Holidays on holidays on holidays (and a little gym drama)

Let me just start out by saying how thankful I am for all of our veteran's, both those who are here with us and those who are not.  I am especially thankful for people like my grandfather, his brothers and my great-uncle who fought in World War II, as well as those who are serving right now, like Mike and so many of his friends and classmates.  Being married to Mike has definitely given me a deeper appreciation for all of those who have served or are serving in the military.  It is a huge sacrifice to make and it definitely doesn't go unnoticed by me.  I hope that we remember to celebrate these incredible people throughout the year and not just today because they definitely deserve it.

Turkey also had a holiday this week!  It was the remembrance of Attaturk's death.  He died at 9:05 on November 10th, so every year on November 10th at 9:05, everyone stops what they are doing and stands still.  If you are in your car, you honk your horn.  It was quite the show!

Speaking of holidays, let's talk about the Starbucks cup debate. I can't believe this is actually a debate, but anyways, Mike wants everyone to know that he bought a cup of Christmas flavored coffee in his red holiday cup on November 11th (not even Christmas season!) in a predominantly Muslim country.  Take that Starbucks haters.  Haters gunna hate.

This isn't holiday related, but I figured I'd put it in here anyways.   The first time I went to the gym here was a bit of a disaster.  Well, I managed to successfully avoid speaking to anyone for the next few months when I went to the gym, which was a great setup for me.  I knew deep down this setup couldn't last forever, but tried to put that thought out of my mind.  Finally, it came time to renew my membership, which meant human interaction.  I explained that I needed to renew my membership to the man at the front desk.  When he looked up my name in the database, nothing came up.  Basically, there was no record of my membership.  Weird, but...Turkey.  So, I filled out the form again and before I could say "treadmill," guess who was waiting for me?  Trainer number 1! He takes me downstairs, just like last time, and has me stand on the scale.  After recording my weight, he repeats "you are a little fat," just like last time.  Ummmm, actually I've lost about 8lbs thankyouverymuch.  Don't burst my fat American bubble.  He then gets up and before I know it, I'm on the treadmill doing some test for him.  Once this is over, he tries to explain that we must go upstairs to the weight room.  Oh no, sir, we don't.  I know how this game goes.  I quickly explain to him that I must go home, which is actually true because I have to go to work,  Luckily, I paid for four months of membership fees, so it'll be another four months before I have to interact with anyone at the gym.

That's pretty much been our week here.  We're busy getting ready for the big feast on Saturday.  I think we're going to have a big group.  The major cooking starts tomorrow with pie making and will continue until Saturday around 4:30.  Our European sized refrigerator is already kind of full and there is a lot more food that needs to go into it before Saturday, so we're going to have to get creative.  Say some prayers and send some good thoughts our way!

Before I forget, here's what I've been so thankful for the past few days....
November 9th: I'm thankful that I am from a country where one of the debates is a cup that holds coffee.  If that is one of our bigger issues, then we're doing alright.  That being said, there are lots of other issues that need to be dealt with, but I think we're definitely doing alright in the good old US of A.

November 10th: I'm thankful for Pinterest.  Yup, you read it right.  It is getting me through this Thanksgiving prep.  It's been my organizational lifesaver and my go-to for any Thanksgiving questions I've got.

November 11th: I already said this at the beginning, but I'll say it again because our veterans deserve to know how much they are appreciated.  They've sacrificed a lot so we can enjoy so much. They're basically the bomb.com.

And, in honor of veteran's day, I'll leave you with these little military themed tidbits from Mike.

"Time flies when you're not on a submarine."

"Taylor Swift's friend possy is relatively the same size as a submarine wardroom.  Coincidence? I think not."

And, at risk of being a little too cheesy on this day, here's an oldie but goodie.  This was taken when Mike returned from deployment.  Little did we know where this crazy life would take us. Happy Veteran's Day!