the new thanksgiving.

for as long as I can remember we have gone to southern california for thanksgiving. in fact we all talked about it a few weeks before, we've never spent a thanksgiving in las vegas. one year in high school we went up north to my grandparents (my dads family) just outside of san francisco, and 2 years ago I had to stay home for work (yay, retail). other than that since i moved to las vegas in the 6th grade we have never as a family spent a thanksgiving here.

we were sooo young!

after last year the rumors started flyin that not everyone was planning on coming out to california. it was starting to get more expensive with plane flights, hotels, and, food out for the whole weekend. we used to be the only family that traveled so we had plenty of places to choose from to stay in. things started changing as we all started getting older and this was the year it all caught up. so we decided to just stay in vegas and start some new traditions.

in the spirit of starting something new mom and i decided to sign up for or very 1st turkey trot! i found a 12k (which is about 7.5 miles) out at the hoover dam that was perfect. it was also a trail run, something neither one of us are found of, but we figured we would give it a shot! i picked up our packets at our local running store wednesday evening with ease. afterward I did a few errands and picked one of my favorite per-race/long run dinner, qdoba:) once richard got home that night I was just about asleep so I could get in the sleep I needed for the next day.

i woke up the next morning feeling better than i had all week and was ready to go! we hitched a ride with my parents and my brother was home to come with us too. we arrived in plenty of time (a worry the day before since there's only 1 way in and one way out) and used the bathroom inside the hotel. mom and I headed to the start line and the boys headed up the hill to see us off. it was an out and back course through the six railroad tunnels with a great view of the dam at the turnaround. now to get to that great view they hyped up so much was a hill straight up and back down. i saw mom on the way back and we high-fived. she looked really good and strong! instead of mile markers like most races they had a few out there to count down your mileage instead. it was actual nice on the way back haha. about 1mile out you could see the finish line. at this point we were starting to pass the 1 mile fun walkers and that gave me an extra burst. as I crossed the line I could see my dad, richard, and my brother all in separate spots and the announcer even called my name!

1:07:39!

1:35:09!

oreos and bling, what more do you need!

i felt great after and was almost immediately hungry while we waited for mom. she finished soon after with a great time and we collected our bling ready to trek up the hill to have some breakfast. we ate at the cafe and it wasn't the best ever, but it satisfied the hunger. they dropped us off on their way home and i headed in to shower and nap before we met up with everyone at my parents house for the big feast. i slept for about an hour and definitely could have slept way longer if my alarm hadn't gone off. we headed over to my parents where my aunt nettie and uncle sam already were. richard and I were in charge of soda and the pumpkin brownies i decided to make, a sweet deal if you ask me haha.

we joined in with the family and feel into football, appetizers, and black friday ads. it was a great way to detox from the race that morning. i will say it wasn't the same without eggnog. mom and I were only a week out from the vegas 1/2 marathon and were watching just about everything that went into our bodies. that doesn't mean I didn't eat plenty:) the turkey and sides were ready a little later than we hoped for and we were waiting with our tongues hanging out. it was a-mazing! my mom is awesome cook and did a fantastic job (of course) with her first thanksgiving.

in the lockwood house, you always, always keep your fork!!

richard and i hung out for awhile then decided to head home so we could rest for a little bit before heading out for black friday madness! i got in about another hour nap and we were up and I had coffee in hand on our way out the door to target. the plan was target 1st then the nike outlet and ulta in the same parking lot. then kohls on our way to the mall, with a possible stop at best buy. we lined up at target way down the bend from the front door at about 1130p and the line actually moved pretty quick to get us in. we weren't there for the big things, we were just there for the experience and to hopefully pick up a couple good things. no matter how good a big screen tv deal is, i don't think I could camp out for 4+ hours in the cold for one.

crazy, crazy!

we scored a few good dvds and headed over to nike. i bought a jacket for the vegas race, which I badly needed, plus another one and some arm warmers. afterward we headed into ulta. we weren't quite as successful there as we hoped. the it was off to kohls. this place was crazy! the line was crazy long and we sure did wait in it to buy a few things. by the time we got out of there it was almost 3a and we had a bit of time to waste before the mall opened. so we decided to check out best buy. talk about crazy? omg. the store had been open 3 hours and the line was still snaked through the whole store with people holding big purchases. i think it was this point we decided we just needed to head to the mall then home. as we were getting ready to leave a fight broke out in the back corner causing the police to be called and associates to start running to break it up. yeah it was time to go.

we got to the mall and it was definitely time to eat. now a mall food court isn't always the best place for a runner 1 week away for a 1/2 marathon to eat. i was sooo tempted to have a pretzel or cinnabon cinnamon roll but made the right choice and went to subway instead. i had a egg breakfast sandwich and some chocolate milk, it was delicious! i felt so much better after eating and was soo glad i picked the right thing. we headed shopping in the few places we were hoping for. richard made the big purchase he was waiting for all night, a black hoodie from express. i also found my best and biggest purchase of the night at jcp, a grey toggle cost with a hood that I had my eye on for a few weeks. i got a smokin deal and even had to buy a smaller size then I thought:)

england, get ready ill be there soon:)

we made the collective decision to leave after we paid for that. i was ready long before, but i think richard forgot what we were doing, as he was looking to "just browse around." this is black friday, you don't browse, you go in, get what you want, and get out! turned out to be good we left then because as we were walking out a local newscaster from channel 5 asked if we would be on live tv! of course we said yes and went for our few minutes of fame.  im pretty sure we both fell asleep that morning before our heads hit the pillow at 6a. we set alarms for noon so we didn't sleep away the day (according to richard) and we were meeting my family later that day for the movies.  

noon seemed to come awfully quickly and we were back up before we knew it. my whole body hurt all day, sore from the race and the lack of sleep plus all the walking during black friday. we decided to meet my family at town square later in the day to see the muppets! i was seriously sooo excited. i grew up watching that show, so the fact they were coming out with a movie now, i could not wait. we met my parents there a little early since they wanted to walk around a little bit before. just before the movie started we headed to the theater to meet up with my brother and erik and his family. we took up almost a whole row and there were definitely more adults in that movie than kids! ps it was amazing! if you havent already seen it, please go. its sooo funny.

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saturday, richard and i decided was going to be for sleeping in and decorating. thats exactly what we did. with all the craziness of the last few days we gladly took the lazy saturday to do whatever we wanted. last year we decorated and it was weird and rushed after the whirlwind thanksgiving in california. this year we were able to take our time and enjoy the process (for the most part :) ). the tree came out beautiful and richards idea of wrapping the center with white lights gave it a really cool twist.

merry christmas!!

sunday afternoon richard had to go to work:( its the absolute craziest time of the year for his job and they offer sunday double time to a few guys to help get ready for the week. he takes advantage of the bonus every year, who wouldnt! so i got to be extra lazy on the couch curled up underneath my blankets with flannel pjs on:) it was a great end for me to the 4-day weekend. we started new traditions, and had a whole new kind of thanksgiving in las vegas. we survived another year of black friday and am not totally sure that i will do it again. we also got to escape to our own house and do the things that were important to us, like decorating for christmas:)