I’m Baaaaaaack!

Well, hello there!  Long time, no see.  I’ve been gone “relaxing” for the past two weeks, recuperating from my last semester before I student teach in the spring (starting February).  Before I get back to my regular blogging routine (which might not be so regular from now on, but I’ll keep you posted on that), I thought I’d fill you in on what I’ve been up to while I was gone.

Mr. Converse Sneakers and I drove down to our hometown where we met in elementary school and fell in love as high schoolers to spend Christmas with our family and friends.  We were gone for about ten days!
My parents’ house was decorated beautifully and we had nothing but fun eating, opening gifts, and playing games on Christmas day.





I got some amazing presents from some amazing people, like this planner I’ve been drooling over from Erin Condren.  It was glued to me for days!



I’ve been wearing my new riding boots every day since Christmas.



I don’t have a photo, but I was very excited to open my new flash I’ve been wanting for quite some time!
Mr. Converse Sneakers really scored big this year.  He had two small presents and seemed a little confused when he was the first one done opening presents.  Little did he know the present of his dreams was hiding in my parents’ bedroom closet (it had to be moved several times so he wouldn’t see it).  My mom emailed me right away after Thanksgiving telling me she ordered him a professional six-quart Kitchenaid empire red stand mixer that he’s been wanting for years.  We were going to buy it with wedding money and had ordered it in the cayenne red color he had been wanting for a long time, but we got an email saying they were sold out of the color.  Well, they never got it back in stock because that color is no longer being produced, so we were waiting to see if any similar color would come out.  Thankfully my mom didn’t want us to wait anymore and ordered it in red, the color I wanted it in and my hubby man would still love.

Here’s his reaction to opening it:



Can you see the tears in his eyes?  I was bawling before he even started opening it because it was such a thoughtful gift.  He is already making bread as I type!

After opening gifts, the men (i.e. my brother, Mr. CS, and my dad) conked out in the living room while dinner was cooking.  I snapped photos, of course!



And, yes, we all wear Santa hats on Christmas – mostly to hide our morning hair.  My dad has a special Scottish Santa hat.  He’s incredibly into his Scottish heritage.  We’ve had so many Scottish things in our lives: Scottish Highland cattle, a Scottish Terrier (Stewart Wallace), bagpipes, a Scottish Santa statue, the list goes on and on.  Here is my dad in his hat:



Dinner was amazing!!  Au gratin potatoes, a honey ham, squash ravioli, glazed carrots, wine-infused pears, and bread pudding.  I’m getting hungry again!



This was the first time I had to share Christmas day, but I enjoyed spending time with my new family.  Laughter is part of every celebration.



Between talking, laughing, and eating, we helped the little ones make a gingerbread Christmas tree.  Here they are posing hilariously. 



The rest of the week was just as hectic.  We only had one day not filled with visiting our loved ones and that included a Goodwill shopping spree, which I’m sure I’ll ramble on about at a later date.  Let’s just say 20 items for a little over $100!!

One of my best friends, Tiffany, got engaged on Christmas Eve so I got to see her, her ring, and do a little dress shopping.  We also got together with my other friend, Cindy, to go on a little mini triple date to the bar in town.  A couple Colorado bulldogs (with root beer) later and I was having a grand old time.  Here I am with Tiffany from my iPhone:



Overall, was an amazing break!  I thought I would have more time to sit around and read the four magazines I bought at Sam’s Club on our way home at the beginning of the break, but now I have to read them in the new year.  We love our family and friends so much and wish we had much more time spend with them.

Mr. CS and I came back on New Year’s Eve, the day that marks six years together.  Wow, six years!?  I can’t believe it.  Almost a third of our lives we have spent loving each other.  We went to Red Lobster with a gift card in hand to celebrate.  I ordered a raspberry margarita.  The waiter asked if I wanted the small or big one.  Thinking that the small one would be puny and the big one would be regular-sized, I ordered the big one.  Boy, was I wrong.  Check out the margarita and my new seven-inches-shorter hair that I’m slowly starting to love (chopped it off last Tuesday).



My drink was huge!  I drank more this week than I did all year!  After slowly sipping on my margarita through our appetizer and salad, I had no room for the main course.



My hubby ate all of his food – every last crumb – so he had no room left to help me.



Here’s to leftovers on New Year’s Day!

I hope your holidays were as refreshing and full of love as ours was.  I’m ready to get back into blogging this week.  I’ll be posting our personal goals, my blog goals, and some other goodies this week, most likely randomly, so be sure to stop by for those!

Happy New Year, everyone!  I’m so thankful to have you all and my blog to spread some love, ramble on and on, and share my life.  This year is going to be amazing.

I can’t wait!