Don't you hate it when you wait so long for something and then once it's here it flies by way too fast?
I spent the weekend of December 18th in Granite Falls to have Christmas with my grandparents. Justin had just returned from his Cowabunga trip in the Northeast and rode with my parents to meet me there. We had a great weekend with presents, chicken pie, and family time. On Sunday, Justin rode with me back to Knoxville to spend a few days before Christmas break. He got to meet Asher, who loved him (though he probably would've loved anyone after being abandoned for two entire days!). He went to the slaughterhouse with me Monday and spent the rest of the day tagging along with me in the lab. He watched me slice embryos, search for oocytes, and do some chores like checking incubators and washing dishes. We met my good friend Emily for dinner Monday night at Downtown Grill & Brewery where we enjoyed delicious burgers and lots of great conversation. We stopped by Mast General Store which is such a neat place! We then went into the Knoxville visitor's center where they were having their weekly Monday night bluegrass jam session. It was just a bunch of people sitting around playing bluegrass music with chords and words projected on a screen. That was really neat!!
Tuesday he decided to stay at the apartment and catch up on some Cowabunga financial stuff since he was the treasurer for the trip. We went to the barn to see Essau for a while, then came home and had my famous chili for dinner! Wednesday was the lab's Christmas lunch at a place called the Courtyard. It was everyone in our lab, Schrick, and two of his grad students, Roper and Mayfield. I had a few more chores to do that afternoon and then we packed up and headed to Marion.
We spent a few days in the mountains visiting friends, spending time with family, opening presents, making Christmas candies, and EATING. I had the most incredible SunDrop pound cake (which I now have the recipe for) along with peanut butter balls, candy covered ritz cracker and peanut butter sandwiches, candy covered pretzels, fudge, puppy chow, chips and dip, sausage balls, and other snackies of the sort. We did Christmas Eve snackies with Justin's Grandma Shirley and family and then opened presents at his mom's house. I got a pretty white fleece along with some cute pjs that say I <3 my boyfriend all over them.
We woke up Christmas morning and I helped Louise cook a spread of food for their traditional breakfast. All of the kids came over and had presents at "Pappaw's house". I got a great black vest with gray zip-in fleece, some really nice fleece gloves, and a clean cotton candle from Yankee Candle Co. It started snowing around 9:00 AM and by 10:00 when we left, there was about an inch on the ground. We drove to Raleigh in the snow, which ceased around the Greensboro area. We went straight to my parents house and hung out there for a few hours until my brother and Sam came over for dinner and presents. We had a yummy pork roast dinner with pound cake for dessert :) After dinner came the presents. I got a macro lens for my camera along with a pretty necklace, a t-shirt, and a few fun little other things. Sam's big excitement was a new bike from my brother. She reminded me of a little kid getting their first bike :) It started snowing in Raleigh around 9:00 PM which made it the first white Christmas since 1947!!
Justin and I went to his apartment that night to get snowed in!! The next week was very lazy and lots of fun. We had dinner with friends, spent some time at the barn, made lots of fun food like snow cream (my first ever), sweet potato pancakes, chicken noodle soup, and popcorn on the cob. It was incredible to sleep in every day and to spend a few days in front of the tv in my pjs. I feel bad for Justin who had to endure probably 6 or so hours of My Fair Wedding with David Tutera. "The Tut" (pronounced toot), as Justin calls him, was just about the only thing on and I love that show (I also don't get weTV in Knoxville)!! We watched a few movies, including Beauty & the Beast (which I got for Christmas from my brother) and DaVinci Code.
Spending all day every day with Justin was absolutely peaceful and was exactly what I needed. Even when we had nothing to do, just sitting on the couch together was enough. It is absolutely true what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder. We are so in love and though distance may temporarily separate us, nothing will ever keep us from loving each other. It was of course wonderful to spend time with my family and friends as well! I really missed them and enjoyed every minute of my break. My time in Raleigh made me miss home A LOT and going back to Knoxville Sunday after lunch was really difficult. There were tears, no doubt, and I was not loving life Sunday evening when I got home to a quiet apartment and when I realized I wouldn't be waking up in the company of friends and family tomorrow. But life must go on and I have a life here in Tennessee now that needs some attention too. If nothing else, this break has given me a drive and push to get through the next semester...hopefully I'll find more pushes to get me through the following two. Oh, so we're getting married 17 months from yesterday...All this David Tutera has gotten me really excited again about weddings!! My mom will be coming during my Spring Break so we can go dress shopping!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! :) :) :)
Here are pictures from the break. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment