It really seems like December just flew by and I’m sure that’s not uncommon, since it always seems like we wait all year for Christmas then before we know it, we blink and it’s gone. But December was busy for us because we had quite a few parties to go to and we had our trip to Pennsylvania to prepare for. I also have family here and family in North Carolina so when you’re trying to split the holidays up among everyone, it gets really busy and overwhelming.
Pennsylvania
Our trip to Pennsylvania this year was A LOT of fun and was really relaxing, which is exactly how I like my holidays to be. The only snag we hit is that we left Friday afternoon, the 18th and that just so happened to be the day that Mother Nature decided to dump buckets of snow on the entire East Coast pretty much. For those of you not following me on Twitter, it basically went like this: it was raining heavily when we left South Carolina around 3pm on Friday and we knew we were in for bad weather but being seasoned Northerners, we just assumed that, as always, the weathermen were predicting way more than anyone would get. We were making good time until we hit freezing rain and sleet at the NC/Virginia state line about 9pm. That rain and sleet turned to outright snow that just kept falling and falling fast heavy. We didn’t get to Richmond until after midnight when we technically should have been there around 10pm. And then it just snowed and snowed some more. And we didn’t want to stop because we knew we lose about two days because the snow was supposed to continue until Sunday. So we just kept on, driving 35 mph on I-95 and after nineteen hours on the road, we finally reached Steve’s parents house (the trip is supposed to take us about 11 hours).
Other than that, we had an excellent time (and even the snow wasn’t all that bad because it had been years since we’d seen a good storm and we looked at it as an adventure). We ate a lot of food – ham, spaghetti and meatballs, cheesesteaks – and we got to go to Wawa everyday. We spent time with Steve’s parents and grandmother and aunt and brother and his family. I played in the snow with my niece and we went out drinking with some friends. We had Christmas Eve at Steve’s parents and Christmas Day at his brothers. We watched a lot of movies and shopped and spent time in our pajamas and went to visit our old jobs. We just had a really, really nice time and I’m so happy that we made it safely up there and back and I can’t wait to do it again next year, albeit with less snow and at a faster rate of speed!
(And a special shot out goes to my love for his patience and safe driving – it’s because of him that we got there when we did and as safely as we did! Love ya baby!)
Jersey Shore
OH-EM-GEE! How could you not love this show for being so awfully awesome!? Seriously, I thought this was going to be just bad and painful to watch but it’s so bad that it’s fun to watch. I think the thing I like most about this is that on most other shows like this, I feel like people are really playing up the character they want to portray whereas I’m fairly certain that every single person in this house is exactly the same way in person as they are on TV. For those of you have never been to the Jersey Shore, these people are exactly the type of people you will find there. And just to make my sister-in-law happy, these people are not FROM the Jersey Shore, which is why they show them getting a lot of shit from the locals. These people are from the other tri-state areas and they descend on the Shore like locusts bringing their hair gel and their sparkly shirts and spray on tans. But they are hysterical and I can’t get over how awesome this show really is to watch. For the record, I love me some Snooki and Pauly D and Jwoww (because seriously, you have to be afraid of not liking Jwoww since I’m pretty sure she’d kick your ass) but I cannot stand Mike. For the sole reason that he has a stupid nickname and I’m pretty sure he gave it to himself and who gives themselves such a stupid nickname?? But anyway, this gets a five thumbs up from me! GTL baby!
Teen Mom
On the other hand, I am captivated by MTV’s Teen Mom. I watched 16 and Pregnant when it was on and by proxy, I was thoroughly interested to see what happened to these girls afterwards. I think MTV might have gotten it a bit right with this one though they are clearly painting each girl into a character. But I find Maci to be absolutely endearing, watching how responsible she is and how, even though it’s rough being responsible for another life when you’re that young she takes it all in stride and tries to make the best of the situation. And her son, Bentley is absolutely adorable! It’s heartbreaking to watch Catelynn and Tyler deal with the aftermath of giving up their daughter for adoption. On one hand they are absolutely amazing for the choice they made but on the other hand it’s sad to see them struggling to deal with this very grown up decision in such a choatic environment when you see traces of how young they really are. Farrah I cannot stand because she’s clearly on the show to further her “modeling” career and really doesn’t get it about how to raise a kid, since she expects her parents help. She treats her daughter more like a little sister than her kid. And Amber and Gary are just kind of sad. I think they have so many major issues that they should deal with outside of the show. Overall, I like this show because it seems fairly realistic and most of the characters are likeable. It’s something to pass the nights at least!
Sprite Zero
One of my goals in December was to stop drinking so much Diet Dr Pepper, mostly because I was spending a lot of money on it. I was drinking 3 20 ounce bottles a day at work only to come home to have one or two more glasses at night. That was A LOT of soda to buy. The final straw was that I realized I was sleeping like shit, tossing and turning and not feeling like I was getting any rest. So when I finally ran out of 2-liters at work and home, I bought one 12-pack of cans and vowed only to drink once can of Diet Dr Pepper in the morning and drink water for the rest of the day. I had to wean myself off the caffeine. To be honest, it actually wasn’t all that hard. But I did miss the soda so as a substitute I started drinking Sprite Zero and now, I’m hooked on that. I don’t drink nearly as much of it as I used to drink the Dr Pepper but it’s a nice alternative when I want some fizzy soda and it has like nothing in it – no calories, no caffeine, minimal sodium. I think the aspartame is the only really bad part. My ideal goal is to quit soda all together but for now, Sprite Zero really breaks up the water and the milk drinking (I usually stay away from juices and stuff too because they’re full of sugar).
Avatar
I have to admit that when I first started reading about Avatar, I wasn’t all that interested in seeing it. But when Steve’s brother offered to take us a Christmas present, I went along because I’m always down for the movies and I was BLOWN AWAY! I loved it! LOVED IT! Visually, it was mesmerizing and beautiful. The characters were so real and so well-developed. The storyline was good and the acting was wonderful. I loved this movie so much that I took my little brother to see it a few weeks ago. This is one of those I could watch over and over again. I really would have to say that hands down, it’s the best movie of the year. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should go, right now. Definitely see it in 3-D too because the world Cameron has created is so beautiful it hurts – if I had an 1/8 of the talent that man has, I’d be happy
Apple iPhone 3Gs
My final love for December is the Christmas present I got from Steve – an iPhone 3Gs. I LOVE my phone! Love it. And it looks exactly like the one above because I got that Speck case in the same colors (I also got the Zagg shield for the screen which is hands down the best screen protector out there – I put it on EVERY gadget that I own). After having the red Blackberry for so long, I wanted something a bit girlier. And I can’t sing the praises of this phone. Sure, there are things the Blackberry did that the iPhone doesn’t do or does differently but having 3G, being able to use tons of apps, surf the web the way it’s supposed to look – I could go on and on about the awesome features that I love about this phone but that would be a whole post in itself. Let’s just leave it at the fact that this phone is like an extension of me now. I feel naked without it. I want to have it’s babies! LOL
