It seems like FOREVER since I last blogged. I'm glad to be back!
I spent 9 days in Portland and had a BLAST visiting with friends & family. It really was one of my best trips "home" since I moved away. I was able to just enjoy myself and not be concerned with what everybody else thinks... it's a bummer that I didn't get to hang out with a couple people that I would have liked to, but I can't feel GUILTY for that! I see last week as a major breakthrough in my "people pleasing" tendancies. Thank you, LORD!! I just love seeing growth happen right before your eyes. :)
We ate out at all of our favorite restaurants: Olive Garden - celebrating Grandma's birthday, Red Lobster - my brother worked there a year and a half ago and STILL gets a 25% discount!!, Red Robin - my all time favorite, and Yan's - the BEST Chinese food. I went with my brother, mom, and grandparents to see the new Narnia movie, which I LOVED! I think those movies are some of my favorites. I really should read the books... ;-) Kyle and I found a tree farm near our grandparent's house and chopped down our own tree this year... that is definitely a tradition I'd like to keep from now own! It was so great! I spent a super fun evening with 3 of my closest friends from high school - Lindsay, Benita & Taylor. We baked a TON of sweets and laughed the whole night... it was just like "old times." :) Kyle and I went to Solid Rock's 11pm Christmas Eve Service at the Arlene Shnitzer concert hall in downtown Portland! This is one of our favorite Christmas traditions. We saw some great friends and the service was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We drove down to Eugene to spend a day with family there. It was so fun to see cousins, nephews, brothers, sister, aunts, grandparents, parents, and even a 2nd cousin. :) My aunt's house was beautifully decorated, we played a game of Apples to Apples - my favorite!!, we ate a delicious spaghetti dinner, opened a few presents and just enjoyed each other's company. My sister and I got each other the same picture of us in a frame! It was so funny! Kyle and I spent the night w/ the Whitehead family - Tim, Jill, Hunter, Farleigh & Maggie. They are very much like family to us and we had such a great night with them playing games and watching movies!
Whew - that was my Christmas vacation! The good thing is... I still have two and a half weeks until school starts! I plan to spend this week reading, resting, shopping (yay for giftcards!) and playing in the SNOW that we're supposed to get all day tomorrow!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, too! :)
Sounds like a perfect Christmas break! :)
ReplyDeleteI need to get caught up on blogging too, but I don't feel like doing it just yet.
Yay for Red Robin! That was my favorite restaurant growing up. And when I went to college, my best friend's brother worked there...so we usually ate for free. :)
Yes - it's been great!
ReplyDeleteI understand that... I took a week and a half off. :) I love Red Robin - what a sweet deal w/ your friend's brother working there. ;-)