After mom and dad went home, the rest of December seemed to fly by. I finished my second to last semester of grad school, and then started working full time. Will had to work until the 22 of December, so I took as many shifts at work as I could until it was time for us to come home. On the night of the 22 we loaded up the car with lots and lots of presents, our fur-children, and all of our luggage for 2 weeks. I really do love my poor little Corolla...by the time Will stuffed the kitty-litter into the trunk (oh the joys of traveling 17 hours with a cat), we literally had no more room for anything. We set off on our journey, and fortunately only encountered a little bad weather at the beginning. The most notable thing about the drive was the "Green Mile Switch", as William called it, that occurred between Grady and Rocky. Typically on these drives it's Grady who I have to worry about, because he is not a fan of the car at all. Rocky likes to snuggle with whoever is driving, but otherwise has never had a problem...until this trip. They completely switched roles, and Rocky decided she pretty much hated anything and everything to do with the car....and this was only on hour 6. I had to keep reminding myself hourly, or more, why it's completely inhumane to pack your animals on a plane....
We finally arrived in Michigan on the afternoon of the 23 - the day before Christmas Eve! Even though it hadn't been that long since our visit with my parents, it was so nice to see them and just be home. We unloaded the car, took showers, and were pretty lazy the rest of the day....17 hour car rides will do that....
On Christmas Eve we did 2 of my favorite things: Watched Christmas movies, and ate delicious food. Momsie made a feast! We had ham (for everyone but me, eww), roasted chicken, green bean bake (almost enough for 58 people...who puts the bulk sized recipe FIRST on the back of the bag???), salad, and AMAZING baked mac n' cheese. It was so good, and I was so so full. I managed to find room for Christmas fudge and Christmas cookies however....we topped the night off with my favorite Christmas movie: Meet me in St. Louis! Will fell asleep during it last year, so it was entertaining to listen to him remark on how long it was taking for the movie to get around to "Christmas".....
On Christmas morning I woke up around 8:30. Will woke up around 6:00. This is only notable for 3 reasons: 1- he loves to sleep in, any other day of the year, 2- the only reason I woke up that early, was because Will woke me up...., and 3-he's 28. Just saying :). When everyone finally headed downstairs, we tackled the stockings first. The fur-children open theirs first of course, and momsie and dad, and later Susie and Charlie, spoiled them! They spoiled all of us actually! My favorite thing I got in there was this awesome set of different sized spatulas. I'm kind of a kitchen utensil freak... After stockings it was on to the presents, where we were spoiled some more! We played with our goodies for a bit, and then had a wonderful breakfast together. My mom makes the best pancakes....hands down, the best. Seriously. She'll send you the recipe - try them. After being stuffed again we got around to head to Elsie for Christmas #2!
Our next stop was Will's grandparents house, and we got there just in time for more food! The whole family was assembled and waiting for us, and it was so nice to see everyone we hadn't seen in so long! Susie and Charlie had come out in November, but everyone else hadn't seen us since our last visit in June. Lots of catching up, and of course more eating. Every year Will's grandpa gets a couple prime ribs to eat, and that coupled with all the other favorites means we sit around the table for quite some time....We were all too full for dessert right away, so we moved onto presents. We were spoiled yet again, because everyone was so generous. We had a lovely afternoon sitting in front of the fireplace with our loved ones!
A few hours later it was time to move onto Christmas #3, which was the final Christmas of the season. We opened presents with Will's parents, sisters, and Emily's boyfriend Mike. Spoiled yet again for the 3rd time! Thanks to both our families for all the wonderful gifts :). I did manage to take one pretty incredible picture of one of my favorite gifts, so for your viewing please, please enjoy:
I was pretty much exhausted after the travel, and the last few days of Christmas cheer, so I slept really well that night!
The next day I received the most exciting news ever: My best friend got engaged! Keith proposed to Ashley in front of her family on Christmas! It's so romantic, and so sweet. Ash called to tell me, and when I answered the phone she said, "Hey, I have a question for you!" to which I thought she was going to ask something about our plans to hang out, but when I asked her what, she responded with, "Did you want to be my Maid of Honor?" I immediately started sobbing, which is really the only appropriate response to such a question, when asked by your very best friend of almost 17 years. I'm so thrilled for both of them, because they're so happy, and they really deserve each other. And before I cry again.....
April 6, 2013! The planning has already begun! (Thank god for Pinterest....)
So this news completely made my visit, and although it was a few days until I could see her, I was so excited!
Throughout the next week we were so busy trying to see as many friends and family as possible. The things we managed to pack in were: an amazing game night with Chancey and Michelle, "cousins bowling" with Will's family, a lunch date with Zack, Sushi with Ashley and Keith, Nails for Ash and a much needed hair apt for me, the movies with Ash, Keith, and Sadie, spending time with Sadie and Marléne, dinner and a movie with Susie and Charlie, dinner and a movie with my parents, a short but sweet visit with my honorary Aunt Denise, and a few days of sleeping in past 9...It was glorious. It's always impossible to see everyone, and we were really sad we didn't get to see any of my extended family. We definitely have to get home in the early summer to see all of them!
We ended our holiday trip home by ringing in the New Year at Ashley and Keith's house, with Matt and his new girlfriend. We played wii games, and had some drinks. When the ball dropped I got emotional again, because all in all, it's been a pretty fantastic year. I love Maine so much, but it was also nice to spend the evening at home with some of my favorite people....now to get them all to move out here :).
On New Years Day we slept in, and then in the late afternoon began our long trip back. Rocky did a little better, but we had some really nasty weather, so I was a bit of a mess. The drive feels longer and longer every time....
Tuesday was back to the real world, with work for both Will and I, and also my internship starting back up. It felt like our trip home flew by, and as always, in spite of missing everyone back home, it was nice to get back to Maine :).
Some very exciting things coming up: Will is going to be hosting a comedy Show in South Portland starting on the 17! This is huge, and I'm so excited for him. The show will be every other week, and he along with 2 of his comedic friends will be taking turns hosting. Very exciting. I start school next week, which is fine by me, because only a few weeks after I start back up I'm taking off on a cruise for a week with one of my favorite people: Stacey!!! We're going on a music cruise with our other friend Dawn, and it's going to be a much needed vacation! In the immediate future, our friend Zack is coming to visit us on Friday!! You'll be seeing a post about that, I promise, because I love when people come to visit us!!
I have grand plans to do an in depth "Year in Review" post, but we'll see.....In the meantime, you should know that Will and I have had a really wonderful year, and we're excited for everything 2012 has to offer. For me, I think it's going to be pretty incredible...I'll have my Master's Degree before I turn 25, and then we'll be figuring out where to live, and where to work. It should be amazing :).
