Full On Holiday Busyness

April is a good time to reminisce about Christmas, yes? It's already getting hot and muggy down here, so I'll take some time this morning to think about the cold holiday weather and our trip to North Carolina for the holidays. :o)

My sweet husband indulged my desire to see Christmas lights. I have a lot of memories as a child of me and my siblings loading up in our vehicle with our parents so they could drive us around to look at lights every year. Sometimes, we would drive for what seemed like hours, but I'm sure it didn't take that long. I love it, though! I hope we will continue that tradition for years to come!

We also got to put up a tree this year! We had limited time to enjoy it because of our busy schedules with work, him finishing his semester at school, plus holiday travel, but I'm so glad we got to have one! <3 Looking forward to trying for a real fir tree in the future!

And, of course, my Kenyan manger scene made its appearance. :o) 

Complete with gifts of Frankincense. Ha! 

~~~

Before we left for North Carolina on Christmas Day, we got together with his side of our family a couple of days before Christmas. Tons of presents, lots of laughter, games and delicious gumbo!

This is our family! Damion, me, his brother, and his parents!

One of his favorite little gifts. 

Its hard to enjoy drinks (without a straw) when you have a full beard!

<3

~~~~~

Next up, our drive to North Carolina! Damion had to work Christmas Day, so we didn't get to leave until mid-day. 900 or so miles to go, we were off! We drove through the night and got to my parents in the wee hours of the morning on the 26th. We rested for a little while, then headed out to go meet my mom's side of the family for our big family Christmas. We got to see so many of our favorite littles that day! In the afternoon, Damion and I went to visit my cousins Emily and Royce and their girls, too... more babies to love on!

Love all those babies! <3 

The next day, it was time for my family Christmas. Its all about the kiddos, of course! We all go over to my brother's house, and my sister-in-law makes a HUGE spread of appetizers. It's so yummy!

<3 <3 <3

Uncle Damion and Natalie, out to eat before my parents have to leave for work.

~~~

Another favorite holiday tradition for me is getting together with my college besties! Matt and Marie were two of my first friends when I went to college *mumblemumblenumberofyearsago*, and since we're all pretty close together since my parents moved to Hickory, we try to make sure we get together! Love these two!

And we indulge in desserts after dinner. :o) 

 More deliciousness in North Carolina ... Cookout!
(I promise we didn't just eat the whole time we were there.. hahah)

 

To finish up our trip, we hung out at home with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece for New Year's Eve. We had a bonfire out back, complete with hot dogs, marshmallows, and a few drinks.
Here's to 2016!

January 1 -- we headed out early in the morning, but made sure to grab the last of the North Carolina / North part of the South delicacies... Bojangles! Haha... 

And we finished our journey late in the evening, arriving home in time to unload and crash in bed!
Hearts full, excited for the new year, but sleep was definitely needed!

More Travels in November!

I feel like November flew by for us!
Damion was nearing the end of his semester and preparing for tests, and I was busy with my new work schedule - trying to balance time spent with my oils and helping my friends with that, then working in the afternoons at the childcare center. We battled the sniffles a couple of times, but things were moving along smoothly.

Mid-month, Damion had a weekend off just in time for me to feel like I needed time to veg out on the couch. So, add that to some much needed brother hang out time and you get a photo like this...

Dustin, a man who shoves scissors up his nose, and Damion

all enjoying the Texas Renaissance Festival.

Here's a photo I took one afternoon after work. This is our back parking lot, and I turned around to see this after taking out the trash. I had to stand there and stare for a few moments. :o) Amazing!

Suddenly, it was time for Thanksgiving! Damion's family all joins up together at his Grandmother's house. There was lots of delicious food, of course, and we usually end up playing games and sitting around talking for a bit. 

Elaina and her daddy, Uncle Jamie, worked on her makeup for the festivities.

Quelf is a big favorite of ours! Hilarious.. you should check it out!

We finally had some room for dessert.
Elaina is having some of my carrot cake, but she wanted us to have some water and lemon.

Now we're just being silly!

The end of the Thanksgiving weekend offered up the opportunity to see another friend. One of my very best friends, Hallie, was visiting her family in west Florida, so we met up and had a suuuuper long lunch in Biloxi, MS. It was such refreshment to my soul to see her! <3 <3 <3

If you're having a long lunch in Biloxi, it may as well be at a casino.

We ended up having the great blessing of relaxing that evening in Biloxi for the night! What a nice treat!! So, on the way home on Sunday, we decided to dip down into New Orleans just to drive around for a couple of hours since it was such a pretty day! Here's some of our carside adventures via iPhone photos. :o)

And next, we rush right into December!

October! It's like a new beginning!

I don't know why I always feel that way. Sure, every time a new month begins, there can be a little bit of anticipation about life.. doing things better, a new budget, who has a birthday, etc. But for me, October feels like a different kind of fresh start. It's the start of a cooler season, usually. You're heading into the holiday season (and no, I don't mean the fact that you can walk into most stores and purchase Christmas-y things when you're really just looking for pumpkin decor and early Halloween candy!), and it feels like you have just enough time to get everything ready! So, why are we always rushing around until the last minute. haha...

Our October began with a super fast weekend trip up to Tennessee to see my family. My nieces both have birthdays in September, so my Mom likes to get together and celebrate all together when we can. Our plan was to leave after class on Thursday, and we'd drive through the night to meet everyone on Friday morning... but, things don't happen like you plan them for road trips, do they? :o) We woke up that morning to send him off on his day, but we had a flat tire on the car. Womp! Womp! It ended up taking all day long to deal with (find out if it can be patched, find a tire, is the rim bent?, then you have to find someone else to fix that, but when? and packing! and work and school, and ... grrr...), but we got it all done and ended up leaving about the same time we had planned, so at least that worked in our favor. My Mother-In-Law was an incredible blessing to us all day long, of course!


So, we headed up to Tennessee and hung out with my family for a few days. We stayed in a house at a mountain waterpark. It was a pretty neat place! Lots of fun for everyone. Here's a big mix of photos! The house was super nice! We enjoyed the game room with the pool table. My nephew got a new pretend gun, so he loved chasing Uncle Damion around until he got him down in the kitchen floor. :o) It was super fun watching everyone on the giant slide, and my nephew did a great job on the wave riding attraction! I was SO excited that I got a chance to see my friend, Amy, too! She lives in the area, so she was able to come join us for a late dinner at the house the last night! And of course, even though it was a super quick weekend trip, it was great to see everyone!

We had been talking about the possibility, but once our trip was out of the way, we decided I would go back to work part time. I found a job working with the older infants at a Christian childcare center in Lake Charles. Of course, I immediately fell in love with the beautiful babies! I have missed working directly with children, and especially love all the sweet laughter and watching them learn and grow! All the parents have been so great, and it's been really good for my heart and mind to meet some more folks down here and begin to make a few more friends. :o)

This month, our oil classes focused on wellness and helping everyone get prepared to combat the sicknesses that often accompany the colder weather. Studying up for these classes that my friends and I offer really helps me learn more, too, and I love that!

The month ended up with a quick drive over to Texas (we're not far from the border, of course, but this was for a special reason!). My parents called to let us know that they would be journeying through our city! But, because of the timing of their required breaks in driving, it was easier for us to drive and meet them, rather than have them come through and have to make another stop here. It was quick, but always nice to get a hug from your Mama and Daddy, you know? :o)

        

My Mom! We drove alongside them back into Louisiana. :o)

See you on the road again sometime soon, we hope!

And then comes November!