Thanksgiving

It was lame not being able to come home for Thanksgiving, but my lovely friend Erica invited me home with her. By the end of the 2 day visit, I felt like part of the family. They were so kind and welcoming. Although they are a much different family than I'm used to, I loved it! I've never seen a family that laughs and jokes so much together. So funny! On the first day, Erica and I got there late and slept in the living room (after a few hours of girl talk of course). That next day we went to lunch with her friend Chandler at one of their favorite diners. It was cute and super country. Everyone knew each other. Then we went to the school where her mom works as a math teacher and the whole family went to see Tangled. Besides it being a fantastic Disney movie, it only cost $4.50 to get in! Oh, and let me depress you Californians even further by telling you that gas is only like $2.70 per gallon!

We watched the Macy's parade that morning which was fun. They had about 20 people over for Thanksgiving dinner and made a ton of food. Apparently macaroni and cheese is a staple over here at Thanksgiving so they had some of that. We also had mashed potatoes, two green bean dishes, stuffing (with cranberries in it!), turkey (duh), yams, rolls, corn, and I can't remember the rest. I was in a food coma after wards from eating so much. Not to mention the carrot cake and pumpkin, apple, and sweet potato pies for dessert! Erica's grandparents adopted me as their grandchild and I had a ball talking with them and hearing their stories. It was such a gift to be able to call someone grandpa and grandma. By the end of the night, Grandpa and I had a special wink that we did with each other whenever we made eye contact. I hope I get to see them again soon.

Thanksgiving feast!

After everyone had gone, we watched the animated version of A Christmas Carol. Then us girls (Erica's sister included) watched Madagascar to help us stay awake for black Friday shopping. We left her house at 1:30 AM and headed to the malls. Ya, we didn't sleep all night and then stayed up until 11 AM...so we were awake for about 26 hours straight! Erica and I blasted girly music in the car to help us stay awake and were pretty loopy. We went to lots of stores and I stocked up on bath and body works. I scored on some major deals there. We went to IHOP for breakfast around 8 AM and were so delirious and hungry that we probably looked like crazy people. At one point, Erica spit water out of her mouth because she was laughing. We quit at about 10:30 AM and I went home and slept until 6 PM.

I also picked up some red Christmas lights and put them up in my room to get into the spirit. It felt like Christmas after I did that and watched Elf and The Santa Clause. I miss my family and the traditions that are changing, but at least I won't miss out on Christmas!

Steve's Visit!

Last week, Steve flew out so we could spend some much-needed time together. When I saw him for the first time in 3 months, I ran to him and we shared one of the best hugs we've ever had. I couldn't let him go. I understand why God has us apart for this season of life, but that doesn't make it any easier to be away from the love of my life. Anyways, we had such a great visit. We just rested when he first got here since he had gotten no sleep on a red eye flight. Steve stayed with one of my dear friends (ironically also named Steve) and they clicked so well. It was wonderful to finally introduce Steve to these new people in my life.

The next day we dressed up and went to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate our monthly anniversary which was the next day (28 months!). We split a blueberry mojito that was very tasty, and I had mahi mahi while Steve got steak. Of course we got cheesecake too after walking around and window shopping for awhile since it was impossible to eat anything else right after dinner. I got an amazing reeses cheesecake/cake, and Steve got the carmel apple streusel cheesecake. So good!

One day we went to see the most current Regent play called The Last Night of Ballyhoo. It was the best play I've seen yet! Lots of good humor and funny moments. We loved it! And the costume department here made a replica of Scarlet's dress from Gone with the Wind for the production. It was stunning!

The next day we went antiquing in Ghent with 4 of my good friends. It was so fun just hanging out and finding random things in antique stores. I'm glad they got to know Steve better too. We had lunch at 5 Guys which is like the In-N-Out of the east coast (but I think nothing can beat In-N-Out!). It was really good though. That night we went to a mall to shop for dresses for Regent's upcoming Christmas ball. Steve helped me pick out a few to try on. I didn't find any I liked enough to buy, but it's okay because Steve brought my dress from home.

Another thing we did was take pictures for a project in my lighting class. I borrowed a really nice camera from the equipment office and Steve kindly served as my model. Here are a few pictures I took...

 

At one point we headed over to the Founders Inn (the fancy hotel on campus) to find some unique photo opportunities. We walk into the lobby and they are having this huge bridal expo going on, so we decided to check it out. I was like, "Steve, let's try to look engaged so they don't kick us out!" They were having this huge fashion show in the main ballroom and there were all these displays of cakes, centerpieces, photography, and dresses. It was so cool!

Thankfully it was a much easier goodbye at the airport than the one in August. I only have to wait 18 more days until my Christmas break when I finally get to go home to the redwoods.