Happy New Year!

Well, it hasn't been quite so long since my last post, so that's an improvement. The holidays have come and went. It was awesome to be able to decorate our house (inside and out) and do whatever we want without having the fear that the base housing group would be mad if we put up decorations too early, or too much, or whatever. Ben got to buy a nice extension ladder to put up lights on the house since it's definitely larger than our last house at Vandenberg, so he was happy about another new toy he got.

Inside, I only really decorated the living/dining room, but I have bigger plans for next year when the remodeling is done in the bedroom/bathroom. Plus, the after Christmas sales always make it a great chance to buy more decorations for the upcoming year.

Our beautiful, but leaning Christmas tree. Oh well, it's still special even if it looked like it would fall over.

On Christmas Eve, Ben had to go out on alert, so I was alone, but not really because my friends, the Maxfields, invited me to spend Christmas Eve at their house. We had food, watched Christmas movies, played games, made cookies for Santa :-) and just had fun. It was nice to be apart of someone's Christmas Eve celebration instead of being alone with Tootsee. Being able to watch their kids open up a few presents was just priceless - the look of awe on their faces was just so adorable.

Christmas Day, Ben got home a little before 1Pm. I spent the morning doing the cleaning around the house since that was the first day I even had the chance since I had to work Christmas Eve until 2 and the rest of the week was crazy with work and other things in preparation for Christmas. When Ben got home, we opened presents, which was nice. Ben already opened his big gift - an XBox 360, when I was gone visiting my family in November. Instead, he got to open up 2 sweaters and an ornament from me which probably weren't as much fun as opening an Xbox would have been, but he was happy nonetheless. Ben bought me a Cricut die cut machine for scrapbooking (which I have to say, I got early too). I got some pajamas and a Griz sweatshirt too. Now I can fit in with the rest of the Montana people with my Griz sweatshirt. We also opened up gifts from my parents and my sisters. Of course Tootsee got gifts too.

Tootsee's ornament for the Tree.

Ben being silly with his Green Bay Packer Santa.

It's official, I am a Griz fan. Take that Bobcats fans!

We had our friends Will, Jenna, and Pat over for Christmas dinner. We feasted on steaks, rolls, and many other wonderful side dishes that Jenna prepared. Of course there were lots of cookies and pies. Afterward, we relaxed and watched the Hangover, ha. What a great movie.

The next day, my mom came to visit! (well, her plane didn't technically land until after midnight on the 27th, but whatever). We didn't do a whole lot while we visited, but it was great to be able to catch up and see her. We had big plans to go to Helena for one of the days, but then I got sick, and that didn't seem like a good idea. All in all, it was a nice visit though. I'm anxious to see my family again soon so I can see my adorable nephew and I most definitely cannot wait until the birth of my new niece or nephew in May. Plus, my best friend, Amanda, is also pregnant, so I get to be an "aunt" again to her new little one in July.

I wish I could say Ben and I did something exciting for New Year's, but we both laid on the couch and watched a movie since we were both not feeling well. We didn't even make it to midnight. Geez, we are getting old.

Now I'm just waiting for Ben to get home from alert. He, unfortunately, wasn't able to make it home yesterday due to a big winter storm, so the house has been empty the last 2 nights without him. I'm guessing we got around 8 inches of snow between Monday morning and Tuesday night. And with the lack of plowing/salting that Great Falls does, the roads are just horrendous. I'm glad I work so close to home, but even being only 2 and a half miles away from work made my normal 6 minute trip 15 minutes. Boo. I definitely think it is time I trade the Fusion in for a vehicle with 4 wheel drive, or at least I need to get snow tires. Winter seems waaaay too long when you dread driving in snow because you fear sliding and spinning out. Hopefully only 2-3 more months of it this season... Fingers crossed!