Holiday Round-Up

I confess - I've needed to blog for about 2 months now & I haven't touched the thing. Such a failure on my part, especially when the last thing I posted was about how I was going to post more often. Talk about irony. Tomorrow starts a new year, so maybe among other things I'll actually follow through & post a little more often than I have this year. I have had a wonderful holiday season & I hope you have also! I thought I'd post a few pictures from my Thanksgiving & Christmas in the lovely state of Virginia...so, here we go!

I was able to spend my Thanksgiving holidays with my family in Virginia; I was there from early Wednesday morning until late Sunday evening - 5 great days! It is strange how as a child, you take for granted that your family is with you daily (sometimes as a teenager you wish they would just disappear) but as you get older & end up spread out, you realize that times like Thanksgiving & Christmas, when your family is all together...you realize how precious those moments really are. But enough sappiness for now - we had a great time cooking, watching movies, exploring Front Royal & the surrounding areas (new territory for me), visiting with old friends, eating plenty of good food & do a monument dash on my last afternoon in DC. I discovered that I am seriously missing out on some awesome things that they have in VA that MS just hasn't quite gotten to - The Alamo Drafthouse is basically the best place to see a movie, ever. The Sharp Shopper is just a grocery store, but it has some pretty neat things & great deal; it's not Wegmans...but it is pretty great. The Puppy Cottage is awesome & I wanted to adopt every dog in the store. They were having a sale, $100 off any dog...I still don't understand why we couldn't have bought that little dog...

I was pretty bummed to have to leave VA after those 5 great days, but knowing I'd be back in less than a month made it a little easier. So here are just a couple moments from my Thanksgiving jaunt to VA!

Home Sweet Home - the stoop of 105 Spoon Square

My lovely bedroom, my Mom did such an awesome job decorating it.

Lindsey & I on the back lawn of Mount Vernon - the Potomac in the background & DC just around the river bend.

A "Charlie Brown" tree lot in Front Royal. I was in love.

Monument Dash Part 1: Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, WWII Memorial & MLK Jr. Memorial

Monument Dash Part 2: Washington Monument, Iwo Jima, Lincoln Memorial & Korean War Memorial

Monument Dash Part 3: Pacific War Veterans Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Pentagon Memorial & FDR Memorial

I came home for about three and a half weeks, which were filled with busy days at work & holiday merriment when the work day ended. I went to a cookie swap, where I loaded up up on enough sugar to fuel me through the weeks before Christmas. My friend Lisa came to visit & we searched for Christmas gifts in & around Meridian. I had a great time with the rest of the members of the church staff at the annual Christmas party; who knew that a game of Battle of the Sexes would get so heated with members of the church staff? We are a competitive bunch, no doubt.  I took numerous pictures of my decorated house - it was the 2nd Christmas for me in my little home in Collinsville & even though I didn't play host to anyone or have any parties, I still decorated it up just perfectly!

The haul from the annual cookie swap - can you say sugar rush?

Searching for gifts & decor in the Winter Wonderland of Little Acre...ha-ha!

My Christmas tree - love it!

On December 21st, I happily found myself winging my way back to the lovely state of VA! I was in VA for 5 days again but somehow these 5 days seemed shorter. I have come to find it is very true what they say about time flying when you are having fun - because these days absolutely flew by! I was able to visit my parent's new church home where everyone was so kind & welcoming; we even went Christmas caroling, which was so much fun! I don't know why we don't do that anymore these days. There was more movie watching, cooking & eating delicious things...but the most wonderful thing of all? I had my very first WHITE CHRISTMAS! There is just something so magical about watching the movie "White Christmas" & knowing that as you hear Bing sing those familiar words, all you have to do is open your front door to see that the world has been transformed into a Winter Wonderland. It was amazing. I am beyond blessed & being able to spend Christmas day with my family was just one of the many blessings that I am able to count. And if you get the reference I'm making, you're awesome. Just sayin...

The warm glow of home...in the snow!

No longer dreaming of a White Christmas...it is a reality!

The mountains on Saturday morning...before the snow arrived on Monday.

So excited to be standing in the middle of the beginning of the snowfall.

One of my Christmas gifts - y'all better get ready for some good ol Cajun cooking pictures, I've got my eye on the red beans & rice recipe.

So - there you have it. A short little recap of my time in Virginia this holiday season. Obviously, I could have made this post pages in length because I was able to experience so much & make so many amazing memories in the few days that I was in VA. I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for me, I've already got a trip to Colorado Springs planned for February & a trip to California planned for late March, so the traveler in me is sated until then. I've made my resolution for this new year to change my life. I'm not sure what kind of changes that will entail, but I'm ready for a change or two - and I'll try to keep the blog updated as things unfold! Happy New Year & best wishes for 2013!