Thanksgiving/Black Friday

Zak & I were fortunate enough to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with his grandparents & family in Washington this year. We both had Wednesday off, so after sleeping in a little and cleaning up, we headed on the trek. It's only a few hours away, but the ice and snow on the road made the journey a little bit longer than we would have liked. But we got there in the afternoon and were able to spend some time with Zak's 'mountain-man' cousin, Kyle & his fiancee, Amanda. This was the first time I've met Kyle since I've known Zak, and he did not disappoint! He & Amanda live in a mud hut they built in the remote wilderness in Washington. Not exactly my style, but they seem to be very happy so good for them. They took off after dinner towards Spokane, and we turned our focus on the pie we were making for Thanksgiving.

some shots on the way there...

I had been craving lemon meringue pie for the past month or so, and I (foolishly) volunteered to make it for my first time for Thanksgiving. Growing up, I remember my uncle Jeff making pies for the holidays and boy, they were great. And his lemon meringue was one of my absolute favorites. So I had a lot to live up to, in my mind. Zak got to work on the crust/shell, while I got the lemon custard and meringue going. I smartly had packed the ingredients, so it was fairly easy to make. I was a little nervous about the meringue topping, and would have beaten it longer, but it wasn't bad for my first try. Our taste test of the lemon custard stuff was positive, so we were sure it'd be delicious the next day. We spent the night in a huge, comfy bed with all of that memory foam topper, etc. It was like sleeping on a dream, ah!

he was pretty happy

The next morning we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and I watched in dread as the commercials for Black Friday kept coming on and on. I don't know, I think I secretly hoped that they would just cancel Black Friday and I wouldn't have to be at work at 3:45 AM. But the parade was entertaining enough, and I was content to sit and watch. Zak's grandma had made his mom's recipe for rolls (yum), and he helped roll them up; I got flour on my new outfit and decided to go back to the couch, haha. Around noon, Zak's aunt, her boyfriend (now fiance), and some of his cousins showed up. We hung out for a little bit, but then, it was turkey time.

fancy new outfits
with Aunt Ronda & Brad

Everything was delicious, and I don't know about Zak, but I was comfortably full when it was all over. We had a few different salads, sweet potatoes, rolls, stuffing; everything was so yummy. We rolled off to our room to call our families and rest for a bit before it was pie time. We did spend time socializing with everyone as well. It was nice to be able to spend some time with his family. Even though we're only a few hours away, it's hard for us to get the time off to go visit, so it was nice to be pampered a bit by the grandparents. 'Pie O'Clock', as Zak called it, was yummy as well. Zak's grandma had made a few cherry pies and apple ones, as well as a chocolate one. Zak's aunt Ronda made a pecan pie and pumpkin rolls and then there was our lemon meringue pie. I had bites off Zak's plate--I think he had a slice of almost everything! I was so pleased with our pie, it was near perfection! Once pie was done, Zak's cousin Kayla & her fiance (next year is the Year of the Weddings for his family) came over, so we chatted with them before we had to take off.

I think I should've beaten the meringue longer

yum

We got home around 8 and hit the hay soon after, since we had to get up by 3. Zak had to open at 5, and I had to work from 3:45 - 11:45. My experience with Black Friday wasn't as awful as I expected. My department, the women's clothing section, wasn't really busy until after my 'lunch' break (8-9 AM), so that was nice. And once it got really busy, it was time for me to be done with work! So I guess I would open on Black Friday again, as long as I had the same shift and was in the same department. After I was done, I went over to Zak's work, where they were the busiest I've ever seen them, which was great for them. I got us lunch and some jeans from Old Navy ($15, not too bad), and hung around until Zak was tired, by 2. We came home and I slept for 3 hours, which was glorious.

All in all, we had a pretty nice Thanksgiving holiday, despite having to be up at zero-dark-thirty, as my dad would say. We won't be able to make it to WA for Christmas, which is a bummer, but it'll be nice to have a nice, little Christmas with just us. Oh, and the hamsters.

the mountains by their house