Vacation Week and Thanksgiving!

This past week was a wonderful week spent with family and friends!  I had a lot of vacation left before the end of the year hit so I decided it was time for me to use some of it and take the week of Thanksgiving of.  After a weekend filled with Engaged Encounter, I hit the road early Monday morning to head up to Grenville for a couple of days.  I got there in no time and didn't hit much traffic which was wonderful. After I got home I took a long walk with my brother so that we could catch up before heading downtown to meet up with Amanda.  Amanda and I headed to the path that takes you through the park downtown and had so much fun walking, catching up, and staying warm (It was quite cold out!)  After finishing up our 6 mile walk, I headed hope to spend some time with my parents since they had gotten off of work.  Courtney came over for family dinner, as always, and we enjoyed some wine and good company.

Greenville is so pretty!!!

 

Tuesday was a relaxing day in the morning before heading to meet Sarah for lunch.  We had planned to go to Tupelo Honey but it was very rainy out and parking was terrible so we ended up changing plans and going to Genghis Grill.  Of course the food is great there but the company was even better!  After spending 2 hours at lunch catching up I came home and got a workout in before heading to Courtney's apartment to cook dinner and enjoy great company.  Courtney made the best cheesy chicken recipe and I cannot wait to try it!  After dinner I headed home to spend some more time with my family since they had been working all day.

Wednesday was nice because my mom was off of school, so we headed out and did some shopping and took a walk before preparing dinner for lunch time.  My dad came home from work early so that we could eat as a family before I hit the road and headed back to Atlanta.  I knew traffic would be bad but it only took me an extra 45 minutes or so to get home, which could be worse!  After getting home, Joe and I cooked dinner before friends came over.  Since everyone was off the next day for Thanksgiving, we were excited to spend some time with friends that we hadn't seen in a while.  We headed over to 5 Paces to visit our favorite bar tender Jessie (I friend from GT that also swam with me) and dance the night away.

super excited about the popcorn!

Thursday morning came quick and after relaxing and sleeping in, we headed up to Joe's parents house to spend Thanksgiving with them.  Of course the food was great, and we enjoyed two turkeys, one fried and one baked, as well as plenty of sides and deserts to eat!  All of the food was amazing and we really are lucky to have family so close to us.  When we got home Joe dragged out the Christmas stuff we had since we had not been able to put it out in quite some time!  He did a great job putting up all of our houses that we had bought years ago right after Christmas for a great price, but had never gotten to put up since he was normally moving Christmas time.  Slowly, things in the house were starting to look like Christmas, but we still have a ways to go!

Thanksgiving in the making!

Putting up the Christmas Village...time to add snow :)

Christmas Decorating in his hat :)

Friday morning I headed to the gym to work off some of the food from the previous day, and even hopped in the pool and swam two miles (3300 yds!)  I was so proud of myself and it only took me an hour :)  After a great workout, I took Rox for a walk before Joe got home from Golf.  We went to dinner at the Atlanta Fish Market where we enjoyed amazing sea food and celebrated my birthday a bit early.  After getting home, Joe's friends came over for another evening of fun.  Since it was cold out, we headed to Ivy just down the street where we danced and had a great time.  After Ivy we hit up waffle house before heading home.

Family Photo!

Saturday morning came way too quick and before we knew it we were heading to Georgia Tech for the GT vs. UGA football game.  Joe's parents had given us tickets so we were excited to tailgate and spend some time with friends before watching the game.  There were so many GT Alum in town so it was great seeing everyone, catching up, and we finally got to see Kevin and Baby Liam!  It was so cute seeing Joe hold him, and Liam is the cutest baby ever!  After tailgating we headed to the game with Duncan, Kayla, and Megan who was in town for a couple days.  Although we may have froze, and lost a considerable lead that made Tech go into overtime and lose, it was such a good time seeing everyone!  We headed home from the game and warmed up in bed and watched the Clemson/Carolina game from the warmth and comfort of our house before going to bed.

Sunset at the Game!

All Bundled Up!

Game Time!

So much fun with these two!

Love :)

Time for Kick Off!

Sunday was Christmas decorating day, so we started by getting some ornaments, tree skirt, and so much more since we really didn't have anything!  We want to keep this year minimally decorated and by everything after Christmas on sale, but we still wanted to have a tree up and decorated.  After buying a tree, we set it up and are letting it fall so that we can decorate it later in the week.  The gifts are already wrapped and under the tree so all that is left is putting up the lights and ornaments!  This was the first time I ever picked out a tree so it was quite an experience but we had a good time.  Once that was done it was time to make spaghetti sauce for the freezer since we were all out and then make meatloaf for the first time!  This is Joe's favorite food, and I will have to put up the recipe soon because it really did turn out well!  Before we knew it, it was time for me to pack for the week of travels and head to bed after an amazing week filled with food, friends, and family.

Our Tree!

New Stockings :)  Roxy has the best one :)

More than ever, I realized how much I have to be Thankful for.  I have such an amazing support system from my family and friends, a fiance that loves me more than anything else, and a life that I wouldn't give up for the world.  As I fell asleep the last night as a 24 year old, I realized that it had been a great year, highlighted with getting engaged, but 25 is going to be even better!  Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!