Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So, I've definitely been just a tad bit lazy.  Sorry guys. I definitely did not blog about Thanksgiving and its getting past time that I blog about Christmas, too.  Because, well, this being New Year's Eve and all... 2011 is just about over.

Something else you should know... I'm writing this on my iPad.  It took me almost 3 months of convincing to convince Robert he should buy me one.  I had to sell my old iPod touch and Robert's old iPhone 3G as well as take back my Christmas present that Robert bought me (more on that later... you'll discover why I took it back, but there's a funny story to go with it. )

So, lets keep it simple with Thanksgiving.  Robert and I headed to Canyon Lake for a few days.  We pretty much had beautiful weather the whole weekend were there.  We definitely had some great food.  We missed seeing our cousins Dena, Jake and Ann but had a lot of fun hanging out with Julia and Jane, the rest of the Atzenhoffer/Hunt clan. We played some Wii, went shopping in Greune and, of course, watched some Aggie & Arkansas football.  You know how the football games ended.. badly, so we won't keep talking about those.

Me, my mom and my sisters also went a did a little Black Friday shopping at midnight.  Or well, we tried to do some black Friday shopping.  Kate wanted a TV from Wal-Mart so we went there first and, well, they were already sold out before they actually went on sale.  Imagine that.  So we left and headed to the San Marcos Outlet Mall... with what seemed like the rest of the State of Texas.  The place was packed... I did nab a good parking spot though.  But the lines to check out were pretty much really long.  We made a few purchases at J.Crew and Ann Taylor.... but as I was telling my mom, I'm not sure how comfortable I feel picking out my Christmas presents at 1 AM.  And when we got to Ralph Lauren, the line to check out was 45 minutes long.  No thank you.

I'm not sure what we were thinking...we don't generally like shopping with crowds and waiting in lines... why on earth would we be able to tolerate it when we're friggin tired??  Yeah, so we left and went home to sleep.

Another random incident that happened on the night of the Aggie/Texas game (Thanksgiving Day).  A man in the condo across the parking lot from ours died.  He apparently had a seizure of some sort and ended up dying.  It put a real damper on our night.  I still feel immensely sorry for that family, definitely not a way you want to spend your Thanksgiving.  Made me really thankful for my family, that's for sure.

So... anyways.. onward to Christmas...

These are the cupcakes that Kate made for Christmas!

Robert and I headed to Arkansas on the night of December 22nd.  We pulled in around midnight and drove home on December 28th.  So, a pretty long trip.  Just kind of stinks that you have to spend two full days of that just traveling.  Alas, that's what you gotta do.

I had so much fun at home.  I love spending quality time with my sisters and my mom and dad.  We also got to see Mema & Pepa who stayed with us for a few days as well.  We spent a whole day baking and icing cookies like we did last year. We went to the Fayetteville Square to look at pizza and got to eat at our favorite pizza place... Guido's.

We tried a new icing trick for our sugar cookies called Royal Icing.  We made it ourselves.  It was definitely a little bit messy and kind of hard word.  We had to outline our cookies and then "flood" the cookie  with icing to fill it.  We had to use like actual icing bags you buy at the store (advanced, I know.).  Of course, I was in-charge of flooding the cooking which means your icing is so runny that it just pours out of the bag and fills the cooking.  I might have forgotten to roll up the top of my bag though and had icing pouring out of both ends.  Straight down my arm and hand.  So, that was amusing.  None of those cookies made the cookie plate, but they did taste really good.

Me, Rob, Kate and Kirstie played Act Your Wage by Dave Ramsey one afternoon, as well.  It's a game kind of like Life and Monopoly mixed together.  You draw life cards so you know your annual salary and fixed expenses as well as how many kids you have.  Then, you draw three debt cards and you go around the board any pay your expenses and receive your weekly pay.  There are other good/bad surprises thrown in through out the board.  The first to get out of debt, wins the game.  I know, I know... doesn't sound that exciting.  But, it really was pretty fun.  I won the game (go figure, I know).  It is definitely a good game to work in money management and teaching you how to pay your bills and live off what you have. 

Sadly (or maybe happily), I forsee Rob and I playing this game on our own because we are addicted to money management and now that we have our finances in order, we need more challenges!  Hahaha.  Believe me, I know what you're thinking right now.

So.. moving forward.  We had the traditional mexican dinner on Christmas Eve  (tamales, Chili and Tortilla Soup) and got to see the Johnson Family.  We also went to a candlelight service at Fellowship Bible Church.  Is it only me, but I get insanely nervous when we start lighting the candle.  All I can picture is the church bursting into flames.  It did not, however.

Christmas Day we spent the first part with my family opening Christmas presents where Rob and I got some clothes, a knife set (which we needed badly!), a piece to our Christmas Village, and some other assortments of awesome goodies.  We also had the traditional Christmas lunch with Ham and Turkey and all the sides as well as the pie to go with it.  We also played some Michael Jackson dance game that Kirstie got for Christmas to keep us entertained.

Later, we went over to the Meier's where we got to hang out with Robert's family.  The boys played some pool and the girls stayed in the kitchen.  Dinner was spectacular which included beef tenderloin, wedge salad, potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes and rolls.  We opened up presents where Robert and I walked away with some new jackets and lots of other goodies.  At both places, of course.. we got some money (which we are incredibly thankful for).

The next day on the 26th, we spent most of the day with Robert's mom, Kathleen and her parents as well as Lori, Ryan and Stacy.  We opened presents and played Trash Train where Robert's grandma Lorene beat the pants off the rest of us.  We also went back to the Meier's where we helped Christine with her new iPhone and iPad and syncing between the iCloud. 

The last day of our trip was the 27th and we spent it running around in different directions.  Robert hung out with his mom and his grandma and me and my mom went running around.  Headed to Dillard's where I bought a piece to my Christmas Village for like 70% off (woo hoo!) and some new shoes.  We also helped Kathleen deliver a piece of furniture to her house in her office.  Then, we went and admired some chairs that mom is looking to replace "the green chair" with at home.

We also went to the Meier's that night for game night.  We had some Chicken and Gnocchi soup, Chich Tortilla soup and Beef Vegetable soup.  I also got to play with my niece and nephew, Maddison and Tristin.  Those two are growing up so fast.  They are definitely at the playful stage.  Me and Maddy played with make-up and I took the two of them round and 'round the Kitchen in their red wagon.

Little kids have such an imagination.  Little Maddy was having a picnic and eating her carrots and her fruit.  Mommy would have been proud, had those been real food!  The two of them were very cute and made my evening.  The rest of the grown-ups played Sequence where the Green team won both games.

I even got Maddy to give me hugs and kisses when we left (first time ever!).  When I asked for just one more hug, she said "No, that's it Aunt Jess."  So cute!

So anyways, I've yet to tell you the story of when Robert and I exchanged presents which was before we went to Arkansas.  I got him some new kitchen utensils from Williams & Sonoma and a shirt from Banana Republic.  He got me.. wait for it... a hair dryer.  From Neiman Marcus.  Not cheap.  You may ask, well Jessica.. did you ask for a blowdryer?  No, I did not.  A few months ago I had been looking for one because I could tell mine was on its last leg, but just never bought one.

Rob kept this in his head though the whole time.  He said he did all this research and that this blow dryer was going to amazing... I wouldn't even need to straighten my hair afterwards.  Well, I tested it out and I think Robert was a little disappointed that it didn't dry my hair any faster and my hair looked the same like it normally does after I blow dry it.  I still had to use my Chi to straighten it out some more afterwards.  Silly kid.  He did really try hard though, so I know its really the thought that counted.  We decided to take it back though because it was really expensive for hair dryer that does the same thing that all hair dryers do.

So yes, Robert and I have had quite the time and have been incredibly blessed.  I can't believe that year 2011 is almost over.  In just one more day 2012 will be upon us.  Rob and I will have been out of college for 4 years and high school for 8 years.  Can you believe it??  Me either.

I hope you and your family had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year.  God Bless!

P.S.  I'm going to work on my blogging for 2012, maybe I can keep it more consistent this year around!