Christmas: The Sequel

We are one week away from our second Christmas together as a married couple!

As we reach this crazy milestone, I've become more intensely aware of the fact that we are halfway, halfway, through our time in Virginia.
I...I really...I have such mixed feelings. I now truly understand the confusion between belonging to two countries at once (because yes, I consider the east coast to be a different country to the west).

On December 12th, Dusty finished his last final of the semester and we were finally able to go out and spend some time together!
This was a doozy of a finals season. We realized it may be wiser to work a little extra during the semester to avoid two full weeks of all-nighters!
On top of having no sleep, we are in a serious weight-loss competition with Dusty's brother and sister-in-law...it has been neck-in-neck, so dieting + no sleep + stress + law studies = PSYCHOTIC BREAK.
Needless to say, we needed some serious R&R after it was all said and done!

So that Wednesday night, we headed to Isabella's for a you-deserve-bread-and-cheese-and-cream-and-yummy-fats celebration dinner.

We were STUFFED. Mostly because we had been starving for two weeks straight.
Oh and Dusty has a beard now. Courtesy of finals.

On one of the previous nights, we had stolen some time together to decorate the tree in between his study times.
I had put it up a few days before, but didn't want to hang the ornaments alone. It's a big deal to me, which is probably just because of how much my dad has always loved ornaments! Us kids always had our certain ones that we would hang every year.

This year, we had a handful of brand new ornaments from our travels!

We spread out our treasures,

Put on a Christmas episode of Friends, made some hot apple cider, and got to decorating!

Last year was our very first Christmas together. We decorated our little apartment, made some fun little traditions, and even had our own mock Christmas morning to exchange gifts to each other.
In light of being halfway through law school, I have found myself reminiscing on where we were last year around this time, compared to now.

2011

2012

2011

2012

I'd say we got a little carried away with our decorations this year!

2011
Hanging our first ornament!

2012

Last year, we designated the Saturday before we left for Arizona to be our time together, our own "Christmas morning".
It was so fun!

After we made a mess of things and opened all the presents, we had a brilliant idea to have breakfast in our pajamas.
Since we didn't want to make breakfast, we headed to IHOP, pajama-clad and smiling!

This year, we kept the magic alive. But a lot has changed around the apartment!
We even had a "Christmas Eve", where we each got to open one gift.

Christmas Morning came along:

After we opened our presents, I decided to give Dusty an anniversary gift early.

I got him a vintage Guess Who game!
Not wanting to try and figure out a way to pack it and give it to him in Arizona on our actual anniversary, I gave it to him on our "Christmas morning".

Guess Who is one of the silliest and best parts of our dating relationship. For some reason, it was our favorite game to play together. And Dusty always won. 
I know it's hard to believe, but one time, we opened up the game, picked our cards, and he guessed who I had on the first try. He just yelled out a name and it was right.
Trust me. I was there.
In any case, they don't make the 1987 version anymore, so I found it used on Ebay. Now we have our very own! And we may have started a new Christmas morning Guess Who tournament tradition.
Which led to us being famished, and ready for pajama IHOP :)

We leave for Arizona in THREE days. It seems unreal that time has gone by so quickly, and that so much has changed since we first moved here.
We have invested in incredible friendships, creating lifelong relationships and fun memories. We've made our awkward apartment into a comfortable home, that's completely weird and quirky and totally us...we've grown in our relationship, loving and supporting each other in the most difficult of times. And we've gotten fat from food and happiness and silliness (thus enters the weight-loss competition).
But overall, it has been a wonderful year and a half. We are so excited to go celebrate the holidays with our families, and offer up cheers to a brand new year.
Unless the world ends on Friday.
But we'll play it by ear.

Oh yeah, and this is our apartment right now.

That's what happens when Dusty isn't in school anymore.

I don't think I've EVER been as Christmas-spirit-filled as I am this year.


In love,
Cait

the beginning of a beautiful friendship

What a beautiful day. Here I am, at my new resident Starbucks. I am now on a diet, so I only ordered a grande instead of venti today. I find myself very proud. :)
Lynchburg and I are on a first-name basis now, although it may be some time before we're besties. Regardless, I am beginning to see the budding blossoms of a beautiful friendship. Particularly now, when it's cloudy and sweet, as rain droplets trickle off of my favorite green and white umbrellas.
I have now, in this wi-fi zone, applied to five more jobs on Liberty's campus. Let's hope these applications are fruitful.



Day 1 of Lynchburg life went splendidly! We got the keys to our place, and began to move in. It's a two-story townhouse apartment, and in short, it's our little fun house. The entire building slants, laughing at you as you practically tumble across the floor. When you open the front door, you fall right in! We've had fun laughing about our diagonal fridge, our slanted staircase, and our crooked kitchen. All in all, it's ours, and we're in love.

The thrifty shopping has been a great success. I cannot wait to show you the things we bought. Our first day, our stop numero uno was Good Will. Immediately, we saw it. THE COUCH. The one we will nap on, pig out on, watch movies on, play games on, entertain guests on...the list goes on, and on. It's big, ugly, purple, and OH so comfy. It has been steam cleaned, and we shall most likely continue to clean it every day until we're convinced it's ours, with no trace of its previous owners. However, since I am speaking of day 1, there will be no picture yet, seeing as my dad and husband are actually picking it up as we speak. We had them hold it for two days, while we shopped around for other options. But if anyone asks, I will say, we knew it right then -- love at first sight!






Also at Good Will, we picked up these other treasures.



This chabby chic mirror for 5 bucks! One of my favorite things.




Two little tables, for 6.50 each, that we are going to completely fabulify. We also got an old vanity seat frame (or at least that's what we're going to call it and use it for!) for 5 dollars, which we will be making/purchasing a cushion for, a square dining room table (totally diner style!) which is great, sturdy, and surely will delight in holding our delicious things, for 20 dollars! And, last but not least, two most-likely-incomplete board games based on our favorite show, Friends. What a great stop. :)




We then hopped over to Big Lots, where we purchased the PERFECT room divider, a 5 shelf bookcase that will serve as a sectional to our living room and dining area. It was on clearance for 75.




We then grabbed two smaller 3 shelf bookcases, in the "black forest" color. These will be perfect for displaying dishes in the dining room, and for Dusty's school books and binders upstairs with his desk. 20 dollars each!

What a great day. There were even some things we liked, but did NOT get...



We ended our successful Day 1 by travelling to Alta Vista, to fellowship with some friends of ours from when I was young. The O'Callaghans lived in my hometown many years ago, and their son played soccer with my brother. Their daughter was also named Caitlin, and we used to play together, despite her being two years older. My mom and I visited them four years ago when I was planning on attending Liberty for my undergrad. It was wonderful to once again see their beautiful property, but in August, not February! We were able to relax, and enjoyed a wonderful meal and great conversation in their beautiful country home. They have a field full of goats, and will be having more goat babies this year! We are still in the middle of our discussions to take one as a pet in our apartment... :)

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We have been hard at work, and even now, I must return to paint up some tables and rejoin the decorating process!

P.S. I made the first meal in our kitchen today, a delicious sandwich with pesto and pepperjack cheese. I used our toaster oven for the first time ever, and I was extremely excited for such a simple task!

Talk to you soon.

In love,
Cait