i sure do love to cook

HOWEVER

i've done my fair share of cooking and baking just this past week alone...and there's more to come! cooked a 7 lb turkey breast and 1 batch of my mom's special cranberries for the work potluck. baked a chocolate cheesecake and another batch of cranberries for the Thanksgiving celebration i was invited to. cooking another TWO batches of cranberries for my father's-side Thanksgiving next Thursday THEN making cornbread stuffing for my mother's-side Thanksgiving next Friday.

and i don't call "from-a-box" homemade. i make everything from scratch...so i'm kinda worn out. =/

tomorrow should be fun, though! BS's mother personally invited me to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with her side of the family...kinda BIG since i've never met any of BS's family before. i'm excited to display my cooking and baking expertise. gotta wow'em! lol. i'm really nervous but so grateful to have been invited.

in the spirit of Thanksgiving, i'd like to offer a list of people/places/things that i'm oh-so-thankful for...

PEOPLE:
-mom, dad, baby sister (we bicker and get on eachother's nerves, but i love the three of them with all of my heart and only hope to be able to take care of them)
-JQ, SR, JW, DP (my girls, we've had our ups and downs and ins and outs...but i'd give my life for any one of them, no questions asked)
-BS (the one and only guy who's ever really understood and cared about me, my one true love)
-my cheerleaders (they get on my nerves and i make them angry, but we have an unconditional love for one another that can't be beat)
-CR & family (they have become a second family to me, i love them like i never thought possible, i am so blessed to have them in my life)

PLACES: my home (i've been away from the house in which i rent a room for 2 weeks now and it's made me miss the place i call home terribly)

THINGS: my cell phone (though it has it's issues, it helps keep me in communication with my loved ones and having had a 3 month period without a phone, having one is a happy privledge), my car (after totalling my other car, i'm very thankful to have a vehicle to get me around), my job (without which i'd be...lost, to say the least), my life (it's a roller coaster of crazy highs and crazy lows, but i'm so happy to be alive in this world, surrounded by so many wonderful people)

i hope everyone is as lucky to have as many reasons to be thankful as i do this year...last year was heart wrenching and i'm looking forward to a happier, more merry holiday season. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!