Thanksgiving Weekend

I am a little late on my posting, but here is a synopsis of our Thanksgiving weekend.

After sitting through 5 hours of lecture on Wednesday morning, Mike and I hurried home from New Jersey and loaded the car. We left our house at 1:45 (our goal was to be on the road by 2:00, so not too bad), but still had to take the cat to the vet for boarding. The vet is clear opposite the interstate and they were super busy, so we did not actually touch the interstate until 3:00! Then we crawled along the turnpike with all the other holiday traffic. Once we got further out of the city, we picked up some speed. Overall, with a bit of traffic and bad weather we made it to Ohio in about 7 hours (not our best time, but decent).

We got into Ohio and had yummy meatball sandwiches, which were great because we were starving. We visited with everyone at Mike's Dad's house and then left to get to his sister Chrissy's (where we were sleeping that weekend). The best comment of the night was when his youngest sister Cara declared that Mocha was not the "real Mocha". She thought her tail was too short and that she was not acting like herself. In Mocha's defense, she had just traveled 7 hours, vomited 4 times (she gets car sick), and had not had dinner yet. I am not sure what to say about the tail.

Chrissy's apartment is soo nice, we were very jealous of its space and newness. She has two bedrooms, so we were able to really make ourselves at home. It was really great to spend the weekend there with her. We enjoyed seeing where she lives and just having the time in the car and at home to visit with her.

Thanksgiving was spent with the usual tasks of cooking, eating, cleaning, visiting, and eating some more. We had 12 people around the table and tons of great food. Aunt MaryAnne made Italian Wedding Soup, it was very good. Also, Thanksgiving fell on Mike's birthday this year (he was born on Turkey Day, too) so we celebrated his day with carrot cake and presents. He received some great gifts and was very happy to be able to celebrate with his family.

Friday and Saturday we shopped. I got almost all my Christmas shopping done. The crowds were not as bad as I was expecting and so I was able to take care of a good amount of my list. I think I will only need one more trip to complete it. On Friday night we also went to a Cleveland Cavaliers NBA game. It was a fun time made even better because I got to eat wings!

The weekend was a great one, we always love to be around family. The time passed too quickly and before we knew it we were back on the road. We left at 6:15 on Sunday morning hoping to be home by lunch and be able to pick Sam up from the vet. Unfortunately, once we got up into the PA mountains we hit sleet, snow, and rain. The roads were in bad condition and were closed for 2 hours. There were a lot of accidents along the road and we had to drive extra cautiously. We ended up getting home in 9 hours (our worst time ever), not being able to get the cat or attend any church meetings. We basically came home, unpacked, ate a quick dinner and crashed in front of the tv.

Snow!

Can you believe its November 21 and we have snow? Granted not inches, but still there is snow on the ground and on the cars. We went to Lowes the other night to get plastic for the windows (we are not thinking this old house is charming anymore) and the cashier says, "I think its going to be a bad winter". Great. I am already nervous about driving in the rainy weather, after last year's adventure in Ohio, the last thing I want to have is a bad winter.

Everyday, I pray for safe driving conditions, especially since I leave the hospital close to midnight. So far, my prayers have been answered.

I like snow when I can sit in my house and watch it come down. I do NOT like to drive in it.

Lost Kitten

Yesterday we let our cat Sam out the back door to play in our small yard. Normally, he hangs out there and occasionally climbs over the back fence and sits in our neighbor's yard until we come to rescue him (he cannot climb back over the fence for some reason). Well, yesterday after about an hour, Mike went out back to check on him and he was gone! He wasn't in our neighbor's yard, he wasn't in the alley next to our house, he was no where to be seen.

We thought we would give him a little bit to play and then we would find him somewhere close and bring him in. But when we went back out, he was still gone. We started to panic a little, because he is still a kitten and he is such a baby. We were worried he would get stuck somewhere or get beat up by one of the neighborhood cats. We searched the neighborhood, calling his name, but he never came out. We were most worried about finding him before dark because it was supposed to get down to 24 degrees last night.

When he didn't come home by dinner time, we started to think the worst. Mike was convinced he ran away. I was worried he was hurt or that someone stole him (even though he wears a collar). We kept calling him and searching our block for him.

Finally, around 10:00, Mocha jumped off the couch and ran to the back door. Mike got up to let her out, and guess who ran inside?! Sam came home! He was hungry and thirsty, but he seemed alright otherwise. I have never been so happy to see him.

Needless to say, today he is stuck inside. We work the 3-11pm shift tonight so we can't have him out wandering the neighborhood. Plus, he is not neutered yet, so we don't want him out becoming someone's baby daddy.

Christmas Shopping Weekend

This past weekend, my Mom and sister came into town to do some holiday shopping. My mom came in on Thursday night, so we had all day Friday and Saturday to seek out the deals. We decided to go to Kohl's first, since they do not have them in Florida. Can you believe that we spent 2 hours in the store?! We got sucked into the clothes, then housewares, and then we couldn't pass up the holiday section. We finally pulled ourselves away so we could meet Mike for lunch in Chestnut Hill, but I bet we could have spent the whole afternoon there as well.

Mom and I went out to King of Prussia mall after lunch. It was so nice and not crowded. We did not have to fight crowds or wait in line and we easily found a parking space. We don't normally shop so early in the season, but I think we might have started a new tradition. It was nice not having to fight the masses or get run over by baby strollers.

Rebecca's flight was delayed on Friday, so she did not get in until almost 7:00pm. Mike was sweet enough to endure the rainy Friday Philly traffic to pick her up for us. After she got in, we all went to dinner at a great Italian place in Conshohocken.

Saturday was more shopping at the mall. We also hit Target and Dick's. By the end of the day, everyone was tired and ready to snuggle in in front of the tv--which is exactly what we did with some pizza and brownies and ice cream (yum!).

Unfortunately, the weekend went by way too fast. Before we knew it, we were taking them back to the airport and having to say goodbye. I am so happy they came to visit. A tradition of ours has always been to Christmas shop together after Thanksgiving, but with me living in Philadelphia, we can't do that as easily. I really miss having my family near by and this weekend was so bittersweet. I loved seeing them and getting to spend the time with them, but it also reminded me how much I miss them. I cannot wait until we are able to live closer again. Until then I will have to settle for little visits; luckily for me I don't have to wait very long for the next one, they will be here for Christmas in just about 4 weeks!

A couple more pictures...

Stefanie took some great pictures on her camera, I just wanted to add them on.

A Trip to the Washington, DC Temple

This Saturday was our stake's temple trip. Michael and I drove down to D.C. with our friends Ted and Stefanie. The weather was pretty crummy in Philadelphia when we left, overcast and drizzly, and only got worse as we drove closer to the temple. We drove through some pretty bad rain in Delaware and Maryland. Surprisingly, by the time we got to the temple, the sun was out and the sky was beautiful and blue.

There was a meeting at the temple at 11:30 and while Ted and Michael went to it, Stefanie and I went to the visitors center. Currently, they have a great photography exhibit titled, "Reflections of Christ". It is a great exhibit, filled with many inspiring photographs that chronicles the life of Jesus Christ. You can see the exhibit and learn more about it at the website: http://www.reflectionsofchrist.org.

After the meeting, we met Ted, Michael and our friends Emily and Luke at the temple to perform some baptisms. We had a really great time together and I especially enjoyed my first trip to the temple.

When we were finished, we met our friends Mike and Cameron (who live in Virginia just outside of DC) for dinner. We ate at Ruby Tuesdays (I was so happy to eat those mini burgers!). It was so good to see them, especially since we know they will be moving to Texas in February, so the more we can see them before then the better.

Finally, after all this activity, we drove back home. It only takes about 2 hours to make the trip, so its not too bad. We had great conversation, so the time passed quickly. The only downside to this whole trip was that Mike has been sick since Wednesday. He lost his voice on Friday night and has not been able to talk since. Our house is very quiet these days! He is resting and starting to feel better, but still under the weather, so send some good healthy thoughts and prayers his way!

Apple Festival at Peddler's Village

On Saturday Mike and I decided to head up to Buck's County (Northeast of the city) to Peddler's Village. This is a little outdoor shopping area that is supposed to be very cute and have great shopping. I can't really give my opinion on this since the place was worse than Disney World in peak season. I think there were 4 or 5 tour buses worth of people plus all the other people who poured into the place to enjoy the apple festival that we could not see anything. There were lines to get into the stores, there was an hour and a half long wait for lunch. We went into two shops and after waiting for over an hour for lunch and then being told that we would have to wait another hour, we decided to leave. We did stand in line long enough to buy some apple cider and apple butter, both of which we are very pleased to have.

I am really disappointed with the trip, I would have really liked to have seen the shops and enjoyed walking through the village. Oh well, maybe another time...