1st Chistmas

Total success. Enjoyed each other's company, visited the neighbors (and started our day with a bloody mary and some of the best biscuts and susage gravy i've ever had. Yeah, i know. They're Yankees!), hung out with a friend from school, and spent the majority of the day in PJ's. I count this as a win.

Even started some new traditions for Christmas Eve, thanks to the brillance of Peggy and John Steele. Fondue smorgasboard food + lots of board games. (fueled with a little wine and lots of good cheer.)

Now if only the Cowboys would pull off a win so we can all get our Christmas wishes fulfilled.

First Christmas

Less than a week before Christmas! And two weeks of play ahead of me. :) I'm still running around trying to get everything done and packed and sent off to everyone before Christmas Day. (I feel we may need to take out a small loan to send out all the gifts! LOL!!) I had such fun making ornaments, that i wanted to send one to EVERYONE. Plus, gifts to parents, grandparents, brother/sis-in-law, and friends gets pricy when you're sending more than just a card. Totally worth it, though. I loooove gift giving more than gift getting....
As for myself, i'd rather have an adventure day and a picture to remember it by more than anything else in the world, which is why the time off is going to be so special. A lot of the cool touristy things Rich and i have wanted to do together since moving have been postponed either because of time or finances or both, but hopefully we will get to check some things off our our "wish list" soon. But really, i'm looking forward to Christmas day... just church with Ricard, being generally lazy, and relaxing together. Coffee, and breakfast with just Toak and Mini, and maybe a walk in the snow... if the weather cooperates and the wind isn't so cold. And only one rule: no projects or home improvement tasks for a whole day. whoo hoo!
We're so close to having many of our home projects done.. it feels like i'm forever saying that, though. Some days i just have to pretend the insanity doesn't exist, because it's impossible to clean up when you're living in a make-shift construction site.
Ah, well. Life is good.

Updates...

Can't sleep...time for updates:
We're going to have a "white christmas"! which doesn't excite anyone here in Chicago except maybe me... but it's pretty awesome.
We got our first snow on December 2nd, which is pretty late in the year for around here. I've been so swamped with the last weeks of school that i haven't really had time to enjoy it, but we did take some pictures of the house, and a test drive around the neighborhood...and a few days later i went to downtown Lake Forest to take pictures of the square to send to Grandma.
No snowman yet... soon, hopefully. :)

The house is looking so good... i'm so grateful and impressed with all the hard work Richard is (somehow) finding the time and energy to do. The new kitchen tile is IN and just needs to be grouted, and the new pendant lights are up over the sink. I know it's sad to say, but i'll be sad to see this house go after how amazing the kitchen (and the rest of the house) turned out. But Rich promises me that we can do it to any house we want to, and he'll be glad to do it to another one--in Texas--again. ;)

We've decorated for Christmas, and hopefully, this weekend i'll get my gifts finished up and sent off to people. I think we are going to be doing a "Christmas video DVD" instead of a letter, if Rich has his way. Fine by me, as long as i don't have to do the editing. I think it sounds like a fun idea.
School is going well... got to do a lot of awesome stuff lately. This semester is really picking up speed. Today we did a heart dissection. It was AMAZING. I can't wait to begin work. Or even just the clinicals...
*sigh*
Clinicals. That's on my heart lately. God will provide all the answers. "He can make a way where there seems to be no way." ...theme of my life. So...i'm trying to just not rush it and let it all fall into place. Still, i wish someone would respond soon so i don't look like i'm dragging my feet, when really i just have nothing to report and am trying to delay until i know what the plan is... So far, no one in Tx has jumped for joy at the idea of starting a new clinical site, so i might be duking it out with the rest of the crew for the available ones. We'll see.
Can't sleep tonight... too much on my mind. Including tomorrow's presentation that i'm nervous about. Not about speaking. I love public speaking  (unlike most people, i know), but the professor that is really, really into the details about the biochemistry and physiology of the disease i'll be speaking on has told me he plans to make an appearance for my presentation because he "loves the kidneys and their associated Pathologies"... so, lucky me, i'll be sure to have to answer questions at the end. Hopefully i am prepared for him...
Ok. enough procrastinating. I'm going to try to sleep.  Maybe.