Goodbyes and Hellos

December has been a very busy month! Dave and I said many goodbyes as we left Idaho and began the long trip to Texas. 

Here are a few of the highlights...

 We ate at the finest restaurant in Ashton, Idaho one more time. We will miss you BIG JUDS!

I stood by the ever growing trees one more time.*

Every year for the past 4 years I have stood by the same Ashton tree to measure its height. It has really grown!

 

 We stopped to say HELLO to LA & visit Jenny & Paul. It rained when we were there and did not get to fulfill my dream of visiting Disneyland. I guess this means we will have to go back this summer! I even got to hold Harley while I was there:) 

We made it back to El Paso safe and sound and began to get ready for the Holidays. 

We went to the mall and saw gingerbread displays. We thought we would try and match the competition...

                                 I think we might be in the running next year!

I made a snowball cake! This is what you have time for when you are unemployed and have no school:)

We made sugar cookies that were supposed to be for our neighbors.

    Dave managed to sneak one too many before this was possible! 

Maybe next year right?

This Christmas Dave & I stayed in El Paso & celebrated our first one away from family. It was hard, but we tried to make the best of it!

Christmas Eve...

Dave was suppose to go into work, but got put on call at the last minute! We made a nice Christmas Eve dinner filled with each of our favorites.

We made sure to put our stockings by the tree and read my favorite, "Twas The Night Before Christmas."

Sadly, Dave got called in during the wee hours of the morning and left me to make sure Santa came:)

 Somehow he managed to find us all the way in El Paso!Don't worry we know our tree is sad & small!

Convincing Dave to open presents before he went to sleep was difficult, but I won!

Dave framed this painting for me and did it all on his own!

                         Dave joined the real man's club as he now owns

                                                his own gun.

What a lucky girl! I got a key finder. I really do NOT know how Santa knew that I wanted this:)

His first bluray movie!

We finished the morning off by eating delicious homemade orange cinnamon rolls!

We are so grateful for our families at this holiday season & the love & support they send our way. We miss all of you, but were happy to make some of our own traditions this year!

OH & by the way I leave for home in the morning followed by Dave in a few days! I finally get to squeeze my little niece!

An Award for Myself...

I am writing this post mostly for my pure enjoyment and I want to be able to see it in writing. You are probably thinking that I am a loser! Ha I know, but just wait...

I am awarding myself a:

SUCCESSFUL WALMART EXPERIENCE AWARD

I only waited in the line at Walmart for FIVE minutes!!!!! I almost started to cry when I saw that there was only one person in front of me. If you have ever been to the Walmart by our apartments you will understand. It is usually a minimum of 20-30 minutes to check out! I was full of so much joy that I think I chatted the ear off my cashier and ended up leaving a bag of groceries there. When I went back I had to wait 25 minutes. This still did not discourage me from being oh so proud of my earlier experience!

Oh and a side note I am trying something new. I planned a month's worth of meals (stole the idea from my smart sister!) and went shopping for the next two weeks.

It was a heavy cart full of ingredients and of course I parked a mile away up a small hill. Needless to say I not only grocery shopped, but got a decent leg workout:)

To celebrate my successful day I was able to watch one of my favorite holiday movies, The Polar Express in peace because Dave was at work!

The Wait Is OVER...

Today is a very special day!! It will go down in the Michael Family history book as: "The Day the Great Depression Ended" Dave is coming to pick and pack me up! We are finally going to both be living not only in the same state, but apartment also! Who knew a girl could be so lucky:)

We are Disneyland bound for the next few days thanks to my nice sister Jenny and her husband Paul for letting us crash at their place!

Goodbye cold weather... I am sneaking out just in time!!!

So the next time I talk to you I just might respond with a y'all or howdy cause I'm a TEXAN!!!!