thanksgiving recap

Ben, Rivers, Canberra, and I spent Thanksgiving alone this year. Well not really alone, because we spent it together. And having an entire day with Ben felt like a piece of Heaven (minus the fact that we cooked so much and then ate for about 20 min. . . We really should have stuck to our original plan and just gone out to eat at the Indian Restaurant next to our home. But I started to feel unpatriotic, so the day before we changed all of our plans, and decided to create a feast.) Despite Ben's advice I couldn't bring myself to pay the extra $2 for a fresh turkey and bought a frozen instead. . . yea, still frozen when morning came (not as frozen as it sounds, just a little frosty). So turkey didn't taste fantastic, and neither did the gravy and the potatoes were extremely mediocre. Also, we planned to eat around noon, didn't eat until 3:30pm. and for some reason those 3.5 extra hours put me into a state of grumpy, and that always stinks. . . yes, Indian Restaurant was the best option - patriotic or not (I mean, who determined that turkey was patriotic anyways? Okay, leave the Pilgrims out of this one. Hamburgers would be truly patriotic. And so much easier. But I guess it's a good thing it's turkey, because truthfully there are very very very few hamburgers I like. If I like you're hamburger you can feel very proud of yourself. But turkey, that's something I really like, thank you Pilgrims and Indians). I tried a new pumpkin pie recipe (made from an actual pumpkin - so easy and way more fun), a delicious stuffing recipe (made outside of the turkey) and an incredible cranberry recipe, all of which we will be doing again next year, because they were all very delicious. And Rivers got to enjoy a bowl of mashed up fresh pumpkin sprinkled with nutmeg to celebrate the holiday with us.

While the turkey was cooking, we ran in the Annual Turkey Trot. Expecting to see a few die hards out there, and that's all, I was shocked to find out that Ben, Rivers, and I were only 3 of close to 2000 people! That's Colorado Springs for you. This place is crawling with exercise enthusiast. Even on Thanksgiving morning 5 year olds are out running races with their grandparents, and extreme athletes are running 14:30 5k's. And Ben and I had such a blast running it, that we have decided this will become a Matthews family tradition. I of course ran the worst time of my life (and no I can't use pushing the stroller as an excuse. Ben pushed it. He's so great). A reminder that yes, I do need to lose weight and I do need to get in shape. I will. I am on the verge. I just got to break through this lingering rut. It's only a matter of time. I can almost touch it. But all the holiday goodies, are really killing my motivation. Possibly a gym membership or weight watchers for Christmas Ben? :) And the sad thing is, I can't even blame it on "Baby Weight" at my 6 week appointment I was under my pre-pregnancy weight by 6 pounds. I was feeling great (minus my numb leg - still numb, but coming out of it). Then we moved, went out to eat so so much (while trying to go cheap, and you know how that goes). And then it just snowballed. . . . or I guess I snowballed :) into the slow, chubby girl, who needs a full out make over, that I am now ( I should call it "Moving Weight" 20 years from now, I will still be blaming it on my move from Ohio to Colorado. Okay, hopefully I get my act together sooner than that. But in the mean time I will refer to this as "moving weight"). Anyways. None of that matters on a Thanksgiving post. Just me rambling again. 

After the run (and since we still had all day - because of our frozen Turkey) we took Canberra to play Frisbee. We would have preferred to stay home and eat white chocolate dipped oreos, but poor Canberra was not allowed on the course and was depressed. I would be to if I were her. So we went to the park and took her hiking. That made her feel much better. But I think the thing she liked most was the nasty turkey neck they supply you with, you know, just in case, it might fit somewhere in your Thanksgiving plans.
All in all, Thanksgiving was a blast. I love hanging out with my family. I love the holiday. And I can't wait for the Turkey Trot next year.
Post Script: Rivers started army crawling the day before Thanksgiving! Every day he is getting more and more efficient! And he is loving he new since of freedom! (while I of course am dreading it :) but I can't help but be proud of my little man. I sure do love this kid!

halloween

we hillbillies found ourselves a skunk for halloween. after snatching up the lil' feller we took him over to there old church for the chili cook off and some trunk or treat. i stewed up my favorite chili recipe to enter into the contest. hoping i might win, i was sorely surprised when i walked in only to find out i was one of forty-two other crock pots waiting to be sampled (my chili's tasty but ain't no number one of forty-two tasty)! after plenty of chili and cornbread eating we headed outside to escape from the mobs of people swarming the gym and hallways. there our little skunk came alive as he pulled up grass and leaves while showing off his latest trick: sitting up all by himself. yep, i must say, we sure got ourselves a good one. . . he's a dang good one.

after styling my hair, ben walked in with his beautiful wig. we burst out laughing with the realization that we looked the same. after a little stress on his part, and a plenty of consolation on my part we headed to the church only to be greeted by the traffic director (yea, the ward party required a "traffic director" way too big. . . way, way too big) with the sweet sentence: "well hello ladies." that was the breaking point. ben took his off his beautiful wig and refused to replace it until we were alone in the field where i begged him to put it on for the pictures. so consider yourself lucky my friends. . . not many people got to enjoy the twin hillbillies, as you have now witnessed. :) 

two

wow, has two years flown by! it's incredible. it feels like just yesterday we were at the laie temple and giving toasts on the beach. but at the same time it feels somewhat surreal. kind of like a dream. and if nothing else, it feels like forever ago. i was terrified to get married. i really was. as many of you can probably tell from my writing i'm a pessimist. i not only plan for the worst i completely 100% expect the worst. and any optimistic views on marriage were simply dreamers dreaming. people who couldn't admit the truth. marriage was bad, and i wouldn't expect anything more. so poor ben had to break down every horror story of any and every marital dispute ever written about, filmed about, or ever spoken about, then prove that he would not hurt me. and even then, i wasn't sure. so after two years of trying to convince me otherwise, he eventually decided to take a flight to thailand where he found me traveling through the jungle. it was there that i said yes. and i held my breath for the next four months, scared to even think about our wedding day. but something magical happened that day in the laie temple. something i didn't really think was possible. i felt peace. an overwhelming sensation of peace. and from that day forward i believed the dreamers. i have had the happiest marriage imaginable. so good i cannot even begin to describe it. the other night, as we were driving in the car, and realizing two years was upon us. i told ben "it's been the best two years of my life." and as we drove past the budweiser plant on our right, i said, "and the funny thing is, most of that has been spent in ohio. so we know it's not the place that's made it so good..." we both smiled and continued driving. so thank you ben. thank you for not giving up on me, then or now. thank you for making me believe in happy endings. and thank you for giving me the best two years of my life. i'll love you forever. -melanie.

post script: ben thinks this photo looks like an insurance policy add. haha. i like it. but i like the photo i posted last year more. check it out.

one

this is where we were exactly one year from today. they always say your first of year marriage is the hardest. . . in that case, i'm stoked for the rest of eternity. although ben and i were very in love when this photo was taken, it is nothing compared to the love i feel for him now. thank you ben, for giving me an amazing year.

indian

this is adelaide, my best friends baby girl. i couldn't help, but post the indian outfit that kalista made for thanksgiving. kalista decided to bring the original thanksgiving to life for her aussie friends.  she did this by making pilgrim and indian costumes for each of her guests. the party then proceeded to read thanksgiving speeches from the different presidents, bringing into perspective the true meaning of thanksgiving. what a creative and amazing way to recognize our countries heritage. 

race

halloween is an interesting holiday when you do not have kids, you're not in high school, and you don't drink (especially when you're living in ohio). so with a family where 1/3 consists of a dog, we decided the most appropriate celebration would be to run a race. it's called "freight night" in downtown gahanna, there will be a costume contest, and we will run through a graveyard, and haunted woods (one of the missionaries, we associate closely with, is predicting that there will be people chasing after us with chain saws and hiding behind trees and head stones waiting to jump out and scare us. . . i guess if there is, we might get a pr for this 5k). so stay tuned for the race results and the halloween costumes. but between now and then happy halloween!

***the morning after**** the race went excellent. i haven't run a 5k for years so i really was not expecting much, but i ended up as the first female out of 500 participants with a time of 19:59. and this was ben and canberra's very first 5k and they came in right after me with the time of 20:10! they loved running the race so now i think i've got them hooked! 

~as for the skirt i am wearing, it's actually one of those running skirts that just came out this past summer. last night was the first time i have ever run in one. they are surprising very comfortable. basically, they are spandex with a skirt covering. that way you can enjoy all the benefits of spandex without the embarrassment that tight shorts have the potential of offering. so for all you running girls out there who are in the market for some new gear this year, i definitely recommend the running skirt. 

cake

the night before my birthday, ben stayed up very late baking and decorating a birthday cake for me. he said he wanted to take me back to hawaii, but for now this will have to do. i think it did a pretty good job substituting for my island in the sun.  . . post script . . . thank you everyone for your sweet birthday wishes; the phone calls, text messages and emails all made the day really special, especially for me, a person in unfamiliar territory.