Christmas & New Year's Recap

My long holiday staycation is over. This year, I spent most of my time off sitting around with my family. Here are some highlights!
 

  

Christmas was great! My parents, brother, and I started the day with my dad's traditional Christmas omelets (plus grits!), then opened presents. I was excessively spoiled as usual. My favorite gift was the Vera Bradley Metropolitan bag that I've been stalking for months! It's exactly the carry-on I needed.

Last year my mom finally got real china (after 36 years of marriage! Sheesh), a china cabinet, and a beautiful dining table and chairs. So she was pumped about having a formal Christmas dinner. She even had mini-stockings monogrammed for place settings. It was very nice. For Christmas I gave her some chafing dishes (the kind with tea lights underneath to keep the food hot). They really work!

Debra, Lance, and Niecy arrived in the afternoon and opened their presents before dinner. Although Niecy is still too young to comprehend Christmas, she loved playing with her new toys and attempting to eat the wrapping paper.

 

 

 

It snowed on Christmas night, and we woke up to about an inch of snow!

 

 

We mostly enjoyed it from the warmth of the house. :)

 

Debra and fam left Memphis on Friday, but on Sunday afternoon I drove to Nashville to spend New Year's with them. On Monday morning, we ended 2012 on the right note with a visit to Pancake Pantry!

 

 

Debra and Lance have spent the last several New Year's Eves with the same group of friends (including Erin!). They all came over and we had a great time. We mostly sat around eating, chatting, and watching Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve, although we did play a game and watch The One With All The Resolutions!

 

 

Unfortunately, I kicked off 2013 by getting sick again. I know. It was like a repeat of Thanksgiving - I started feeling bad on the drive to Nashville and got hit hard the next morning. I was terrified that I'd managed to get the flu twice in one month. Thankfully, after some DayQuil and a long nap, the flu-ish feelings went away (and Niecy already had a cold, so I didn't have to worry about infecting her while I was there). But I'm still not feeling my best, and breathing is hard. I have now been sick or recovering from sickness for the better part of six weeks. SO READY TO BE DONE WITH THIS, but I believe the new year will get much better from here!