Merry Christmas Eve - Eve

It’s been pretty dang cold the past 48 hours. We thought we would be waking up to snow, but as the week progressed, those chances went down. Figures. We still got some snow flurries throughout the day, but nothing that stuck to the ground. I go between feeling bummed about not having snow and really low temps to also thanking God we aren’t in another Snowmaggedon. There are so many people out there without shelter or places to seek warmth. Families who are struggling this holiday season to stay on top of bills and provide a Christmas for their loved ones. Having another brutal winter would just add to their struggle. So, I’ll take the 26-degree high and sunshine.

I finished up all of the Christmas shopping this week, and today I only had to work half the day. I was able to fit in the “Freezing Friday” run challenge that our running club came up with. Talk about a sure way to wake up for the day! Though let's be honest, I’ll probably take a nap soon. Anyway - after some discussion yesterday I've concluded that our Christmas and New Year’s Eve plans are totally up in the air this year. If I had it my way we would watch football on Saturday, visit our families on Christmas day and then go back to being recluses by Monday. I’ve just been feeling so tired these days. However, I don’t think that’s how it will go down. We know for sure that we’ll be heading to Houston the day after Christmas. And my brother and his family are not certain when they’ll be making it down. It's looking more like a New Years get together with them. We do know that Emery’s little brother and his mom will be heading over Christmas morning so we’re excited about that. So, other than that we plan on winging the rest of the time we have off and I’m not necessarily mad about it.

This winter weather that moved in yesterday had temps dropping into the single digits. It's made me want to stay inside where it's all warm and cozy. Thankfully, we had already started prepping for it on Monday. The pipes leading to my dishwasher and washer froze - sadly, but the rest of the house is good. That just means I’ll be washing dishes by hand today. Boo. And the laundry will have to wait. I finished 90% of it on Wednesday anyway, so I’m not stressed, but man, I hate washing dishes by hand. I’m procrastinating on that task if you can't tell. LOL! I’m about to put on a Christmas movie, make some hot chocolate, and cuddle up on the couch. Hopefully, I’ll get a nice little nap in before I have to start picking up the house. Send me some motivational vibes, please! Okay, well this is where I leave you for now. I hope this post finds everyone warm, healthy, and well! Since I probably won’t post again until next week - Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Break

I did as I had planned. My back was giving me issues the entire time, still not back to being 100%, but I chose to make the best of it. We spent the first half with family, and spent as much time together as possible. We went to the movies, and sat out by a fire making s’mores. We ran errands together, and ate tortillas with rice and beans for the majority of our meals. We had breakfast together, and copious amounts of coffee. We mourned the loss of my grandmother. When my dad finally arrived home on Christmas day we were all there to greet him. We cried together. When the hustle and bustle of Christmas faded I took time for myself. I put the phone down, and enjoyed my time at home with Emery. We had Netflix marathons in our PJ’s. She rode her new bike, and we went for walks around the neighborhood. On the days when the weather was nasty we spent it reading books, and drinking hot chocolate. When New Year’s Eve finally arrived we counted down on east coast time with my parents before heading home for the night. Emery had sleepily stated, “Mom, I think you’re right about not making it to midnight. I’m callin’ it at 11.” When we got home I tucked her into bed, and started picking up the house before getting ready for bed myself. I barely made it to midnight. With a few “Happy New Year!” texts sent I quickly fell asleep. And then it was back to reality. To routines and schedules. So, today I'm going to share a few pictures from our time at home. I hope everyone else had a wonderful winter break! 

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Kisses

Merry Christmas

It's officially here! Christmas day is just a few hours away, and I'm pretty much ready for it to finally be over. Not because I don't like it, I love Christmas, but more like all of the stress that comes with it finally comes to an end. And I can finally say goodbye to that damn "Elf on the Shelf" that I caved and bought this year. Do you know how hard it is to come up with ideas for that thing when you're on a budget, and "craft" challenged? Emery would come home telling me about other kids' elves, and how they did something cool at night. I think I stressed myself out the most when it came to figuring out what to do with the damn thing. But now, that has officially come to an end. And I'm ready! 

Tomorrow we get up early, open presents, and then get ready for the day. We'll spend the first half with my family, and then head over to one of Beau's relatives' house in order to spend the last half with them. Emery is excited because we drew names, and this year she was actually able to buy a gift with her own money. She's really proud of herself for that. It should be a pretty laid back day with family, friends, and some good food. My brother and his family will be headed back to Mount Pleasant tomorrow night, but I am so grateful that they were able to be here for ten whole days! My sister-in-law helped me out a lot this passed week. And I was able to see my nephew every day. Emery loved having her cousin here so she spent a lot of time with them. I'm extremely grateful for that too. We're missing my dad, but he should be back by the end of this week. And even though I miss him being here with us I'm actually glad that he's getting to spend Christmas with all of our relatives in Mexico. I'm still really stunned about my grandmother, and to be honest, this Christmas season has been kind of sad for all of us. First, it was my aunt who passed at the beginning of the year and then to lose one of my grandmas so suddenly just a week ago. It's been difficult for us to wrap our heads around it all...

But we are choosing to be thankful for all of the good that happened this year. Thankful for all of the time we did get with our loved ones-- those who are here and those who have gone. So, with all of that said, I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas! May it be filled with peace, love, and joy. 

Dreaming of a Snowy Christmas

It’s been a pretty warm December for us here in Texas. The temperature usually only gets to be about 35 at the lowest and that’s usually overnight. When we’re all snuggled up in bed. We walk out in the morning with sweaters, but by the time noon hits we’re taking them off and wishing for flip flops. The other day some of my coworkers and I were talking about how it’s changed so much since we were little. I remember waking up on Christmas day to fresh snow. I remember having ice storms in January. Then the other day we were going through old pictures and it looks like Emery was about two years old the last time we had snow that stuck around for a few days. Temperatures staying around 45 during the whole day. And you know, I actually miss that. I miss being able to experience all of four seasons.

It doesn’t look like this will be a snowy year either. Fingers crossed that in a year or two things will shift. I’d say we’re about due for it, don’t you? In the meantime, I force my friends who live in places that get snow to send me pictures. Videos are preferable, but pictures will do. And this year I’ve gotten some pretty great stuff sent my way. So, for all of you in states that are “suffering” through another warm winter, here are some pictures to enjoy. And if you live somewhere that gets snow...well…😝

📷: A friend in Utah

A Short Recap Of The Holidays

Well hello, 2014. That definitely came up a lot faster than I expected. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! Here's a SHORT (it only looks long because of the pictures) recap of what we were up to: 
I had the whole week of Christmas off (paid), thanks to a really wonderful boss! I don't know how I got so lucky to find this company but I am truly grateful for it. My first day of vacation was all planned out, when we got the news that one of my aunt's sisters died very unexpectedly (she was in her 40's) from the flu. And that kicked off a very hectic holiday for us. We had family from Georgia coming down again, and family from California coming in at the same time. 

my uncle at the last minute decided to hold up his "gat" and blocked my face :( also this was only half of us
On Christmas night, our puppy Gotham died after getting into some cow patties out at my husband's grandmother's house. As far as we can tell, she probably got into some poisonous mushrooms. She vomited a few times during the day, but then went back to her normal self. I assumed she was just hacking up whatever didn't agree with her because she seemed fine as we headed home. She was bouncy, and playful so nothing seemed out of the norm. We put her in her crate for the night and when we woke up she was gone. :( We were all very heartbroken, and at a loss. This makes two dogs in less than three months so my husband and I have decided to hold off on any more dogs for awhile. Unless something comes up, we won't be seeking to add another fur-baby to our family anytime soon. 

We officially said goodbye to our old house. We gathered what we could bring with us (read: what would fit in a tiny room) and shut everything off at our old house. We left behind the majority of our things that will be boxed up as soon as we find our own place, but for now we'll keep them there. My family has talked about knocking the house down as soon as we're all moved out. It's sad, bittersweet, but the house is not livable so there are hardly any other alternatives. There are so many memories in this house, on this land, and it makes me so sad to see it go.   

We rang in the New Year with Beau's family. The afternoon was spent at my parents house with them, so we were able to spend time with both of our families. But, being the responsible adults that we are, we wanted to make sure that we stayed wherever it was that we'd be drinking at. I don't mean getting drunk either because I had two glass of wine and my husband had 3 beers. I don't like driving anywhere regardless of whether it's one drink or six. So we stayed there with everyone. Our age is showing though because out of all of us only 4 adults stayed up to midnight. And we went to bed shortly after the countdown was over. :) 

I know this says Christmas but it was taken on New Years Eve. I did not take this either; credit goes to Taylor.
So that was our holiday. Our California family have returned to California and the last of our Georgia family will be leaving over the weekend. My vacation time was a lot busier than I had hoped but I enjoyed getting to see everyone. Now it's back to work, and back to school. I have a meeting with a student board next week, and if everything goes as planned my spring semester will start on the 13th. We're also currently looking at some houses and I'm hoping to be in our own place by the end of this month. Fingers crossed! Again, I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families over the holiday's! 

Errr...umm..Merry Christmas?

So, on my four day weekend I spent it all just trying to make sure we had gotten all the presents for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, some friends came over and at some point I became inebriated. Beyond inebriated. Then for the first half of Christmas Day I spent it with my head in the toilet or trying to suck it up for Emery. Then, I took a nap and was all better. My chest still hurts though. That afternoon we went to my husband’s grandmother’s house to celebrate with his side of the family.

Lots of food, good conversation, and we headed back home to just take it easy. And take it easy we did. So easy that I still have about 3 loads of laundry to do. My house was a disaster zone. Emery’s room looked like a toy bomb exploded in it, and our room needed some serious attention. So yesterday afternoon, I had my mother watch Emery while I cleaned up as much as I could. I still have dishes to wash, and the bathroom to clean. But my house smells wonderful, and you can see the floor now!!! You have no idea how awesome that is! Ha!

I do have pictures from Christmas, but nothing really great. Like I said I wasn’t up to doing much and apparently no one else knows how to work a camera but me. Still, as soon as I get them uploaded to my computer I’ll spam the crap out of this blog with pictures! I promise. This week was/is a short one for me at work. My bosses are the best! So we get another four day weekend! Woo woo!! Except this one will probably not involve liquor. Maybe some painting, more cleaning, and finally a haircut! Maybe go see a movie with some friends too. Who knows?

That’s about all I got for ya. Things have been keeping us pretty busy, my diet took a brief hiatus (but I’m getting back on track), and New Years is right around the corner. My, how time flies. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!