Four Christmas Celebrations

I was disappointed this year that I had to work overnight from 11pm-7am on Christmas Eve into Christmas.  I love to celebrate on Christmas Eve as much as love Christmas day.  The good news, though, was that I was still able to celebrate on Christmas, and not have to return to the hospital that night.

I told Ryan that I would be home from work at 7:55am on Christmas morning, and that he should be up and ready to open presents as soon as I got home.  And that is when the first of four Christmas celebrations began!

Christmas #1

I walked in the house to find Ryan waiting on the couch for me. He had the fireplace on and was resting with Fergie :) (Note: I hate that picture on the wall, but Ryan loves it.)

I changed out of my scrubs and went out to the mudroom to let the dogs in the house.  Usually, as soon as I open the door to the kitchen, the dogs race in the house, but only Logan came running in. I thought that Liberty must have been outside, but then after searching further, I realized that she was just too lazy and warm to come out of her crate!

Ryan and I took turns opening gifts that we got for each other.  The biggest present under the tree was for me, and I had a feeling I knew what was in this box.  I won't be sharing it with all of you for another week or so :)

One of the most exciting presents I got was sewing machine!!! I have NO idea how to sew, but I plan to take a class at one of the local craft stores. 

After messing around with the dogs for a little while, we got ready to head to our next destination.

Christmas #2

For the past 13 years, my family has spent Christmas morning at my grandparent's house.  With the passing of my nana in September, this was the first year that we wouldn't be doing that. Still, we wanted to visit my grandfather, and he was over having breakfast with the rest of the family at my brother's house.  By the time we got there, my aunt had brought Pa back to his own house, so we went to see him and bring him his Christmas scratch tickets. 



Christmas #3

Ryan and I left Pa's and headed over to his dad's and grandparents' house.  I always love seeing his meme and pepe, because I think they are two of the sweetest grandparents in the world.  I also love seeing his cousins and all their kids :)  We weren't expecting the amount of presents that we received there either. One of the best gifts:  My father in law and his fiance got us a lightpost for the front of our house. What a genius gift! I can't wait til it's installed!

Christmas #4

Finally, we headed over to Ryan's mom's house for Christmas dinner.  My mother in law is one of the most generous people I have ever met, especially on special days like Christmas!  We all exchanged presents and then relaxed in front of the tv. Ry's mom got us some really cool and thoughtful presents including a video camera!  We've never had a video camera, and I am so excited about it!

By this time, I was up for almost 24 hours and feeling pretty sick.  Ryan ate and we headed home. I proceeded to sleep for the 16 hours, and then my mother in law brought us some leftover dinner :)  She also brought some prime rib bones for the dogs--an annual treat that they absolutely LOVE!

I didn't get a lot of pictures by this time, because I was a zombie, but remember Andy and Heather from their fall engagement photo shoot? Heather's grandfather made her a puzzle out of one of the pictures that I took, and they were doing the puzzle in this picture.

Hopefully, by next year, my days of working holidays will be over. We'll see!

Broke into the old apartment...

...this is where we used to live

After my recent Christmas post about years past, I got to thinking about all the places that I have lived over the past several years. Here are some stats:

3   Number of apartments I lived in on my own
5   Number of years I lived on my own after college
3   Number of different states I've lived in
11 Number of times in my entire life that I have moved

Attleboro, MA
I can't believe that I don't have any digital pictures of my very first apartment! It's probably because I'm old, and back in 2003, I didn't own a digital camera.  I probably should have had Ryan scan some of those pictures of my first apartment so I could share them.  It was so fun and exciting to be living on my own back then. I was working full time and attending graduate school at night.

Westborough, MA

After changing jobs in 2004, the 1.25 hour commute wasn't going to cut it.  I moved to a cute 2-floor townhouse that was double the price of my first apartment.  This was where I got my first dog, Liberty.  Liberty and I happily lived there for a year.  An interesting fact about this place is that my bedroom was on the 2nd floor, but I spent every single night sleeping on the couch with Liberty!

This place had a gym, tennis courts, and a pool, but I actually never used the pool.



Lowell, MA

Of all the apartments I lived in by myself, this was definitely my favorite. It was a loft style apartment with huge 17 by 10 foot windows, and it was a mile from my job.  Many of my friends lived near by, and I had so much fun in the 2 years that I lived there!  There was a gym within the building, and on Fridays, there was always free coffee, bagels, and muffins in the lobby!  One of the pet peeves of this place was that there was a door man, but every time I would come in carrying like 10 bags of groceries, he would never get the door for me or anyone else!

Las Vegas, NV

Vegas has definitely been my favorite place to live.  This condo was the first place that Ryan and I shared as a couple, and the memories I have in Vegas are amazing!  I worked for a little while as a nanny while I lived there, and I got to spend my days at the Bellagio in a cabana and swimming in the pool with the kids that I took care of.  We had a great group of friends out there too.

Lauderdale by the Sea, FL

We only lived in Florida for 7 short months, though we originally thought we'd stay longer.  Ryan and I both ended up hating the jobs that we had there, so we spent the days hating work, then we would go running along the beach at night, and spend the weekends on the beach.  Lauderdale by the Sea beach was less than a 5 minute walk from our apartment. There were also a bunch of restaurants that were in walking distance.  I loved wearing flip flops every day and not worrying about snow! 

It was also home to our all time favorite place to get wings: Flanigan's. If you are ever in that area, you HAVE to go there!!!

After sunny Florida, it was home to Massachusetts, where we moved in with Ryan's mom for a few months.  Then it was to Weymouth, MA, in that crappy apartment I spoke of in my years past post.  And now we are finally homeowners near Cape Cod! 

Where was the best place you ever lived?

The Years Past

After reading a cute post by the Fitnessista, I was inspired to think back to where we were in the years past and how much things have changed.

One year ago

We were celebrating our first Christmas as newlyweds in our apartment in Weymouth, MA.  Ryan really hated the kitchen (if you could even call it that) at that place so much. It really was the worst. Sadly, I don't think I ever took any pictures of it, because of how much it embarrassed me!  The rest of the apartment wasn't so bad, minus the crazy neighbors who used to egg my car and fight all night long, the fact that there was no washer/dryer so Ryan did laundry at the laundromat every weekend, and our bathroom sink was always clogged!  There was also an arsonist who lived in our neighborhood and burned down the building across from our apartment. But, it was cheap, allowed dogs, and was only 1/2 mile away from my old job!

We didn't even bother to get a Christmas tree!

We spent the day travelling first to my grandparent's house.  I had no idea that this would be the last Christmas I'd have with my Nan.

And then we went to Ryan's grandparent's house, and then to his mom's!  It was a busy day, and it was great because I didn't have to work at the hospital!

Two years ago

We spent the day doing pretty much the same things as last year.  Visiting my grandparents in the morning, and then going to Ryan's family's house after.

Three years ago

We had just settled into that crappy apartment in Weymouth, MA (I can't believe we lived there for 2.5 years!), and with my career change into nursing, I realized that I no longer had the luxury of enjoying the holidays off with my family.  I still managed to get over to see my grandparents, though!



Four years ago

This was the first year that we lived together, and it was amazing! We went from living in Vegas to moving to Fort Lauderdale, FL, and then back home to MA.  We arrived back home in December 2007, in the middle of 2 different snow storms.  That year, we moved in with Ryan's mother so that I could attend nursing school.  I know that I took a picture of the snow storm and our moving truck, but I can't find it anywhere!  It was so exciting to be home and be able to see our families for the holidays!  Within days of returning to MA, I had chopped off a foot my hair and donated it to Locks for Love.  Below is a picture taken at my grandparents house. 

Happy Holidays!!!

you know it's true

Banana Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Yummy breakfast idea!

Ingredients:

• Quick oats, 1/2 cup
• 1 cup water 
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 T brown sugar 

Directions:

• Cook oats according to package
• Add banana and brown sugar



Playing with Boston

A couple weeks ago, my brother in law Andy stopped by with his dog Boston.  It was a shockingly warm weekend morning in December, and Boston was outside running around our yard.  Because Ryan and I have two mini dogs, it's funny to be around a larger dog who is lightning fast.  I love our small dogs, but on days when I get to play with big dogs, it makes me want another dog!

Unfortunately, I only had a 12 picture memory card in my camera. This is crazy, because we have about 5 other memory cards that hold thousands of pictures. I had to keep deleting pictures to take more of Boston.

Orignially, Boston got me outside, because I wanted to snap a picture of her "driving."  I wish there were less of a glare.

When Andy let Boston out of the car, she ran around the yard and played with her tennis ball. She's super fast!

Doesn't her cute face make you want to get a boxer too?

Thanksgiving Recap

I know I'm a week late, but I'm just realizing that I posted about Friendsgiving and forgot to post about Thanksgiving!

Ryan and I started our Thanksgiving morning at his Meme and Pepe's house. With the help of the grandkids, Meme pre-makes "tootlings" (meat filled, homemade pasta tortellini in broth).  She freezes the tootlings in advance and cooks them on Thanksgiving. They are one of the most amazing things I've ever tasted!  After having a few bowls (yes, a few), we headed out early because my brother Adam and his wife Julie were having us over for Thanksgiving dinner at 1pm.  My sister-in-law's family was there as well as my own very small family. Here's a recap in pictures:

Jule's crafty decorations made me proud:

Adam cooked:

I ate meatball appetizers with my nephew's fork...

...and snapped some pictures of everyone:

Pa scratched his scratch tickets and told jokes to Julie's grandfather:

My nephew Dylan wore his turkey hat...

...and tried to sneak snacks while his mom wasn't looking

Then we ate tons of food:

And the boys played football outside:

I was home and in bed early in preparation for work at 7am the next day, while the rest of the world got to enjoy Black Friday.  Thanks for having us Adam and Jules and Happy Holidays to all. XOXO