Goodbyes

Well we have been in Alabama now for a little over 2 weeks.  We had quite the adventure on our road trip getting here and just tried to make the best of the opportunity that we had.  But for this story lets start at the beginning...

Chris' and my intentions were to leave Saturday morning on 4/3/2010 but it took a little longer than we anticipated to pack up our whole house and prepare it for our real estate agent and a possible renter.  That day was hectic and stressful and my emotions were all over the place.  I had mentally prepared myself that this day would eventually come and it would be hard but it shouldn't be sad.  Yeah Chris and I were packing our lives up and moving to a completely different part of the country away from all our family members and friends but we have dreams, big dreams, and we were taking the steps that we thought were necessary in order to reach those goals and fulfill our dreams so we would never have to look back and say "what if."  You just can't be sad about something like that.  But the day that I thought I had prepared for snuck up on me faster than I ever could have expected and I suddenly found myself unprepared.  We had to say goodbye to family members and friends, and I found that with each goodbye I had to say it just kept getting harder and harder to hold back my tears.  Eventually the dam broke and it was near impossible to stop them.  Anybody that knows me knows that I grow extremely attached to worldly things.  I can place a memory with almost everything that I have and because of this it is hard for me let go of things, I always do if I have to but I still feel a pinch of sadness when I let it out of my grasp.  The last goodbye that we had to say was to our house.  It wasn't just any house but our first house.  Our house was nothing but bones when we first walked into it, but in that instant we fell head over heels in love with it.  I remember as we walked through that first time we were all by ourselves and we were planning the layout of our furniture and what Twinkee would think of the house.  We couldn't wait for it to be ours.  All of this came rushing back to me as I stood in the middle of our kitchen crying in Chris' arms.  I mean shoulders shaking and can't catch your breath kind of crying.  The reality had hit me that that could be the last time that I ever stood in that kitchen and that any day it could possibly become somebody elses home.  I know Chris felt the same way.  So we just held each other and took comfort in the fact that it would always be ours first.  After all the lights where turned off and we checked that all the doors were locked, we walked out the garage door and as Chris took my hand and asked if I was "ready for our next adventure" I knew that everything was going to be okay.  I know that it is true no matter how corny it may sound, but as long as we have each other we can make it through anything.  

The Best Birthday Ever!

I honestly don't know anybody that is more in love with their birthday than me. And oh how I love it. I turned 25 this year, and truthfully I could not have wished for a better birthday than this one.  I think that I actually have Chris convinced that a birthday week is a real thing.  The days leading up to my big day were fantastic!  Chris would volunteer to give me back rubs, he took me shopping, we went for nice walks with the dogs, went to the Spring Fair where we drooled over camp trailers, went and got soft serve ice cream (more than once), he took me antiquing at my favorite local spots, surprised me with breakfast, took me to an awesome birthday dinner, and simply made the week all about me and the things that I enjoy doing.  He makes me feel special all the time, but he really out did himself this time.  A couple weeks before my birthday he had asked if there was anything I wanted to do to celebrate.  I thought about it and for my 25th birthday I knew a regular party just wouldn't cut it, I wanted to feel like a kid again.  I said my birthday wish was to have a Roller Skating party with all of our family and friends.  And surprise surprise, it came true!  30 people showed up to make my birthday the best one ever.  And to make it even more memorable all but 6 of them skated!  It was such a blast.  I didn't have many pictures taken, it was more important for me to just be in that moment with everyone, but I will happily share the ones that I do have.  

This is the only picture that I have of Chris and me on our camera.  I love it though.  My two supporters making sure I didn't fall.

Family and Friends

Trying to blow out 25 candles on two different cakes in one breath.  Nearly passed out after this.  I really wanted my other wish to come true.

People getting their skate on.

The best part of the night was when they pulled me into the center of the rink and put the spot light on me while being surrounded by family and friends who sang Happy Birthday.  My smile never left my face that whole night.  See... Best birthday ever.  

December

Has it really been so long since my last post?!  I know that I need to get better at this, but in my defense our lives have been pretty chaotic, and right when I think I may have a moment to document our lives something comes up to draw my attention away.  But here I am ready to conquer what at times seems impossible.  So since this blog is mostly for me I am going to travel back to the great month of December and journal all the wonderful things that make me love that sweet month.

DECEMBER

Chris and I are always like two little kids filled with so much anticipation on the days leading up to the BIG day... Christmas Day.  Discussions are always started early on what our plans are going to be to help us get into our child like selves and we set forth on ways to make the most of this holiday season.  The first thing we did was go and pick some names off the Angel Trees, one small little girl, a young boy, and a teenage girl.  We had the best time shopping for these little "Angels" and our hearts were soaring when we were finally done and went to drop all of our gifts off.  Our only regret walking away was that we couldn't be there to see there faces when they were opening them.  

The next fun activity planned was our traditional going to pick out the Christmas tree.  We haven't given in to purchasing a plastic tree yet, and I hope we never do.  Although every year we go through some sort of struggle with our real tree, I would miss not having the fresh pine scents floating throughout our house, and the simple memory of being bundled in our winter clothes to find the most perfect tree to bring home and decorate in our most precious ornaments.  We go back every year to the same place we bought our very first Christmas tree.  Our first tree was the cutest little 4 foot tree ever and ever since the purchase of our house we have come back with monster size trees.  I think our biggest ever was 9.5 feet and this year we scaled back a little and got an 8 foot tree.  It was perfect.  Full and beautiful and the most brilliant shade of green.  We nestled it right into our corner in the living room and prepared to dress it in our finest, green, red, and gold decorations.  I love our Christmas ornaments!  Besides the green, red, and gold balls (most of which are from our original tree) I don't have very many other ornaments.  But all the ones I do have all represent something in our lives together.  When we pull them out to place on the tree it ignites memories in us that then spark conversations of our past travels, our very first Christmas together, and the first Christmas spent in our very first house.  In a way it is like looking through a photo album.  I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Next up for our pre Christmas celebration was a wonderful weekend spent in Salt Lake.  This was part of my Christmas present and I couldn't have asked for a better one.  Chris got us a room at the Hilton which was a couple blocks from Temple Square.  And we filled our days with shopping and our nights with wonderful dinners and a trip to Temple Square to take in all the lights.  And then before we settled in for the night we would go down to their huge pool and swim, swim, swim, to our hearts content.  It was a perfect trip, spent with the man I love and I couldn't have asked for a better getaway.  Thanks Babe!! XOXOXO

Something that I have been wanting to do for a while was build OUR house out of gingerbread.  I have never made homemade ginger bread and I just didn't think that I would have the stamina to do it.  But with Chris' gentle coaxing he finally got me to take the first step and get the dough made.  While I was busy in the kitchen doing that, he was at the table designing the cutouts.  So a full day later, the cooking and the assembly was finely complete (Chris' favorite part).  Now the fun could begin... it was time for decorating (my favorite part).  The process was long and hard, but it was so worth it.  Chris and I had a great time working on it together while watching Christmas movies and I must say it turned out so awesome.  We even went a step further and made ourselves and Twinkee into gingerbread.  How "sweet" is that?

The final Christmas tradition we have is on Christmas Eve we go and look at Christmas lights.  We started this tradition the Christmas before we got married and have done it every year since.  We put on some Christmas music and drive to find the most impressive houses ever.  Sadly though, it seems that every year more and more people turn into Scrooges and don't even bother to put out lights and so our little tradition is being cut shorter and shorter.  But we still enjoy it and will look forward to doing it again next year.

I loved our Christmas Eve night, it is usually spent with Chris and I in separate rooms scrambling to get our last minute items wrapped for each other.  Then with the tree illuminated in all its glory and the all the presents nestled underneath it, Chris and I settle into a little make shift bed on the floor by the tree and fall asleep while snuggling up close and watching one of our favorite Christmas movies.  

Then finally, the day has arrived.  Oh, what a glorious day it is too!  Chris and I love it!  This is where the little kid comes out of us.  I have to say, Santa has to be in love with us, because he gets us the best things ever!  It is glorious!  Our stockings are always overflowing with little goodies and sweets and he always knows exactly what we wanted because it is sitting there wrapped in its pretty ribbons and bows and everything is just perfect.  Christmas is just perfect.  

Chris and I are lucky enough to have both our families here in town.  It seems hectic at times going back and forth, but we still love it.  We had a simple, quiet Christmas morning at Chris' parents.  We enjoyed the lively tunes of Christmas music from Chris' youth, while sipping hot chocolate, and slowly unwrapped the presents that we all had.  Then it was off to my mom's house for our little family gift exchange.  It was nice in much the same way as the one previous, wonderful Christmas music filling the background and a cup of hot chocolate warming between our hands.  Next up... Christmas "lunch" at my Grandma's.  We go over there for every holiday and I love it.  I love that no matter how many people she is serving we always have our dinner on her fine china and that we are all set at one table.  Well, it is more like 5 tables set end to end, but none the less, it is one continuously flowing table.  It is always such an elegant set up with delicious food and wonderful conversations.  After a few rounds of games there, we said our goodbyes and set off to finish the evening at Chris' Grandma's house.  I had never been to her house for Christmas dinner so I was very excited to try it this year.  And it did not disappoint.  The food was fantastic and the hostess and other company were so sweet.  And again, after a few rounds of games, we set off to go finish our Christmas night in the comfort of our house.

It is always a sad time when Christmas day comes to an end, but I am always set at ease knowing that it will come back again next year.  I love our Christmas traditions and I love having a husband that gets into the season almost as much as I do.  

BEWARE!!

This game is so addictive.  My mom bought this game for some good family fun, and I am obsessed with it.  Case in point...  Last night, Chris, my sister, and myself played this game for 4 hours straight!  On a Friday night people!  Lets just say it wasn't our proudest moment.  And to really top it off, just two days before that my brother, sister in law, Chris, and I, all played it for 3 hours in place of our weekly card games.  And lets be honest, I'm not even mentioning all the time I've spent alone playing this game (I know, that is embarrassing).  You would think with all those hours of play we would have beaten the game by now... so not the case.  We are only half way through.  So if you want a game that will make you laugh and cry (out of pure frustration) at the same time, play this game.  But beware!  It is extremely addictive and you lose all sense of time.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

Midnight Movie

Yay!! My mom, little sis, and I went and saw New Moon on Friday at midnight.  And it was so worth the wait.  We did the same thing last year with Twilight, only to leave the theatre disappointed.  Not the case this year though.  They did a fabulous job bringing my favorite book in the saga to life.

Taking It Easy

The most common question that Chris and I get asked, after we return from our summer of working is "What do you guys do now?"  To which I always reply, "Not much."  There is no better way to put it.  In the past, Chris' job has always allowed him to take the winters off and relax until the arrival of the next strenuous summer.  But with him owning his own company now, things have changed... a little.  He works, but nowhere near the amount of hours he did in the summer.  As for me, in the past I have always gotten some sort of temporary job, that was basically there to help keep me busy and bring in a little extra spending cash.  I didn't mind it.  But this winter I have opted to stay home and continue my duties that I did in the summer.  Right now, our focus is working on getting everything ready to possibly expand our company to another state.  So we are keeping our fingers crossed that all will work out with that goal of ours.  And between all of that we are just having the best time being with family and friends, catching up on all of our favorite TV shows, and I have made it a huge goal to finally conquer my little to do list.  

See.  Like I said.  We don't do much.  But this is the way we like it.  Our summers are always so crazy and hectic that the time just flies right past us.  But, when the fall/ winter seasons roll around it gives us the opportunity to slow time down... just a little.  

Home Sweet Home

One of the best parts of leaving for the summer is knowing that at the end we always get to come back HOME.  To a place that is ours and has only been ours and no one elses. To a place that is filled with such worldly things, but things none the less that spark memories of past adventures and experiences.  I love walking into our house for the first time after being gone all summer and smelling the stuffy air, knowing that it hasn't been lived in and has anxiously been awaiting our return just as much as we have been anticipating the return to it.  I love removing the covers from all the furniture and seeing the dust gather in the air, and with every new unveiling of what lies beneath it slowly brings our house back to life.  Now almost three weeks later, the sweet aromatic smell of my Scentsy enhances all the background smells of my cleaners and fresh laundry.  Smells that are so familiar and oh so welcoming.  With all the hard work done, it is so refreshing to just plop down on the couch and take that sigh of relief, and while looking around, just simply realize just how good it is to be HOME.