Mmmm...turkey

Happy belated turkey day! Is it really November 24th already?

Wednesday night I slept over at my friend Taryn's flat in a city called Starnberg (on the lake where that women's retreat was). She has such a fun home and it was nice to be in just one room of her place that was bigger than the entirety of my living space. Sigh. Isn't it a beautiful thing when we share what we have been given with others, and not just hoard it for ourselves? Lovely things happen. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and shared chips and salsa/guac, sangria, and chicken tortillas. Taryn lives really close to Jeff and Tara's--where Thanksgiving dinner was held--so that's a large reason for my staying over.

Thursday we did some reading, shopped for groceries, went for a very short run, prepared our portions of dinner, and cleaned ourselves up. I made sweet potatoes, but man oh man, are they tough to find! There's a picture of how skinny and scrawny they are. Tough to peel, that's for dang sure. We got to dinner around 6, but it wasn't to start until 7. This is one thing that was different than my home thanksgiving--I'm used to a mid-afternoon dinner, which allows more time for digestion and seconds, and thirds, and more pumpkin pie. But don't worry; I still had my share. There were about 20 of us, and most knew each other because all attend the International Church. It was fun because there were some Germans there who never had Thanksgiving dinner EVER and I enjoyed them enjoying the food.

I love this group of people! They are awesome and real and hilarious. Some of the pics are inspired by Michael, whose intended cross-eyed gaze really just looks like he's making freaky big eyes at you. I got a kick out of that for a while so we all took part in it. The hosts also have a dog, Budro (BOO-droh), and he was soooo fun and playful. We all were fighting over who got to wrestle with him.

When I got home, I had a webcam-Skype date with my family, who gathered at our house this year. How lovely it was to see so much of my family last night! (Although... I don't think I held anyone's attention for too long, which was kind of sad.) It looked chaotic and like every one was very much engaged in their own agenda; expected, and understandable. Today I think I'm going to try and catch up on things...Miami e-mail has been really shoddy lately and I'm behind on much correspondence.

So, may God bless your day, whatever it may be. Work, school, eating leftovers, or heading out into the craziness of day-after-thanksgiving shoppers. I guess it's time to put together my Christmas music playlists and hunt for lights to decorate. I am really excited to see what the holiday feels like and looks like here. But jumping back a holiday, though it's by one mere day, I must say I am most thankful at my age to really know the absolute Truth and true meaning behind the upcoming holiday.