Angela Jamison is a native Montanan and she grew up in beautiful Bozeman. I'm the mother of two girls and write a blog about our life here and taking in the simple pleasures of family and food.

Thanksgiving. Such a simple, wonderful holiday without the fuss the others can bring. The first thought that comes to most minds when one thinks of Thanksgiving is of course a big turkey dinner surrounded by family. Throughout my years I have found that while this is still the most common, there are many ways to celebrate Thanksgiving and it means something different to everyone. With the holiday coming up I recently asked my two daughters and husband to tell me what Thanksgiving means to them. The many answers I received got me thinking just how different it can be to each person…what we each take from it. As a mostly vegetarian family I was surprised that turkey was still one of the first answers…it goes to show you some things just go together. Some of the other answers I got…

-Afternoon naps and wine (husband)

-Being thankful for what we have and Jello (oldest daughter who only has eaten this at Thanksgiving at Grandma’s house!)

-Mashed potatoes, pie and people killing turkeys (youngest daughter…with a bit of a dark side)

-The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (Me…I’m a sucker for the Rockettes performance during it)

Not only does Thanksgiving mean something different to each person, how we celebrate also varies. It can change and evolve, turning into your own way of celebrating.

For some it is the traditional Thanksgiving. Family gathered around the table with all the usual trimmings. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie. The fancy china comes out, grace is said at the beginning of the meal and a Hallmark commercial Thanksgiving meal follows. As lovely as this is, it certainly may not be the reality for all. Especially in a place like Bozeman where so many have moved here, family may be very far away. If family lives elsewhere, Thanksgiving means partaking in the busiest travel time of the year. Sitting in airports with all the others anxious to get to loved ones or braving the icy roads and potential snowstorms. Doing this because spending this holiday with those they love is so important. On the other hand, some choosing the newly popular Friendsgiving with those you now consider family in the town you live. With so many living away from family this is the next best choice. Surrounding yourself with friends you love and feeling grateful that although you aren’t with your family you still are getting the gift of togetherness.

There are also those that consider this is a very difficult time of year. Knowing Thanksgiving is the kick-off to Christmas and if your funds are limited this quickly becomes the least merry time of year. Finding it hard to see a reason to celebrate and be grateful, but trying to make it happen. In Bozeman that may mean taking advantage of the many resources available. The other day I was donating a turkey to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank for Thanksgiving and was overwhelmed by the amount of people in the parking lot doing the same. I couldn’t even park because of all the people and this made me very emotional. To see the outpouring of support for those that need it. Trying to help make this Thanksgiving a little easier, a little brighter for someone else. This can also be seen by the hundreds who will spend their Thanksgiving morning participating in the annual Huffing for Stuffing to raise money for the food bank. Trying to make it possible for everyone to get the opportunity to have a Thanksgiving in their own way.

However you celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday, whatever it means to you remember to find the things to be grateful for. No matter how small. May it be happy, may it find you in good health and may you be surrounded by love.

Kristen Berube lives a crazy, laugh-filled life with her outdoorsman husband Remi and their three camo-clad children in Missoula, Montana. A graduate of Montana State University and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, she loves being a mom and enjoys hiking, fishing, and camping. “Confessions of a Camo Queen: Living with an Outdoorsman” is her first book.

You have done it! Hooray! You have successfully out-hiked, out-witted, and out-stunk a wild beast and filled your elk tag. You have packed out said beast, and slammed it’s carcass onto the dining room table, while grunting, you know, in a very "satisfied caveman" type fashion. The pressure is off. You now can put your mind at ease that your family won't starve to death or have to resort to eating tree bark, old cans of corn, or attack your pet squirrel for an emergency winter dinner. Your freezer is plum full of elk roasts, elk steaks, elk burger, elk sausage, elk, elk, and more elk... So now the question is...what do you do once you have filled your elk tag, yet it is still the best time of year...hunting season.

Although you certainly cannot wash your "lucky" elk hunting socks for the 12th year in a row...After all, everyone KNOWS that takes the luck and washes it straight down the drain. Yes, yes, I know, you might tear up a little as you lovingly hang your bugle and your cow call on the rearview mirror for the next year. The question still remains… What do you doooo you do next?

Well duh! You hunt some more!

The choices are endless. They don’t call this the best time of year for nothin’! Take your pick…

-You can freeze your butt off quacking and honking in a grassy tomb they call a blind. That is, you can freeze once you drag out 200 decoys, fire up the ol’ Mojo duck decoy, and buy 20 boxes of shells to blast like a hillbilly gone wild

-You can gas up the ol’ stink wagon truck and go chase an antelope across the prairie while blasting at prairie dogs and eating Doritos…

-You can try to find that always elusive monster buck…this is always good for at least 4 long weekends of beer drinkin’ and jerky eatin’….

I guess what I am trying to say is, life will go on. Yes, I know it is sad that you will have to wait another ENTIRE year to chase down that 400 class bull. But in the meantime, you can keep yourself occupied with all of the other outdoor, camo-clad activities that our great state has to offer. Now, put the bugle down, grab your camo and run….that is before you get that “honey-do” list waved in your face before the season of joy is over…And then it is myyyy favorite time of year when I can say “Let's get to work on that honey-do list, you hunky camo man! Oh, and while you are working on unplugging the drain in the bathtub…. I'll be out fishing!”

Good Luck to All the Crazy Hunters Out There!

Yellowstone National Park proposes to kill roughly 1,000 wild bison this winter — mostly calves and females — as officials seek to reduce the animals' annual migration into Montana.

Park officials are scheduled to meet Thursday with representatives of American Indian tribes, the state and other federal agencies to decide on the plan.

It marks the continuation of a controversial agreement reached in 2000 between Montana and the federal government that was meant to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis from bison to livestock.

Almost 5,000 bison roamed the park this summer. A harsh winter could drive thousands into areas of southwestern Montana.

Hunters, including from tribes with treaty rights in the Yellowstone area, are anticipated to kill more than 300 of the animals this winter. Others would be captured and slaughtered or used for research.

"Through the legal agreement the National Park Service has to do this," said Yellowstone spokeswoman Sandy Snell-Dobert. "If there was more tolerance north of the park in Montana for wildlife, particularly bison as well as other wildlife, to travel outside the park boundaries, it wouldn't be an issue."

Yellowstone has one of the largest wild bison herds remaining in the world. Since the 1980s, more than 6,300 have been slaughtered and almost 1,900 killed by hunters.

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