Christmas

I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone!

Our week in San Diego went surprisingly smooth...no complications, no drama...it was really nice :)

I didn't get to spend too much time with friends since we're all so busy, but I almost saw everyone at least once! The majority of my week though was spent with family, which was really nice :) I probably spent too much money on people's presents, but it was worth it to see their delighted faces! Chris unfortunately couldn't make it down with Linda, he spent Christmas in San Louis Obispo with Grandma Julia.

Kyle and I did a lot of running around to see family! Christmas Eve we first did early dinner with his Mom, Kaleb, Auntie B & Uncle Bob & their kids. Then we went to my parent's house to spend time with family and friends. Tamales & Games were followed by our traditional trek to midnight Mass :) Christmas morning was spent with my family with lots of coffee, breakfast, and of course, present opening! Then we went to his Mommy's house and we opened presents, then went over to his Grandma's house where we did more presents and dinner. Afterwards, we once again went back to my parent's house, my mom made Persian food for Christmas day dinner :) Lots of food, games, and good times :)

For the majority of the week, it was as if everything was totally normal and fine...which was such a relief! It was an actual vacation!

I really didn't want to leave...but here I am, second day back in Seattle.

New Year's Eve is on Friday, and I have to confess that I am terrified of the upcoming new year. I mean, sure, there are quite a few things I'm looking forward to...but there are some inevitable things that are approaching quickly. My dad's health, for example, is looking worse and worse. Essentially we are at the end of the line here...my Dad's kidney can no longer function on its own, he goes to dialysis every other day for 4-6 hour sessions. He is exhausted all the time, he can't take more than 5-10 steps without having to stop because he's just so drained of energy. It's really hard to see him as he is...it's just terrifying thinking that he won't be with us much longer. My dad is an essential part to our family's foundation, and I don't know how we'll function without him. It's terrifying to think that it's incredibly likely my dad will pass away in this new year. I mean, the doctors don't even have a "game plan" at this point, sure they put him on the donor list, but the wait is about 5 years. But, honestly, even with dialysis every other day, my dad can't make it another 5 years.

Wow, this topic somehow got really heavy, I was trying to post something light, but I guess it'd be ridiculous to ignore everything but the light happy stuff...but anyway.

I just wanted to say how grateful I am for having had a peaceful, merry Christmas with the people that I love. Hope you had a Merry Christmas too, reader!

This past week...

To quickly summarize...

I finished my fall quarter classes
I watched The Black Swan (very good, and kept me on edge)

I made way too many cookies (sugar cookies, thumbprint pb & hershey kiss cookies, and gingerbread men)
I spent too much on people's Christmas presents (happens every year...hah)
I went to the gym a lot (it makes me feel good!)
I saw Carly for a little bit (I gave her some coffee to soothe her addiction, she gave me a bottle of wine)

Tonight, Kyle and I are packing for San Diego, because tomorrow right after I get off work, we'll be heading to the airport and making our way home :)

I'm really looking forward to seeing our families, and of course, our friends :)

Woo hoo!

Disney Quest!

Jenny and I have embarked on a Disney Quest...and by that I mean we decided to watch our favorite Disney movies in chronological order, haha :) so far, we've watched...

 

Me, me, me.

Operation self-improvement is going well so far!

Jenny and I joined LA Fitness yesterday, and can I just say, it feels good to work out. We're going back today, and tomorrow morning we have our 1 free session of working with a personal trainer. I really like it, doing something that makes me feel good. :)

The gym is only 5 minutes away, which is very convenient, and it's really big and clean. It was also neat considering our "cute girl discount" was way better than Jenny's Starbucks discount :) tehehe!

I'm going to start planning/making healthier food. Not to say I eat unhealthy, at all, but it could be healthier, I'm just usually too lazy to go that extra mile. But not anymore, girl power has been our motto recently, and I'm totally digging it!

Today might not have started out so great (my hair looks awful and I got a flat tire on my way to work), but I'm really looking forward to going to the gym tonight :)

If I wasn't so embarrassed of my flabby body, I'd post before & after pictures...but I'll just (hopefully) post pictures once I reach my goal :)

Girl Day!

One of the things I love about living with Jenny is that she has incredible mind-reading powers (or maybe blog reading powers? haha). Yesterday we decided to indulge in ourselves :)

It all started with a fun Mani-Pedi at this little hole in the wall place...it wasn't too expensive, and our nails look fabulous! The pedi chairs were massage chairs (omg, what a luxury, lol) and as if that wasn't enough, we got shoulder rubs while receiving the manicures :) Honestly, my nails haven't looked this nice in SO long (I went classic french because I figured it'd be easier than trying to make sure my outfits complemented my nail color, lol). Also, I haven't painted my toe nails in years...I forgot how much I like painted toe nails. They take normal looking feet, and make them cute :)

After a relaxing and fun time getting our nails done, we went to Starbucks and got Peppermint Mochas and then went to see Tangled. Seriously, Tangled is the best/cutest/funniest/saddest animated film I've seen since Up (yes, Up is still my all-time favorite, but this is a pretty close second!). If you haven't already, go see it! Now! :)

After the movie, we went home to make dinner, eat pumpkin cheesecake, and caught up on Gossip Girl. OMG, last night's episode was insane!!! I can't believe we have to wait until the shows come back from holiday break :[