My 2012

Our family of three.. Maya at 2 weeks old :)

 

I am sitting here in my living room reflecting on the past year... And oh what a joyful year it was!   

 

We welcomed our sweet Maya baby on May 5th (no, her name has nothing to do with the month she was born in.  I've always loved the name!) and she changed our world forever.  I've never felt so scared and protective and happy and overjoyed all at once.  She is exactly what I expected... And I am so grateful for her and the blessing she is to us.  One day I will write the story of her making her entrance, but it still makes me terrified and anxious when I think about it so maybe in a few months when I am ready to remember :).

 

2012 brought some crazy changes.  I went from going on maternity leave, to coming back to a different position at work, to quitting two months later due to a cross country move.  David received a promotion and led our family to the great (and congested) state of New Jersey.  We sold our dear home in Oregon-- the first home we ever bought together and brought our baby girl home to-- bittersweet. :)  We rent a house now that's over 100 years old!

 

2012 brought some challenges too.  Working from home with an infant wasn't as smooth as I thought it would be (even though I only did it for a couple months).  Adjusting to the needs of our little person presented a shift of perspective and deciding to leave the place we'd made a very comfortable home for ourselves in wasn't easy... 

 

But oh how I will forever cherish 2012 for the growth it cultivated in my heart and our family. 

 

And now, on to 2013!

A Historical Success!

So...  The turkey was a SUCCESS!!!  Can I just tell you how much fun it was to cook a turkey with all the trimmings with the hubby for our family.  It was a blast!  And we went all out.  Now that we've done it and it was so much fun, I'm not sure we ever need to do it again.  Just kidding.  It was a rocking Thanksgiving at the Lillard home, and we documented the entire experience with our trusty camera.

Normally, Thanksgiving means spending the night at Best Buy.  Yes, I'm serious and no, I'm not joking!  In college David started what he calls "tradition" of spending the night at Best Buy on Thanksgiving night.  He makes friends in line, shares his food, brings music, coffee, Bailey's...  When we first started dating (which was right before Thanksgiving) he told me spending the night at the retailer was part of his holiday plan.  I thought it was the weirdest thing ever and told him I'd come visit him for an hour or so.  I did, and there was David, with some friends, his grandpa, and his new buddies in line.  I ended up staying for more like 4 hours, intrigued by it all and left right before all the mahem of the store opening and people running mad for their TV's.  We still hadn't even had our first kiss yet, but we'd shared a night together in the freezing cold at Best Buy!  We continued the tradition the next year, and the year after that (2006 was a crazy Best Buy year you'll have to ask us about that story one day) and then we were on our honeymoon so I got out of it in 2007.  Then we moved to Portland, and, well, it truly IS freezing here in November so we've balked.  Yes, I think we did it-- he's weined off of that tradition. :)  Let's hope so!!!

All that being said, it's even more of a joy to have a "lazy" night of games and movies on Thanksgiving evening and to spend the day watching Miracle on 34th Street (the old school version!) while we cook.  So here it is... A step-by-step play-by-play of the day and all it's goodness!

David got up early (7:30 a.m.!!!) and prepped the Traeger.  It snowed a couple days before, so the deck was still scattered with leftover snowflakes.  We got that thing toasty before we put the bird in!

We had marinated the turkey in a brine for 12 hours the night before.  Then we took it out and David put some seasoning all over and under the skin.  In you go, turkey!

My California self hates this picture!  Yes, that is me in my rain boots and pj's prepping for the day ahead.  I litterally just woke up!

David was reading up on how long we had to smoke the turkey.  He did a fabulous job because it was the best turkey I've ever tasted.

Oh my goodness can you believe we made that?!

Everything's ready, we're hungry!

No more rainboots.  California self would feel better about the UGGs. :)  We are so proud of our turkey!

Planning Ahead!

This year my in-laws are coming up for Thanksgiving. I am so excited, because it will feel like a real family holiday. The past couple years we have been invited to my dear friend Alicia's home for a gorgeous meal with her incredible family, so it's not like we have been alone or anything. But this year it will feel like a holiday, because we'll have our family here to share it with. I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving.

Having guests for Thanksgiving also means a TURKEY! Oh goodness if any of you have experienced a Rachel meal you know that it usually tastes fine but that's only because I doctor it up with salt or salad dressing or chocolate. Just ask Ricky and Krista about the flourless cake. David called it chocolate scrambled eggs (but dust some more sugar and cocoa and it really wasn't that bad- or maybe Krista was just saying that b/c she's a good friend). I have potential, really I do. I love reading cookbooks and I really enjoy cooking. I just need the motivation to follow a recipe! So here it is, my motivation... Mike and Diane, my in-laws! They are the most fabulous people so I could really mess up big time and they would eat it and smile and be ever so sweet. But I'd like to do a good job for them. I'd like to serve a legit turkey.  I'd like our home to seem warm and kind of festive; after all, it is Thanksgiving!

My dilemma is that I don't have any experience making a turkey and I don't even have the tools to get the job done.  Am I supposed to do it for the first time ever on Thanksgiving, no trial run and give my guests something I've never made before?  But who wants to eat a trial run turkey and then another one a couple weeks later?!  That's out.  Do I serve the traditional Thanksgiving sides like potatoes and stuffing or do I take on my own twist of them?  I know my in-laws will be happy with whatever I serve them, but this is my first time hosting Thanksgiving so I want it to be special and yummy. 

I called David while he was on the road and asked him if he'd ever made a turkey.  Of course he hadn't, I don't know why I even asked. :)  He suggested we smoke the turkey on our Traeger grill.  Great idea!  That frees up the oven for other stuff!  He said we should get a 14 pound turkey.  Don't know where that number came from but it was spot on b/c all the recipes I looked at were for birds 12-15 pounds. 

Last weekend we went over to some friends' house for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was Thanksgiving in October!  Maggie made a huge 26 pound turkey and it was fabulous.  We all brought sides and drank wine and shared the evening together just chatting in the company of good friends and good food.  She said that it was fairly easy to make, her tip was to take the bird out of the freezer 3 days before cooking it so that it has enough time to defrost.  I'm so glad she told me that.  I probably wouldn't have even thought to do that.

I have about a month to prepare, so I have plenty of time to figure out what to do.  I bought the rosting pan and the thermometer today. :)  I love the holidays.  It means warmth and family and people and excitement to me.  Woo hoo for turkeys and the excuse to be with people we love!

My dining table.  It must be ready for Turkey next month! :)