Christmas, 2013

I am way beyond blessed; 2013 was such a fulfilling year for Nick and I, and concluded no less than perfect.  Perfect for us.  Perfect in the most imperfect of ways; just the way we'd want it.  We went skiing, I restarted my weight loss journey, my dad got a major promotion, my sister graduated high school, we got married, went to Mexico, and bought a house, I reunited with my favorite world traveler, and we decorated/celebrated our first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs.  As we end our winter break, I just wanted to take a minute to reminisce about this most precious Christmas holiday.  
Thanks to our career choices, we had the luxury of enjoying time off from work without using vacation or sick leave.  This allowed us to travel to visit both sets of parents and have time to ourselves to conclude our break.  It is always important to put in quality family time; however, taking time to spend strictly the two of us is something we also treasure.  I find that it can be overwhelming to travel, adjust to others' styles of living, schedules, etc., and alas we now sit here peacefully unwinding after all of our visiting.  
We began the holidays visiting with my side of the family.  The aunts and uncles (and my parents) chipped in to fly my grandparents down to spend Christmas with all of us.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner and rounds conversation.  We ended the evening in our Christmas jammies (a tradition my dad has started and upholds) ready to slumber in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there :)
After our visit with my family, we hopped into the car and moseyed up north to see Nick's side of the family.  Per usual, we enjoyed a meal from my absolute favorite restaurant and a few hands of texas hold'em and pinochle.  We also enjoyed a fancy night out at Ruth's Chris as a family and followed up with a little gambling at the casino.  Note to self: you're not that great at it.  Oh well, I suppose!  

And now we are back home anticipating going back to work for two fun-filled days before we get another 2 days off.  I can't say as I'm overly eager to get back to work as this break was so fulfilling; however, I am ready to stop living like a lazy slob and get back to the grind.  Merry Christmas (a little late)!!