I'm Thankful For:

This year I am very thankful for friends that made the big hole in my heart a little smaller Thanksgiving day.

I made my first turkey this year - with many phone calls to my mother - and it turned out wonderfully! I also made three pies, stuffing and an appetizer. I hosted the dinner at my house and had eight people in the same situation I am in join me.

I couldn't believe the mountain of food that showed up! We had enough food to feed a small army! :)

After we stuffed ourselves full - we took a break and had a fun time talking, playing games and enjoying each other's company. Then we decided it was time to jump into the holiday spirit with "Elf" and tried out the delicious pies. This year I made the traditional pumpkin pie, blueberry pie and an apple pie. They were delicious!

Getting excited to eat!

Food - Food - Food!!

The table is always beautifully decorated at home, so I wanted to continue the tradition.

Carving of the turkey

Let the feast begin!

The "kiddie" table

Alzheimer's Walk 2011

I am playing a little catch up on a couple of things. The first is completing my fourth walk to end Alzheimer's.

Working in the place that I do, I see the effects of this terrible disease on a daily basis. I have watched family members struggle to understand why their loved one doesn't understand they aren't a child anymore. I have seen as an individual as slowly forgotten how to walk and eat - it really is a terrible disease.

Without fail this walk always brings a tear or two into my eyes as I see the crowds of people walking for the same cause I am.

This was a beautiful day for a walk and we had a GREAT team! We raised a total of $850!!! I was so proud of the team! We also had eight walkers, although a couple ended up getting a stomach bug and couldn't join us on the actual walk.

I am so grateful to all of those who supported me with this. I know that this is making a difference in the fight!

Speaking of fight - I had the song, "Eye of the Tiger" in my head the whole time and since I only know the one line sang it over and over! Most likely annoying the other walkers! :)

Here are a few shots from the walk!

At the beginning totally pumped to walk the 3 miles!

Lots of people joined us this year!

So excited!!

We reached the halfway mark - lost half of our team, but still going strong!

I'm Happy!!!

I can't pinpoint why - but today I woke up and I was just sooo happy!

I feel cute, I am listening to Christmas music, I love my job, I have awesome friends and I am just one happy girl! :)

It's going to be a great day!

I said what on Facebook!?

Day 24 - Last five facebook status'

5 - "My thoughts and prayers are with the Strong family today. I wish I could be there to show my support and attend the funeral, but I know they are surrounded by family, friends and an amazing ward."

4 - "What makes me different from everyone else?"

3 - "Found out just how close I work to Georgetown Cupcake today - dangerous!!!"

2 - "It's a sad, sad day.... Updated my iPod and lost all of my music that I had purchased... I wish my brothers where here to make everything all better... :("

1 - "Is it bad that I just had steak last night and already thinking of when I can have it again??" Ha ha, this is really funny considering my last post was actually about steak! :)

I was reading through some of the status updates I have made over the years and can I just say that sometimes I am REALLY FUNNY!!! Ha ha ha!

Craving's happen!

Day 23 - Something you crave for a lot.

Those that know me, know that there is one thing I am ALWAYS in the mood for - STEAK!

I love it!! I can't have it as often as I would like, but I love every morsel of that medium cooked delicious piece of meat! I may not remember lines in a movie, but I will remember if they served a delicious looking steak (i.e. Captain America).

I recently went and grabbed a steak with a friend to celebrate an "A" on his recent paper and work going well for me. We went to Outback Steakhouse, it was his first time - my 999th. :)

The food wasn't as good as I had hoped - don't get me wrong the steak was alright just not what I was craving... Looks like a trip to Bobby Van's Steakhouse is in order! Anyone care to join me!?

And to all of those that feel you have to put something on your steak - meaning a sauce of ANY kind - that just means you haven't had a steak that has been cooked right. And if you have to put ketchup on your steak, make sure I am not around, that is just WRONG!

Emerging Adulthood

I'm still "Holding out for a Hero"

Tonight our lesson for Family Home Evening (FHE) was quite interesting. It was on being in the phase of single and the differences that there are from today's singles to a couple of decades ago. But even more specific to being a Latter Day Saint single to those outside of our religion/culture.

We had a guest who was a practicing therapist working on her doctorate degree on this very subject. I was intrigued....

She spoke of those that had a life plan figured out when they were younger of being married, gaining an education, raising a family, etc. Growing up, I had a life plan of being single for a few years and then getting married around 23-25ish and living happily ever after. Funny thing was it didn't happen...

She spoke of how being single was viewed as being able to be spontaneous and could travel the world with a moments notice, being independent. Whereas being married was viewed as having stability and interdependency. She then spoke of how she found that young women in this phase (ages 19-29) wouldn't plan for a stable lifestyle as they expected to start that when they were married. And it was an opposite response from the men in that same phase. So, I was quickly reviewing my own response to this and found that although I don't agree with most women, I have found myself holding back on certain purchases with that in back of my mind. Luckily, I have started to change that, especially recently, and starting to make purchases and live in a way that I have always wanted to and can.

She brought up the topic of who was responsible for still being single... Is it the men or the women? I have found that both parties are guilty of this. She spoke of the fear guys have of asking a girl out - and honestly I almost rolled my eyes. I have asked a guy out, been rejected, and moved on. It is one of those - if I can do it, so can you! If you are scared to death to ask her out in the first place, how do you expect a relationship to happen!? Take that first step - if you are confident in yourself - she will see that and appreciate it! If she says no, don't be afraid to try again - sometimes it really is a scheduling conflict!!

Although I have found that I am in the minority with this but - I find NO problem with a girl asking a guy on a date. If a guy has a hard time with that then I simply won't ask him... Ha! Because I feel like a relationship is mutual and that includes the asking.

So, it made me reflect on how I am feeling still being single and almost the big 30! *gasp*

And this is what I discovered. It's okay that I am still single. Do I sometimes feel frustrated - - - yes. But I am trying to get out there more and just be okay with being where I am and who I am. Eventually, there is going to be someone that will like what they see too. :)

I'm Different and that's Okay!!

Day 22 - What makes you different from everyone else?

I have thought long and hard about this question... What makes me different from the average person you pass on the street? I actually posed the question to my facebook friends to see if they could help out. I felt a little silly once I saw their responses, but it isn't like I can google search "Why is Taci different from everyone else?" right?

I hate talking about myself and what makes me different - so this post will be a short one! :)

I am what you could call a loyal friend. I will make sure that you celebrate the good times - I love to throw a fun party! I am always there with tissues in hand for the sad times. And you really have to hurt me to ruin the friendship, because I believe that there is always good in people and they don't mean to be rude or hurtful.

Once a friend of mine, always a friend! :)