realizations

so i try to put on a good face, keep a stiff upper lip, suck it up, deal with it, etc... but sometimes i just get sad. today was one of those days. it finally hit me that i'm not going home for christmas. my sisters are both home... and i'm sad. i'm sad that this will be the first time (aside from my mission) that i will not be with my family for christmas. i have my husband, which is fantastic, but just not the same as being surrounded by loved ones. there is nothing like being with my family on christmas eve... we usually go look at lights, sometimes we go to a christmas mass, then we go home. all the lights get turned off except for the christmas tree, everyone gathers around said tree, and mom and dad read luke 2 and then the night before christmas. (after that is usually when all hell breaks loose with me doing the ebonics night before christmas, and then usually some fights about whether or not we are allowed to open one present... which us children usually win) another thing i will miss is the singing. we will usually gather around the piano and sing our favorites... sleep little lamb, i wonder as i wander, the shepherd song, and many others... my life is sadly devoid of all things musical right now. :(

i have a couple things to look forward to... and hopefully i can focus on those.

1) i get to cook again! i'm excited to try this holiday feast again! i haven't decided if we are going to do turkey again, ham, or beef. i am leaning towards beef because i like turkey on thanksgiving, ham on easter, and who says you can't have beef on christmas? maybe i'll start a new tradition. :)

2) miles and kendra are coming down! miles is from just down the road from us and they are coming down for the holidays. miles and kendra are two of my very best and most favoritest friends! (ask julie and kaycie... they are totally the favorites)

3) i get to spend the day with my hubby and kitty (even though they hate each other... i take that back. jj hates wicked, but wicked still loves him)

4) i get to be on speaker phone with my family as my parents read us our favorite christmas stories.

it will be great!

cuteness

so there is one thing i really like about my new job... the cute customers! we aren't very busy right now before the merger, so we really get to know our customers. there are a few arizona cardinals that come in from time to time, which we LOVE, and there are our regulars. the last two days we have had about three people a day come in to just make a deposit and chat because they "love how we know everyone's name." it's pretty darn fun. anyways, today was especially cool because one of our cute regulars came in. she is this cute little grandma who just LOVES christmas. she chatted with me for about fifteen minutes after i cashed her checks, and somewhere in there it came out that i had just gotten married and that we bought our first tree. i was talking about how my mom won't give me my christmas ornaments... i take that back... mom is going to give me some of my ornaments and i'm really excited about it... but anyways, i told her how mom didn't really want to give them up. this lady left and about ten minutes later walked back in... with an ornament for me! she also gave me christmas salt and pepper shakers! HOW CUTE IS THAT?!?!?! so now i have an ornament besides those store bought ones we put on it. i LOVE it! :)

new things...

hellooooooooooooo! so it's been awhile since i have written, because... well to be honest, nothing really has been going on. i started my new job at the bank and i have come to the conclusion that corporate america is NOT for me... 9-5... are you kidding me?! as much as i hated getting up at 5 in the morning, i actually miss teaching... i miss the kids, the holidays, and the schedule. i am excited to get my teaching certificate so i can hopefully get a job next year. the bank is fine for now, but definitely not a career change for me. :)

however... here is some news for you... JJ and i are toying with all the options we have open to us. i know my hubby would love to stay in AZ for a few more years, but i have had enough. i am done with the dust in the air that makes me have constant allergies, i am done with the endless sunshine. :) i will grin and bear it for as long as i have to, but hopefully that won't be for too long. as i have realized once and for all that teaching is what i would like to do, i have decided that i REALLY want to go back to school... and where else would i go but BYU?! so we have decided that i will apply for grad school and "see what happens." who knows where we could be next year??? maybe utah, maybe florida (to take care of the grands), and maybe here still... which i will be fine with. :)

so that's about all the updates i have for now... oh except this little tidbit that i will leave you to chew on...

we are trying.... :)