Long Overdue...

I am WAY overdue for an update, I know. And I apologize for that! Here's what's been going on since I last posted...

• Thanksgiving-- On Thanksgiving Day, everyone in my family came and spent the day here, at my house. It was so much fun to have my mom, sister, and sister-in-law helping me cook in my kitchen! :) It was the first time we all really got to see the two babies interact with each other. The last time they were together, they were only a few months old! My mom found some fun little projects for us to do to make Thanksgiving "decorations". One was turkeys, made out of Oreo's, candy corn, malt balls, and frosting. They turned out to be harder to make than they looked, but it certainly made for some fun memories! :)
• Christmas-- Christmas was a blast, as usual when we get our family together. :) We all spent some quality time together, cooking, baking cookies, playing cards, talking, and laughing. The presents, of course, were over-flowing, abundant, and well-received. One of my highlights was the surprise my parents had for me--a new dishwasher! We had been living without a dishwasher, and we had been planning on continuing to do so for several more months until I could save enough money to buy one. I was totally surprised when I opened it and so overwhelmed with gratitude! I do believe I started crying....and I am now, too, just remembering!

• Christmas, continued-- This year was the first year I really got to decorate my house for Christmas. We did put up a few decorations in the apartment...mainly some lights and small Christmas trees. But this year, we got to put up lights on the roof (so much fun to do on my own house!), and we got to put up an actual Christmas tree. Granted, it was a fake tree (and my parents'), and we didn't have any presents under it, but it was still so much fun to have it up and have lights and our ornaments on it! We also put up some window clings and other decorations that my sister gave me last year for Christmas. It was fun to be able to use them this year! 

 

• Not really for Christmas, but as more of a house-warming gift, my sister-in-law gave me a painting that she had done to put up in my living room. It is absolutely PERFECT! The colors are a perfect match and it is just the right size! :) I LOVE IT! 

• Work update-- Not a whole lot has changed since my last update about work, where I got a promotion. The main thing is that the GM has put me in charge of setting up and conducting interviews. I didn't take over immediately, as I had never conducted an interview before. But after sitting in on several, I felt more comfortable and started taking over in the interviews. I still run all my decisions through the GM, and oftentimes she sits in on the interviews with me so she has a chance to meet the applicant as well. I am also in charge of making the monthly flavor of the day list, as well as the truck orders twice a week. She still does the schedule, which I am fine with! She does a great job with it and I know I could not do as awesome as she does! 
• Random--
• I just took down my Christmas decorations the other day...just a little late, I know.
• I am very ready for spring and not liking the rapid changes in weather: sunny and almost 40 one hour, and cold, windy, and cloudy the next.
• My car window jumped off the track completely one day and got stuck INSIDE my door--in the middle of winter. Lovely! Fortunately, my dad is the best daddy EVER and was able to fix it! :)