Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how I already miss
thee. That’s how the song goes, right? Ha! Well goodness, Christmas Break has
come and gone and I can hardly believe it. I always look SO forward to the lazy
and festive days of Christmas Break and was not disappointed this year. My break consisted of a whole lot of
family time, Darin time, and some sweet adventures mixed in too.
You know, back in the day we used to wear matching tablecloths. And we were cool. Don't be jealous.
Pre-Christmas Adventures…
The beginning of Christmas break was full of sweet times with sweet friends. I am so thankful for the amazing people in my life!
Presents…
I was pretty proud of a few presents I gave this year.
Typically I agonize over finding the perfect
gift. I have said before that I wish “perfect” presents were just giving
throughout the year when you find them in the moment instead of scurrying to
find a perfect gift under stress. Annnyway, I digress.
In December I discovered a website called Treat, where you
can design and personalize greeting cards. Because I LOVE giving and receiving
cards so much, this was a seriously exciting discovery. I was so happy with how
they turned out and am excited for another occasion to make some more! :)
Another gift I was excited (which actually led me to Treat)
was creating a custom puzzle on Shutterfly for Darin. My family gets really
into puzzles during Christmas Break (and then the interest quickly dies after)
so when I discovered a website where I could custom make a puzzle I was SUPER
excited. Again, I was so happy with how it turned out and Darin and I had a lot
of fun (and were seriously entertained) piecing our faces together. Ha!
While the shopping and planning process was a little
stressful, in the end I was pleased with all of my gifts and was super excited
to give them!
Christmas Eve…
On Christmas Eve, we went to Louisville and celebrated at
Nanny’s house. It always makes my heart so happy when everyone is together! It
was SO nice to spend the day surrounded by some of my favorite blessings and so
yummy to enjoy the fruits of my Nanny’s cooking labor. Yummy, I still think we
need to invest in a restaurant called Nanny’s
Homemade Cooking…or something like that. The day ended with attending
Southeast’s Christmas Eve service, which was a family tradition growing up. I
always savor those moments of learning and worshipping as a family…especially
during Christmastime, as there is just something extra magical about that.
This SO Describes Us
So This Happened…Totally Unplanned
Christmas Day…
Christmas Day was by far my favorite Christmas so far…or at
least my favorite “adult” Christmas. Goodness, it was so perfect. We slept in a
little, were ridiculously spoiled by “Santa’s” generosity, enjoyed a yummy
breakfast, and had fun giving and receiving gifts from each other. It was
wonderful. Having all 6 of us together, enjoying a lazy and festive day
together was just great. We watched movies, put together puzzles, saw Frozen
(oh my goodness…new favorite movie!), and just enjoyed being all together. It
was indeed a very Merry Christmas!
Enjoying My New Camera Lens
Wabash…
After celebrating with my side of the family on Christmas
Day, we drove to Wabash to spend a couple days with Darin’s parents and
celebrate with his side of the family. That was amazing! Except one little detail…I
was strung out on drugs for most the time. That was not amazing. Ha! On
Christmas night I woke up with my toe throbbing from an ingrown toenail. Having
had these all my life, I got up and tried to work on it to relieve some of the
pressure, however my efforts failed miserably and I was left nauseas, shaking,
and in even more pain. SO, the search began to find a podiatrist that could see
me that day. After calling every local podiatrist, we finally found one with an
opening (by the grace of God!). I frantically hobbled around my room trying to
pack, shower, and get ready to leave for Wabash immediately following the
appointment. After excessively over packing, we got in the car and drove to the
podiatrist…that’s when I realized what was about to happen. To spare you the
details, the surgery was pretty awful. After 5 shots of Novocain and a lot of
deep breaths, the surgery was over and I hobbled out sporting a new fancy shoe.
I then literally went from mom’s car to Darin’s and we started a trip to Wabash.
After arriving to Wabash, we enjoyed dinner and sweet
conversations with Linda and Paul (and I enjoyed the last few years of having a
numb toe). It was GREAT to be with them and is always such a joy to just laugh
and tell/hear stories. But then my medicine wore off and I was in a ridiculous
amount of pain. Wow. No words quite do justice to the level of pain I was
in…over a silly little toe. My goodness, who would have thought! After taking a
Vicodin and some sleeping pills, I fell asleep and started day two of recovery.
Whew, THAT was a rough day. Linda and Paul had planned a fun day of going to
see Saving Mr. Banks and going out to dinner so around mid-afternoon, we headed
out and started the day. That’s where the real fun began. Goodness, talk about
a series of unfortunate events. 1. During the previews of the movie, the fire
alarm went off 2. After evacuating the building and having nowhere else to go
and it being cold outside, we walked to a Barnes & Noble that was close by
3. The theater reopened so we walked/hobbled back to the theater. At this
point, I was in a ridiculous amount of pain from walking so much so decided to
take a Vicodin. On an empty stomach. This was one of my worst life decisions to
date. Not only did I fall asleep EVERYWHERE we went, I was extremely nauseous
and faint for the rest of the night. People seriously probably thought I was on
something (which I was) as I walked like a zombie from place to place and fell
asleep anywhere I could lean up against. I do remember one kind woman giving up
her seat while we waited for dinner…that was so kind I almost cried. Ha! The
rest of the night was a continuation of a comedy of errors as I continued to
fall asleep everywhere, be quite emotional, and hit my toe on a hidden toy
right before I went to sleep. Oooooh, what a rough and painful day that was.
Thankfully, that day passed and the day that followed was so
much better which was such a blessing since that was the day we celebrated
Christmas with the rest of the family. The day was filled with so many sweet
(and noisy) sounds as the kiddos played and explored their new toys. We had
such a wonderful time being all together. Mmm, I love this family so much!
I remember {most} of the trip and remember vividly how
selflessly and compassionately Darin served me. He was such a beautiful picture
of selfless love and I am humbled to the point of tears as I think back to
those rough days. I fell even more in love with this amazing man as I watched
him so gently and compassionately love and serve me. Thank you for all you do
to make me feel so loved, babe!
Lake Pickwick…
The day after we returned home from Wabash, we packed our
bags once again and headed to Lake Pickwick. After talking to Linda back in the
fall about the progress of her book, she talked about how much she needed a
place to get away to focus and write. After SO enjoying our time at the lake
back in the summer, we knew the perfect place and were more than happy to
accompany her. Oh my goodness, words cannot even describe how perfect those
days were. Our days consisted of sleeping in, reading, sleeping, reading,
sleeping…you get the picture. And then when we were finished for the day, we
ate dinner, played games by the fireplace, and drank hot chocolate. Seriously
it was PERFECT. On our last full day there, it was actually warm enough to sit
in the sunroom so we snuggled up with some blankets and sat outside and read.
Ahhh, what I would give to have a few more of those days!
When trying to find some dates to go down to the lake, we
realized that the most ideal time would be to go during the week of New Year’s
Eve. Being the introverts that we are, Darin and I thought this was the PERFECT
way to bring in the New Year. Ha! We laughed so hard at our anti-social but
completely wonderful New Year “Celebration.” Due to the one hour time
difference, we counted down (with our phones as we didn’t even have a TV) at
11:00 (12:00 at home) and then once again at our midnight (1:00 at home). Our
big celebration consisted of sparkling grape juice, sharing some favorite
memories of the year, and laughing at our completely unconventional but
perfectly wonderful celebration.
The rest of the
break wrapped up with record breaking freezing temperatures (a whopping -26),
lunch dates with sweet friends, and mental preparation for the semester ahead.
It was an amazing break full of super sweet family and super sweet memories. I
am so thankful.
We Don't Always Wear Denim…
But When We Do, We Match
Celebrated Mom & Dad's Birthday
