As I will be spending Thanksgiving away from my family in Spokane, Sidney has been too kind to incorporate my traditions within her family’s Thanksgiving celebration.

Take for example a popular side dish my mom always prepares for our Thanksgiving meal. To most people it is asinine to eat lasagna with your turkey and mashed potatoes, but to my Italian family it is as common as pumpkin pie. Sidney will be making her best version of my mom’s specialty for the Mathis family’s traditional Black Friday meal.

Some photos from our Thanksgiving last year. You can see my mom cutting up our signature lasagna.

Another classic Reser tradition is the evening pilgrimage to the local theater to watch a movie. Every Thanksgiving and every Christmas after we have ate and relaxed for a little bit, we all go see a film at the movie theater. And it doesn’t matter how stuffed we are either, we always get popcorn too! This “Reser Ritual” has provided us many great memories and helps to kind of distinguish the holiday. For example, Christmas 2010 was when we went and saw “True Grit”. Thanksgiving 2012 was when we watched “Lincoln.”

In these shots from Thanksgiving 2013 you can see the lasagna both on the table and on the my plate.

I asked Sidney if this Thursday, long after the celebration has concluded at her sister’s house, if we could go to the theater and watch a movie. She said of course!

Last Thanksgiving was special for me. It was my first time at home since I moved across the country. We marked the holiday by going to see “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1.” I love the Hunger Games movies. They leave you on the end of your seat and the acting is superb. Naturally I asked Sid if we could see “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2” this Thanksgiving. She agreed to that request as well.

Once again, the lasagna takes center stage during Thanksgiving 2012.

Now we have to decide if we will watch the previous three movies over the next few nights to prepare us for the new installment on Thursday. With both of us busy over these next few days and the lack of an 8-hour window available to watch all three films, it will be tough. But if we do watch one movie per night starting later this evening, we can squeeze it in.

One final Thanksgiving spread photo. You guessed it…lasagna.

Regardless of whether we cram the movies in or watch the final film with no prep, I am thankful for one major thing: Sidney is sweet enough and thoughtful enough to honor some of my traditions this Thanksgiving. It will definitely be another blessed holiday. Don’t Blink.