Christmas Blur

Wow, life has been absolutely crazy! I cannot even tell you. Let's see, after we got back from visiting the Marquettes in Texas, the next 3 weeks went by so quickly I hardly remember anything we did. I know that we spent time with some friends, had some of the GA boys Phillip, Francisco, and Spencer over for dinner one last time. I single-handedly packed away our entire apartment because I wanted to have everything organized how I wanted it. Derek and three other men loaded the Uhaul in less than an hour. Finals weren't too bad at all. Derek ended up with a 3.5 for the semester and I graduated with a 4.0. So, we were both very happy. Derek just needs to finish his internship to graduate now. Let me tell you, we are PUMPED!! The power for the entire city went out the night before we left, so we had fun going to our friend's the Smiths house and just dinging around with them for a couple hours. Then we decided to brave it back at our apartment, luckily the power came back on about 3 hours later. Otherwise, poor Gill could have been in a HEEP of trouble. Friday, we cleaned our apartment, which surprisingly did not take too long, headed over to the Smith's, and then went to my Nursing Pinning Program. It was really awesome because Elder Scott spoke and what he said was really powerful. Then I took pictures with all my friends, got mad because I didn't get a picture with Brother Van, and then left. The next morning we headed out at 6am. The day was pretty uneventful. We made it in to Taylor and Sherry's at about 6:20pm, ate dinner, and then Sherry and I talked until 11pm while Taylor and Derek played Wii. It was really nice to sit and chat with her. She is a very good listener and knows just want to say...just like my mom.
The next morning we left at 5:00am because we knew the drive was going to be 18 hours. After we stopped for gas, about 5 hours into the drive our "Service Engine Soon" light came on. I wondered if I had not turned the gas cap tight enough (we have had that problem in our car before), but was unsure...it could have been anything! Derek and I talked about what our options were. Stopping didn't seem like a good options because getting stranded in Kansas did not seem like a great idea. So we decided to press on and hope the problem was only minor. I am pretty sure that for the next 2 hours at least, I looked over at the light every 5 minutes or less. I was really scared, but Derek was pretty sure it was not a big deal, so we pushed on. Sure enough, 6 hours later, the Service Engine Soon light went off. It was the gas cap...YEA!!! I was so relieved. I said a prayer of thanks right then and there. We finally made it to our hotel at 11:37 that night. WOO!!! By the way, Derek drove the ENTIRE way across the United States because we were both nervous about me driving in the snow with a 6 x 12 trailer behind me. I couldn't believe that he literally drove 18 hours after driving 12 the previous day. WO!! The next morning we left at 6:30, those 5 1/2 hours were the longest of my LIFE! Oh my gosh, they were so long. We were both so tired that it seemed every mile drug on forever. But then, when we got about an hour away, we started getting more and more alert and excited. By the time we got to the storage unit (we decided to go there first before anywhere else) we hardly felt tired at all (I think we were most just overtired and passed the point of exhaustion). So we put our stuff in storage and then Derek headed over to his parent's house and I went to mine. We spent the day mostly talking and catching up, but worked out from 7-8:30. Derek came over at about 8:30 and then we watched an episode of Man Vs. Wild and went to bed.
Tuesday, we rested during the day and then that night a whole bunch of people came over and we had a "jam session" for my brother because he literally rocks at the guitar. He has only been playing for a little over a year and he's seriously like a little child prodigy...except he's 14...but seriously! He can listen to a song and then play it, but he can also read music too. It's CRAZY!! I am so proud of him!
Wednesday my family went to the Body Exhibition and Dialog in the Dark. They are both way cool. At the Body Art, we learned a ton of things about the body and some pretty interesting facts! During Dialog I was able to feel what it would be like if I were blind. I'm pretty amazed at how bizarre it was and how crippled I felt. It was a really fun day with my family though. We laughed a ton. It was just so nice to be all together and just spend time as a family.
Thursday, which was Christmas Eve, we headed over to Derek's parents house, got unpacked (since we are going to be living with them for a couple of months), and then Derek's mom took Jaclyn and I to get manicures and pedicures. It was SO nice. I just LOVE the massages I get. Seriously, it's amazing. I don't know if I could bring myself to pay for something like that, but it was really nice to get pampered. That night we just played games and then we all (the siblings and Ethan) slept in the family room together. I guess it's tradition for them. The next morning we all got up at 7am and openned our presents. Derek and I got our own Christmas money!! And boy was I excited. I realized at that point that I wanted a Cricut!!! How fun will that be!! EEKK!!! We spent the rest of the day playing games and just enjoying relaxing. The only bad thing was that I got a virus on my computer and spent 2 hours trying to fix it. SO GAY! I should have just listened to Derek and not played around on my computer that day. Oh well...luckily everything turned out ok!
Saturday morning I got up at 6:30 and did some shopping before everyone else got up. I got some scrapbook stuff, some picture holder type things, and then waited until that night to purchase a Cricut online!! I actually won a new one plus a cartrige on e-bay for $110!!! I'm pretty happy about that. Then I spent the rest of the day with Jaclyn and Mom at the mall. They got some REALLY cute stuff too! Derek ended up buying an external hard drive so that he can back up his computer. I think that was a very smart idea, especially since I had a virus scare the previous day. That night, we went to see the Night of Lights at Lanier Lake. It was really pretty I thought! I would do it again for sure. Although it was pretty expensive...the only annoying thing is that they have a carnival at the end, and NOTHING is complimentary. You have to buy tickets for everything and the prices are OUTRAGEOUS! No way...thanks, but no thanks.
Sunday, we went to church...and I don't really remember what else we did. I think that was the day that Jeff and Ethan started getting sick. So for the next two days we mostly just stayed at home and played games I think because no one really felt up to going out. Tuesday, we went grocery shopping, got donuts (3 each YUMMY), went out to dinner, and then went bowling. I had a great time! I think everyone else did too except for maybe poor Ethan who was sick...and Jeff was really sick too, but he totally kicked our butts at bowling!! Wow...
Wednesday, we went back to my parent's house and within an hour or two we got a call from our friends who needed some help making little goody bags for his dentist office. So cheri, Joel, Laurel, me, and mom went. We actually had a great time making a little assembly line. We were definitely the loudest and funnest group of them all. haha! I think we then spent the rest of the night watching Man vs. Wild and then Forever Strong. Thursday morning my transcript came by Express Fedex, and I was so excited to get that I didn't think about what I was doing, I openned the envelop so that I could put it in the envelop with the rest of my application. About 30 minutes later I realized that I had made my "official" transcript "unofficial" when I openned it. Which then meant that I have to re-order my transcript from the school. Which means that I would have to wait almost a week, until the school reopenned after the holidays. I was so angry. I pretty much blew up at my dad when he was just trying to be helpful and ran downstairs. Derek came and talked some sense into me, I apologized to my parents, and decided that I needed to get over it. Luckily, because of the love from my husband and family, it wasn't too hard to do. Later, we went and worked out in the morning and then that night was the New Years Eve youth thing, which was fun enough. I think my siblings had a really good time, which was the most important thing to me.
Friday, we worked out during the day, that night the Arenas Family came over and we visited with them. After they left, I think we just all talked as a family for awhile and then went to bed.
Saturday we worked out at Lifetime Fitness with the Scott and Benitez family. Then we went and saw Sherlock Holmes, I thought it was pretty good! Then that night we played King, Queen, Begger and just hung out as a family. I think my favorite things are just playing games and laughing as a family.
Sunday, we went to church. The Sunday School lesson was REALLY good, but during relief society I spent the whole time catching up with Ashley Farley. After church, we ate dinner, watched some TV, read scriptures together, and then played "Imaginiff." We finally went to bed around 11:00pm, which is actually earlier than most other nights.
Today, I just woke up and decided to update my journal since it has been forever! Well, I guess I'll get going and try to find something productive to do. MUCH LOVE
Gina