The Most Wonderful Time of the Year -- Part II

In my last update, I told you all about the birthdays we have that fall within the Christmas season. Speaking of that...today is my beautiful Mama's birthday!! Happy Birthday, Mama! I promised I wouldn't say how old you are, so my lips are sealed on that one! But nevertheless, you're strong yet tenderhearted, fierce yet loving. I'm so thankful to be your daughter and to come from a long line of tough Southern belles!

Happy Birthday, Mom! <3 <3

In the last post, I told you Deek and I had been busy doing Christmas-related events, and now I'm here to share those with you!

Main St. Christmas

The little town I lived in before I moved to the Pacific Northwest with Deek has an annual Main St. Christmas. It's not a big affair, but it's quaint and fun. And...it has a hayride. I'm a TOTAL sucker for all things hayride related, so I'm there. Deek's heard all about it, but this is the first time he's gotten to go.

Happily, Deek has been saving his vacation days, so he's able to take every Friday off leading up to Christmas. On Main St. Christmas Friday, we started the day by chillin'. We watched Home Alone, ate popcorn, and did some writing. Just hanging around, enjoying the day off. 

Gus sleeps during chill day

To avoid mad traffic, we went early and ate a local restaurant with THE BEST fries and ranch eva!

Hayride!!!!

OMG! I'm so excited! I love the hayride!!

This pic of Gus CRACKS me up! He's like "I'm the man."

Deek snapped a shot of me waiting for the mayor to light the tree!

The Parade

The next day, Deek and I had the chance to march in the local parade. In the South, you never know what kind of weather you'll encounter in December. I've been to the parade when it's 75, and I've been to the parade when it's 27. This time, it was 32! Brrrr!! That's chilly for this Southern blood. So, we wrapped up in multiple layers, donned some Christmas gear, and marched!

Ready for da parade!

Rudolphin'

Surprise...I'm talking. See my lovely friend Denise indulging my gift of gab?? :)

Post Parade!

Wait, Erin's in trouble...

Yep, she did it.

Rogue One

This time last year, we went to see The Force Awakens on pre-opening night. Well, history repeats itself because we went to see Rogue One on pre-opening night as well!

The Force Awakens-- a year ago

Rogue One this year!

We tried to copy Jyn Eros's serious face, but we accidentally turned her into Voldemort! 

Light Show

This past weekend, Deek and I decided to go to a local lights show. I went there when I was a little girl, and it's changed a lot since then. And we went again with my friend Kathie and her family two years ago when we came back to the South to visit and had a great time. 

Riding the train at the lights two years ago.

So, we trucked back there. The actual lights themselves are only 45 minutes away. Except...from the time we got off the highway until we reached the lights took another hour!!

OMG...

When we finally got there, the line for the train was almost 3 hours!! Since we didn't feel like waiting around for 3 hours (and since standing in one place for a long time is a no-no for my physical therapy right now), we decided to walk around instead. You can't actually get inside the lights without going on the train, but we saw most of them. AND to top it all off, out of those hundreds of people in attendance, we bumped into my high school bestie and her husband. We had so much fun chatting with them, so it made the whole night worth it! We laughed on the way home that our adventures may not always go as planned, but we always find a way to have a good time anyway!

My high school bestie. Years and years of friendship.

PS. Everyone called us "The Twins." We *do* have exactly the same birthday...

Lights from afar

3 hour line for the train ride?

We picked a bad day to come!

 Snowman Poop

Then, to continue with the festivities, we watched a Christmas movie and made snowman poop for Deek's co-workers! You can read all about our Christmas traditions and get the yummy recipes from Deek's blog!

Snowman Poop -- YUM!! It was a big hit at work!

When we lived in the Pacific Northwest, I used to surprise Deek a lot with coffee at work. Since have access to a 24/7 Starbucks and he gets a big cup of it each morning, I don't often have the opportunity to do that anymore. But I did today, so I took it! :)  

Physical Therapy Update

In this season of good news, I've got good news of my own. To catch you up, because of the horrors of my past (you can read the blog posts I wrote about that here and here), I've been on pain medication for many years. Without it (and sometimes with it), I'd lie in bed and cry because the damage done to me hurt so bad. So, Deek and I worked really hard to do research and get me into the right physical therapy. And boy, have we. My physical therapist is AMAZING. Not only is she used to working with abuse victims and is very understanding, she's super knowledgable in how to fix even the worst of damage. Thanks to PT, I stopped taking medicine last week, and I'm doing really well. I felt like the physical therapy we did with medicine was the minor leagues, but without it, we're in the major leagues. Everything we do now is an actual, real, tangible step toward total healing. I am stoked by the progress we've made, and I'm ready to put this last part of my old life behind me.

So, that's what Deek and I have been up to! I'm kinda shocked Christmas is at the end of the week. WUT? But I'm excited to celebrate with my Southern family. I missed our big shindigs while I was away in the Pacific Northwest, and I'm excited to share this special tradition with Deek. He is SUCH a joy in my life. My family adores him (of course they do, what's not to adore?), so it's a cool collision between my childhood and present. I am more thankful than I can ever express that I get to spend this Christmas and every other holiday for the rest of my life with my beloved Deek. He spreads joy and laughter wherever he goes! All I want for Christmas is him. <insert heart eyes>

All the ladies love Deek! LOL!