Wow…it’s literally been a month since I wrote on here.  I blame that on a couple of reasons (of course I’m the only one to blame).  The first of which, and what I will focus this post on, is that the Holdiays happened.  Not sure how it crept up on me so fast this year but inevitably it did and I was swept up in it.  This was my first time managing a retail store through the Holidays and wow…what an exciting but crazy time!  And my family went to Disney OVER Christmas this year.  We left on Christmas Eve and stayed through the 29th.  It was Peanut and Bug’s first time and they loved every second.  I really need to dedicate a post in itself to that.  So we celebrated Christmas the weekend before and kept the matching PJ’s tradition going.  We really did have a wonderful time in Disney, but I did miss being with the rest of my big crazy family on Christmas Eve and Christmas.

From Disney, my family flew home and I flew to North Carolina to spend some time with J and his family.  His extended family lives all over the country (unlike mine who are almost entirely in Maryland) but to celebrate his grandmother’s 70th birthday, everyone came together for an extended weekend.  It was such a good time!  We both come from BIG families with lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Family means so much to both of us but J really doesn’t get to see his family much, therefore I’ve never met most of his cousins.  He always talks so fondly of them and I feel as if I’ve “gotten to know” many of them through Facebook but it was just so wonderful to meet them in person and spend that time with everyone.  It was also so nice to see how Jared’s family interacts in much the same manner as mine (so much love…so much laughter…so much noise).  

 

One evening after dinner, we were all hanging out at J’s Aunt D and Uncle K’s house.  His mom called everyone together and asked us to sit down.  She then handed me and J a big wicker basket and gave me a very sweet “welcome to the family” and then continued to read a poem.  As we did, the mother of each of the families (5 in total), put a symbolic item in the basket.  The poem was based on the “home blessing” from the family favorite movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.

“Bread so that you may never know hunger, Salt so that your life may always have flavor, a Candle so that you may never know darkness, Honey so that life will always be sweet, Olive Oil so that you may always know health, Wine so that you may always know joy and prosperity”.  

 

After that, champagne was passed and J’s dad gave a toast to our engagement.  I was really speechless.  Most of these people have never met me but showed so much love and genuine care for me.  I’ve often been told that you don’t just marry a person, you marry a family.  I have been blessed to have grown up in one of the best families in the world and now I get to marry into another.  

We drove home from North Carolina on New Year’s Eve, just in time to spend NYE with my bestest friends in the whole wide world.

 

 

 

It was such an incredible night with incredible friends AND 2013 means I’m getting married THIS YEAR!!!

And then of course on the 4th I turned 24 = )

Bug picked out my cake.

And I share my birthday with my Pop Pop : )

Oh…and incase you weren’t aware RAVENS BEAT THE COLTS AND PEYTON MANNING!!!

I was SO lucky to be at Ray’s last home game (another thing that deserves its own post)…keep pushing forward Ravens!!!

And with that, I restart my affair with my blog.  I miss it.  And if you’re still around reading, bless you.  I miss y’all!  

EXACTLY 10 MONTHS TILL MY WEDDING : ) Life is SO very good right now.