This year was our first year not going to New Mexico for Thanksgiving. We’ve decided to start going in late Summer for an entire week, staying here for Thanksgiving, and then going back to Christmas. We actually get to spend more time in New Mexico that way.

So … my mother happened to be in town this week, so we met at her house for Thanksgiving dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. If you know anything about my side of the family, they are very untraditional and unconventional. And since I was raised in Hong Kong, I obviously did not celebrate Thanksgiving every year. So we had Chinese food for Thanksgiving, hot-pot style.

What is hot-pot, you ask? Well, it’s basically a big pot of hot broth that is set in the middle of the table under a single burner. There are plates of all kinds of raw meat and vegetables, and you cook your food in the pot. Pretty simple. Fortunately, Aaron had had hot-pot before, so he knew exactly what to do.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I’ve officially started listening to Christmas music, and we’re going to decorate our first house with Christmas lights (trying to keep up with the neighbors).

A few Friday nights ago, we took Brad out to dinner because Sarah was out of town on a retreat (and you know how boys get when their women are not around – they can’t fend for themselves!). So we decided to try out Cyclone Anaya’s right next to the Green Papaya in Dallas – one more thing off my list! And it was GOOD. If you like Mexican food, you will not be disappointed. They have handmade, fresh tortillas. I got some sort of chicken with rice & beans – it was unbelievably tender. Aaron got a chile relleno that looked awesome. Our waitress, Alma, even gave us a free slice of their carrot cake since we were first-time customers.

The only precaution I would throw out there is that the restaurant is located in a rather happy part of Dallas.

Droooooool …

Okay, this is a testament to my awesome new D300. I took the next photo at ISO 2000 and NO editing – hardly any noise at all!

And of course, we had to throw this one in there. No editing (other than the obvious text box).