'Tis the season!

Well, the weekend is starting to wrap up :( and I guess I will reluctantly (yeah right) take a break from doing school work to catch everyone up my goings on! Tuesday night, after Joseph got off work, we left Tally for Pensacola for Thanksgiving. My classes were "optional" on Wednesday and Joseph got the day off so we decided to drive over late Tuesday night so we could have the whole day Wednesday in Pensacola to relax and spend time with my family. Once we got to Pensacola on Tuesday, we unloaded the car and hung out with my mom for a little while and then hit the sack. Wednesday morning we woke up, got breakfast at Dunkin Donuts (Joseph's favorite and a must for him whenever we are in town since we don't have one in Tally) and did a couple of errands. On our way back to my mom's house, we stopped by my Aunt Debbie's shop to visit with my grandma, who was there working. We talked with her for a while and I looked around to see if there was anything new I'd want. Then we went back to my mom's house and hung out with my brother, Michael and then we all decided to go get lunch at Hub Stacey's, which is probably the best sandwich place in Pensacola and possibly all of Florida. After lunch, Michael had to go to work and Joseph and I walked around downtown Pensacola for a bit, enjoying the warm, beautiful weather (although I wished it could have been a bit cooler since it is November, after all!). Downtown Pensacola is so pretty and neat to me. It really is a very nice area and I love walking around down there and looking at all the neat shops and cafes. After that, we went back to my mom's and started to get ready to go to the Fish House. My mom got off work and Ashley and Nate got into town. My mom wanted to make my pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving and asked Joseph and I to "get it started" for her (aka make the whole cheesecake)! So we did! Then we all left to go to the Fish House that evening to meet my Uncle Barry and his wife, my Aunt Kathy for drinks and to spend some time with them. My Uncle Barry is my dad's brother and over the years, and especially after my dad passed away, we haven't spent much time with them and this year, we have really worked hard to change that so now every time we come in town, we make it a point to meet up with them. They got to meet Joseph for the first time over the summer and my Uncle Barry really hit it off with him. But they still hadn't been formally introduced to Nate, Ashley's hubby. They were able to make it in town for their wedding back in May, but it wasn't too long after my Uncle Barry had back surgery and he could just stand it long enough to sit through the ceremony and then he had to leave he was in so much pain. So we all made plans to meet for drinks at the Fish House on Thanksgiving Eve to catch up. The Fish House is a really cool restaurant on the water and on Wednesday nights its Ladies Night and the Deck at the Fish House (their outside bar area) has become a popular place for us on Wednesday nights ;) They usually have a live band and even during the winter, its nice to sit out there (when its really cold, they enclose the area and have heaters put up). My cousins, Lauren and Jeremy, were also there having dinner with their dad and stepmom, so we all got to hang out for a bit. After we talked and caught up with my aunt and uncle, mom, Joseph, Nate, Ashley and I went and got dinner from Jerry's, a hole-in-the-wall diner that my mom and her friends used to eat at all the time growing up in Pensacola. The food was awesome! And totally unhealthy, which made it even better! Ash, Joseph and Mom got this country fried steak and I had a grouper sandwich with onion rings - YUM-O! After dinner, we went back to the house, baked the cheesecake and Ash made her famous banana pudding and then we pretty much passed out.

Thursday was Turkey Day and Ashley's birthday (Happy 26th, again sis!) and we got up, looked through the newspaper at the sales ads with mom in our jamies, drank coffee and ate breakfast, and gave Ash her birthday gifts. Then we got ready and went to my grandparents' to help finish cooking everything and spend time with the family. Lauren brought her boyfriend, Corey, this year to meet the family and he was super nice and funny! He taught Ashley and I to play a new card game, "hand and foot" which we had a blast playing! One by one, my family started piling in and then we ate dinner all together around 4:30. We always eat Thanksgiving dinner "late". We usually intend to do it earlier, but some members of my family aren't the most punctual of people and so we end up not eating til about 4pm. And in keeping spirit with the holiday, I of course ate waaayyy toooo much! But it was all so delicious, I just couldn't help myself! After dinner, I could barely move but still had room for a little dessert ;) The guys all retreated to the living room after dinner to watch the Saints game while we picked up and played with my little cousins, Ryan, Evan, and John Thomas. Then we went back to my mom's and I think we were all in bed by around 8:30/9:00! Friday morning, Nate and Joseph got on the road early to get back in town for work and Ashley and I opted out of doing any Black Friday shopping and chose to sleep in instead. Once we got up, we started packing everything up and my Mom came home from work around lunchtime to see us before we left town. Then we went to my Aunt Debbie's shop, where we said bye to her and my grandma. We finally got on the road, I think about 3:30 Tallahassee time and drove through the rain the entire time! I hate driving in the rain, but in all honesty, it could have been a lot worse. We made it back in town safely and went straight out to Ashley's house. It has become our little tradition for me to help her decorate her house for Christmas, kinda as part of her birthday gift me giving my time to help her. But we had fun! We always chit-chat and listen to Christmas music and I always get excited when I see Christmas decorations! She finally kicked me out around 10:45 that night, even though we didn't finish. Saturday, Joseph had to work again, so I got up and decided I was going to decorate my apartment! I pulled out all of my totes full of Christmas decorations I've bought the day after Christmas over the past couple of years, shopping with my mom, Aunt Deb, Lauren, and Ashley that I haven't really ever used since I lived at my mom's last year and used her decorations instead. And if I do say so, it looks pretty good! Unfortunately, I don't have a camera to post any pics, but you'll just have to come over to see for yourself :) If anyone has ever seen how my mom decorates her house, you'll have an idea of what I did. I decorated white-lighted garland with gold and silver ribbon and an assortment of gold, silver, and red ornaments and hung it on my fireplace, the "window" between the kitchen and dining room,and the kitchen window. Today, I think we are going to Tallahassee Nurseries to get our Christmas tree and I also plan to put some lights on our back porch balcony. I can't wait to start wrapping presents to put under the tree and to be able to sit out in the living room, with everything lit and enjoy the decorations! This is truly my favorite time of year and I get absolutely giddy just thinking about it!

Other than that, nothing else too much has been going on! I have my LAST week of classes EVER this week! Whoo-hoo! I am soooo excited! Then I have finals the following week, which I am NOT excited for in the least! So I will be studying my butt off over the next couple of weeks and may be MIA for awhile. Then I will finally have my "master's degree" and will get "hooded" in about two weeks on Friday, the 10th! I was contemplating walking in the graduation ceremony but am thinking I am going to skip that this year since I walked last year when I got my undergrad degrees. Also, I will be making my final decision this week about my job offers in Atlanta - pray for me that I make the right decision! I have really been thinking and going back and forth about this since I got the second job offer. It has been a tough decision and for those of who that know me, know that I am probably one of the most indecisive people you know and that I over-analyze and re-think everything over and over again! Heck, I struggle picking out what to eat from the menu when I go out to eat! So needless to say, this decision has not been an easy one! But please wish me luck over the next couple of weeks that I survive all the craziness that is school!

Have a GREAT Sunday afternoon and week everyone!