Happy Holidays from Us to You

Hello there everyone,

I hope you all had great Christmases and other holiday celebrations! I am back in gloriously sunny and warm California weather for my winter break until I leave on January 8th for Alicante Spain!

A little recap of the last few weeks.

I took finals. They sucked, but I did really well! 4 A's and 1 B keeping my 3.9 GPA! We drove the long drive back to California, missing a big rainstorm in California and getting out right before a big snowstorm hit Flagstaff. I was sad to have missed the snow in Flagstaff but our drive back was blessedly uneventful when it could have been dreadful. My mom had a big birthday and we had lots of her friends over for party. It was so much fun to see people we had not seen in a long time.

The Knitting Section

I was knitting up a storm in the days leading up to Christmas.

I made dishcloths for his mom, a headband for his sister and coasters for his Uncle. Add shortbread, pecan bars and chocolate sauce, I had the whole family covered. For my mom I have yarn for some knit pillow covers to be completed at a later date for her office.

Mike's sweater is finished!! I am so happy with the product. I am so excited to have it finished, all it needs is a good blocking. This was the perfect mix of yarn and pattern and dimensions. So happy to have this finished and to have created something that will be loved and cherished for years to come!

The Holidays!

Christmas Eve we went to our neighbor Kathy's for dinner. She made a delicious pot roast with yummy side dishes. She always sets the most beautiful table!

We got a little tree again this year. I love that it is so little and cute! This year we overloaded it with lots of ornaments. Also on the completed list was that I wrote down all of our ornaments and who they were from and the years, complete with an ornament box organizer from the Container Store. Yay for organization, now my ornaments will be all ready to decorate a little tree in Flagstaff next winter!

Christmas day was a memorable one this year, we spend Christmas morning at home and opened presents. I got a lot of things for Spain and a lot of great little things. I also got 2 All Clad skillets, a 10" and a 12", the nicest skillets and the nicest quality and I am SO excited. I also got a beautiful Eagle Creek suitcase from my aunt and uncle. 

Later in the day mom and I went to Mike's house for Christmas dinner with his family. We had an amazing time. Here are some pictures from the special day!

Love spending time with my future family! Mike's sweater was a big hit and he is so happy to have it and he loves it. Doesn't it look great on him?!

All in all Christmas was amazing. It was a fun time and a perfect way to spend Christmas.

We are now beginning the frenzy of getting ready for Spain. I am excited for this next chapter in my life, but I am also nervous because there is so much unknown. I am going to miss home so much, but this experience is going to be the thing I remember and talk about for the rest of my life.

What an amazing adventure I am going to be going on and I feel blessed to be able to share it with the person who means the world to me. This adventure is going to be something amazing that we will always be able to look back on. 2015 is going to be a really big year in our lives and it is on its way in a few short days.

From us to you; happy holidays and we hope that wherever you are, you are happy and healthy and surrounded by the people you love.

Drowning in Finals

"I'm dreaming drowning of in a white grey Christmas finals week!"

Well now that is just depressing.

It has been raining in Flagstaff. Well actually it is pouring sheets of water and the whole world is grey. What happened to last year when it was pretty and light fluffy snow was getting me in a christmasy mood? Let us throw it back shall we?

This was from December 4th, 2013. Today it is December 6th 2014 and we haven't even had our first snow. 

From the last week of November 2013. Look at my cute snow bunny. 

Awh the fun of last year. Currently I am stuck inside writing a 6 page paper on SIDS in Native American infants. Very very sad topic and the constant gloom outside is not improving my mood very much.

All in all this paper is the biggest part of my finals so once it is done the bulk of my finals work will be done. Just a big paper, a few tests, packing up my apartment of all my stuff and I am home free to home before my departure to Alicante on January 8th.

It blows my mind. I am going to be abroad a little over a month from now. In another country. Study abroad has always been a part of the plan. You know, go to college, study abroad, get a teaching degree, meet a nice man to settle down with and live happily ever after. The crazy thing is that now I have a visa, a plane ticket, a class schedule and a Kaleidoscope of butterflies taking over my stomach. (According to google, Kaleidoscope is the name of a group of butterflies). I am very excited but it is also a new and completely different experience. I take comfort in the fact that Mike will be with me the whole time, it just makes it easier to go off on a journey with the person you love most. I would say in the whole life plan goals I am doing pretty well. College? Check. NAU is a wonderful place. Study abroad? Check. My dream is becoming a reality very quickly. Teaching degree? Not yet but I am working toward it! Meet a nice man to settle down with? Check! Mike is everything I could ever ask for and I love our present and look forward to our future and count my blessings every day I can call him mine.

I may have mentioned going home for a few days to spend time with my family and eat food. Well that is exactly what happened. I went home for 5 glorious days of California sunshine and warm climates, ate 3 stomachs worth of thanksgiving dinner, lost terribly at Liverpool rummy (which does not happen that often, I must have left my luck in Flagstaff) and all in all had a relaxing and wonderful time at home. It was a bittersweet tease because although I was free as a bird for those brief days it also meant that I had to face the reality that final exam preparation was waiting for me when I got back. Now here I am swimming in the ice water bath that is reality and in all honesty it is not nearly as fun as being curled up on my couch at home in my wonderful little town watching chick flicks with my mom. The plus side to this break is that I have been able to make great progress on Mike's sweater! I am hoping to finish it very soon so that I can work on Christmas presents for others as well as work on my pet project of the beautiful intricate blanket so I can use it this winter.

Yay! Now back to the endless paper writing and finals.