Back at school
Wow, I haven't updated in a while...
For those who rely on livejournal to find out what goes on in my life instead of actually asking me, break was great.
I went to visit with Aaron and his family for a week in South Carolina.
His sister, brother-in-law, and 7-month-old niece Mackenzie flew down a couple days after I got there.
To sum it up, there was TONS of good food, a lot of laughter, and an entire room filled with presents. Each of us (including me, it was sooo sweet) had a pile. I was really glad I could contribute one or two things to everyone's pile too. Mackenzie, this being her first Chanukah, had the biggest pile, of course, and she looked so cute sitting around them as we took pictures. She is one of the most beautiful babies I've ever met. She smiles and laughs and is in a phase where she sticks her tongue out for no reason and blows raspberries. I know, I'm gushing over a baby that I'm not even related to, but I spent about a week with her and she's adorable.
I had a great time - everybody got along really well, we were all in a good mood, and I felt so welcome in their home. Granted, this was the second time I've visited Aaron with his parents in SC, but they had me there for the majority of Chanukah, a holiday that's been Americanized to include family.
Aaron and I packed up his car and drove back to Michigan before New Year's. We drove through the mountains (no wonder he hates driving with the flatlands that is MI) and kept on going until we reached Cincinatti. Then we stopped for the night at a hotel, got some dinner, and...yeah, we had had enough of sleeping in separate rooms at his parents (their rules, I respect that) considering we hadn't been together since Thanksgiving.
The next morning we drove the rest of the way to my parents house where we got ready for an evening with my sister and brother-in-law, my parents, and my sister's in-laws at a party Marla's friends had put together in a banquet hall. It was a good New Year's party, good food, good conversation, and my first Fuzzy Navel. It was good :) We stayed the night at Marla and Newell's and then Aaron drove back to Lansing.
I had about another week at home with my family, including a night to exchange presents for the last night of Chanukah, and I saw some friends, saw some movies, and got symptoms for the cold that Aaron's sister had while we were all together.
Rachel also flew in with her boyfriend Dan at the end of the week to visit with us for a few days before they jetsetted for India for six months. They're going to explore, volunteer, work and enjoy themselves before they have to come back to a reality of school for him and work for her. It was great to see Rachel, since I hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving either, but I only got to see her for less than two days before I went back to school Sunday night. However, there was enough time for Aaron to drive in on Saturday for a dinner with Everybody, and then some Texas Hold 'Em with Rachel&Dan, Marla&Newell, and Aaron&Me at Marla and Newell's house, and then Sunday morning the six of us plus my parents and the younger sibs went to a portrait studio to get a family photo done. My dad wanted it this way; Newell may be the only one that is legally tied to the family, but he wanted us to have a photo with everyone in our lives at this moment, so that included Dan and Aaron. I do hope that I can look back on that picture in ten years and tell Aaron how young we look...
So I'm back at school. Classes overall seem ok, I'll figure out what kind of notebooks/binders/whatever stuff I need eventually, and I'm happy to have my computer back, virus free, though also file-free, music-free, picture-free, and free of all of those other programs I had on it before the virus struck and my cousin had to wipe my computer clean. At least it still works.
For those who rely on livejournal to find out what goes on in my life instead of actually asking me, break was great.
I went to visit with Aaron and his family for a week in South Carolina.
His sister, brother-in-law, and 7-month-old niece Mackenzie flew down a couple days after I got there.
To sum it up, there was TONS of good food, a lot of laughter, and an entire room filled with presents. Each of us (including me, it was sooo sweet) had a pile. I was really glad I could contribute one or two things to everyone's pile too. Mackenzie, this being her first Chanukah, had the biggest pile, of course, and she looked so cute sitting around them as we took pictures. She is one of the most beautiful babies I've ever met. She smiles and laughs and is in a phase where she sticks her tongue out for no reason and blows raspberries. I know, I'm gushing over a baby that I'm not even related to, but I spent about a week with her and she's adorable.
I had a great time - everybody got along really well, we were all in a good mood, and I felt so welcome in their home. Granted, this was the second time I've visited Aaron with his parents in SC, but they had me there for the majority of Chanukah, a holiday that's been Americanized to include family.
Aaron and I packed up his car and drove back to Michigan before New Year's. We drove through the mountains (no wonder he hates driving with the flatlands that is MI) and kept on going until we reached Cincinatti. Then we stopped for the night at a hotel, got some dinner, and...yeah, we had had enough of sleeping in separate rooms at his parents (their rules, I respect that) considering we hadn't been together since Thanksgiving.
The next morning we drove the rest of the way to my parents house where we got ready for an evening with my sister and brother-in-law, my parents, and my sister's in-laws at a party Marla's friends had put together in a banquet hall. It was a good New Year's party, good food, good conversation, and my first Fuzzy Navel. It was good :) We stayed the night at Marla and Newell's and then Aaron drove back to Lansing.
I had about another week at home with my family, including a night to exchange presents for the last night of Chanukah, and I saw some friends, saw some movies, and got symptoms for the cold that Aaron's sister had while we were all together.
Rachel also flew in with her boyfriend Dan at the end of the week to visit with us for a few days before they jetsetted for India for six months. They're going to explore, volunteer, work and enjoy themselves before they have to come back to a reality of school for him and work for her. It was great to see Rachel, since I hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving either, but I only got to see her for less than two days before I went back to school Sunday night. However, there was enough time for Aaron to drive in on Saturday for a dinner with Everybody, and then some Texas Hold 'Em with Rachel&Dan, Marla&Newell, and Aaron&Me at Marla and Newell's house, and then Sunday morning the six of us plus my parents and the younger sibs went to a portrait studio to get a family photo done. My dad wanted it this way; Newell may be the only one that is legally tied to the family, but he wanted us to have a photo with everyone in our lives at this moment, so that included Dan and Aaron. I do hope that I can look back on that picture in ten years and tell Aaron how young we look...
So I'm back at school. Classes overall seem ok, I'll figure out what kind of notebooks/binders/whatever stuff I need eventually, and I'm happy to have my computer back, virus free, though also file-free, music-free, picture-free, and free of all of those other programs I had on it before the virus struck and my cousin had to wipe my computer clean. At least it still works.