Have you ever experienced realizing you miss something that you wouldn't miss normally?
Let me tell you what I'm missing right now...night stands. Yes, those little tables that you put by your bed that house lamps and books and a cup of tea, are what I'm missing most right now.
Look how complete and perfect that bedroom looks! We've been spending a whole lot of time in our room because our living room is lacking in the entertainment department and I think we have both said, "We need night stands," over a hundred times in the past week or so. Thank goodness for tax returns and Christmas gift cards! Hopefully I can show you guys our more complete room very soon.
Thank goodness the baby finally fell asleep. My arms are tired!
We went out for a walk earlier today down by the harbor.
It was such a pretty day outside! I can't remember the last time I walked around Monterey without a jacket.
Most of the time I rant and rave about how awesome NC is and how excited I am to move there this year.
It really has been a goal of mine, even before I met my future husband, to live back East. It's funny how perfect all of this has worked out.
What I don't really do too often is talk about where I've grown up and how great it can be too.
Yes, I can think of more downsides to Salinas than I can upsides, but it's always going to be my hometown.
For awhile anyways it's still going to be where my family is living and where we'll be visiting when there's a chance. I'm sure I'll be just as excited to come to California then as I am when I'm going to NC now.
I'm sure I'll get a little homesick and I'm positive that I'm going to miss my family and days like today make me think that I'm going to miss this area just a little too.
I'm back in my home state, but it's not feeling much like home anymore. I'm so tired of leaving NC and my almost-husband...and now all of our friends. I'm so excited that they're not just "his" friends anymore. Having people there makes it way more difficult to be here.
I've been home over 24 hours and this is the first time I've pulled out my computer. It's been nice to be somewhat unplugged. I'll get back to blogging soon!
1. Friends and family home for the holidays. It's always fun when we get to catch up and crowd in our tiny kitchen.
2. Baking...and more baking...and more baking! In the last couple weeks I think I've baked more than I have in my entire life!
3. The little Santa secrets that are kept and shared between friends and family. I love being pulled aside to talk about presents with someone!
4. Candlelight Christmas Eve services. Both parents are singing and so is the sister's boyfriend. Love.
5. Attempting to wrap presents and make them look pretty. I am not a good wrapper at all, but this year I was trying!
6. The almost constant string of texts coming in to my phone from my love. Even though we're not gonna be together, it makes the holidays feel a little more cheerful knowing he's safe and sound.
7. Getting Christmas cards. Our linen closet door is getting super full and I love it!
I hope that you all have an amazing Christmas together with your friends and family. The next two days will be super packed and filled, so I won't be blogging. Merry Christmas!
Tonight has been extremely entertaining, but first I wanna talk about the last sibling birthday for 2011.
Today my youngest sibling-in-law turned 14!
Happy Birthday Rachel!
I love her to death. She's super sweet and can make me laugh with her sense of humor.
I can't wait to spend more time with her and be around for many, many, many more birthdays!
So that's it, all my siblings birthdays are packed into the last 3 months of the year, within a couple weeks and days of each other. I'm kinda sad it's over, but I'm looking forward to celebrating with them next year!
Tonight was our Christmas party with the friends, who I consider to be just another part of my huge family.
We ate a ton of food and cookies, laughed hard, and fought even harder over white elephant gifts, such as "The Help" DVD and a Starbucks card.
There was an utter state of chaos, when we introduced a new twist on the game and for 5 minutes everyone got to battle it out for the gift they wanted to go home with.
I just love this time of year and when we all get together.
How was your weekend loves?
I hope it was good and that this next week leading up to Christmas morning will be filled with fun!
I tend to go on a blogging hiatus when I go home for any length of time. I need to work on that. Anyways! I hope your (whoever you might be that reads this) Thanksgiving was as great as mine. It was a super laid back family day. I eventually got over my bitterness about having to share my birthday with this very prominent holiday. The whole weekend was just super relaxing and refreshing. I love being home. I also love getting our house decorated for Christmas!
Can you believe that it's really only 26 days away? Insane! I can't wait to go back home and be with my family again and then I get to spend time with my love! Now I just need to survive finals.
I've been home five days so far this month, but you won't hear me complaining! I think that traveling during summer vacations is what they're are all about. Not to mention, the places I've been and the people I've been with are some of my most favorites ever.
The first week of the month I was in North Carolina, reaffirming that while I have been born and raised in California, it's not the state for me. Not only does it have my amazing relatives, amazing scenery, perfect weather, and awesome towns but now it has my boyfriend. I swear if my family decided to pack up and move there tomorrow, I'd go in a heartbeat. Anyways we spent literally almost everyday in some sort of body of water and exploring new places. I hadn't been that happy in awhile and it literally killed me to leave, but after finding out how expensive it is to change flights and honoring a commitment I already made, I very reluctantly did.
With one day to pack in between, I came home from N.C. and left for Tijuana, Mexico with 30 high school students and 22 adult and college students. Our mission was to build a house for a family who didn't have a place to call their own. This was my sixth Mission to Mexico trip, or M2M as we call it, and even though I honestly didn't want to be there for the first day or two, I'm so glad that I went. The culture shock and significant impact that I had during my first few trips had worn off, but I was super excited and encouraged to see my kids being changed by their experiences. The house was built in a day and a half, which let me tell you, shows just how hardworking this group of students was. I think what really made me glad I went was that all three Mann sisters were there together for the first time. Candace was a beast and pretty much planned and organized the whole trip herself and Becca was super open and vulnerable with us and I couldn't have been more proud to be their big sister.
Again, with only one day to do laundry and pack in between, we came home from Mexico and loaded up our trailer and Yukon for our yearly camping trip with the crew. This year we did things differently and stayed at the amazing Sherman's cabin for the first four days and spent most of it on the lake at Don Pedro in two boats. We water skied, wake boarded, and tubed til' all of us we're exhausted. The plan was to spend the last three days of the week at my family's favorite place in California which is Pinecrest Lake, but that didn't happen. The campsites in the area were literally completely full and booked up. This is the first year in about six years that there's ever been a serious crowd like that. Needless to say we were super bummed but we made a few phone calls and ended up camping at New Melones lake. It was hotter than hell and not the best lake to lay around and relax at, but it was still super fun and enjoyable.
So for the rest of July I'll be home. I'm gonna get to spend time with two of my favorite kids again and just hang out. I've loved being gone but it is nice to be in my own bed in my own home. I really hope everyone's summers are going great and you're making lots of memories to hold onto when we have to go back to school.
I'm missing home tonight because it's Rebecca's Junior prom. She been to a few other proms and dances before this and not once have I been there. Honestly I don't remember exactly why I've missed all the ones before tonight's dance, I think I must have been out of town or working. I've never been able to see her all dolled up and ready to go dance the night away with Eddie (She's had the same date for all her dances so far and I think it's pretty rad). Nights like tonight make me feel like I'm missing out on a lot, even more than I normally do on an everyday basis.
There are a lot of things that I wish I could have done better as the oldest sister of four while I was still living at home. I could have been more kind, more loving, and Lord knows I could have been more patient. It kinda breaks my heart knowing that I can't get those years back.
....
Well I've sat here staring at the screen for about five minutes now with tears streaming down my cheeks. I can't really write anymore than what I already have so I think I'm gonna go. Mom just sent me a picture of Becca and Eddie and they looked absolutely amazing. I think my sister is the prettiest girl at the school. = )
Spring break definitely put me in an internet funk. Facebook has dropped seriously low on my list of priorities and unfortunately so has blogging. I will make an effort to be back.
Break was great...yes it rhymed. I got robbed of some Christmas vacation time so it was great to go home for a while. The highlight of the trip was the Wicked day. Wicked as in the Broadway play that we saw in San Francisco. It was amazing and the perfect first Broadway play. The day was complete with a 15 seat van full of my favorite people ever and an amazing dinner and dessert at the Cheesecake Factory.
Since I've been back it's been all about hittin' them books and working hard. Speaking of work! I picked up another permanent shift at the gym and decided to quit Hollister, where I was working three hours at the most a week. I feel very good about this decision. It was going to be four years since my first shift this coming August and it was time for a change.
Well that's about all I've got. I feel bad for saying this but I had a furlough day which means no school and I've thoroughly enjoyed being lazy. Have a good rest of the week!
I haven't really written in awhile, but I have good excuses I promise. First it was crazy midterm time at school and most of my free time was devoted to studying. Now I'm finally home and right now, would rather spend time with my family than be on the computer. I'm still here though. = )
So this isn't going to be a long post. Just one to say don't abandon my blog because I've got a lot to write about when I go back down south on Monday. Have a good Easter everyone!
Tonight feels like my last night as a kid. I mean I haven't been a kid for awhile but I haven't had all of the responsibilities of an adult either. Tomorrow I'm leaving Salinas, my family, my friends, my church, my dog, and my house. All in all I think I've been handling it pretty well but in the last five minutes or so my walls have come crumbling down and man all I can say is this is going to be hard.
Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited to move down south and start a whole new chapter of my life down there. The thought that I very well could be done with college in two years brings a huge smile to my face. However, there are things about moving that break my heart. The fact that I'm going to be so disconnected from my sisters and my brother kills me. Missing out on hanging out at my house with the gang and getting together at someones house just because we feel like it is going to be tough. Shoot, having to watch Lost and So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol without everyone makes me want to cry!
I know that God is gonna take care of me and He's gonna bring me amazing friends and He's gonna watch over me and the ones that I love while we're apart. Right now it's just a little scary and overwhelming. I'll be alright though and I can't wait to post things later and tell you all the amazing things that are happening in my life.
