Giving Thanks

I am thankful for my good health.  Dave and I woke up and ran a chilly 2 miles on the trail behind our house.  I felt surprisingly good considering how much running I haven’t been doing lately.  The sun was shining and it was a great way to start the day.  We are doing a Burn off the Bird 5K on Saturday with some friends!

I am thankful for my plethora of friends.  Some I’ve known since elementary and middle school, others I just met this year, I am surrounded by a huge group of supportive, loving, hilarious, amazing people.  We attended two different Friendsgiving celebrations this season and my heart is full.

I am thankful for my family.  I love living with Dave, and Puddin’ perfectly completes our little family.  This turkey day we headed to Lancaster to spend the holiday with Dave’s family, it was kind of strange because it was my first Thanksgiving away from my family, but the food was delicious and I’m grateful that Dave’s family is so welcoming.  And our alternating schedule means we will spend Christmas Day with my family!

I am thankful for spandex pants, a perfect Thanksgiving stuff your face uniform.

I am thankful for my job, a roof over my head, and all the fortune in my life that I tend to take for granted.  Especially in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and with so many people still dealing with the effects of the storm, I am so grateful for all that I have and I need to remember how good I have it throughout the entire year.  I am spoiled.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday!  Don’t forget to appreciate all your blessings today.

I loooove long weekends.

On Thursday we traveled to New Jersey for the holiday.  I love Thanksgiving!  I stuffed my face all day and that's just the way I like it.  We spent most of the day with my mom's side of the family and got to meet this little guy.

Elmer is my cousin's new puppy, he's so cute.  Afterwards, we headed over to visit with my dad's side of the family to stuff my face with another helping of delicious food.  Overall it was a great day... until we got home to find doggy poop everywhere.  I will spare you the details.

Friday Michelle, mom, and I went out with the crazies!  We never get up super early for Black Friday, instead we start our shopping after a good night of sleep around 8:30 am.  I got some great deals and mom treated us to some Chipotle, my fave.  Saturday was a bridal shower for one of my high school friends to add on to my wedding fever!  Today Dave and I got up and went to church and then spent the afternoon busting our butts outside doing lots of yard work.  I'm definitely counting that as my workout for the day.

And now we're watching some football.  And do you know what goes perfect with football?!

Jalapeno Popper Dip
(adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:
- 2 packages of cream cheese (softened)
- 2 tablespoons of mayo
- 1 1/2 cups of shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
- 2 jalapeno peppers, cleaned out and chopped
- A few chopped jalapeno peppers from a jar (pickled)
- 1/2 lb of bacon
- A sprinkle of breadcrumbs

Directions:
1.  Cook up some bacon in the oven.  I used Trader Joe's Ends and Pieces, it was cheaper than regular bacon but just as tasty.

2.  In the meantime, slice open your jalapenos.  Cut them in half and clean them out by scraping them with a spoon.  If you want it to be extra spicy, then you can leave some of the seeds and insides in, but I'm a wuss so I do a good job cleaning them out.  I also used gloves, I didn't want to risk burning my hands.

3.  Chop up your jalapenos (both fresh and from the jar) as small as you like, I chopped mine pretty fine.
4.  Combine cream cheese, mayo, pepper jack cheese, parmesan, jalapenos, and crumbled bacon in a bowl.  I mixed mine together and then added a few more jalapenos until I was satisfied with how spicy it was.
5.  Place in a baking dish.

6.  Top with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs.

7.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
8.  Enjoy with chips in a game time appetizer feast!

Make this dip!  And unless you're vegetarian, do not skip the bacon.  I'm making this again next weekend for Turducken Day, our friends Thanksgiving.  It's not really a traditional Turkey Day dish, but for some reason I don't think it will stop my friends from devouring it.

Well I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my weekend, I hope you had a good one!

How did you spend your Thanksgiving?  Did you endure the crowds on Friday for some deals?