Funny fact to start: I made this Food Menu plan for this week because Thanksgiving got the best of me and today’s menu read:
- Breakfast: overnight oats/chia seeds/banana
- Lunch: Salad, Fish
- Snack: Advent candy and 1/2 banana (chug water)
- Dinner: cauliflower pizza, salad, 2 apples
What really happened:
- Breakfast: overnight oats
- Lunch: Salad, Fish
- Snack: Advent Candy and 1/2 banana and lots of water
- Dinner: cauliflower pizza, salad, 2 apples, 2 clementines, 4 spoonfuls of cookie butter, 6 gingerbread cookies, a handful of candy corn, 1 more spoonful of cookie butter
So, this past week was Thanksgiving, and ever since Ally Sabol and I watched Hoosiers and ate chile rellenos in my South Quad dorm room alone freshman year, without anyone else occupying a room in the whole building, it has become my favourite holiday. Each year in college, we would have practice in the morning and then after I got to feast with my classmates and their amazing and extremely entertaining families. It was always a time filled with too much wine, end of Big Tens, and the only football game we got to seriously tailgate for, the OSU/UM game.
This year was no different. I am so so so lucky that my mom got to come for the entire week to visit me 🙂 We got to catch up and cook a ton of food together, which actually went pretty smoothly, minus a minor turkey freakout when we realized my oven might not be big enough for that sucker to fit in there. We decided that we should invite my team since they have never experienced Thanksgiving since here it is not really a thing, so I just threw it out there that we were gonna feast and anyone could come if they wanted. In seconds my phone was blowing up, and ultimately my entire team said they would be there along with the team’s masseuse, Tuija. We were about to attempt cooking Thanksgiving for 16 people, and up to this point, the most complicated food I had prepared for myself was a sunny side up egg. BUT, I am not lying when I say this was the best Thanksgiving food I have ever eaten. The beautiful, beautiful turkey, the carrot soufflé, the potatoes, the pies, even the brussel sprouts were top notch. I am so thankful that everything turned out and my team got to all hang out together!
Speaking of things I am thankful for, here are a few things I am thankful for that have happened over the last couple months: my mom (I really did not want her to leave), my coaches because on Thanksgiving they decided in practice that my position would hit around 300 balls each (straight for 1.5 hours), so I did it with a smile thinking of the extra pieces of pie that were to come, my grandpa who made my day by not understanding how to use FaceTime in any way and held the phone to his nose, my new italian speaking teammate who informed me that retardo is not “retard” in italian.. it means “late” (all this time I thought my coach kept saying “Lexi, you are a little retardo”), alone time that allows me to sing and dance to JT in my apartment in half-calfs and huge T-shirts, evaporated milk, I could drink that stuff, new friends and being forced to sit in a car while spinning out/drifting in the snow, dive bars, SAUNAS, and my mom trusting me enough to drive stick through the streets of Hämeenlinna. Thankfully (ha), I am a natural.
Note: One thing I am not thankful for is Usher, who cancelled his show in Helsinki. I know it’s cold, but damn.
Volleyball is going well, we only have one loss in the league and are still in second. This coming week, we play in Russia for the EuroCup, however, I will not be going because apparently it is 2-3 thousand Euros for an American to get a Russian Visa for a 4 day visit. I am getting used to playing in a skirt, however, those things are not made for those who might have larger than average asses.
Finland is beautiful in the winter and I am really excited to do all the cool winter-y things. I have my chai tea latte mix, hot cocoa mix, coffee, and sleepy time tea all ready for the cold months ahead.
Uncensored Motherhood 