CHRISTMAS AND AN UPDATE

Hiya!

Checking in after a long and relaxing Christmas weekend chock full of family and friends. 

We had Matt's dad and his girlfriend, two sisters, and a 60 pound German Shepard named Elsa under our 1,800 square foot roof.

It was cozy and chaotic, name because TJ spent the better part of those 48 hours terrorizing and beating on Elsa to the point that the dog was keeping a 2 foot wide berth away from TJ. Hilarious. 

Elsa opened her own gifts, which was equal parts adorable and messy. 

I didn't spend a lot of time taking photos, in fact beyond the usual snaps of TJ, these two were all I got. 

In other news, an update on my hit and run drama. 

I'm knocking on wood as I share this because it hasn't been wrapped up in totality, but I have a good feeling about where it's headed (barring a battle with the insurance company). 

Last I shared, I wasn't hopeful anything would come from it because MPD seemed to indicate that a no-injury hit and run wouldn't be pursued in the same manner as an injury one. Shortly after that call I got a letter from MPD saying they sent a certified letter to the vehicle owner asking them to identify insurance within 15 days or they would flag his car, impound it if the saw it, and revoke his license. 

Shortly after receiving the letter, I was contacted by an officer. He asked me again for a brief narrative of the situation and a physical description of the driver. I gave it to him and he asked if I thought I could identify him if I saw him again. I said yes, I most likely could: I've always prided myself on my memory, so I was feeling pretty confident. He then told me he'd put together a photo lineup for me to look at. O_O. 

Last Monday I was contacted by the officer saying he'd assembled the photos and asking if I could come in. It's not at all how it goes in the movies- I was only allowed to look at one photo at a time, which was printed on an 8x11 (not that 6-photos-per-page stuff you see on TV) but I could go through the order as many times as I wanted and spend as long as I needed with each photo. There were 6 photos that he shuffled into a random order. I remember getting through a few photos and then getting to one and instantly thinking, "YEP, that's him." ... I set that photo apart a little and continued through the rest. I went through them again rather quickly, and was even more confident he was the right guy. The whole thing took me about 2 minutes. 

The officer never indicated clearly whether I had gotten it right but say immediately after he had a feeling the city attorney would be bringing misdemeanor leaving-the-scene charges, and that he'd be supplementing the report with insurance information-- turns out the guy had called and provided his info between receiving the letter and the lineup. 

We got the updated information yesterday and are sending it through my insurance. The irony is we both have the same provider, so.. it remains to be seen whether that complicates or helps the process. Ha! 

The moral of the story is, don't hit someone and drive away. Especially after they tell you they're a lawyer. 

MERRY AND BRIGHT

I'm a walking cliché with that post title, and I'm fine with it.
Things finally feel like they're calming down a little bit, and for that, I am grateful.
Last weekend M and I parted ways and finished up some last minute Christmas shopping. We had an unexpected visitor when Dana got trapped in Minnesota another night due to an ice storm. It was nice having her- and we met up with one of her college friends to brave the Mall of America the Saturday before Christmas. It sounds like insanity but we lucked out in finding a parking spot, and everybody maintained their sanity.

Saturday night we went to M's friends' parents house for a fondue party and giant Jenga. It was a lot of fun, and I'm always so thankful I married someone with such a great group of friends. As someone who doesn't have a cohesive "group" (I seem to have collected a hodge podge from various areas of my life) his is a lot of fun for me.

Sunday night we had Christmas round 1 with M's mom and sister in the cities. We'd be seeing her Christmas Eve, too.. but didn't want to lug presents up north when we live 7 minutes away in the cities.

{some Christmas scenes from around our house}

{helpless when a good chin scratch comes around}

Monday after work we headed up to M's dad's in northwestern Minnesota. It was nice to hang out and have some drinks and relax after a long drive.

(and sample some slightly burnt almond bark popcorn..)

Christmas Eve day was pretty lazy.. we lounged and watched a movie and wrapped a few last minute gifts. That night we went to M's mom's extended family's annual Christmas Eve. You follow that? The unfortunate part was that the aunt and uncle who were hosting lived over an hour away from M's dad's (which was already a 3 hour drive from home) so Betty (our car) logged a lot of miles this week.

We played a white elephant game in which I nearly won a shirt that said "Behold, fartacus" .. only to be saved by M's step-dad, go back to the pile of wrapped gifts, and come out with a Duck Dynasty shirt. M really wanted a gift that came with a mason jar with some hot apple pie (a sort of moonshine, if you will): said gift also happened to come with a Duck Dynasty chia pet. I haven't seen a second of the show and after .. ahem.. "recent events", I only wish we had a fire place so I could burn them both. Woof.  

 

{Christmas Eve}

We woke up bright and early Christmas Day to eat breakfast and open gifts with M's dad, his dad's girlfriend, and both of M's sisters. I'm really not a "post my gifts on social media" person.. it's not that I'm not proud of them but I don't like that it feels like a competition. That being said, I have to brag on Natalie who got me the most thoughtful gift that I have been wanting, and putting off buying, for myself: a BEAUTIFUL leather camera bag... a CUTE camera bag- it's a cross body and I am obsessed with it. Which is perfect because M got me a 50mm/f1.8 lens for my fancy camera (can you tell by the return of the "nice photos" on the blog!?). I'm so excited I'll be able to carry my camera without fear of it getting smashed on things or flopping around a normal purse. She got me a special insert that real camera bags have, too.. so once I get that (shipping mishap), my baby Canon will be coming errywhere with me. It's also perfect for Paris in March. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that on here? I'm going to Paris in March. Will have to post appropriately about that at a later date.

We left his dad's around 2:00 and headed back to the cities to pick up some dinner and do one last Christmas with my immediate family.

I have to say one more thing about gifts: I don't like giving "lists" to family and friends. If they ask, sure, I'll point them in a good direction... but lists feel like grocery shopping, and to me, a present is more than that. It also helps that I'm not picky, and generally, have been really happy with most the gifts I've been given over the years. So when my brother asked what I wanted, I told him scarves, mittens, and what colors I liked, and when I opened the two adorable scarves he picked out, it means a little more to me because these aren't just "things I asked for".. these are things he carefully selected, and are from my brother. I just prefer it that way.

I also generally prefer putting my thoughts into what gifts I'll be giving, and this year, I was MOST excited about one in particular: my brother's. After my dad got out of the hospital M was able to hook him up with a first generation iPad since his work was upgrading theirs. For a very UN-techy man, my dad was hooked. But I noticed something else, whenever Stephen was lounging in the living room, it was so much easier to just pick up my dad's ipad than get his laptop. I should mention his laptop is from 2008, and if it comes unattached from the charger for even a SECOND- it crashes. So, I thought, a tablet would be an absolutely perfect gift for him. We got him a Samsung Galaxy S4 (I think that is the right one) and impatiently waited for Christmas to give it to him. What followed was HILARIOUS and absolutely made my day.

<<Stephen starts to tear into his gift>> "oh,... wow! This is uh, way nicer than my cell phone."

pause... I slowly realize what's going on: he thinks it's a cell phone (he doesn't have a smart phone).

Me: Uh, you know that's not a cell phone... that's a tablet. Like Matt's. and Dad's.

Stephen: WHAT?! OMG that's even better! Oh god I was just thinking, "uh, I can't afford a data plan for this thing.... bahahah!" ...

I just lost it. Poor kid thought we got him a smart phone that came with a plan he couldn't afford. Once he realized that was not the case, the gift was about 10 times better. It was so fun watching him play with it, and kept saying how cool it was... and the google-search-voice-recognition thing? Both he and my dad were having a blast. M and I don't use our Netflix nearly as much as we should, so we gave Stephen the password so he could use it too, and we'd get our money's worth.

It absolutely made my Christmas to see him so happy. The stress of living at my parents still, especially with both my dad and my mom around 24/7, and he and my dad butting heads... often, I thought he deserved something nice.

And lastly, because as if you need a reminder what blog you're reading, some gratuitous cat photos:

Hope you all had a great Christmas weekend as well. :)

Christmas Eve and Day

Hi again! Let's pick up where we left off. 

Sunday: That strange day that happened between Christmas festivities. I honestly just spent the last 5 minutes trying to figure out what day it was that I did my crafting on because I totally spaced that Sunday happened. Woops. 

Anyway, Sunday was a lazy day. We slept in, had coffee, and lounged. I worked on some wedding crafts (more burlap flowers with a lighter burlap) and M watched football. We finished off some Christmas shopping, and then resumed our positions on the couch. 

 

Christmas Eve: Christmas eve day, M and I opened our gifts to each other. I got another blanket (see, I'm an addict). In case you're curious, I also got a new curling iron and sleepy-time shirt. Rumor has it another gift is en route via the USPS. 

I got M sweatpants, a t-shirt, a flannel shirt, and the BEST GIFT -- Mystery Tackle Box of the Month Club. Starting in January, for 3 months, M will get a box that has 3-5 lures (a mystery each month) with advice and explanations on how to use them. I was floored when I found this. It's like birchbox for dudes.  

TJ got a box, again. The same box Melissa sent for my secret santa gift but to TJ, it was a BRAND NEW BOX. the best kind. TJ also endured a brief stint as "Christmas Kitteh" which involved a bow and lots of contempt. We got ready and headed over to my dad's for lunch and Christmas Eve mass. After mass, we headed to my uncles for the standard evening of snacks, dice game, and lots of screaming children. 

 

 I'm interrupting this otherwise caption free photo montage to tell you the following. That lady above is my grandma. Her shirt says "Grandma of the Bride." She's 95 and still loves a cold beer or margarita. Love her.

Christmas Day: Christmas Day, M and I woke up and headed over to my dad's to do gifts with my immediate family. Afterwards, we headed to my mom's mom like we've done every Christmas, and had brunch and opened gifts there. 

Aaannnddd that was Christmas 2012! I love that we got to see all 4 sets of parents/families in such a short period of time. It's so rare that it happens that way and it was so nice. 

I'm crabby-pants that M has off until January 2nd (yeah.) and I have to work this week... but at least it's a short week! Hopefully I can get off New Years Eve, or at least a half day, so M and I can continue our skating tradition. Being a grown up isn't all it's cracked up to be folks. I sorta miss having a month off between semesters. That being said, I do NOT miss the ever present fear of the bar exam, and having to study every weekend. This holiday season was the first one not spent studying, and it was perfect :) 

 

Pre-Christmas Festivus

We're going to skip the part where I'm super bitter to be sitting at work and move right along to the Christmas recap. 

I'm breaking this down into 2 posts since we had 4 Christmases (HEY. like the MOVIE, guys!) Instead of running down where we went, who was there, and what each photo shows, I'm just going to give a brief little intro and then do a photo dump. 

Friday: Friday night we had M's dad and girlfriend down from Moorhead for dinner and gifts. They spent the night, and we had brunch the next morning before they hit the road. 

Saturday: Saturday we lounged after saying goodbye to M's dad, and then we headed over to M's mom's for a dinner of steak and lobster and more family time and presents! We skyped with M's sister Natalie who lives in Michigan, played with the puppies, and ate ourselves sleepy.

Up tomorrow: Christmas Eve & Christmas Day! Hope you all had a fantastic holiday as well. :)