Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone who reads this blog had a very Merry Christmas - I know that mine was really great! Last week David and I went up to Spokane and visited his family. There was still some snow on the ground up north, but no new flakes fell while we were there. The boys all went skiing one day during our stay, but I'm glad I didn't join them because it was rainy and slushy the whole time. Besides, I got to spend some quality time with my mother-in-law. We went and ate at the Mongolian Grill and did some window shopping together.

David and I spent Christmas morning at our own apartment. He was just like a kid and woke me up early to open our presents to one another. I didn't get the new car and new bedroom set I really wanted, but I was pleased with all of my gifts. (note: I really did not expect those large presents anyway...) We then went to the Christmas service at our church. The kids put on a really cute performance (they all did so well!) and David and I had a reading part during the program too. After church we made some yummy omelets for brunch and then took a long winters' nap. (just like the Christmas poem says we ought to do) We then played with some of our presents and had Eric and Niki over to watch Eight Crazy Nights and play games with us.

On Monday, we braved the malls to exchange some gifts and take advantage of all the great clearance deals. (In case you're curious, we are stocked with Xmas wrap and ribbons for the next several years!) Later this week we will be going to visit my family and will join in our annual Christmas party with all of my extended family too. Man, it really is nice to have such a long holiday break!

Monday, December 19, 2005

So About that Movie...

I'm gonna' have to go see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again because I only got to see the first half of it. It's a funny story really...well, at the time it wasn't so funny...

David and I took the youth group to see the flick on Sunday evening. We got to the theater and David was waiting outside for one of the kids who was going to be late. I took the other five teens inside to get seats. We entered the crowded theater and found 4 seats together. A couple of us sat in the those while the others searched for more seats. One of the kids went back out to get some nachos and I thought that another kid, we'll call him "Gus," went along with him. Anyway, the previews started, most of the teens had seats, and the one kid returned with his liquid-cheese-covered chips. A little bit later, David and the last teen came into the theater and joined us. We were ready for the movie to start! Except for one small problem...no one knew where Gus was.

Our group looked through the theater and then David left to search the whole building. I stayed in my seat and tried to watch the movie, but I started getting distracted when Gus' parents arrived and started looking for Gus in the theater too. Then I noticed security personnel roaming about and finally several police officers patrolling the aisles. At this point, I gave up trying to watch the film and joined the search party in the lobby. We were really worried because no one knew where Gus was. They started reviewing the security tapes and I was imagining all the things that could have happened to him. I started feeling guilty for not keeping better track of the kid. Did he get abducted? Was he hiding from us? Where the heck was he?

Well, we waited in the lobby and kept searching all the theaters until our movie ended. We searched the crowds of people as they exited, and suddenly we saw Gus making his way out! Get this, the kid had been in the front row the whole time! He didn't even know that we were looking for him and didn't notice the search party that kept walking past him (not to mention the fact that we never noticed him!) *sigh* So at least the story had a happy ending. Although, I really need to go see the movie again - this time without any kids!

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Month-long Summary

I wasn't too quick with that Thanksgiving update I guess... We did have a great time visiting both of our families though. We spent three days with David's family first. His parents moved to Spokane, WA and we got to see their new house and help them unpack a little. Then we went and stayed at the Elkins Resort in Priest Lake, ID for Thanksgiving. His family (extended family - grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, nephews, etc.) got together in a big cabin to celebrate the holiday. (And when I say cabin, I use the term loosely because this thing had 7 bedrooms - it was so beautiful!) Lots of good food was had and we even saw a little snow. We were a bit disappointed though because we brought all of our snow gear and there wasn't enough to go out and play in. No snowmobile fun for us...

After our Idaho trip, we drove down to Philomath to visit with my family. They are currently remodeling their house (okay, so they've been working on it for years and years...) so things were in an upheaval, but we had a nice relaxing time. My mom went crazy baking pies and various types of bread and we played lots of games. David went with my brothers to watch the new Harry Potter movie, but thankfully they let me stay home and hang out with my sister. (I apologize if I offend any HP fans, but I'm just not really into it that much.)

Now it's December and I can't believe that it's only 2 weeks until Christmas! That means I only have 14 days to get all my Xmas shopping done. (Yeah, that's right, I haven't started yet...) I'm excited that I will have a week and a half off for the holidays. David and I are planning to have some time with both of our families and also to continue some new Christmas traditions of our own. We got our tree about a week ago and had a fun time putting up all of our decorations. We still don't have any presents under it, but I'll work on that in the next couple of days.

My new job is still going well. I think I am done with weekend training for awhile, and I'm relieved that I will be able to catch-up on some things now that I know how to do them. The stacks were getting pretty large for awhile there... Speaking of work, I got to hang out with some old co-workers last week (not that they are old, but it sounded better than saying ex-coworkers, for some reason.) We had Chinese food at a restaurant near the old CU branch when it was downtown, and then saw Walk the Line. I would recommend the movie - I thought it was really good. I had seen a documentary about Jonny Cash awhile back and it seemed like this film was a pretty accurate portrayal of his life. And Joaquin and Reese can really sing - I was empressed! Tonight we are taking the teens to see The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and I'm excited about that. I really liked the book and the film looks very well done. I'll let you know what I rate it!