Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Regardless of the potential success for any new year's resolutions, January still brings a renewed sense of life. Despite the close-to-zero temperatures we've had since we returned from California, the new year is appealing and energizing to me. I admit I have a long list of resolutions, none of which I have yet to start on, but I still have 11 months and 29 days right?

We safely made it to California for Christmas. Ice wasn't a problem as much as rain was. The car got rained on so much that an electrical circuit somewhere got wet and our doors would lock and then unlock when we'd use the blinkers. And no...I don't believe it worked in the reverse. Once the car dried, all was well.

I admit Christmas was harder this year without my own family and traditions I'm used to. But I was blessed to not only have my extended family who still resides in Simi, but my in-laws who are wonderful and have been so nice from the start with accepting me. On the trip, there were some differences that prove to make our families at polar opposites. On my side, it's not a family get together without kids screaming, talking about babies, girl stuff, and the estrogen levels sending the husbands and dad running. Mark's family dynamics are a stark contrast: no kids running around (except the grand-puppy Charlie), mission stories, and computers, and VERY high levels of testosterone. As much as I love talking, there were some moments believe it or not, I had nothing to say!

On Christmas Eve, Marks' family holds an annual party with family at their house. Most the afternoon was spent preparing food, setting up tables etc. I was even allowed to help make brownies with Mark's mom using a special family recipe. I'm hoping that means I'm "in"! I suppose I am as my family initiation apparently was standing in front of everyone and wearing a "cherry nose" as the family sang the classic song "Must be Santa". I had fun meeting family and chatting. It was especially fun playing with some of the smaller ones.

Afterwards, we went to an 11pm candlelight service with my Aunt Kath and her 2 girls. It was great to ring in Christmas morning with them. Although it's hard to accept them as teenagers, they have both become some awesome young ladies.

Christmas Day we were able to talk to Mark's younger brother Luke, who is serving a mission in Botswana (originally South Africa but he got moved). The only downside in my opinion was the call took place at 6:30am! (Still about 4 hours before Christmas day starts in my opinion.) Mark's main present from me was a new video card so he can play games with higher quality. Thanks to his brother, I was assisted in picking out a pretty dang good one. Mark got me a usb compatable controller from the original Nintendo so now I can play Mario Brothers, Tetris and Paperboy on my computer....after my schoolwork is finished of course.

Mark's mom bought Jamie and I cake decorating kit and also gave us a little bit of money to put towards taking a cake decorating class together. As much as I talk about being uncrafty, I would be lying if I said I'm not a little excited about trying it out. Sure I fear being shown up by my sister-in-law. But maybe I'll learn a little along the way. Not to mention I now have quality tools for cake decorating!
Christmas night, we went over to my Grandmother's house for the traditional Christmas Dinner with more cousins. It just like the old days: carrots with brown sugar, party potatoes, green-bean casserole, a roast, and awesome desserts, served on Grandma's fine china. This might have been the first Christmas dinner I wasn't "banished" to the kid table as all 11 of us fit around the dining room table.

Two days after Christmas, we packed up our little Ravi and drove to Vegas. We were glad we split up the driving because just to get to Vegas took us 5 1/2 hours thanks to heavy traffic. We got a cheap deal at the Luxor. The rooms weren't amazing really, but it was still fun since none of us had experienced Vegas before as an adult.

The Luxor had the Bodies Exhibit(similar to Body World) and a Titanic Exhibit. Had they not been so pricey, I would have loved to go. This is the view of the interior from our 13th floor room door. Just a warning, the windows to the outside are angled with the pyramid...yes, I admit, I got too close and hit my head on the window.
Unable to find the exit out of the Luxor, we took the moving walkway into the Excalibur (connected) and across the way to New York New York. This is in between the two I think. We went by the MGM grand to check out their Lion Exhibit but the Lions had gone to bed already. Instead we walked down to see the water show at the Bellagio. I'll be honest, it was hyped up to what it really was. Maybe some lights on the water would have made it cooler....

This is probably as close to Paris as we'll ever get. (But maybe not!) After the water show, we walked back, found some Baja Fresh to eat and decided to put off gambling till morning. I think waiting was worth it. The casino was pretty dead and less smoky by 7am. Mark put in $5 and lost it all. I put in a $5 and made a dollar. Not wanting to lose it, I cashed out. But winning was too much fun! So I gave Mark the 5 and gambled on the $1 I won. Surprisingly, I won another 25 cents and decided to call it quits. I realized how easy it is to get addicted when you win in little increments.
The Vegas-Utah drive seemed even longer and we finally got home mid afternoon on Tuesday. We were surprised to find we had new kitchen chairs and seat cushions around our table. For the last 6 months we've used my parents' folding chairs as we've been just waiting to save some money to buy them. Thanks again Dad, Mom, Eric and Shelene. They're perfect.

We also spent New Years at my parents with a few of my sisters. We played a modernized mall madness and Imaginiff. My mom made peanut butter rice krispies which was awesome. Only my mom can make them just right! After getting home around 2am, we slept in the next day until almost 11.

This week is back to reality: a full week of work for Mark and a full week of school and work for me. Of course, with classes only 3 days a week (1 each day), I really can't call that a "full week" since Tuesdays and Fridays are school-free. I have been so spoiled these last few days having Mark to myself all day I'm not sure how I feel about going back to our normal life routines. I'm looking forward to this semester as it is my last and highly anticipating graduation April 22nd. (My birthday!)