Sometimes we are brave and don't even know it!

So I am a frequenter of many design/homemaking blogs.  What can I say, I am a wannabe Martha Stewart.  So now that fall is here and the blogs are shifting there focus to Autumn and the holidays.  Many of them are mentioning Thanksgiving dinner.  Some speak of the meal and it's preparation like war, something that must be well though out and executed.  It makes me realize that I was brave and didn't know it.

See two years ago, I cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner.  I wanted us to have a beautiful, well planned dinner, as apposed to the pot-luck, semi disjointed Holiday dinners we have been having.  I believe it went wonderfully and if you ask my family I think they did too.

Why does this make me brave?  Well at the age of 24, having never cooked a turkey in my life, I agreed to cook one of the most important meals of the year.  I never hesitated in my belief that not only could I pull of this meal, but that it would be a wonderful meal.  I searched for some recipes, put together a list of what I wanted to cook, and what I needed to buy to pull them off.  I went to the craft store and made some cute napkin rings.  I made some salty, sweet nuts, put them in cute little boxes, tied a ribbon around them and made them into sweet little favors for the family.  I arranged the table, and made sure everyone knew what time my dinner would start.  I cooked things I have never cooked before, and they were all great.  I made appetizers, sides, and all the trimmings.

My point here is that I was fearless in taking on a task that some truly dread and have major anxiety over.  I was bold in thinking I could pull it off without having the prior knowledge that I really could.  I was brave and I didn't even know it.  I have no plans of stopping.  I cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner last year and if my family is willing, I will again this year and every year I can.  Not only do I love to cook the things we only eat once or twice a year, but I love seeing them eat it, and enjoy it.  I love the cheesy idea that I put my love into that meal and they get nourishment from it.  Like the sun does to plants.  I know it may seem weird, but it is truly how I feel.  Having the whole family at one table, eating the meal I spent days making is my idea of happiness. : )