THANKSGIVING!!

Oh my goodness. It's almost Thanksgiving.

Before I was married, I liked Valentine's Day the most. After you're married though, it doesn't mean much because you live with the person you love. You say you love each other all the time. Preferably, I'd get flowers quarterly or so, and they're cliche and expected on Valentine's day, so they mean nothing. Valentine's Day quickly becomes redundant and miserable, because you have all these frivolous expectations to focus on instead of the love you have for your spouse. Ridiculous.

But Thanksgiving was a close second!

And, again, it SUCKED after I got married. At first, we'd try to split the day between families, so we could see both of them. I had to leave my awesome family and super-awesome food to go to a tiny house filled with people who disliked me. Or at least completely ignored me. Every time. The food was bland, but they had good pie. That's their thing. They make tons of interesting, tasty pies. Like, did you know avocado pie is a thing? It's so good. At least it is when they make it.

The last time I went there, I got in a small argument with Stephen's mom. She was talking about some old lady in her ward who committed the heinous crime of not wearing stockings to church. She was talking loud enough for everyone to hear - at the table - so I felt fine standing up for this poor woman. "Why does it matter?" And then she went off on me, and made it clear that she disliked me because my parents lived in an affluent neighborhood. She thought they were rich. HAHA! Everyone up there was in debt, bankrupt, or foreclosing because they were all in housing development before the market crash. But she always thinks she knows everything, so I earned her resentment because my parents lived in a house on the hill. Just...wow. And, as soon as she finished spewing her ignorance, she ubruptly got up and "went for a walk" with some of the female family members. Surely to gossip. It's what she does.

And now that I couldn't care less, I get to spend all my Thanksgivings with my family (my immediate family and my mom's family)! They're amazing. They're completely the opposite of Stephen's (mom's) family. Very warm, very loving, very friendly, very outgoing, and very conservative. In other words, I don't fit in at all, but they still accept and love me. That's all that matters. They shower me with undeserved compliments all the time. They're interested in my life, even though they all have so much going on in theirs. They live to serve others. They're lovely, entertaining, hospitable people. Why would I want to be with anyone else on such a great holiday?

Today is when I found out we're having our Thanksgiving together this year. And I nearly cried. If I had to choose one thing I'm grateful for this year, it's my family. How blessed can you be?