I think I am getting mushier in my old age. I just love Christmas. I was so excited to go home and see Allan and my babies and the rest of my family! I love the feelings that surround Christmas and the memories that I take with me each year. I feel so blessed to have sweet memories and excited feelings surrounding Christmas. It truly is a gift and a blessing! I learned that more this year than ever before! The residents here don’t have much to be excited about during the holiday season. They don’t have family that welcome them home with open arms. They don’t have stockings with their name cross-stitched hanging above the fire. They don’t have presents waiting under a tree in a decorated house that smells like country ham. We try our best here to create a homey feeling, but it just is not the same. Why am I so blessed? It is only by the grace of God. I am grateful.
Christmas was great. I flew into Charleston, then Allan and I made the drive to Winston-Salem for the annual Hill Holiday Holla and Hallelujah. It was fun to dress up with my family, take pictures, and see some old friends!! 
We celebrated Christmas the next day on Christmas Eve! Meemaw came, Honey Cate and Kessler made things amazing because of their cuteness, and Allan made my dad cry with Masters tickets!
Christmas Day was filled with laziness and SNOW!! It was so awesome!
The rest of the time in Winston was filled with hanging out with the family, opening presents at Meemaw’s house with the Crafts, meeting good friends for lunch, and me trying to spend as much time with Honey and Kessler as I possibly could!!
It was so fun to be in Charleston too and hang out with Allan’s family, watch the UNC/Tennessee football game, play with their poodles, learn how to ride a dirt bike, run over the bridge, celebrate the new year (pictured is Allan’s sister, Emily and her fiancé, Adam!) , meet some of Allan’s new friends from MUSC, and ride horses!!
Allan’s first day of class happened to be the last day I was in Charleston. The calendar on the MUSC website was wrong, so I ended up going to class with Allan before I left! It was actually kind of cool to see what he does everyday, where he sits, who he listens too. I caught up on my blog :) and was thankful the whole time that I didn’t have to try to understand what the professors were talking about!! After class, we tried out one of Charleston’s many build your own yogurt shops, which was fantastic! :) My flight ended up getting cancelled, and I got a little gift from Jesus to stay an extra night!
Coming back has been a hard transition for me. I am just now starting to feel energized here again. Everyone is finally back from vacations and it feels nice to be with all my Colorado family again!
Over break, Kim, our amazing secretary, was diagnosed with Leukemia. She is such a fighter and the most joyful cancer patient I have ever met!! She was cheerfully working up until the day she was diagnosed and the doctor told her she would have been dead in 3 weeks had she not come in. I still have yet to hear her complain about anything. You can read more about her here! She is amazing. Kallie and I went to visit her and got this awesome shot with her in our masks :)
Drew, Natalie, Honey actually got to come visit for a day too! They were in CO visiting friends from seminary, but made the trek down to the Springs to visit for a day. It was nice to have them here! I got to take them to Agia Sophia (!!!) and to meet one of my primaries! Honey loved Agia Sophia’s whip cream :)
Kallie and I went to the 2011 National Western Stock Show in Denver! It was so fun!! I had never seen broncos, and I was just amazed that people were riding them! It was such a country place to be, but another good excuse to put on those cowboy boots :)
I am glad to be back here. I continue to struggle with how to love these residents, how to really care for them and help them overcome the terrible things they have gone through in their lives. It is so tough. I realize just how selfish I am because I find myself just not wanting to deal with the issues at hand. I just want the stuff to go away, to work itself out. I frustrate myself in that sense. But the Lord is faithful to me. Somehow He feels me up and allows me to continue day in and day out here. I certainly could not do this on my own. I am grateful for the restful vacation in NC/SC. I am grateful for a family and friends that encourage and love me. I am grateful for co-workers that make it exciting to come back to CO. I am grateful for bosses that take time to really know me, to find out how I am doing.
I am amazed that I only have 5 months left here. I know I’ll miss this place.
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