Thinking about Thanks

What I am excited about today? Well... first, I have begun to love Thursdays, more specifically Thursdays from 3:30 -7:30, because I volunteer at an amazing after school program for students from immigrant and refugee families and it has become one of the main highlights of my week. Second, I get to go emergency dress shopping with my friend, Bridget tonight to try to find something to wear to our semi-formal on Friday night. And finally [drum roll please!] ...
Thanksgiving is exactly ONE WEEK from today! I am so excited! I can't believe that it is already Thanksgiving time. I have been trying to get into the spirit by thinking about more than the food and days off school. I am currently taking a Modern Latin America history course which has provided some interesting insights into the colonization of the Americas. We so often take our success as a nation for granted, but putting our history into a global context through this class has helped me to think more about the countless blessings that I have been given. Similarly, through my interactions with the children I tutor I am constantly reminded of how grateful I am/should be for what I have that I usually take for granted.
The last time I was home, my little brother Pete and I made a fall colored paper chain to decorate for Thanksgiving. On each loop, we wrote something for which we are thankful, ranging from chocolate chip cookies to grandparents to Lord of the Rings (Pete's). So to get in the Thanksgiving spirit and inspire you to also think about all the blessings you've been given, I have decided to use these days leading up to Thanksgiving to document some of my reasons to be thankful, check out some delicious recipes and (since I am a dorky history major) explore some interesting facts about the first Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy!

Recipe: Autumn Farmer's Market Salad (arugula tossed with butternut squash, walnuts, pomegranate seeds, and a light dressing combining orange juice, nut oil, lemon juice and pomegranate syrup)from Bon Appetit, Oct. 2008

Thankful Thoughts:
1. Unexpected hugs from friends
2. The "I love myself!" feeling I get after I work out
3.The smell of hazelnut flavored coffee
4. The O.C. Chrismukkah cd (listen here)
5. New possibilities for the future (ideas for things to do post-grad)

Random Tidbit: The foods on the pilgrims' and Native Americans' menu probably included cod, eel, clams, lobster, corn, swan, turkey, acorns, plums, and pumpkins. It relied heavily on meats and didn't included many vegetables or anything sweet due to a lack of sugar sources.


Listening to: "Maybe This Christmas" Ron Sexsmith
Thought of the Day: "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice." - Meister Eckhart