Last week I wrote about Black Friday but what I didn’t mention is that it was a family tradition when I was growing up, which is most likely the reason I continue to do the insane just for the fun of it.

I’m currently at my mom’s and step-dad’s house near where I grew up in the Washington DC area and my aunt from Puerto Rico is here as well. So we’re doing the whole be Thanksgiving family meal.

Anyway, my aunt asked me the other day if I remembered going to the outlet mall, Potomac Mills, the day after Thanksgiving and shopping all day. I laughed and said, “yeah, how can I forget? We stuffed 7 or 8 people in a small 5 seater car (3 people in the front, 5 people in the back seat).” Here’s a picture of the infamous small car, ours was blue. Just imagine all of us squished in there.

We got up at 7 am that morning. Back then there weren’t any stores opening at 4 am like Kohl’s.

And that’s how our Black Friday shopping tradition started. This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories that I’ll never forget and that I’ll cherish forever. Not because we went shopping and bought tons of stuff. I’ll always remember it because:

1) of the sheer madness of squeezing so many people into the car. It made us all laugh then and still makes me laugh today. (By the way, my sisters and I were still in high school.)

2) we spent time together as a family.

3) it’s one of the craziest things we did.

Do YOU have any favorite Thanksgiving memories?

I am thankful for my family…and the fact that we all live in Florida. It’s amazing even as I write it because we were all true Minnesotans, and growing up I never imagined that any of us would live somewhere else, much less all of us live somewhere else together!

It started with my mom and dad moving down about 6 years ago. My dad took a risky job here, joining my grandpa in a start-up company. I remember the devastation that we all faced in their moving. My mom was a mess as she left her two eldest daughters (myself and my older sister) in college in MN, her house that she thought she would live in forever, their friends, their lives, and their extended family. When they got to FL, my sweet little brother struggled to adjust and find friends here, and my younger sister found friends who were not the greatest influence. I was not too keen on Florida and what it was doing to my family.

Despite all of this, the next move would be for Matt and I to come down. When looking at seminaries, we purposefully avoided RTS Orlando because of the proximity to my parents. We were leaving MN where his family was, and I thought his mom would never forgive me if I took her son away and moved near my parents. Well, God had clear plans for us, and as we visited RTS Orlando on a whim one Christmas when heading to the airport to go back home to MN, we both knew without a doubt that this was where we were supposed to be.

My older sister graduated college last Christmas and decided that she wanted to get her life back on track with the Lord and have a time of renewal, so she too, moved down to FL.

The Lord has made Florida home for all of us. My older sister teaches first grade and absolutely loves it. My younger sister is a Junior at FSU, studying Philosophy and Religion. My younger brother is well-adjusted and loving life as a senior in high school. And Matt and I could not feel more blessed.

This Thanksgiving is the first in 6 years that we’ll spend all together as a family. Living near family is not a necessity, but it is a blessing. This Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for God’s gift of family.

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut out aluminum foil in desired shapes. Arrange the turkey in the roasting pan. Position the foil carefully. Roast according to your own recipe Serve. Watch your guests’ faces

Sprinkle paprika in your basting sauce to really give your bird a deep tan.

If you’re like me you’ll do the insane thing of going shopping on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. If you’re even more insane you’ll wake up at 5 am to get the deal you really want. But getting up and out the door by 7am is good enough for me.

Here’s my strategy: I look through the adds on Thanksgiving, or the day before, and decided if there’s anything I need to buy that on sale. I also look for free items I could use after rebates. And I’ve gotten a lot of good deals doing this. Some years are better than others. Sometimes I’ll go to the clothing stores I like and see what kind of sales they have.

My husband found a website that already has Black Friday ads and they post more as they get them. I’m still checking the site out.

Happy Black Friday shopping to all who will do like me!

These were also at the women’s retreat. They’re one of my husband’s favorite cookies. They also work well to cut out shapes with your kids (add a little extra flour to make it easier to roll them out.)

Peanut Butter Cookies from Rinnie (from the JIF peanut butter jar)

3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Combine first 5 ingredients and mix well. Add everything else and mix. Roll into balls and put on cookie sheet (you can squish them with a fork if you want to.) Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes.