Weekend rewind and everything else

Well!!! Where to even begin???

I'm off work for 12 straight days so i DO plan on catching up on blogging and everything in between.

here's a short list of future blog posts:

-running

-Christmas with the fam

-our Christmas party with our Chinese students

-my emotions :)

-what God is teaching me

Last Saturday, Daniel and I went out to breakfast, which we so rarely ever do. It was fun to sleep in and go get breakfast together. Then we stocked up on groceries and last minute things for our student party on Sunday. We also spent the day just running errands and getting a few last minute gifts.

When it got a little warmer i went for a run. Best. Run. Evah!!!! I had the fastest average pace i've ever had, and had a 10:30 mile, the last mile. I felt amazing and loved every second of it. That runners high lasted for a while. It was an incredible run!

Saturday night was Christmas with Daniel's dad's side-grandparents, cousins, etc...We missed it last year, so i was super excited for this year! We all brought a gift (around $25ish) and did a white elephant. This was mine.....

Don't you just love the wrapping? I forgot to take a pic of the gift, but I brought a gift card to the movies, popcorn, Coke, cookies, and candy. I love a good themed gift!

A family friend, Zach (mucho talented!) brought this, and i gladly took it home!

This picture doesn't really do it justice. But he took a picture and then put it on this piece of wood. The detail work is just beautiful!!!! I want to have him do a Texas one for me and hang them side by side. He also did a gift for Daniel's parents....

Here are all the men standing around...i love this. It's also special because Grandpa (on right) was taken to the hospital this morning. We just got back from seeing him. The update now is that they are doing an arteriorgram this afternoon, and determine blockage areas and if a stint is needed. He'll probably be there for a day or two. Will you pray with me for healing?

Zach (guy who made the pics) and Daniel at their "guys only" table. I think i heard "boys rule and girls drool" somewhere in there too.



Tired but happy...

Cute little Ellie!!!! Ellie is quite the adorable little girl. And i love that no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, she always remembers me and runs to hug me. Warms my heart!

I have no idea what they're looking at but love that they have the same expressions: Grandma Rose and her mom aka Granny.

Grandpa......

Every year, Grandma and Grandpa hide our gifts and read us a poem to give us individual hints to find our gift. I loved it!

My hint was a platter in the kitchen.....

Helping baby J with new his toy. Notice i ended up with all the kids gifts.....hmm.

We had such a wonderful night! Growing up we've never celebrated holidays with any family because we always lived so far away. I love that Daniel's family is so close and has big get-togethers. I try and soak it all up! I love the time spent eating dinner, sharing old stories, having tradittions...i love that i married into this family!

More updates to come..........

love

laura

Family freeeeze!

Wednesday night Daniel and I piled in my car to drive to see Grandpa Paul for a family get-together. Most of Daniel's family lives in Oklahoma, which makes it nice and easy to see everyone (except for Daniel's brother Mike and his wife, Laura who are in NJ).
Here is us driving...please notice my AWESOME red peacoat i got for my birthday!! (thanks Steve & Sherry!) I love this coat. I wear it all the time. (sadly, you can't see all of it)

We had chick-fil-a (my FAVE) and visited with Grandpa at his assisted living center. It was a great night visiting, and Grandpa was in great spirits this night.

Aren't they cute??

From left: Jared (Daniel's brother, Mel (Jared's wife), Jameston, Daniel, Me, Sherry (Daniel's mom), and Grandpa.

Wednesday night we went to bed wondering what Thursday would bring. We also played a few rounds of Catchphrase, because i love being read to or playing games when we're just laying in bed before we go to sleep.

Threats of severe winter weather flashed across the news constantly....rumors of ice, snow, and sleet. Most people don't like inclement weather....I LOVE IT!!!! I love the idea of being snowed in, staying in pj's all day, eating junk food, watching movies, and (now) snuggling with my man.

Thursday morning wasn't too bad. We headed to work to see what the day would bring! We saw freezing rain all day, but it took a few hours before it started getting icy. The roads got bad fast, so we headed home about 2ish. Daniel made dinner-sorry no pics :( We had grilled salmon and a concoction of grilled potatoes and peppers. Daniel is very creative in the kitchen. So far his creativity has paid off and he has made nothing but scrumptious food!

Friday brought a lot of ice and snow. The governor declared us in a State of Emergency. We got a snow day from work (yay for 3 day weekend) and slept in. Okay, I was up by 8:30, but that's sleeping in!!

Here is what we see from our apartment:

Notice the difference in what my car looks like in a matter of a few hours:

The snow came right up to our door! looks like we got a few inches!!

This is a lot of snow!! We usually have lots of grass and sidewalk here, which is completely covered!

We can't even see out of our front window because it's covered in ice!

We just finished homemade pizza (SO good), and hanging out watching a movie. I really want to get out tomorrow and get a few groceries and hit the gym, but we've seen so many cars trying to get out of the parking lot here and getting in a lot of trouble. So we'll see what happens!

have a great weekend!

love

laura