Exciting News

I thought this deserved a separate post, since I didn't want it to get lost in my Florida ramblings :) The one downside of our Florida trip is that my brother won't be coming with us, and it just won't be the same without Austin there. I know you always hear people talk about sibling rivalry, siblings not being friends or drifting apart as they get older, etc. but honestly, Austin has been one of my best friends from the minute he was brought home from the hospital, and he still is, even though he's 24 and I'm almost 27 (yikes). Oh, sure, we had our moments (don't all kids?) but even now, as adults, we truly enjoy spending time together. And, he and Dan get along fantastically, so that's great. But yeah, I am a little down that he won't be coming with us, especially since we had been planning on it for the longest time.

Why is he not coming, you ask? Well, that's the good (no, the amazing part!) He just graduated from college in December, and a few days before Christmas (I remember it was the 19th, because it was the day we flew home), he got a call from one of his professors offering him an internship in Washington, D.C. with an ambassador!! How amazing is that? His professor was impressed with his extensive knowledge of foreign policy (Austin was a history major with a minor in legal studies) and she recommended him for this position. So, he flew out on Saturday and is already settling in! I am just so proud of him; I know this is going to be a great opportunity for him! (And, I texted him telling him he needs to find a wife there; what better place to find my next sister-in-law? ;))

I am SO excited for Florida!

I love winter, I truly do. I'm one of those people who don't get mad when it snows (I love it) and I look forward every year to the cold weather. Well, cold weather within reason. I don't mind it when it's 30 degrees, or even 20; I'll throw on a hat and gloves and be fine. But when it's supposed to be -7, like it is tonight, with wind chills of 15 below, well, then I get a little irritated. So.... needless to say, I am so glad that as of 6:30 tomorrow morning I'll be on my way to sunny Orlando!

It's my mom's 60th birthday celebration (well, her birthday is actually at the beginning of February, but since she's a teacher she wanted to go over MLK, Jr. Day so she doesn't have to take as much time off) and we are so excited! It's going to be a huge family reunion of sorts; my aunt Chris, two of her kids (Katrina and Matthew) and my grandma will be there. AND, as of Sunday, so will Tracy and the girls!! I am so freaking excited. Initially, they thought they wouldn't be able to come. But we were talking on Sunday, and Tracy expressed how disappointed she was to be missing her sister's 60th birthday, which I totally understand. So, while we were hanging out with Kirsti and Rori (they wanted to play the Wii at our house for awhile, and then we went shopping), Tracy & Dan H. got online, found some amazing plane tickets, and booked them! So they'll be spending the week with us!

Needless to say, Kirsti (13 1/2) and Rori (almost 6) are over the moon. On Sunday, Rori kept saying that we were going "tomorrow." We had to explain, "No, first you go to school for two days, and THEN we go." To which she would respond, "I know; it's not tomorrow, but it's the other tomorrow." Oh, ok ;)

Our laptop broke, so I won't be able to post pics when I'm there, but I'll definitely do it when I get back!

And we caught him!

Yes, we finally caught that darn mouse that took up residence in our house a couple weeks ago. Since we're (according to some people) bleeding heart liberals in just about everything, this naturally carries over to our treatment of rodents, however unwanted they may be. So we used the humane trap, where it doesn't actually kill them. On Sunday after Tracy and Dan left, we saw that we had got him, so we drove to a field a mile or so away and let him go. Poor thing; he was actually kinda cute. I hope he didn't freeze to death.

But we have another problem. We caught another mouse last night..... a tiny one. Yup, I think our unwanted houseguest got a little amorous before his capture, and apparently decided that my garage would be a good place to breed. Ack! How many mice are in a litter, anyway? Please say it's like one, or two, tops. Please don't let it be in the double digits!

A Post-Holiday Celebration

I love to still have holiday get-togethers even after the fact; it makes it seem like we're stretching the holiday season out, and really, who wouldn't want to do that? On Saturday, we drove down to Chicago for dinner and a gift exchange with my aunt Christine, uncle Mike and cousins Katrina, Matthew and Karissa. The drive was a little treacherous (there was a bunch of freezing rain) but it was fun to see them all! I always like seeing how other people decorate their houses for the holidays, and theirs looked beautiful (of course!).

Then last night, we had Tracy, Dan and the girls over to dinner for a gift exchange. It was so much fun! I love doing simple things like just getting together, talking and spending time together. Kirsti and Rori spent a bunch of time on the Wii; Rori is seriously the master bowler. Holy cow! I always get beaten by a 5 (soon to be 6) year old, and Kirsti suffered the same fate. It's crazy :)

For dinner, Dan made this delicious chicken piccatta; it was his first time making it, so he was a little nervous, but it turned out great. We also had butternut squash soup, french bread and veggies. Dessert was some of the cookies my mom sent us (thanks, mom!) and See's candy. Rori said my mom's cookies were "the best cookies ever in the whole wide whole world" (yes, the word "whole" was used twice). Wow!

It was really a wonderful evening and a great way to "end" the holiday season.

And we're back

Dan and I returned home on the 28th after a fun and relaxing week at home. The only problem is, it was MUCH too short. But we were able to spend some great time with our families, we hit up all our favorite restaurants and just had a wonderful holiday. I'll post pictures when I get home.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!