Christmas Recap

Today, I want to recap Christmas 2010 in Minnesota. I'll do Christmas 2010 in ND and the wedding in the coming days. I hope I remember everything that happened since it was a few weeks ago.

I was lucky enough to be able to take December 22 through January 2 off from work for Christmas this year. Really, I only had to take 4 vacation days because of all the paid holidays and weekends we get at my job, but since it's a busy time of year for us (we played in the Texas Bowl this year and our office plays a major part in that), I felt really lucky.

Unfortunately, I got really sick right before the holidays. In fact, I still am sick. I can't shake the mucas-y build up in my throat. I'm sure you all wanted to know that - sorry if that grossed you out. Anyways, I ended up taking a few sick days the week before Christmas and was finally starting to feel better, and then I got worse again. Michael and I had planned to drive to MSP after I finished work on Tuesday, December 21, but of course, I was feeling awful that day. I ended up going to work for only 3 hours to finish up loose ends and then went to Michael's and slept, while he had a meeting until 4. We hit the road at 4:30 and Michael, being the amazing partner he is, drove the entire way to MSP. It took us eight hours, as there was some nasty weather in Wisconsin. We were so glad that we weren't driving to Chicago because there was a really bad accident on the other side of the Interstate with a semi jack-knifed across the road. Traffic was backed up for miles. We were relieved that we made it to MSP around 12:30 a.m. safe and sound.

Wednesday we slept in and then Michael met with some engineering contacts to feel out the job market in MSP. I stayed at his parents' house and read/hung out with his sisters/enjoyed a lazy afternoon. When Michael got back, we wrapped all of our presents. I am NOT a fan of wrapping - mostly b/c I'm not very good at it, and I don't like to do things I'm not good at - but it actually went pretty well. We wrapped about 25 things between the two of us and it took pretty much the entire afternoon. Michael spent some time working on a present for me, which I had no idea about. He thought it was take about an hour but it took several over the course of the next few days. We went to a neighborhood party with some his friends that night, so I finally got to meet some fo them, which was nice. Michael and I watched the Princess and the Frog when we got home. If you haven't seen it, it's pretty darn cute.

Thursday Michael and I spent most of the morning running errands. We had to pick up part of our gift for my parents - we got them chefs jackets with their names on them (of course, Michael has the pictures on his camera) - and do a few other things. When we got home, his mom had started a puzzle so we decided to do that for a bit. As a child, I HATED puzzles, but I learned that as an adult, I actually really like them. We took over his mom's project - she never touched it again - Sorry Patty! - and finished it in about five hours. It was a puzzle within a puzzle, and everything started with an S. There were A LOT of fish and birds, but we actually really enjoyed working on the project together. I see many more puzzles in our future...

On Friday, Christmas Eve, the whole family and I got in the car and went into downtown MSP. We thought it would be "fun and bussily," like in the movies. Well, it wasn't. It was dead. It was kind of disappointing. But we had fun shopping and Michael got a nice new pair of shoes to wear with suits. We were home by early afternoon and then the Christmas festivities began. We took some pictures, I helped Michael's sisters with dessert (cupcakes!), and sat down for a nice dinner together. After dinner, we opened a few gifts and then went to church at 9 p.m. It was a nice service and I really like the pastor. We sang A LOT (every verse too!) so my throat was raw by the end. Michael had told me that at the end of the service, everyone would light a candle and we would sing Silent Night. This was a tradition at my amazing friend Adam's church on Christmas Eve as well, and we had done this exact same thing at his funeral just two weeks before. I had warned Michael I didn't know if I could participate, but I ended up being ok and holding it together. I prayed for Adam a lot that night, and his family and friends who all miss him as well. Adam was always the last person to blow out his candle (yes, at 31 last Christmas, he was still last!) so I made sure I was last too. That was for you, dear Friend. I miss you and love you!

We went back to Michael's parents' house and opened the rest of the gifts under the tree. By the end of the night, I had received PJs, a few shirts, an apple peeler/corer/slicer, and cookbook from his parents. Michael gave me an IPod Touch and the mystery gift. It was a pizza peel with "Michael and Jenni's Kitchen" burned into it. That was the project he had been working on the last few days. I LOVE IT and cannot wait to hang it in our kitchen someday. Michael and I also got a really cool pre-paid Zagat giftcard to use for a dinner date in Chicago from his sisters. His family was extremely generous and I felt very blessed to be part of their Christmas celebration.We went to bed 1 a.m., knowing that we would be getting up early the next morning.

Michael's sisters and him have a fun tradition on Christmas morning they have been doing since they were kids. His sisters come into his room at 7 a.m. and wake him up. Then they all lay on his bed and watch a movie or TV show. At 8 a.m., they go into their parents' room and "wake" them up (Michael's dad is a surgeon so he's up at 5:30 a.m. every day so they don't really wake them up). Then everyone goes downstairs together to see what Santa brought. Santa brings the "big" gift in his family.

So on Christmas morning, Michael's sisters came in at 7 a.m. and we all cuddled in bed and watched an episode of How I Met Your Mother. At 8, we went to his parents' room, and by 8:15, we were downstairs to see what Santa had brought up. Minnesota Santa was EXTREMELY generous and I walked away with another cookbook, yummy spices, leather gloves, some fun costume jewelry, warm socks, and other accesories. My big gift shocked me: a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. I absolutely loved them and wear them all the time. It was so very nice of "Minnesota Santa" to bring me all of those nice things.

We ate some yummy coffee cake (they have the best family recipe, which I need to share with you), and then Michael and I spent the rest of the morning packing for our trip to ND. We hit the road just before noon. I'll write more about this roadtrip in my ND Christmas update.

Overall, it was an AMAZING Christmas. I thought I might be a little sad, since it was my first Christmas ever I wasn't with my family. But I couldn't have imagined a better first Christmas with my new family :-)