Hello World!

Remember that tune when you were little that you would sing from the movie "Little Rascals" when you got a dollar? ("I gotta dollar, I gotta dollar, I gotta dollar, hey hey hey HEY!") Well, that is the song that came to my mind as I was making this blog. However, instead of "I gotta dollar" I changed it to "I gotta blog, I gotta blog, I gotta blog, hey hey hey HEY!" Take that Little Rascals!

Maybe I should introduce myself a little bit. Wait, anyone who is reading this should know who I am. So I think I take back that whole introduction idea and I will just tell you how my Christmas went.

This Christmas was my first Christmas away from home. I spent it with John and his parents. Since John cannot travel out of the country (he is in the green card application process), his parents were kind enough to travel to us in good old Rexburg, Idaho. It has been SO much fun. Since his parents were coming, they asked us to wait to purchase any gifts or Christmas decor because they wanted to come and take part in all the festivities. John and I did our best to hold out for them to come before we did anything to celebrate the Christmas Season. We did however, notice that Gap was having an excellent sale and we went in and picked out some items that we went home and wrapped for each other and put under the undecorated tree ( graciously donated by James and Heather Georgianna), even though we picked them out ourselves. Surely, there is still fun in tearing open the wrapping paper even if you know what's in it!

The night that John's parents arrived, we picked up some brightly colored ornaments and some new LED twinkle lights and headed home to decorate the tree. It was nice to finally have a tree decorated, seeing as it was December 20th and Christmas was nearing its end. John's mom Ayse (pronounced: eye-sha) took over the kitchen with cooking and baking like it was going out of style. She made yummy sweets and delicious meals. Ayse is from turkey and John has been telling me since the beginning of time how great her cooking is and it wasn't until this visit that I was finally able to experience her yummy Turkish food! Seriously, go find some turkish food some where and eat it. Its YUMMY!

After food and tree came christmas shopping. There is only 4 of us so the essence of surprise was an interesting task to tackle. We are 30 min away from any kind of civilization that yields great shopping, so we would travel together and mostly end up at the same stores (since we were in the same car and were limited on where we went). It was fun. There was a lot of "Don't you dare look in the trunk!", and "Don't look at me!" while they held the gift behind them as they walked, and since our apartment is small there was lots of "can I come in there yet??" haha. Needless to say, Christmas was a surprise (for me at least) and a success! And memorable at that!

After Christmas came relaxtion, and TONS of old black and white movies. This is a tradition that John and his parents have. They often watch old movies together. I am coming to LOVE old movies. Especially the slap stick comedies with Bing Cosby and Bob Hope! I definitely recommend these to anyone and everyone. You wont regret them!

I have truly enjoyed spending this holiday season with John and his parents. It is nice to get to know them since they do not live close. After this visit with them, it may not be until June or July of 2012 when we travel to Turkey. That is INSANE!!! I cannot wait!

Another thing on my mind is New Year's. What in the world!!! It is freaking tomorrow. TOM.OR.ROW!... Where has this year gone! It has been such a wonderful year. I married the man of my dreams and it was the best decision of my life.  In fact, what a year to be remembered!!! I am so grateful for what this year brought. Last year at this time, there were so many uncertainties in my life. John and I were on the edge with each other, and I felt I had no direction to what life was going to bring me. I sat in the living room of my Sister in Law (SIL) Whitney and we discussed options and possibilities. She eased my burdens just by guiding me to make lists. (Love me some lists!) And I made a big decision to move to Idaho where John was. It was a scary move, not knowing how he was going to respond, but it all turned out positively. John came home to CA for my brother Chad's wedding, and two days later he proposed. It came as SUCH a surprise, but an extremely desired surprise at that. This year took a turn that I had only hoped it would take. Ultimately I feel at peace. Thank you 2011 for bringing me peace.

What will 2012 bring, I wonder?

What are your list of goals for this year? I am looking for something different to put on my list other than: gym, eat better, run more... etc. I am thinking this blog may be a goal of mine. I would love any suggestions if your willing to share.....

Time for bed... its 2:37 AM. yuck.