How Will Your Thanksgiving Look This Year?

 

We are less than a week away from Thanksgiving, and it is safe today that this is going to be an unrecognizable holiday for most people this year. Is that true for you?

Ours is shaping up to look 100% different from last year, and I'm not mad about it at all, actually. 

Last year we went to FOUR Thanksgivings in one day. Four. That was a lot of traveling, a lot of eating (for Ryan), and just a lotta lotta. And then we had a fifth stop at McDonalds, because I don't like Thanksgiving food, so I was ready for some Bekah-food! It wasn't a bad day, by any means, but it certainly wasn't restful.

I realize I can't confidently declare what this year's Thanksgiving WILL be, because everything can change so quickly these days, but I can tell you how we plan to spend the day and how different it is likely to look, based on our current plans.

Here at WillowBridge, someone always has to be on duty. Holidays are work days just like every other day of the year. We sat down with Tim and Justine to work through the navigation of the holidays, and it so happened that this year we're going to work Thanksgiving. So we will be on duty and not attending any of the Thanksgivings we went to last year. 

We are going to have a Thanksgiving for two here in our apartment while remaining on-call for any needs our tenants may have. (Lest you think we're ignoring them on Thanksgiving, they do have plans of their own, and we will be having a WillowBridge Thanksgiving on a different day. Even so, we will be here to stand by in case anything comes up for any of them that would cause them to need us.)

We had Easter for two earlier in the year and loved it. We loved the rest, the quietness, and the true contemplation of the day, and we are looking forward to that about Thanksgiving, too. I am bummed that the parade has been canceled, as it is one of my very favorite things about Thanksgiving Day. I know they are planning to do some modified event, and I'll probably watch at least some of it, but it's not the same. (Of course this leaves more room for Christmas movies...right?)

Ryan and I planned out our menu a few weeks ago and already purchased everything that wasn't perishable. (We were afraid stuff would be too hard to find if we waited too long.)

Here are our menu items for this year, and they all came from Dashing Dish

For breakfast, I'm making these pumpkin scones - and of course there will be coffee. 

Then we'll probably have our main meal for lunch and just snack on leftovers later in the day.

I don't like turkey, so we got a small ham, and I'll prepare it with this honey baked ham recipe. 

Ryan loves green bean casserole, so we are going to try out Katie's version of it that promises to be a bit healthier, anyway. 

I have a stufffing recipe I love, but it's all about the butter so I decided to try this recipe for cornbread stuffing muffins instead. I've never tried any version of a cornbread stuffing, so this will be new!

I love mac and cheese, but I'm goig to try to to keep it better for me by going with this spaghetti squash baked mac and cheese option. 

And the for one more veggie in the mix, we're adding this roasted brussels sprouts and butternut squash dish. 

Of course there must be dessert, so out of a handful of options I suggested, Ryan chose this no bake pumpkin cheesecake. 

So those are our plans this year! How about you? How do you think yours will look...and are you okay with it or has it brought you a heart struggle?