Hello world!

So, the holidays make it next to impossible to do anything other than holid-ize. There were Christmas parties and ham dinners and birthdays and then birthday parties and birthday dinners. Sometimes it's really expensive having a birthday in the month of December. I try to keep Justin's birthday as separate as I can, but sometimes it's just to dang hard. Anyway- this is how the month went.

And just so you know, there is construction going on in the lot next to our building, and it's causing the whole building to shake... kind of mimicking an earthquake. Which in fact, one of the techs actually thought it was. Haha!

December started off nicely. Kind of slow (except for at work where we steadily got more calls each day) since our family parties didn't actually start until the 17th, but when they started... they started hard! We had our friend Ham Dinner at Eric and Lisa's house on Friday the 16th. The white elephant party that accompanies the dinner every year was quite fun. Some of the gifts were MIA so we're wondering if they moved to Maryland...
The next day (Saturday) I had 3 parties scheduled. Justin's family party at 4, the Greenwall party at 6, and then my work party at 8. Wow. I know. We started off by going to his grandma's house and eating the homemade Cafe Rio salads that everyone provided. Super yum. We opened gifts and did the game where you can steal... I came out on top with a gift card to Barnes and Noble (sorry Heidi) which will fuel my addiction to journals and pens. Justin is thrilled about it. I only have like... 3 empty journals. So no biggie.
Once we were done there, we went to my family party. I really love being able to hang out with all my cousins. They're a lot of fun, and we enjoy each others company (at least, I do.... I guess I can't really speak for them) but unfortunately schedules are just so freaking hard to work around! And it doesn't help when some of them live 4 hours away. Either way, it's really fun to get together and talk with all of them. It's especially fun when they text you like 2 weeks later announcing their engagement! YAY NICOLE!
We didn't leave my family party until 10, which is when the work party ended. So that one got the boot. It's okay, I see them M-F 8-4:30 which I feel is enough.
The next morning (Sunday) I went to my mom's house to babysit my niece while my sister taught in Relief Society. That's always fun. She has this thing where she grabs your finger, and then takes you with her WHERE EVER she goes. It's really cute and I just can't say no to her. So we walked all over the basement. Once my sister got home, I went to church with my mom. It's been a while since I've been in my home ward, and it was fun to go back. I don't know too many of the people there anymore, but it's crazy to see the kids that I used to babysit passing the sacrament or just be all grown up. That night we celebrated Justin's birthday with my family. We had some angel food cake with fruit which is delish.
Monday night we had Justin's birthday with his family. We all went over to his parents and had dinner, opened all of his gifts, and then had cake.
Tuesday night we went to Ruby River with Justin's parents for his birthday. It's always nice when you can have a little one on one time with the parents.
Wednesday night was Justin's birthday. I told him that he could open one of his Christmas gifts since I'd already spent too much on him. I tried the whole "You can pick a present if I can pick one" but he wasn't going for it. He ended up picking the jacket present. I was worried that it wouldn't fit, but it did. PHEW. We then went to Italian Village, which we both love. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. After dinner we went home and watched... something. Probably House. We're super exciting.
Then Thursday and Friday were nights to relax. Saturday was Christmas Eve, so we did our traditional dinner with king crab legs and steak, then we did the book contest (we didn't win) and then my dad read the story of Christ's birth, then we all got some gifts and went on our ways.
Christmas morning, we got up about 7:30 and opened our gifts. It's always kind of funny to sit there and watch each other open gifts, but it's so fun! Justin and I are our own family, and we have our own little traditions that we do, and it's fun. I love just spending time with him. After that we spent the day at Justin's parents, and then his grandparents, and then we finished the night off at my parents.

That was a little exhausting writing that all out. I love the holidays.. but it's kind of a relief when they're over. It's like I can finally breathe.


Oh, and 11 days until my birthday.