So This Is Christmas...

Hey y'all!! Deek and I have been crazy busy, so the blog is a little lacking. I got a last minute, end-of-the-year editing project, and I'm been heads down focusing on that amidst the normal Christmas fray. Meanwhile, Deek has bee busy editing my still nameless Molly and Ryder story!

But I'm happy to report that we are completely done with our Christmas shopping (and came in *under* budget--YAY Dave Ramsey)! So, now we can relax and enjoy the holiday festivities until the Big Day arrives.

We went on a holiday lights tour and had a blast!

This will be my first Christmas without PaPa, and I must admit, I'm having trouble getting into the jolliness of the season. See, not only is PaPa gone but things are changing because of it. Our annual family Christmas Day gathering will be no more. Thanksgiving and Easter will be at someone else's house, if they continue at all. All these traditions which so defined my childhood, my life, are slipping away. I've always partially defined myself by the big ole, loving Southern family I come from. Without spending time with them at every holiday, a big part of me is changing, forever altered. I know I'll still see them, but it will be different. I'm usually one who can roll with change pretty well, but I'm having trouble adjusting to this particular one.

Add about a hundred more people, and that's my family...

I hope and pray that the generation before me (my mom's generation) will keep the family gatherings and traditions alive. I'm thankful to my Aunt Tammy and my I-don't-even-know-what-level cousin Marion for offering their homes to ensure the family celebrates Christmas Eve together as we always have. They're stepping up, and I'm beyond grateful that not everything died alongside PaPa. He would be proud of his baby girl for keeping the family together at Christmas. So, a big PaPa thumbs-up to Tammy! <3

Isn't my aunt purty? And my PaPa...oh my PaPa...

Deek and I set aside a budget for Christmas adventures, and we've been enjoying that random sprinkling of fun inside the holiday bustle. We've been keeping up regular traditions and adding news ones as we find them. This is wonderful time of year for traditions, and we're big on that! :)

We miss Portland, so we're trying to get a downtown experience in the South.

It's so not the same, but it'll do for now.

Deek and I got coffee and had a walking Christmas lights date!

Got to sit on the Big Man's lap and make my Christmas wish.

I asked him to keep my whole big family together for the holidays, and he said he'd do his best!

Thanks, Santa!

My hubster surprised me with a lunch date.

I LOVE spending time with this amazing man, y'all!

And we've been checking out Christmas lights at all the local "best spots."

We saw some that have been featured on TV!

Even Shakespeare got in on the lights action!

I don't know if I'll post again before Christmas, or even the week after Christmas since Deek has the whole week off (SQUEE), but I wish you and yours the happiest of holidays!! If you lost someone precious this year, I feel your pain and sorrow. I really and truly do. But gather those you still have into your arms and squeeze them extra tight. Because when you strip away the tinsel, lights, and gifts, Christmas is about family and love. So love on that family of yours with all your might.

And I'll be over here loving on mine. My parents, my Mema, my immediate family, my big ole extended family, and my beloved, beloved Deek! Despite the pain of losing PaPa, I know I'm epically blessed to have my family and Deek's family so full and present in our lives. And that joy will glow inside me--past the pain, past the hustle and bustle--forever!

This man, y'all. This amazing, astounding, out-of-this-world man!

No matter what's going on, we always find a way to laugh.

I love you, my Deek. Now and #always!

Until next time...Happiest of Holidays from our family to yours! 

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!

Birth's Birthday and a very Merry Christmas!

Hello, friends! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and will have a wonderful upcoming new year! 2016!! WOOT!

Deek and I had a fabulous Christmas! It was full of love, laughter, fun, and family! Pictures to come at the end of the blog (you knew there would be). I got to FaceTime with my Southern family!! My mom took the phone around to different groups of family, and Deek and I were able to chat with them for a while. It was the next best thing to being there. And I got to see my PaPa and tell him I love him. After his illness, it did my heart good to see him smiling, surrounded by my loving family. Later on Christmas Day, we spent time with Deek's family. I learned how to play a new game and received a special message from Deek's dad that choked me up, in the best possible way. I am truly blessed to have amazing family on both sides of the country!

My PaPa is up and walking around!

Now that Christmas is done, Deek and I are looking toward 2016. And you know what happens then?? The birth of Deek's novella "Birth!"

Deek will be on blog tour from January 19-January 25. If you're interested in hosting his tour, please sign up using this Google Form. He'll do interviews, guest blogs, character posts, Top 10s, and author spotlights. If you do interviews or guest posts, give him hard questions. LOL!! He's been waiting for this moment for a long time, so please do me a solid and sign up to help spread the word. I am SO proud of my husband and SO excited for him! <jumps up and down while clapping>

Here are some pics from Christmas:

I already showed you pictures from the ZooLights, but I forgot this one in the MAX (public transportation) tunnels. It looks like that scene from the second Matrix, where Neo is stuck in the train station. So we always do a Matrix themed pic there. A group of people looked at us funny for having sunglasses on underground, but when we explained the Matrix connection, they loved it! Haha! Nerds unite everywhere! 

Deek had the whole week off, but we ended up running around doing errands and stuff nearly the whole time. On this particular day, Deek and I got up really early for a meeting about his book and had appointments the rest of the day. It was certainly a multiple cup of coffee day!

People, I found honest-to-goodness hushpuppies in the Pacific Northwest. As a Southerner, I miss this food item a great deal. We had to travel across the bridge into another state to get them, but I found some! WOOT! 

Out looking at Christmas lights.

These lights blinked and looked like the house was being electrocuted. It was kinda amazing.

The Christmas Eve tradition of making gingerbread houses continues... Creepily, at the moment we took this picture, Gingey from Shrek The Halls loomed behind us! 

Yea yea! How'dya like my house?

And we traveled to Peacock Lane (a Portland tradition) with Deek's parents again this year. We had a lovely dinner with them and then headed over to see the lights. Such a great night!

Peacock Lane decoration--fitting

Star Wars was well represented! 

Christmas Morning kisses

Every author needs a mug with their book cover on it!

Deek knows me so well! He got me a beautiful scarf with Shakespeare on it, and the color matches my eye color! 

LOL! Deek's dad trips me out!

I know you'll be shocked, but Deek and I got selfie sticks for Christmas. LOL!!

And, of course, we *had* to test it out...

Christmas Day full moon--the first one since 1977 and the last one until 2034. Glad I got to stand there and gaze up at it with my love.

I hope love, laughter, fun, and family filled your holiday season. And now, we have a brand new year to celebrate and embrace. It's full of unknown adventures and untold stories! Can't wait to explore it with my best friend/husband by my side. I know one thing that will grow in 2016 as it did in 2015...my love for Deek. I'm blessed beyond measure. Truly! <3