Boy oh boy a lot has happen in the last 4 months! Sorry I haven’t been keeping you guys updated on my life because I’m sure your all dying to know what happens next! Lol. Anyways before we talk about my wonderful holidays let me start you off with how life is going in Olympia. So… I am learning the challenges of the real world and how to live on my own, it is scary yet so exciting at the same time! I am slowly redecorating my room and finally making it my own by adding pictures, letters, and art to the walls. My roommates and I are keeping our little fire-heated cabin in shape and trying to bring improvements where we can. My little bugger Elliot is starting to really fluff up and became a beautiful cat, yet she still is an energetic kitty at heart. I am still working for RAD services at my school and learning more and more everyday about maintenance and housing, it’s a great job to learn handy tricks on keeping your house ship shop shape. School is going great and I just finished a rough last couple of weeks with finals and presentations, but now I get to enjoy almost a month off for some time for friends, family, and little me time.
My first week and a half was spent in Olympia just hanging out with friends. There were many entertaining parties that I went to, like The Eagle Hall Dance Party for Gateways, which is a volunteer program for incarcerated youth. It was 5 dollars to get in and all the money went to Gateways. It was a blast hearing many different bands and DJ’s and getting to dance till 2 in the morning. There were also many relaxing nights at home or at my friend’s houses. Which usually included some collective movie watching or some intense super smash bros, not to mention some great conversation and occasionally some delicious food.
Then on the 22nd I journeyed back home to Kirkland. My friend Bob was nice enough to give me a ride back on his way to Bellingham. Once back I was greeted by my crazy yet awesome family! That night we just hung out and caught up on each other’s lives. Then came Christmas Eve! To start the day I ventured out to the mountains with Maria and her family as wells Maria’s friend Christina’s family. We headed out there early to take the four boys sledding being that there was no snow around Kirkland for them to sled on. It was a blast although the boys didn’t last to long we still had fun and then headed to Jay Berry’s Pizza for some delicious warm food afterward. Then once we returned home the boys headed of for naps and I join my family to Christmas mass. After that the festivities began which was basically a lot of yummy appetizers. Mmmmmmm! During appetizers some simple yet sentimental gifts between the siblings and parents were given to each other. We even had Maggie and Tommy on the phone so we could all be there to share. It was a little bit of a tearjerker but a lot of love was shared and you can’t as Santa for more then that. Once the parents went to bed Maria and I started to prepare the Strata or should I say the Strata SUPREME for breakfast on Christmas day. We were a little bit delusional being that we were so tired but it was very humorous and I think we (mostly Maria) made the best strata yet! Plus not to mention Eric, Kenrick, Maria and I also enjoyed watching the hilarious movie Hangover to finish out the Christmas Eve night. “Dude he’s not kidding there’s a tiger in the bathroom!” Now Christmas morning which was mostly about the boys, Jake and Kai. It was so awesome seeing them come down the stairs and seeing the many of gifts under the beautifully decorated Christmas tree. We watched and helped them open up their gifts and then started preparing for our delicious strata SUPREME breakfast. After breakfast basically everyone took naps except for Maria and Jake. Jake couldn’t sleep he just wanted to play with his new toy castle. The rest of Christmas day was pretty relaxing and we all just hung out by the fire and had delightful conversations.
Now the final part of break was pretty exciting for me! Saturday I journeyed out to Snoqualmie to meet my boyfriend Kevin’s parents! We went out to a delicious lunch at the Snoqualmie Lodge right next to the Snoqualmie Falls, which I have never seen before. They were beautiful! I think the lunch went grand and I really enjoyed getting to know his parents and learning about Kevin’s hometown. Then I brought Kevin back to Kirkland and showed him around downtown and the waterfront before I brought him back to the house to meet almost whole family! Once back at the house I introduced Kevin to the big clan and we all just started chatting and hanging out. Kevin and I made homemade pizza for the family, which was a lot of fun he even wore an apron! (thanks mom) Then my dad started teaching Kevin our family’s favorite card game Euchre. We played a couple games and Kevin and I didn’t to so hot but he is still getting the jest of it. In the end it ended up being a great night and my family really liked Kevin, which is always a good sign.
So that is my lovely holiday story, but I hope everyone had and happy Christmas and will have a happy New Year!
Keep on livin’ and lovin’
Emma
Here are some pictures from the last couple of months and the Holidays back home!
Eagle Hall Charity Party
Ugly Sweater Party.
Cocktail Party 09
Holiday Pictures.
