Deck the halls...

Well...December is officially under way, and I've been LOVING the Holiday season this year :) I'm not too sure what's gotten me so into it..but I've pretty much finished all my shopping already, got the house and tree decorated and even started some baking today (which I've never done before!) My first day of Christmas baking involved making some pretzels with chocolate, snickerdoodles and fudge :) mmm...I'll probably do a few more things next week and am hoping to deliver some to our neighbors and friends!

Other than shopping and decorating, not much has changed here. Andy and I are still trying to get used to my new schedule (ok, mostly me!), but honestly it isn't as awful as I thought it'd be.

Yesterday I met my friend Brad and his daughter Avery for some shopping and visiting at The Commons mall, we had fun and it sure beat sitting at home alone all day!! Then, last night Andy and I went to Pacific Place in Seattle where we met Katie and Phil and Joy for dinner at Gordon Biersch, which was pretty tasty...it was also fun to catch up with them since we don't have nearly enough time together anymore! And the Christmas Decorations in Seattle were pretty...especially the SNOW that falls at 6 pm inside Pacific Place each night :)

Speaking of snow...apparently this weekend is supposed to be COLD with a chance of snow!! But we'll be in Spokane/Pullman for Andy's brother's graduation and an early Christmas, so I'm sure we'll see plenty of snow over there!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Well the Holiday Season is officially here! I love this time of year...even though all the stores are crowded I love holiday shopping and all the decorations :) I got most of our decorations up today, we just have to go get a tree, hopefully this week!

Thanksgiving came and went on Thursday. We had a good time up in Shoreline at my Aunt and Uncle's house with my dad's whole side of the family. All of us cousins were there, which was nice since that generally only happens once a year on Christmas Eve. We had a lot of delicious food of course and good company. After dinner Andy and I headed back South since I had to work at 2 am Friday morning. On the way home we stopped at my Step-grandparents house to say hello, then headed home so I could try to get some sleep.

The rest of the weekend was mostly un-eventful, just work and sleep with a bit of Christmas shopping and decorating thrown in there! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and remembered to celebrate your blessings and remember what you are thankful for.

Here's a few of the things I am thankful for this year:

1. Andy and both have steady jobs in an unstable economy!

2. We are able to keep on top of our bills and not get into debt

3. My relationship with Andy and how understanding he is of me

4. God's grace and forgiveness

5. The love of my family and friends

6. The resources to help others this holiday season

7. My crazy dog

8. My doctor that's helped me get to the root of some of my problems

9. The good health of most of my family

10. Pumpkin Spice and Egg Nog Lattes from Starbucks :) yumm...

Fun times

I figured it was time to post a new blog..or at least something more upbeat! Not much has changed the past couple weeks. Just plugging along trying to get used to my new schedule at work (which I'm pretty sure is impossible) and trying to find time for a social life! Which is pretty hard to do as well. Although I feel like I've been doing pretty good at that the past couple of weeks. I've learned that it's a lot easier for me to stay positive and not feel sorry for myself when I'm out doing stuff and hanging out with friends.

On Monday I finally met up with my friend Amanda to catch up, as it had been WAY too long! It was a nice day so we went up to Bradley Lake Park and walked and talked for a couple laps :) Tuesday night Andy and I went over to Keren and Steves where we had some tasty enchiladas I made and had a fun time playing with the little ones and then playing Phase 10 when they went to sleep. As usual we had a blast and agreed that we definitely need to try to get together more often. Yesterday I spent most of the day out in the yard raking up the endless amount of leaves in our back yard..ugh...wasn't my favorite way to spend my day off, but it has to be done! Then I picked Andy up at the train station and we went over to Brad and Katie's house for some pizza and more games. This time we played Man Laws/Women's Rules and Apples to Apples. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them also!

Overall I've had a good 'weekend' so far. It was nice to actually have plans, that way I felt motivated to get some other stuff done around here..now the house is clean and the yard is partially done! My goal today was to finish the yard, so hopefully the rain stops soon so I can do that, but that's unlikely..oh well, I guess I'll need to find another way to spend my day..hmm...I really need some hobbies!!