Time to play catch up...

So I started this blog a long time ago it seems to try to document a journey, but as you can se I have been abandoning it for a variety of reasons. Number one being motivation. I wanted to use it as a documentation of the process of pregnancy/ life through it and beyond, but since those plans have been put on hold a few months, did not feel like blogging. Number two being time. I work full time when not in school, and durring school, I go to scholl full time and work about 30 hours per week as well, so time is something I do not get alot of unless it consists of homework. it may not blog everyday, but one of my goals this year is to blog at least once a week or so, and include more than what I originally planned. I figure if people with three jobs and a kid, or no job but two kids can do it, I can as well!

So to catch up over the past couple months...L and I spent two weeks over Thanksgiving in North Carolina and Tennesee trying to relax and get a little family time in. We did indeed get family time, although it was not as relaxing as we had hoped for. I won't get into that, but it was still nice to go do some things we wanted to do, and see family. We got to meet our nieces who we had never met, and love them! I know we have both talked about wishing we could have seen them more and hope this is something that can happen in the future. We also got to go gem mining which we look forward to from the minute we leave the mine each time, and came home with a bag full of emeralds, rubbies, a sapphire, garnets, and many other pretty rocks. L got her wish and I accompanied her to DollyWood. If you ask her what there is to do in Tenessee, you will hear Dollywood be the first thing out of her mouth. I have to say, it was awesome! We rode rollercoasters, including the Mystery Mine (a close up of our picture take on the ride)

Needless to say, it was awesome, we rode it a couple times. We also rode all the other rollercoasters that were open, meaning none of the water ones, and took the train ride into the foothills of the smokies to look at Christmas lights. The train is a real steam engine, and you even get the ash in your eyes from the coal it is powered by. It was awesome, but a little cold. We had a blast there, and I would go again, even though there are not as many big rides as there are at Six Flags! On the way back from North Carolina there was a huge storm and all the flights routing through ATL (Atlanta) were delayed or canceled. Well, the nice gentelman at the desk thought it would possibly work if they rerouted us through MSP (Minneapolis St. Paul) instead, and we thought that to be a great idea as well. L, knowing the travel industry, being very friendly and lighthearted about the whole thing, and not being shy asked about being upgraded to first class. He said well I don't know if I can do that, so she asked for free bags instead since you now have to pay 15 per checked bag, and he said he didn't think that was something he could do either. We were ok with that as it never hurts to ask, and he got us on the flight to MSP, and didn't charge us for bags which was awesome. Well, as we were standing in line for security looking at our tickets seeing that we got a meal on the flight...we suspected it may be fist class. The more we looked, the more like first class it appeared we were to be sitting. needless to say our flight was delayed for 6 hours even going to MSP because the plane we got on was coming from ATL. So, we knew we would miss our flight from MSP to home that night, and planned to sleep in the airport as the airlines had already said that since due to weather, no accomodations would be made, or compensation either. We did make a couple awesome friends in the airport, and enjoyed talking to the them all day, and thankfully we were right next to the Cinnabon as well. So, when it was finally time to leave, we were indeed in first class, and man, dinner was amazing! I don't have any pictures of it that night though as I didn't think about it until it was to late. Then we get to MSP and at the counter waiting for us were hotel vouchers and food vouchers for dinner and breakfast! AWESOME! Go Delta, seriously so glad to sleep in a bed, not a chair! So we went to the hotel and went to bed.

Next day, it is snowing when we get up, just a little bit, but I was sooo excited about it and had to play in it for a few minutes. So we get there and cash in our vouchers at Starbucks for as much as we can (most of which ended up making it all the way home with us), board the plane which L had also talked us into first class for the night before, and away we go. I do have pictures of this, as I figure it will not happen often, so here are a few...

And yes, the third is my amazing breakfast complete with free wine...and real silverware! So that about sums up our trip...there was much more and many more pics, but three is enough for now. It was awesome, I love to fly, and first class really made it even more amazing!

Then came Christmas, which was awesome all around. We did Christmas with my family on the 16th as my sister was in town, some gifts recieved by us were a pea coat which I have really been wanting, Beatles Trivial Pursuit from my sister, L got a really nice cashmere sweater from my grandparents, and a lot of yarn from my sister, and my mom got us a new set of sheets which are really soft and our new favorites to sleep in among other things. My favorite gift that we gave this year was for my mom, a history teacher who is especially interested in WW2 a cigar box that we turned into a propoganda box. We took the cigar box and covered it in well known and not so well know WW2 propoganda posters and made a collage inside and out and then used buttons off an old military uniform to make a closure for it. I have a lot of pictures of us creating this, but until I can find the cord to the camera, imagination will have to suffice.

Oh, and the last thing I will tell you about Christmas, my absolute favorite part was L opening her gift from me. As some know she has lost over 130lbs since Nov 2008 and her wedding ring was falling off her finger. So, I went out and got her a new one that sparkles and suprised her. She had no clue and teared up when she opened it. It made me so happy to see her face and now to see her wear it everyday, and that was the best part of my Christmas this year.

Oh, and Sarah, thanks for telling me how to add pictures and links!