happy new year!

i went to see slumdog millionaire with some friends on the 30th. [great movie, by the way.] after the movie, we were talking over coffee and started discussing how crazy "2009" sounds. i decided that it was mostly because in my mind, i always had 2008 in my mind as the year i would graduate from college... so it was always expected and comfortable sounding as a number. but 2009 just seemed and still seems so far away and distant. almost a scary number.

james and i rang in the new year at home. i thought maybe it would be fun to cook dinner, but just as we were leaving for the store when james got home from work, my dad called to invite us to dinner. during dinner, we watched the ball drop live in new york, and that was about all the celebrating that we did. :]and yes. i decided to be festive and wear the ridiculous hat during dinner. ha.

speaking of new york, we booked flights to nyc when we got home from dinner. i'm so excited to visit the city again. :] i told james that the only real touristy thing that i want to do during our trip is visit magnolia bakery. ha. we are also planning to explore central park, visit the met, and perhaps take in a broadway show. oh and of course eat as much good food as possible. my goal is to be very flexible with plans and expectations though. i just want to have fun exploring a new city.

we also booked flights on tuesday to go to vegas for super bowl weekend. we enjoyed it so much last year that we couldn't pass up going again this year. plus, i like the fact that it falls right around my birthday, so i get to celebrate with a little vegas shopping. my sister and jamie are going to be there as well. it will be so nice to have the whole family together again.

i really enjoyed the remainder of my visit to colorado. the time always seems to go too fast. the three christmas celebrations were all fun and unique.
my mom's three brothers and all but two of my cousins made it to my mom's parents' house for ham christmas dinner and a little present opening session on christmas eve. although i had seen everyone at thanksgiving, i felt like i got to catch up with my cousin carrie a little bit more this trip. that was nice.
on christmas day, my sister had dinner at her house. both sets of grandparents came as well as my parents and jamie's parents. she cooked brisket, which is one of my favorite meals. we also had one of my favorite super yummy fruit salads. :] that night, i went to see four christmases with katie and jamie and then spent the night at their house. i totally enjoyed the movie, but i have to say... movie theater popcorn is not really up to par in colorado. ha.
the day after christmas really felt like christmas day. we had a large gathering of fourteen people for christmas breakfast at my dad's parents' house. my grandma cooked a fabulous breakfast. then we all opened presents and talked for a while until it was time for our turkey christmas feast. i loved that we had a different main course for each of the christmas celebrations. :] that evening, i went to see yes man with katie and jamie. i really liked this movie too. i skipped the popcorn this time. ha.

the rest of the trip was just relaxing. because i seem to be mentioning food quite a bit, i will add that we had fabulous chinese food on saturday night. :] i did a little shopping at martin + osa. i passed up on a really cute black dress, which i sort of wish i had gone ahead and purchased. ha. ah well. i also finished my scarf! i had my grandma help me with binding off the final row. she laughed at how tight [and therefore difficult] my stitches were, but still made it look so easy. i can totally tell which stitches she did and which ones i did. ha.

as for my grandpa, he had good days and bad days. he was always in good spirits though, which makes me really happy. i'm so proud of him for being so brave and fighting so hard.

here are a couple photos from the trip...
the crazy rental car:
grandma griffith's tree:
a view during the flight home:
unfortunately, i don't have a whole lot of photos with people in them. ack. i think my frustration with uploading photos is adding a little bit of hesitation to take as many photos. i need to figure out a solution and start taking more photos.

i'm definitely looking forward to the next trip to colorado. maybe i'll convince james to come with me one of these days. :]

i hope you all had a safe and enjoyable celebration of the new year. :]