Thanksgiving and pics from Iceland

Hey Dudes,

I know this is a bit late, but hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday.  Mine was pretty solid, celebrated with close family. It was low-key and for sure hard without my mother being there, as well as her brother, but all in all a peaceful day. They weren't the only ones missing, though.  We had dinner with my dad's cousin and her family at my house, like we always have.  His cousin is like a sister to him.  Both my parents were stuck with the shit end of the stick when it came to biological siblings, but they were lucky enough to find brothers and sisters in some of their cousins.  This cousin, my aunt, is an unbelievable woman.  She and my mom were very close.  She was the only person through my moms fight with cancer that treated her totally normal.  My mom really appreciated that.  Her oldest daughter was also missing from Thanksgiving.  She's battled addiction for years with alcohol and prescription drugs, which is very common where I live.  She finally hit rock bottom last summer and my aunt and uncle made the decision to send her away for long-term treatment.

She's an awesome girl and I'm mad proud of her....she went willingly, knowing she needed to change her life.  She's doing so well and even though there's still a long road ahead, we all have a feeling this time is legit.  We missed her a lot, so Thanksgiving was hard all around, but we're happy because we know at least she'll be coming back.  It was only our two families who had dinner together, so there were six of us in total, the smallest we've ever had.  It was great though, super chill and go with the flow.  No stick-up-their-ass relatives to deal with until later in the day when my mom's mother came by haha.  Hope everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed being with their loved ones.

What are you guys most thankful for?  I know I'm thankful just to be alive and well.  That I have my sight, ability to walk and function normally (things we all normally take for granted).  And that I have great people in my life, both at home and here in the blogosphere!

On a different note, I've posted some pictures from Iceland.  Despite what happened on this recent trip, I still love the place.  My dad and my sister fell in love....it's a beautiful country.  The city of Reykjavik is one of the top ten best nightlife cities of Europe and the countryside is unbelievable with it's waterfalls, lava fields, and active volcanos.  I wasn't able to get many pics from this last trip because it was cut short, but enjoy.

Sign on the door of a bar in Reykjavik.  Love it.

Gulfoss Waterfall, one of the most powerful in

the world.  Beats out Niagra in the US

Icelandic Horses, only found in Iceland

Cool surf cloud over farm land

My sister killin it in front of the statue at Hallgrímskirkja Church

 Hotel 101 drinks in the lounge

 Some architecture I liked

UNO cucina italiana.  

Tried the braised oxtail....nomnomnom

 A small church my father, sister's bf, and I ended up in

Hallgrímskirkja Church - most famous in Iceland. Enormous.

Views from the steeple at Hallgrímskirkja Church

 Burgers are BOMB at Vegamót, one of my

favorite restaurants in RKV

 Reykjavik City Hall

 Great bar and restaurant

Sun Voyager Sculpture

"Sun Voyager is a dreamboat, an ode to the sun.  Intrinsically, it contains within itself the promise of

undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress and freedom.  The sculpture is located by Sæbraut, by the sea in the centre of Reykjavik, Iceland."

 Views of the city harbor

 Lava fields

Church and graveyard in the middle of nowhere