Thank YOU

Over the last 23 years that I have been in this country, I admired the month of November more and more every year...  Initially, Thanksgiving was just a day where families came together to enjoy a big feast.  It was an “American” tradition and I was just a “guest” to that celebration.  The only “family” that I had in the US was my dad’s cousin who I have seen only few times prior to coming out to the US for college.  I had my very first Thanksgiving with them in New York City.  The biggest thrill for me was to be in New York City - as opposed to understanding what we were celebrating.  As the years went by, I got invited to my friends’ homes to spend the holidays.  Every year, I observed new ways of celebrating, new family dynamics and new faces as they ate their big dinners with the name of my country - ‘Turkey’.

When I started my life in San Francisco, I lived by myself in a studio.  For my first Thanksgiving, I went to a Chinese restaurant with my Asian-American boyfriend back then.  The next one was at a Turkish friend’s home - it was more like a Turkish party.  And then it started to evolve to joining friends preparing the feast...  Been through boiled crab, roasted turkey (many times), deep friend turkey, ham, etc... As I started to become a part of the big preparation, I started to understand what we were celebrating: It was those friends and the fact that we were together to support each other.  

All my early celebrations were with non-Americans who were far from home and from their immediate families.  But yet we managed to form that “family” feeling... With Turks, it is second nature to prepare a feast because that’s what we do almost every dinner back at home :).  The key part was doing something together and being together.  We didn’t need to be close friends.

From then on, Thanksgiving became my most favorite holiday.  I understood the tradition but also the true meaning of it - to be thankful.  About 10 years ago, my parents were visiting us during November.  We decided to take them to NYC and while we were there I wanted to stop by one of my best friend’s home.  She invited us for dinner to her new apartment.  She wanted to surprise me with Sushi because that’s what we used to eat with her every Wednesday night when she lived in SF.  Well... say the least, it was definitely NOT one of our traditional Thanksgiving dinners.  But we were there, 5 of us, to fill up my friend’s lonely apartment.  She had no plans for that night if we wouldn’t have been there.  Instead we filled up the apartment with laughters and cheer!

Now we have our set menu for Thanksgiving - a little more traditional but still with room for adventure. We love having family and friends over.  This year, it was hard to have just 4 of us eating up a feast (2 out of 4 being toddlers).  Even though it has been a tough year, there are plenty of things that we have been thankful for...  I have mentioned most of them last month so I won’t bore you again (if you made it this far down on my blog :) ).  

This year’s thanksgiving…

Last 4 years… in 2017, i delivered Ela 4 days after the feast!

The biggest think that I am thankful for is,of course, my little family and the fact that we are together all the time - even though, sometimes, we all need a break.  I am also thankful for the technology that connects us daily - I get to see my parents in Turkey almost every day, I get to continue to teach and capture smiles twice a week, and I get to stay employed while being at home...

This month, I decided to give my readers the chance of seeing how our Train and Smile classes roll...  We did a great workout the day before Thanksgiving and I thought that would be a good one to share since our theme was Thanksgiving.  The fun part about these classes is that we use stuff from home, based on the theme of the week.  Our equipment for the week of Thanksgiving was “2 cans” - mainly canned food as opposed to beverages. 

Here is a link to our 11/25 class:

https://youtu.be/-Mot9PT2gxc

Smiles i captures after the 11/25 session

You will get to see what an energy filled background that we have during these workouts.  All of you parents of little kids (or even older kids), it is ok to have them with you. Why not make them a part of your routine?  After all isn’t that what we do with our Thanksgiving celebrations?

I hope you are able to keep up with the morning and night routines from the previous blog.  This workout is to get your body moving during the day and to get your hamstrings and shoulders firing up!

Thank YOU for being my follower...

High five for making through November with all your loved ones - even if they are thousands of miles away from you!