Memories

Whew, what a crazy month it has been! 

So we just got down with one of our longest and yet busiest holiday seasons. Oh, and did I mention, the first as a merried er,  married couple? I must have written Merry Christmas on too many Christmas cards! :)

My birthday in December adds one more crazy celebration to the December Dash.  And this year, I had a two day celebration!  On Friday Russ took me out to eat Japanese (MY FAVORITE!) and to Target and Kohls (two more favorites!)  Then on Saturday, he took me to see A Christmas Carol in Charleston for my birthday and we had a LOVELY time.   It was a good way to get into the Christmas spirit too since  it had been so warm down here.  It is hard to get into the Christmas decorating mood when it is 65 degrees.  Although, I'm ready for that weather to come back!

We started out our Christmas Break with a trip to the Biltmore with some friends. Mother Nature decided that we should see the Biltmore in the snow. When we finally got there (thanks to Jon's cautious driving skills), it was beautiful. 

But it was also VERY cold.  We were a little disappointed to find out that some parts of the estate were closed because of the snow, but we were happy we got to see it all decorated for Christmas.  At least the girls were!  The guys were just happy to be guys and rough house in the snow.

(I love you too honey)

After our trip to Asheville, we headed to Russ' parents where we spent a few days just relaxing and a few nights (okay, quite a few nights) playing Monopoly and other silly games. I so love board games. And spending time with family. So it was pretty much amazing :)

Then we headed North to the mountains of Merlin. Where it was very cold. Very snowy. But pretty. Then it snowed some more. And kept us in the house for an extra day. Which I believe caused certain crazy people to do crazy things....

What a goof.  Anyway, spending a few days on the farm always puts me in a reflective state of mind. 

This is a picture of the barn where we spent many a summer play in the hay pile, watching the dirty pigs root around in... well, dirt, and tried to coax the cows to come into the barn so we could see them up close.  Those were the days... really.  We worked our tails off in the hay field, but it was fun to us.  Probably because we didn't have to fix the baler when it broke every other bale,  we didn't have other things to do, we didn't have to stack the hay in the specific hay stacking pattern, and we didn't have to clean up when the load fell off the wagon.  We could just run home where Meme would greet us with a smile, a kiss and a glass of water, or coke... or any other thing we had talked her into buying at the grocery store.  The we'd usually run back up to the field with a big jug of water for the hard working men and wait until they turned that big escalator on that would carry the hay WAY up, then drop it down.  I could watch it for hours.  But then the men would get hungry and we'd go home and clean up and eat a big warm slice of homemade bread and tomatoes fresh from the garden..... mmm, my mouth is watering now.  Anyway, the barn didn't always look this disheveled.  It started going downhill when Grandad did.  But it is still standing as a reminder of all the hardwork he put into the farm and all the hardwork we did for him.  Even beneath the snow, I can still see the path that he used to take and him carrying his pail of water for the animals or slop for the pigs.  I sure do miss that man... and the barn misses him too! 

Anyway, when the skies cleared up, we headed down out of the mountains where.... we were greeted by MORE snow believe it or not.  We spent a few days with some more crazy members of my family and friends, watched some football and just relaxed.  And then we made the grueling drive back to the South.  We were hoping for some warmer weather, but it has been nice and chilly here.  I got a promise from the weather man to be back in the 50's next week so he better not let me down.  My toes and fingers are ready for warmth and feeling again!

We had a great first Christmas together as husband and wife... probably one of the best I've had.  It is amazing that the best Christmas' that I can remember weren't about the gifts.  Russ and I didn't have much money this year for each other, especially with all the traveling that we did, but we simply enjoyed each other and being able to give to our friends and families.  That's what it's all about.

Anyway, Happy 2010!  I hope this year brings many more exciting things our way... and your way too!