SANTA! I know him!

Look, I promised you a post about Santa. And I'm giving you one.



Yes, I am aware that I look like a complete freak. My forehead was so cold!



Paige, Rosie, Andy and Helena getting excited for Santa!



Sarah and me.



Obviously we didn't get all that close. Santa, a beaver (wtf?), gingerbread men and reindeers broke through the crowd and moved it to the stage



We broke through the crowd and headed over to my Aunt Margie's house for some turkey durango.



Turkey durango is turkey fajitas/tacos using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.



My aunt also made a delicious salad with olives and fritos. YUM. (There was more to the salad than that, I'll have to get the recipe!)



Here's my taco/salad/corona combination. Seriously a winner. The turkey combined with cheese, sour cream, and veggies tastes nothing like your typical Thanksgiving leftovers.



I was super excited to find Ruby Red Squirt in the gas station in Sunriver. California (at least my neck of the woods) does not carry Ruby Red Squirt. It was my favorite when I was an overweight teenager. Needless to say, it's way too bubbly and did not sit well with me. I think my soda drinking days are over. Unless it's carbonated italian sodas or carbonated juice.

Does your family have any Thanksgiving traditions? Do you make anything special with your leftovers?

EDITED: I lost 2 lbs this week! 2 exactly? How did I do that? I'm excited!

Oregon Recap #2

Where was I? My aunt Carolyn put out tons of yummu snacks for us to munch on. Including the best sesame cashews I've ever tasted!



And sweet pickles.



And of course Benny Ben enjoyed. Poor guy is teething!



After snacking, we bundled up in our winter clothes and set out on the Family Walk. This is a tradition my grandmother on my dad's side started. You take a walk before you chow down!

(Helena is such a good aunt to little Ben!)



Here's Ben with his mommy.



We fed some lovely geese. Ok. I actually HATE geese. My dad took me to the park once to run with him and a goose chased me down the entire way. Since then I have decided that I am not down with geese. Not down at all.



I tried not to throw frozen buns at their faces.



Emily, and cousins Paige, Sam and Patrick.



My hairy wildebeast of a husband tried to eat the duck food.



Ben was not amused.



In fact I think we pissed him off quite a bit. We just wanted to compare his size to a 30lb turkey.



Dixie tried to cuddle with Andy. (Andy is not a fan of dogs or cats. He's weird.)



Meanwhile food was being set out. Yummy apples with cranberries.



Sweet hawaiian rolls.



Asparagus.



And a 43lb turkey of course.





Oregon has tons of beer. Reason # 34567 to move to Oregon.



We actually visited Deschutes Brewery with my Aunt Margie, Uncle Kevin and cousin Wally. I will post soon!

As for the November Challenge we did alright. I decided to "not count" several things because I was worried about how they'd affect the challenge. Looking at my tracking on Mint, I see that we spent $104 in groceries and $65 in restaurants and $11.75 in Starbucks. $180.75 (including the things I opted to "not count.") I can't be too upset with us. I'm actually quite proud. In October we spent...$255 in Restaurants. $56 in coffee shops and $253 in groceries. $564 in October and here I was thinking we did great. If nothing else, the challenge taught me to look at things differently. To realize that it's worth it to clip coupons, to make bigger portions and actually save the leftovers for later, to not buy frozen yogurt daily, to invite friends over for dinner instead of going out and to always appreciate what we have. From now on, I will be mindful of what I am spending my money on.

That said, I totally spend $50.01 on groceries immediately after the challenge ended. I missed buying tons of fresh veggies!

NOT BAD! I actually have money at the end of this month. I'm going to dream up a new challenge now. Did you participate in the November challenge? How did you do?