appropriate for a thanksgiving day, right? i would have been totally content with that, but i got a phone call later that day as i was wandering around camino real in the rain that just iced the cake. one of the assistants asked to meet us back at the church, that he had something for us. when we found him there, he had a slice of pumpkin pie for us. GLORY!!! there are perks to being in the same town as the mission home and having gringos for mission presidents. it was perfect. all was right with the world-a loving heavenly father and pumpkin pie. what more could i have asked for?
~not my mother's thanksgiving~
this was the beginning of my future thanksgivings. (i know, cheesy. get over it.) it wasn't like mom's, but hey, i'm okay with that. at some point, i'm going to have to take over and do it for myself. for practice we brined, basted, and carved our own turkey. we mashed potatoes. we had pie. we started our own traditions. it's okay. we can be grateful for the future and the adventures it brings-adventures in turkey only being a small part of what the future holds for me...
all in all, i'd consider the holiday a grand success-one of those experiences that go down in the memory books as a first. i'm looking forward to many more...