Give Thanks

This post comes a bit late.  Thanksgiving came a bit late.  But hey, we ARE on island time here.  It's to be expected.  This is Grenada.

I have to admit I didn't feel very thankful on Thanksgiving day.  Josh was at school almost all day, I worked out, came home, and did nothing in particular.  I spent most of the day alone and then we had tacos for dinner.  Yes, I said it.  Tacos, on Thanksgiving day.  I don't think I'm going to win the best wife award this year.

I wanted to be at Gramma Catie's house.  I wanted to eat dinner with my family at the "kids table" even though we are all over the age of 20, all the while quoting our favorite movies, and bringing up funny stories from our childhood. 

I wanted to be at Grandma Scurlock's house.  I wanted to play with my beautiful nephews, drink Grandma's special juice, and eat pumpkin rolls to my hearts content.

Are you about sick of my sob story yet?

Don't worry, I got myself out of my funk.  I had yet to feel homesick since we arrived in Grenada six months ago.  I think I'm allowed one day.

Thankfully, I got to attend not one but TWO Thanksgiving feasts.  One on Friday night (though Josh was MIA) hosted by my friend Laura and the other on Sunday evening hosted by our friends the Durhams.

And here is what I realized:

I am thankful that for the second year in a row, I successfully cooked a massive turkey!


That is a 22 pounder my friends.

I am thankful that I have such a wonderful loving husband who works so extremely hard at school and yet still finds the time to do special things for me.  Oh yeah, and helps me lift a huge turkey in and out of the oven too. :)

I am thankful for the extremely supportive "family" of friends that we have here in Grenada. Without the support of these women, I don't think I could have gotten through this last year and a half living out of the country.

I am thankful for this beautiful island of Grenada that Josh and I live on.  And for the special opportunities that God has provided for me here.  I have never felt so connected to a community outside my hometown before and I am so blessed to be so involved with the precious children on this island.

And lastly, I am thankful for all of the family and friends back home in the United States.  Even though we couldn't be with you this Thanksgiving we are so thankful for the love and support you have continued to give us on this journey through medical school.  It hasn't always been easy, but you have been there with us every step of the way.  We love you so much.  

Too much of a good thing? NEVER!

Probably the greatest part about celebrating Thanksgiving in Newcastle was that we got to do it twice! Talk about a turkey coma?!?!?  Louise, who is a native of Britain and knows some of the SO's from church, was kind enough to host a Thanksgiving dinner at her home on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for the SO's and their spouses.  So we got to enjoy turkey, mashed potatos and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie yumminess all over again.  No complaints here!  It was so fun to be with all the other SO's and their husbands.  The girls and I spend a lot of time together, but this was the first time all of our husbands got to meet each other.  It also was fitting because it was the last time before the end of the term that we were all together.

The spread was amazing!

We got some great group pictures.



Rachel, Sarah G., Sarah C., Louise, Sara W., Me, Emily, Blaire, Lyndzee




The SGU SO's of Newcastle




The hubs



I was in charge of the desserts and I successfully made my first ever pumpkin cream cheese pies.  They were delicious.

I also made Thanksgiving sugar cookies from scratch.

Here's a couple pictures of us as we were leaving Louise's house.  It was a blizzard outside!

"White Thanksgiving"

Thanksgiving rolled around in late November and with the holiday came the first snow of the season.  Josh and I woke up Thanksgiving morning to a fresh blanket of snow.  It was especially neat since neither of us have ever lived in a place where it snows regularly.  It was our first "White Thanksgiving."

View from our front window Thanksgiving morning

Since the UK doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, it made it slightly challenging to figure out Thanksgiving day plans.  My brother said that instead of Thanksgiving, people in the UK should call it "Thanks-for-leaving."   Josh had class all day long, so we made a decision to celebrate on Friday instead.  We had our good friends Kris, Tarrah, Allison, Daniel, and Tarun over for a Thanksgiving dinner potluck. 

I was a little nervous about hosting Thanksgiving dinner.  After all, I only just started cooking regularly in August and now, with Tarrah's help, I was cooking a 17lb turkey!! 


Bertha



Turkey Cooks: Tarrah & Steph

Luckily, it turned out great and we had such a wonderful time celebrating the day with friends.  We were so thankful to be enjoying this great country and all that God has blessed us with in the past year.

Here are some photos from the evening.

Future Doctors

The Whole Gang



First Married Thanksgiving



Our turkey carver Daniel

The spread (well part of it)