Jared's birthday was Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.
I sort of struggled to figure out how I could make the day special for him.
He was in classes for most of the day, and the only place on the bus route I could go to get him presents was a little hardware store with random home goods. Nothing screams "Happy Birthday!" like a tiny rug and a string of ten colored Christmas lights, right?
Good thing both of our parents were able to send gifts down here for him. Jared was genuinely so happy at the end of the day, especially after we got to see Intersteller at the local theater and he opened his presents.
Next year I'll have to remember to go birthday shopping for my guy five months in advance, when we're in America for the summer break.
Thanksgiving, the next day, was another non-traditional event.
Since we're not in America, Jared still had classes, and I had to pick up the slack at work for my co-workers who were busy preparing feasts and celebrating. I was grateful to keep busy though!
There was a moment when I got back from the pool mid-afternoon, after my mom posted a picture on Facebook of two beautiful Thanksgiving pies she had made, when I had a minor meltdown (nothing dramatic, but clearly this is my first time living far from family). But I immediately Skyped home and then began prepping for our own dinner, and the joy was restored.
Our Thanksgiving feast was a spread of green beans, mashed potatoes, baked chicken (the price of a turkey, shipped from the states, is an abomination), and cranberry juice. I "slaved" for about an hour and a half in the sweltering heat of our kitchen, listening to the "John Denver & The Muppets" Christmas album on my phone. Jared cleared his study table off and pulled it away from the wall for the special occasion, and we had what was probably the most memorable Thanksgiving dinner of our lives, there in our little bedroom in Grenada.
^^Perhaps not the most beautiful picture, but I feel like it captures the evening just perfectly.
^^Jared in feast mode. We were able to Skype with Jared's extend family and my extended family after dinner (we are grateful for modern technology!) and Jared's shirt perfectly matched my Dad's shirt and my Uncle Bryce's shirt. Aw, family! That was one of the major items on the cue when we went "around the table" a few times and said what we were grateful for. Don't worry, we got that all on film. Haha.
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I also wanted to thank all of you who commented on my last post, when I asked for your advice about Macs. Everything you said was so helpful to me! I did a little bit of extra research, and in the end I ended up buying a refurbished MacBook from BestBuy.com. Because I bought it refurbished, I was able to get a sweet deal on a 17" MacBook Pro. Like, it was much cheaper than the 13-incher I was looking at getting during a Black Friday sale, even if it is an older model.
Once I get it and am able to play on it a bit, I'll let you know how my experience buying refurbished is. If it's bad, then I can return the machine and get a new one, no problem. But if it's a good experience, then man, that's a game changer, because that deal was off the chainnnn.