New year…new things to talk about!

It’s been a while!!

Things are just now starting to get back to normal after the holidays. Travis is back at work this week, and I’m working my normal Monday, Tuesday, Friday schedule. It’s actually kinda nice to get back into the routine!

The past two weeks were fun but pretty hectic. We enjoyed our time in Trussville with my family for Christmas (although it didn’t last nearly as long as it did when we actually had “Christmas break!). Christmas Eve, after we ate with the Cushing clan at Granny’s and opened presents, we grabbed our stuff and drove back up here to Baugay’s. It’s a good thing we didn’t wait until the next day to leave because when we woke up Christmas morning, this is what we saw…

The view outside of our apartment

I knew they had been talking about the possibility of snow on the weather forecast, but I didn’t actually think it would happen! It really was a white Christmas!!! We must have gotten 4 inches at least….and it was so pretty :) I think that’s the most snow I’ve seen in Alabama since the “blizzard of ’93.

So, Travis and I got ready and went out to head over to Cheryl’s for Christmas at their house.

First, we had to uncover one of our cars though!!

The snow even covered the driveway and roads!

He’s such a good husband :)

While Travis was uncovering his car, I took the opportunity to take a few more pictures…

Baugay’s house looked like a Christmas card picture!

So, we set out on our journey…not wanting to be late. Luckily, Highway 72 was pretty clear of snow (from all the cars that had already driven on it). The worst driving was on the less traveled roads. This next picture makes it look like we were driving in a snowstorm!

Snow everywhere!

I wanted to make a detour before our Christmas celebration though. So, we headed over to our house (that sounds weird to say!), so that I could take a picture of it covered in snow :)

Beautiful! :)

We finally made it to Cheryl’s house in time to open presents and eat an awesome lunch together.

The Grant girls before lunch

After lunch, we all headed outside to make a snowman and have a snowball fight. It was a lot of fun! Sir Melts-a-lot turned out pretty cute too :)

The building process

Almost finished!

Sir Melts-a-lot!

Us with our masterpiece :)

No pictures from the actual snowball fight (I was too busy throwing them and getting hit!), but here’s an “after” picture:

After the snowball fight

The highlight of the day, however, was not the snow, the food, or the presents because….ALISHA GOT ENGAGED!! I was so surprised and excited…I think I probably scared Tyler because I was squealing so much. Her ring is so pretty, and I’m just so happy for them! They are planning to get married sometime in late July/early August.

Right after they told us

The ring!

I’m sure I’ll be talking about wedding planning a lot on this blog, so just get ready!

Then, on Sunday (the 26th) for lunch, Travis and I finally got to celebrate our anniversary..haha. We went out to eat at P.F. Chang’s, and it was really good. Trav had never eaten there, and I hadn’t been in a long time, so it was fun.

It was still snowing on Sunday!

Last week was a crazy, busy one. I’ll break it down for you:

Monday: Work
Tuesday: Work, then Grant cousins Christmas party
Wednesday: Wedding venue/dress shopping with Cheryl and Alisha all day, then I taught the K-1 Bible class at church that night
Thursday: Work, then fondue night at Cheryl’s
Friday: Work, then furniture shopping all afternoon, then we went out to eat with Matt and Maggie, went to see their new house (which is so nice!!), and then played games and spent the night at Matt’s house
Saturday: Watched Bama embarrass Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl with Matt, Tyler, Alisha, and Emily. Then we met Darlene at our house to measure the living room and breakfast room so we could get an idea of what furniture would fit. After that, Tyler and Alisha came back over and we ate pizza and played Settlers of Catan.
Sunday: Church x 2, went to a reception in Woodville for Jeremy (he’s leaving for Afghanistan sometime soon), and then had a birthday party that night after church to go to.

WHEW!!! Makes me tired just to type all that. Needless to say, I was pretty tired and irritable by the end of the week. Even though we got to do a lot of fun stuff, those weeks where I don’t get any kind of a break just wear me out. So, that’s why I’m kinda glad to be back to our normal schedule.

As far as the house goes, we’re still supposed to close next Thursday (the 13th). The radon mitigation system was installed last week, so we were able to take a look at the pipe when we went to the house Saturday afternoon. The pipe is in the master BR closet. It’s pretty big and ugly, but I guess it’s better than breathing radon, right? You can’t see it unless you go in the closet and turn around because it’s in the front left corner, so at least that’s good. We’ve got our homeowner’s insurance decided on. The termite inspection went well. The appraisal’s finished. Now, we’re waiting on the radon re-test (to make sure the system is working), and then the sellers are supposed to get a handyman out to fix a few minor things. I can’t believe we’ll be homeowners in a week!! Scary and exciting!!

Well, I think I’ve talked your ears off enough. Hope you’ve had a happy holiday season and a great new year so far!! :)