Happy Christmas!

Here I go breaking my resolution to not post on the blog at my new job. Since it's the day after Christmas and there are about 12 of us here in the office (maybe less) I'm bored out of my mind and so posting it is.

I had a wonderful trip to Michigan for Christmas. I was able to spend some quality time with many of the people I love the most and coming back was (and in the moment still is) hard. My little niece (pictures here) is hysterical! She is ultra independent and talks and talks and talks. Only thing is, she's the only one who has any idea what she's saying. She uses hand motions and intonation so it sounds like she knows what she's talking about, problem is I understand about 6 of her words - Mommy, Daddy, juice, ball, baby and puppy. Her parents don't understand much more, so I don't feel too bad. She adores the sparkly pink shoes my sisters and I got her for Christmas, so I'm confident she's going to continue to grow up a girl after my own heart.

I really enjoyed the time I spent with my family. My sister borrowed a PlayStation, so my family Christmas included video games for the first time ever. In fact I would dare say this was the first time my parent's house had a game system in it. Thankfully the games she brought over were not car racing or shooting or what have you. We had Guitar Hero II - way fun - and a trivia game that I am currently undefeated at. Yup - I rock. I also loved just sitting around my parents house playing cards and eating. Have I mentioned the eating - it was AWESOME and I think I've put back on every last pound I lost this fall. While the detour away from the fresh fruits, veggies and generally low calorie meals was fun, I'm ready to be back on, because I feel better when I eat better.

I also truly believe that I made memories that will last forever this weekend. In addition to the aforementioned things, Friday night was hands down one of the best times I've had in a while. I spent the afternoon Christmas Shopping with Burt and then Tim and his wife Stephanie joined us for dinner at Bombay Cuisine - quite possibly the best restaurant in all of West Michigan. We then drove around and looked at Christmas lights and then had a good snowball fight and made a snowman up in a park on Coit Hill. I can not explain to you the deep connectedness I feel with these wonderful friends and there are so many days I wish my life would work better in Michigan so I could spend more face time with them. There is something deep within me, however, that is not willing to live there full time. I got the feeling though that I may see them in Denver before next Christmas, and that would be wonderful!

This has been one of my most favorite holiday seasons, despite what has been an otherwise tough few months. Thanks to every person I was able to share it with. Happy Christmas to all you who still read this blog :)