Thanksgiving November 2009

We have much to be thankful for this year.  A lot has happened, starting off with Ray’s work bringing us to New York City, to the experiences we’ve had living here so far, to taking a couple of wonderful vacation trips and then finding out we are expecting our first baby together. We are so excited that we are going to be parents! At first, it was a little scary to know that we will soon be responsible for the health and well-being of another human being, but at the same time, knowing that it will be a great experience to raise a baby together.

Unfortunately, with the downside of being pregnant, meaning horrible morning sickness, we decided to have a very low-key Thanksgiving this year.  Initially, we wanted to invite some friends over and take advantage of the location we are in to watch the Macy’s parade earlier that day and have a huge home-cooked meal later that afternoon and into the evening. But with the sickness constantly looming over me day and night (whoever created the term morning sickness was either oblivious or trying to understate the situation), we couldn’t risk hosting a big party this year. We decided to have a small family gathering at the last minute with those who lived in the city.  That was all we could handle.

However earlier that morning, Ray and I still had to fulfill our volunteering obligation. I had signed us up for a volunteering opportunity to serve meals for the elderly and homeless many months prior. Of course, I had no idea I would be pregnant then and be dealing with morning sickness. It was just going to be several hours, so we sucked it up and was so glad that we did.  We helped serve meals at a church near Columbus Circle, not far from our place.  This is something I hope we can continue to do, to show our appreciation for what we have and to give back and help out those who need it.  However, due to the Thanksgiving parade, it took us quite some time to the church.

The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving parade is usually held along our street, on Broadway, and would’ve passed our apartment.  We technically could’ve watch it from our window or patio. However, this year, due to the city’s plan to increase green and pedestrian-friendly areas, parts of Broadway were converted to hang out spots and there were permanent structures in place that prevented the parade from commencing through this area.  Therefore, the parade was rerouted this year to the street on the other side of our building. Before Ray and I headed out to the volunteer event, we managed to watch several floats, bands, and balloons pass by from one of our windows.  My cousin was also kind enough to offer to come by earlier to watch our turkey in the oven while we were gone.

Ronald McDonald was one of my favorite! Pretty cool pose. I had to take a picture of the pink castle so I can show my niece Meagan at some point. She is very much into princesses and the Disney collection.

Ray has been the designated turkey carver since 2005, when we moved out to California.  He has gotten pretty good with all the practice!  Dinner was very delicious and we all overate, but I’m sure that was to be expected on every Thanksgiving.

Dating Anniversary November 2009

Ray and I officially started dating back in November 1999 and have a tradition that we go to Friendly’s every year for our dating anniversary.  However, with the constant moving over the past several years to the West Coast and then to the Southeast, we couldn’t go to Friendly’s and had to improvise a little.  Fortunately, this year, we are in NYC, and was able to once again, go to our special place.  Yes, Friendly’s is not exactly a fine dining sort of place :), but it has sentimental value to us and we love it.  The closest one to us was in New Jersey, about 30 minutes away, so we rented a car and off we went.

This year, our anniversary has another special meaning for us.  It’s our first anniversary that we are celebrating with 2.5 of us (Ray, me and our future little one).  Unfortunately, with my morning sickness, the meal wasn’t as appetizing as it could’ve been. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time and reminisced about the past 10 years of being together and had some great laughs.  We still couldn’t believe how time just flew by. Although it’s been 10 years, we are still having lots of fun together and aren’t tired of each other yet.  That has got to be a good thing, right? 🙂