Christmas 2010 has come and gone. Oh, how quickly it came and went. The count down began faster than I could even set up my decorations in my cubicle (which are still sitting in a bag, ready to go up that I suppose will go back into storage for another year.. oops). I'd have to say, this one was one for the books. Truly, it's going to be a Christmas to remember. Where do I begin?
Let's start on December 1...
Cirque de Soliel. Need I say more? (read previous blog) Dec 1 was a brief moment/ night in time I will never, ever forget. It was the beginning of something real and wonderful. No words can describe the magic that happened that night. My life will never, ever be the same.
Dec 2: Date with the one and only Mary Beth at our traditional Roaster's! She's my rock. My foundation. Without her, I'd be a H.A.M. (hott ass mess) and she needs to take full credit for keeping my sanity throughout the past 8 years. She listens and cares and gives me the advice I need to hear not matter how harsh honest or how much it might hurt. That's a true sister right there.
Dec 3: Gingerbread party at Sam's house! If you haven't already....
http://twobuerglers.blogspot.com/2010/12/fourth-annual-decorate-ginger-person-in.html
This night also is one for the books! New friends. New food. New beer. New family. and a kiss on the cheek :)
Dec 4: After a 3 mile run with Rosemary and Elizabeth, I went to The SEC Championship watch party with Calliebaker which consisted of the two of us stuffing our faces with queso and getting drunk on wine. I can already tell that she will be a brides maid in my wedding... for multiple reasons.
Dec 5: Lunch date with Sam after going to Mass by myself. The mass by myself tradition has started a whole new journey for me. I'm really liking it. I kind of am enjoying the strange looks I'm getting from people bc usually no one sits by themselves. Mary Beth (again... with all of her life wisdom and wondermousness) said to me..."God doesn't want to be on your to-do list. He want's a relationship with you " and it's time that I do just that. So off I go! Then, lunch date with Sam was casual and wonderful and yes, even throughout my clumsiness from being nervous, he still likes me! Even after I had coleslaw all over my face from the gigantic hot-dog topped with coleslaw and beans. (delish by the way). Then off to Yankee Candle to earn beer money..
Dec 6: Girls wine night at Hannah's!! Dang.. This night made me realize I really do miss that girl. She and I were so so close in high school and I'm not sure what happened. We moved to different cities four years ago and just drifted apart. She's also the same Hannah that got me the job that I have now. (amen to that!!!) She's great! and I have missed her. That night was full of good food, good friends, and great conversation. Every once in awhile, I think it's important for girls to get together, be cute, and gossip and talk GIRLS. This gives us a chance to vent and really express what our true thoughts are. This I think is a necessary part of being a woman. Every girl needs girl time! No boys allowed!
Dec 8: Sam is back in Texas... our phone conversations / text messages have increased and I'm starting to think things are really cooking. He came back from the chinese buffet on this night and decided to FaceTime me (hooray Iphone4!) As I answered the call, he held up two fortune cookies. One for me. One for him. He cracked them open and we shared our fortunes together. I still have mine sitting on my desk, "A rolling stone gathers no moss...but it obtains a certain polish!" we'll see where that connects to my life later I suppose. Sam. You are wondermous. And I look forward to our adventures together :]
Dec 9: Sam's 27th BIRTHDAY! Complete with a ridiculous happy birthday phone call on my lunch break. Wish I could have spent it with him, but sadly, 1024 miles separated us. I hope he enjoyed the day anyway!! This means I gotta make it up to him next year..
Dec 10: Brunch at work. Can we just say....yum?! After work I went to a jewlery party at one of my co-workers house. $92 later I came home with 7 stunning pieces and they are...yep you guessed it! J'ADOURABLE! Including 3 things for Christmas gifts!! Then, I drove straight to Wild Wing to meet up with Sam, Elizabeth, Eric and Sean where we stuffed our faces with wings and goooooood drinks. Then we watched a RIDICULOUS band play old school stuff... like... blink182.. yep. It was out of control and our group by far, was the youngest group in there... by like ..20 years. We danced. We laughed. We took mental pictures of the creepy dude hitting on the cougars while we made fun of the drunk 58 year old women wearing push up bras and jeggings with the mom cut waste. He held my hand for the first time.. This night was life changing. I had a sincere change of heart about someone particular in my life and I think it's going to be an epic change :D
Dec 11: Morning shift at Yankee candle for more beer money turned out to be dreadfully long and then I went straight to my cousin Ashley's 7th birthday party (complete with my putting 14 girls hair up in "rock-star" or "princess" up-do's with GLITTER!!!) AFTER THAT... I sulked for awhile on Sam's couch over going to my company Christmas party and then much to my surprise, we went to Diesel for a pizza date (which turned out to be delish sandwiches and salads). Our first real / deep conversations began here. This was when I started to realize that he wasn't just going to open my door for me once and he actually was different than any other guy I 've ever dated. Hm. LOVE that. THEN... we went to The Fred for Sam's 27th birthday with 8 of his closest friends. Again, good food, good beer, good friends, new family and a brownie a la mode that tasted like burritos. (it's not the first time the server has heard that either... hm.)
Dec 12: Babysit my 3 favorite kids for more beer money after a day of Christmas shopping.
Dec 13: The GYM opened! Zumba on Monday's and Wednesday's is going to be the best. thing. ever! Shake shake shake it up! The days are getting closer to Christmas, my to-do list is getting longer and I still am not done buying Christmas gifts. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!! and I'm loving every second of it! The smell of pine in the air is intoxicating.
Dec 15: First weigh in!! Rosemary, Elizabeth and I are doing the "biggest loser" between the 3 of us. $20 buy in. winner take all for a new pair of skinny jeans after the half marathon in February! (speaking of... I'm supposed to be up to 5 miles and that aint happening right now... too many christmas cookies!!!!!) And after my failed weigh in, I went to lunch with MB.. told her everything about someone special in my life and she asked me what kind of ring I want... not saying anything else.
Dec 17: Sam is back from Texas! (Finally!) and he came over to Calliebakers to meet her for the first time. Their love grew exponentially when she found out he loves to play golf and she grew up with a golf club attached to her hand. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship :) And I think she approved!!! <3
Dec 18: Somehow, Georgia Southern made it to the semi-finals in the play offs. Our game was at 12 and apparently there is a place that is owned by a GSU alum near the perimeter that all the GSU fans go to to watch the games on Saturdays. Insert the Corsetti's + friends. Twisted Taco was SUPER. The game was outrageous and we played terribly, but it was so so fun to be there surrounded by all my fellow Eagles rooting on our boys. (GOOOOOO BLUE!!! ONE MORE TIME!!!) David and Paige came into town to celebrate Christmas. This was soooo glorious! They are such good siblings to have in my life :] I miss not seeing them on the reg like I used to back in the GSU days! Paige's baby bump is quick the avocado! and shes' looking fabulous! (but who would have thought she's ever look anything less than!) Dinner was so festive and fun! AGAIN: good food, good family, good wine followed by the annual Sibling exchange. (always a great family tradition that I look forward to every year!)
Dec 19: Oh boy. Nannie invited Sam to the infamous Christmas celebration at the Sander's with the entire family including all the cousins and aunts and uncles. Usually we have a sit-down catered dinner. This year... we had a brunch! It was soo nice. It was much more casual (even though itchy tights were involved). We ate, we drank, we exchanged the annual cousin gifts (each cousin draws another cousins name out of a hat and you purchase them a gift to be exchanged at Nannie and Pap's house) Introducing Sam to my family was quite the event. Luckily, he already knew more than half of them (thank goodness they have all bonded over beer on past occasions!!) So, it wasn't as stressful as I thought it was going to be because let's be real... meeting 22 people in someone's famliy all at once is not exactly easy to do no matter how much you like someone. Until ashley looked at him and said "are you her boyfriend?" "...no" "then why are you here??" we confused the 7 year old. hahah! After the cousin gift exchange, we decided to teach Sam how to play our family's card game of choice, Canasta. He. Is. AWESOME at it. To this day and forever until we die we will have an epic battle going. After we left the g-units house, we piled up in the cars and Jackie (college cousin) went to Sam's house to lounge and watch the Falcon's game and play more cards after we went to the YEAH! Burger for the most delish burgers (and hot dogs!) in town. Insert food coma.
Dec 22: 2nd weigh in= fail. ouch. I'm not winning the biggest loser. and my goal to lose 10 lbs by dec 25 was unsuccessful. However, I did lose 3 lbs. Somewhat of a win considering all the cookies and festivities over the past month! FINALLY all my college friends are home for the holiday. Eric, Cat, Sarah, Dan and I met up with Sam Eric and Elizabeth at yet another Taco Mac for some good food and good beer. I have missed my peeps! They mean so much to mean and I always love a great time out with them!!! I can't wait until Eric graduates and moves home. That kid is too great to be so far away from me all the time. I miss him being my roommate (sorry Tom and Kelly...)
Dec 23: NO WORK! YIPPEE!! Instead, Sam, Kelly and I went to Monsignor Reynold's funeral. Our beloved pastor, who changed so many people's lives, pasted away. A Great, great man who will never be forgotten. The funeral was beautiful. 130 priests and that's not counting the clergy on the alter. The Arch Bishop spoke so elegantly. Truly amazing and unforgettable. After the funeral, Sam and I headed to Fresh market to pick out the perfect trifecta of gourmet cheeses to go on our rosemary focaccia bread with the thick-cut bacon. We carefully selected the tomato soup from the shelf and headed home to begin our masterpieces. These sandwiches... were...un...be..lieve...able... I could eat one every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly satisfied. I must say, we make quite the team in the kitchen! After the food coma set in, we began to get 'nasty'. Over the course of the next several hours, our conversation grew and our enjoyment of each other's company was...bliss. The card game continued until his sister's showed up ready to go down to The Fred. Sam, Katie, Terri and I met up with my parents, their parents, and the E's. We ate, we drank, and we were merry! As I'm thinking "I never thought my family would have such a great relationship with someone that I'm dating. It's really kind of ridiculous how well they get along...", my father begins to tell Sam's Vegan-sister how he thinks rabbits make a great marsala (and yes...she has a pet rabbit) *insert foot into mouth, father. PLEASE* After rolling him away from the table, he still didn't get the picture. Check, please! Hopefully, nothing too detrimental happened and any damage that was done can be fixed on New Years when my family goes to their house for festivities (bottle of Patron in hand). After everyone left back to their respected houses, Sam and I continued our final card game. Somehow, before we left for The Fred, we tied! That was absolutely unacceptable! We finished. I won. Obvi.. Then......... yep. and it was soo sweet! I literally couldn't get enough...
Dec 24: NO WORK AGAIN!! The annual Christmas festivities had begun. However, there was a sense of relaxation upon the day instead of chaos and stress. Every year on Christmas Eve, the family gathers at my parents house and I have an appetizer dinner (all dressed of course!) and desserts and then we go to Christmas Eve Mass. The day will filled with nothing and relaxation and a few dishes to prepare. It was wonderful! I had only 1 more present to purchase and the Honey Baked Ham to purchase for Christmas night dinner. After getting fully dressed, my friend calls me with terrible news just as my family begins to arrive. Such tragedies should never be experienced in a life time and especially not on Christmas eve. After my proper condolences and a brief sob fest, I fixed my make up and returned to the party and celebration trying to get this off my mind. Dinner was delish! And yes, more christmas cookies were consumed for my waste line. Then, we bundled up and headed to mass. Mass was beautiful as always. It's by far my favorite all year long. This year was the first year we went to 9:00 instead of midnight. I was fine with it considering I had no other choice and I was already really relaxed from the multiple glasses of wine. A deep sleep came after our nightly 8th grade style phone conversation and canasta game online... mmm.. totally crushing!
Dec 25: CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!! The tree had presents exploding out from under it with ridiculous name tags (as always!!) After our mimosas and gigantic spread of french toast, bacon, grits, etc etc, we dove into the gifts. Sander-clause came as always and we got to share in the joy of the day with them. I somehow only received gifts that I could wear and I'm soo ok with that! My favorite part of every year is watching everyone open the carefully selected and wrapped gifts. It's so fun!! Their faces light up with excitement and joy that you thought of them for that gift. This was the first year in something like 128 years that Georgia had a white Christmas! It was AWESOME!!!! I loved every second of the snow falling and am still enjoying it! Around 4 when we were still in our jammies, mom and I busted out our annual christmas puzzle. We do a puzzle together every year on Christmas and i love the tradition! We play good christmas music and sit around and play with all our new toys and work on the puzzle :) We finally finished today!
Dec 26: After a day of spending my christmas money on sales and great values, I went home to relax and enjoy my final day off work. Sam came over and somehow gave me a cost-co size ass whopping in canasta ( I think i've created a monster... Can't wait for him to be my partner in the next doubles game!!) Nannie and pap came over to celebrate Alex's 24th birthday. We ate his usual... serf and turf... so vegetarian mom ate mac and cheese and broccoli. haha! He's 100% excited about going to the Falcon's game tomorrow with his new grill, beer pong table, and Falcon's tailgate tent! SCHWEET!
I have started some new traditions of my own and nightly rituals (which include reading a daily devotional from a book called Jesus Calling. It seems that if I just put my mind to it, I can be healthy, wealthy, and have the best time of my life. I can be ME. It's ok if someone doesn't like me for being me. That's their problem... because I'm going to be awesome at life and if you don't like it then deal. My twenties have to be something for the books. I gotta make every moment count. If I dont, my life will slip by me and I won't know what hit me. Life is about choices. Sometimes we have to make the wrong ones to realize what the right ones are and how great the right ones are. I'm glad to have experienced the bad decisions so I know exactly how wonderful my life can be. Live in THIS moment. The day I moved home from GSU my fortune cookies said, "You will make a change for the better" and I really think I did...
And so the Christmas count down comes to an end on this snowy night. The air outside is frigid. The lights are twinkling. Our bellies are filled with too much food and wine. The mistletoe is hanging in our doorways. Our hearts are filled with joy. Our heads are filled with memories that will last a life time. And so another Christmas season has come and gone. I am so, so grateful for each and every person in my life. I would not be the person I am today had I not had them in my life. God has blessed me with more than I know what to do with. My life is filled with the most wonderful people and the most wonderful events. I truly am the luckiest girl in the whole world and I can never say thank you enough!
Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.
-- Oprah Winfrey
No comments:
Post a Comment