Sunday, January 9, 2011

Goodbye, 2010. Hello 2011!

Happy New Year! I feel like it's time for my monthly update from December.

The last time I posted, I was a day away from graduating college. That was almost 4 weeks ago. It's hard to believe I've been a real adult for almost a month now...it hasn't really kicked in. Getting to Greensboro for the ceremony was a bear; it snowed and iced the entire morning and into the early afternoon! Luckily they didn't cancel it, and my entire family was there to celebrate with me. Nan even came to wish me well. It's good to know I have so many people supporting me! Afterward, I went out to lunch with my dad and his girlfriend, my aunt and uncle, grandparents, and Zach and his mom. :)

The week of Christmas, tragedy struck our family when we lost my cousin, Tiffany. She was only 23 and battled many problems throughout her lifetime--She passed away peacefully in her sleep. It was a hard time for all of us, but we feel better knowing that she's in a better place now with no pain.

That week, I also got to meet Zach's dad for the first time because he came down to trade cars with Zach's brother, Josh. We were just getting home from having lunch with my family after the funeral when he arrived in town, so we went out with him and had dessert while he had dinner. It was very nice to meet him :)

Christmas passed in a blurr--the night before Christmas Eve (Christmas Eve Eve, as we refer to it in my family), I went on a sushi date with Zach and my sister, and then we went to Lauren and Michael's to look at Christmas lights and play games. It's a cousin's tradition that we started last year. I love being able to spend time with my family now that we're all grown up. Christmas Eve, I woke up and finished wrapping my Christmas presents while Zach was at work, and then met him for lunch at Five Guys. This was the only time that we got to spend together on Christmas Eve, because he had to work and then went straight to his mom's to celebrate with her. I went to my mom's for the night, where we rested for a little while before getting ready for the night. We headed out to Lois and Randy's for their annual Christmas party while everyone was at church, and then came back to mom's to open presents. I spent the night there, and of course Summer and I wore our annual matching Christmas PJ's. :) The next morning we woke up, my aunt and uncle came back and we had breakfast, and we relaxed for the rest of the morning. Summer, Zach and I headed over to my grandparent's house where we had lunch and opened presents. After we made a pit stop back at mom's house, we went BACK to Lauren and Michael's to hang out with them and Tyler and Andrew. We played lots of games, and watched the weather as the first white Christmas of our lives began to form. Almost an inch accumulated before we even got home that night! It was beautiful.

The next day we woke up to a winter wonderland--almost 7 inches in Cary! A wonderful snow day also kicked off our week of vacation from work (I had 2 weeks off since Durham Public Schools were closed but Zach only got one week off). We stayed in our sweats all week and didn't do anything productive at ALL. It was GLORIOUS. 

To end the week, we celebrated New Years Eve at Lauren and Michael's house. It was a nice, low-key evening filled with games and snacks. We rang in the New Year with champagne and then headed home for the evening.

I started back to work this week, and was blessed to pick up a 4-day job at Creekside for a third grade classroom without a teacher. I'm going back tomorrow, because I've been told that the teacher they have hired is bogged down in paperwork. I'm praying that this is the step that I need to get my foot in the door and hopefully get a job one day soon! I've had some difficulty with one of the students, but it's only making my experience that much more enjoyable....I just want a job!!!!

I'm going to go watch the last 2 minutes of the Duke game...it's a nail biter! :)