Countdown to T-day!!!

Thanksgiving is SO close, people! I'm not one of those people that like to skip over T-day. To me it is nearly as important and wonderful as Christmas. To me it's the official start to the Holiday "month". From Thanksgiving on everyone (for the most part) seems to adopt this happy hurry-scurry attitude that is just so festive. We don't decorate for Christmas until Thanksgiving day (or the day after!) - nothing irritates me more then seeing people's Christmas trees up right after Halloween. I was actually ticked off when I went to pick out Gi's costume at Wal-Mart and they had aisles of Christmas stuff right next to the Halloween stuff. Geez. Slow down already.

This past Thanksgiving was a bit different then what we "normally" do. My family moved to Alabama in August of last year and we do a good bit of traveling around Christmas so Thanksgiving is certainly spent at home for all of us. So needless to say, we were here in NC and they were in Bama. Normally my sister's and I help my mom cook but last year I tackled the majority of the whole meal. My sis, Charity, came to help and I'm SO glad she did or it would have been overwhelming. But we managed to put on the whole spread without any serious issues! I'll admit I was crazy proud of how good my turkey turned out. Since it was the first turkey I've ever done (and I guess I've never paid much attention to how my mom did hers) but it turned out super moist and flavorful. Beej's parent usually join us - to be honest his family isn't really "close" and the holidays don't mean getting together for them. Which is such a strange concept for me. It's so strange for me not to have my family around on Thanksgiving and for them it's totally normal. He has two older brothers but they rarely keep in touch. Not because that's how Beej wants it but that's just how it is. But at the holidays family and people mean so much to me - I love having people around. I love the festive hustle and bustle it brings!

This year though I'm so excited to cook again - my sis is coming over again to help (her hubby is going to have to work T-day. Boo.) and I'm already forming my menu!

Turkey (of course!)

Mashed Potatoes (mountains of them!)

Croissant rolls

Cranberry sauce

Green Bean casserole

Pineapple casserole (another must!)

Sweet potato souffle

Pecan pie (last year I bought pre-made, this year I'm making homemade!)

Mini apple pies (saw this on Pinterest and I LOVED it!)

And I'm serving it all with Blue Bell Homemade vanilla ice cream!

Seriously, my mouth is watering as I speak! I love cooking but baking is certainly my favorite. What are some of the things you always make or always expect to see on the T-day table? Where do you go? What are some of your traditions?!