From SC to MN

John & I had a wonderful Christmas with our families in SC. On Christmas day we went to see Marley & Me, which was cute, but is not a kids movie. It's more about family and balancing a career then it is about a crazy dog, but I liked it. I won't say much, but you should all know that there are some very sad moments. My good friend Katie called to warn me, but it was too late...we had already seen it! haha.

On our way to Rochester we stopped in Cleveland to visit with friends. We ate at our favorite Mexican place in the world Las Margaritas with Chris & Becca, Monty & his fiancé Trisha, Abby & Chris's parents Gary and Jill. Marissa and Kevin stopped by to let me meet beautiful baby Ella Rose. She is even more precious in real life then in pictures & I'm so happy I go to hold her!

The pups did great on the ride home and were still sleepy when we arrived in Rochester despite the looonnnggg hours in the car. We were blessed to pull into a shoveled driveway!!! We thought it was our neighbor, but when we went over to thank him his wife said it wasn't him! Now it's a mystery! Whoever you are THANK YOU!!!!!!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

me holding Ella!

the gang at Las Mas!

I miss Abby :(

Clemmer st. house (the first place we lived when we got married)

The new religion bldg.

construction on the new science bldg.

beautiful sunset leaving the mts.

Family Fun!

We've been playing ever since we arrived Friday night. John's Aunt Kim and cousins Brandon (9), Caleb (6), Brooke (4) and Blake (18months) are here for Christmas. Kids make Christmas so fun!


Sunday we went over to John's grandparents house for lunch. Matt, John & I then went Christmas shopping for the kids gifts & I'm happy to report we got them all done within 2 hours! That evening the whole family joined Andrew, Marbi & Alyssa at Holly Wild. It's a zoo that they turn into a light show and "Santa land" during Christmas. I didn't have my camera, but I'll post some from Marbi's camera when she sends them to me. You can feed miniature deer out of your hand!!! They had reindeer, buffalo, zebras, emus, alpacas, goats, camels, ponys and much much more! I was in heaven! You can feed them bottles and crackers from hand. We had a blast!

Monday we hung out around the house with Marbi & Andrew playing on the trampoline and riding the go cart. It was so great to visit and spend time with them. Autumn and Kyle came over later that night and we played famous people game and catch phrase. We also watched the kids open their Christmas gifts since they are having Christmas eve and day at their place in TN.

Since then we've been cooking for Christmas, sleeping in, playing lots of games and visiting with each other. It's been so refreshing and great! The dogs have been worn out at the end of the day from playing with the kids and roaming the neighbors yards.

Speaking of cooking..... We've got more sweets than can rot an entire set of teeth. We have apricot fried pies, oreo truffles, haystacks, toffee, fudge, pumpkin roll, sugar cookies, pound cake, homemade cinnamon rolls, peanut butter kiss cookies, and there is probably more I just can't remember. WOW!

Here is a slide show of some of the fun so far!

1,097 miles to Christmas!

John & I left Friday around 3:00pm to make the long journey from Rochester, MN to Anderson, SC. We were able to caravan with Chris & Erica Camp all the way to Indianapolis IN (8-9 hours away). We arrived around 2am, split a hotel room and slept for about 4 hours before we were on the road again.

Luckily John packed his walkie-talkies for each car so we were able to chat back and forth with hypothetical questions and funny stories. Our trucker names were "bone crusher," "red rooster," "bb" and "stunna." We also took the time to have a home cooked meal at cracker barrel, which was well worth the time it took from traveling.

The puppies did great. They slept the entire way...then were forced to sleep when we got to the hotel & slept the next morning all the way to SC. With stops and everything it took about 20 hours. We were more than happy to get OUT OF THE CAR and see our family.

This is the "treat" the groomers gave us when we picked up the dogs...ginger bread men.

John driving...and driving....and driving....

Raleigh peeking through from the back.

puppies sleeping the ride away!

Dashing through the snow!

Winter has come to stay. Sunday started off just fine around 40 degrees. John and I went into the grocery store and came out about an hour later.....the temperature was at 21!! The 24 hour temperature change in Rochester was 45 degrees! This morning the actual temperate was -6 and with the windchill....oh just a measly -34!

All of that was to say that when I was in Dallas a cold front came through MN (imagine that) & we got 6-8 inches of snow! John took the dogs for a walk to explore and they loved it. Here's some pictures from the walk.

Jax taking on the snow

Raleigh getting lost in the drift

Barely making it to the other side

Playing hard

Girls night out

Friday night John & I split up for a guys night out and a girls night out. We both had a great time! The boys went to a Goonies comedy club & us girls grabbed dinner and a play.

First we ate our fill at a sushi bar called Sushiitto. This was my first sushi experience, but I was pleased. I may sound stupid saying this, but I didn't realize that all sushi isn't raw. I got the "Broadway roll" and don't ask me what is in it because I have no clue, but we all ended up sharing. In fact Beka and I should have switched b/c I like her Philadelphia Salmon roll better & she preferred mine!

After that we made our way to a play put on by a local kids theater. We saw "Cinderella" in the theme of a girls night. It was super cute. Some of the kids were really good too!

It was so much fun to do something different & meet new people. We're going to have to make a habit of it!

before our split!

Beka, Kerri, Nicole, Karlee & me

My first sushi roll

Early Christmas Gift

This weekend I got a very special Christmas present from a very special friend.

John & I were supposed to go to Minneapolis with our friends Andi and Kendall Saturday night, but it was pushed back to Sunday night and then at the last minute John & I had to cancel all together b/c John is sick. We figured standing outside in negative degree temperatures wasn't the best for someone feeling so bad...even if it was for an outstanding light show. :(

Before our friends left without us they came by the house and Andi handed me a pretty little gift. I'm still mad at John for not letting me know she was getting me something, but that is a different story. I opened it up to see "Cold Tangerines" by Shauna Niequst! I've mentioned this book on my blog before b/c it was amazing. Anyway, I opened it up to see a little note written to me by the author herself! Andi went out of her way to get it signed!!!!! You can read the message below in the picture! Isn't that amazing!

Thank you Andi for such a special gift & most of all for all the thought and hard work you put into getting it for me. It's something I'll cherish forever.

Dallas TX

This past week I've been in Dallas TX for work. My stops were good, but I'm so happy to be home!

I figured to sum up my trip I would do top 10 highlights. So here a few little things that made my trip to Dallas what it was.

10. Being called ma'am by someone other than my husband.

9. Snow flurries in downtown Dallas one night!

8. Finding Jessica Simpson shoes in kid sizes!

7. Listening to radio stations that played country and rap back to back.

6. Telling a doctor that I'm leaving a few products for him to do, "whatever he wants with" and his response being "oh, that sounds kinda kinky!" WHAT!?! Do boys ever grow up? He was like 80:)

5. PF Changs lettuce wraps and Maggianos cheesecake...yum!

6. Running into two girl drug reps that made me feel like Katy on Mean Girls.

5. Christmas songs in a country twang.

4. Seeing people wear cowboy hats and boots.

3. Doctors having lunch "anywhere between 11-2." I really should have gone to medical school!

2. Multimillion dollar houses right next to homes that would sell for $70,000.

1. SWEET TEA in every restaurant!

Oh Christmas tree...oh no!

Yesterday after a long day at work I came home and started laundry and picked up around the house. I was hoping to get all the necessary stuff out of the way so we could just relax for the rest of the evening. John didn't come home until around 7:00 or so & was exhausted from his day. It was a "fend for yourself" night where we don't cook anything for dinner, but scrounge through the cupboards to find something for yourself.

Anyway, as John & I were warming up or meals (noodles and butter for me & an egg sandwich for him)...don't be jealous....our large Christmas tree completely fell over! Water from the base was getting everywhere, but mainly on my brand new velvet pottery barn tree skirt! I, of course, was most nervous about the skirt while John was nervous about the tree that was now on top of our TV. :) To make a long story short.... it took almost an hour to totally fix the tree. I had to hold it while he cut more branches off the bottom for it to fit in the stand better. Starving tummies, sappy hands, headaches & hurting muscles later we picked up the entire tree and moved it to a different tree stand. Let's hope last years stand works better!!!

The decorations are not quite the same since half of them flew across the living room & the bow on top is still upside down, but we're back in business! The featured picture is before the fall. I wanted to take pictures during the chaos, but I was too busy... holding up a TREE! Fake trees are starting to look really nice to me!

Family

Thanksgiving was amazing. John and I had so much fun relaxing, eating & showing Rochester to my parents. It was quality time that I wouldn’t exchange for anything & I put some pictures up below of us decorating for Christmas & taking the dogs on walks (scroll over for captions).

Thanksgiving had me thinking about the word “family” and what it means to me. I decided I wanted to see what Webster’s dictionary had to say about the word “family.” It cracked me up! There were 8 definitions…one including a “family hood”—a unit of a crime syndicate such as the mafia. Haha. The definition that I like the best was “a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation”---like a fellowship. It made me start to reflect on the different “families” I belong to!

There is a difference between a group, an association and a family. There are certain people in your life right now that you know will always be in your life. Those people to me are family. Some people feel that blood relatives are all they could every truly consider to be family. It’s not that way for me. I come from a small blood family—my mom, my dad & me. I can’t imagine us being any closer than we are. I wouldn’t change one thing about my childhood, my parents or the relationship I have with them. However, my family really is bigger than that. When I think about family I don’t just think about my parents or John. I have girlfriends I would consider family & others like the Dipastenas or the Haynes that are family to me. John suggested I start calling Marbi and Andrew my Aunt and Uncle when I explain to people who they are. Hahaha. People can’t completely grasp the concept of what they are to me unless I give them an appropriate family title. If Marbi was my “sister” or my “cousin” then it would be easy for people to understand our friendship. When I say, “they were my youth pastors, but we’re really close” it just doesn’t come across the same way. The truth of the matter is that they are my family. In fact, growing up I spent many Thanksgivings with them at their house in Charlotte and it wasn’t weird at all!

Family is what you make of it. It’s not DNA…it’s a relationship that has higher rank than a friendship. When you think of family you think of people you can rely on at any moment…someone that has to be there for you b/c they are family. :) They are the people you want around you in the middle of a crisis. They are the ones you feel most comfortable around…let your guard down & be your true self. It’s relaxing, refreshing and refilling to be around these people…this family. The best part about family is there is honesty. Telling someone something they don’t want to hear is one of the hardest responsibilities of family, but only family can do something that hurts so bad & see you through to the other side.

I may be an only child, but my family is big! In fact, my family is huge & I love it! I’m so thankful for the people that are in my life. The people that have surrounded me with prayer, memories, laughter & friendship. Happy Thanksgiving to my family!