December

What an insane month. Work craziness, anniversary party craziness, Christmas craziness, eating way too much food and exercising way too little craziness, having to leave NC a day early due to this crazy snow storm...
I think you get the picture. This month has been crazy. And lovely. And full of laughter and love and warmth (both in the coziness of our home and the 62 degree weather in NC - gosh it was hard to come back north).
We started one week by renewing our vows (in a beautiful service - and yes, i did cry through the whole thing) and ended it by witnessing two dear friends get married. Excellent bookends to a crazy week! Work was full of food and parties and bonding and not as many meetings as usual.
Our trip to NC was fun although it didnt go quite as expected. Chick-fil-a was not to be had since we forgot they aren't opened on Sunday (thus ruining our dinner plans on the way down), or on Christmas (thwarting our chance to eat on the way home). We loved having time with the Meeks family and had a blast sharing a hotel room with Rob and Kate, where the brothers bonded over Halo and Minecraft and Kate and I over wine and cheese! Our Christmas Day plans, however, went to the dogs because of the storm. We all ended up leaving a day early. So instead of room service and Les Miserables, we spent 7 hours in the car, realizing that NOTHING is open on Christmas. We tried to do dinner and a movie but it was sold out. So we ate in our car at a Sheetz. Not the fancy meal I was hoping for but still delicious. On the bright side, there was no traffic and we had great weather. We did end up getting to see the movie, just a day late, and it was worth the wait. And Charles and I had a fun time traveling together: talking and flirting and laughing and listening to Bossy Pants and Life of Pi audiobooks.
Christmas this year was so meaningful. Our church really helped get me be in the spirit of Advent. Our time with family was thoughtful and full of joy and love. My husband is definitely the gift whisperer and gave me a gift I will cherish always.
My family has always done Christmas well. My parents always got my brother and I great gifts but we learned early on that the joy of Christmas isn't about how much stuff you get. It's about the thought behind the gift, but more importantly, it's about being with the people you love and celebrating Jesus. I hope that we can instill those lessons in our children someday.
So here's to being snowed in, to a wonderful end to the Christmas season (although Charles will yell at me for that and say that Christmas lasts until Epiphany) and the last month of 2012!