Another year older (*sigh*)...

Well I'm officially 24. There was no turning back -- no stopping it. I have decided to face the fact that I can't change how old I am & to deal with it (at least till next year...25 is gonna be a tough one!)

Overall, this Christmas was a pretty good one. We made all our rounds visiting family & friends, but I'm so sad that Will is back to work already. I enjoyed having him home for a long 4 day weekend, though.

So anyway here is how we spent our holiday weekend...

Tuesday the 22nd:

After Will got off work, we had our little Christmas -- just the four of us. We stayed at home, exchanged gifts, and watched Elf together by our Christmas tree.

This UGA shirt was in my stocking. It is the softest t-shirt ever! I also got two Jillian Michael's exercise DVDs, underwear, a Starbucks coffee mug, & Reese's Christmas trees in my stocking. My big Christmas gift, though, was that Will paid off my credit card in full! Best gift ever! =)

Will going through his stocking! He got socks, underwear, an oven mitt & brownie mix (he loves to cook!), a new lunch box (he lost his in the wreck), a razor & razor blades, a "manly" Starbucks coffee mug, & candy.

I also ordered a bottle of wine from the winery we went to in Savannah & a quarter collecting book for the next series of quarters coming out in 2010. He loved them!

Santa also brought Missy & Tini gifts. They each got a bone & a reindeer Bo-Bo.

Tini does NOT want to share her bone with Missy!

Wednesday the 23rd:

We had to planned to go to El Sombrero to eat with my friends for my birthday and then head over to the Monkey Barrel to hear Mary Susan sing.

There was the most beautiful sunset on the drive from Athens to Gainesville!!! I knew it was gonna be a good night! =)

Two of my high school friends, Alayna & Brittany, with me at El Som.

Blythe, one of my friends from North Georgia, stopped by to say hey! It's been TOO long since I've seen her!

At midnight, Mary Susan sang Happy Birthday to me at The Monkey Barrel! Oh how I love her!!!

Mary's "audience": Molly, Erin, Me, & Brittany

With my sweet Will!

I had so much fun getting to see all my friends! I even got to see people from high school that I hadn't seen in forever. It was a good night!

Thursday the 24th (Birthday!):

The next day for my birthday Will brought me breakfast in bed. We just lounged around the entire day & watched movies. We also ordered Golden Buddha, my favorite, for dinner. The weekend before, Will took me shopping for my birthday to Dress Up Boutique (an adorable Dahlonega store that one of my sorority sisters owns) & I bought three dresses, leggings, a hat, jewelry, a scarf, and boots. He also bought me two pairs of jeans that I DESPERATELY needed! He also let me get a birthday massage! =) I got a monogrammed blanket for our bedroom, too. (I also saw Gramma earlier this week & she gave me a water lily picture that she painted herself for my birthday.) Later that night we went over to my parents house to have cake (red velvet from Green's Grocery...mmm!) My mom gave me a monogrammed market tote from Cozy Corner (the FIRST thing I have with my new initials on it) & a gift card to Pier 1. After that, we went back to Kathy's house & played games with Erin & Daniel. We also had Christmas with Kathy that night. I got a Wal-Mart gift card & a Pier 1 wallet. Kathy also gave me a brown & teal hot chocolate gift set for my birthday. Will got a Wal-Mart gift card, too, bottled Cokes & Root Beer, a NY Yankees puzzle, & the last bottle of wine in the Braves charity wine collection.

Friday the 25th (Christmas!):

On Christmas morning, we woke up & headed over to my parents house to exchange gifts. In my stocking we got marinades (Will is OBSESSED with marinades!) and a bunch of other edible treats and candies. We also got a new knife set, an Olive Garden gift card (our favorite!), a hand painted ornament, a hot chocolate gift set & mugs, and Night at the Museum II. For brunch we went over to my Grandmother's house in Gainesville. Will & I got even MORE snacks & treats, another Olive Garden gift card, a Target gift card, an ornament, & two wooden wine boxes. After heading back to Kathy's for nap time, we went over to Erin & Daniel's house. We ate dinner with them, played games, & watched a movie. We had a great Christmas!

Christmas brunch at Gramma's

Saturday the 26th:

We woke up & went shopping to take advantage of the after Christmas sale. We went to Pier 1 where I bought 21 BEAUTIFUL Christmas balls for our tree next year! They are soooooo pretty! (Thanks, Mom!) We also went to Target & bought Will a new travel coffee tumbler. That night we had two parties to go to...

Missy & Me were twins!

Party #1 was at Erin & Daniel's house. It was for Ryan's birthday (a guy that Will works with & one of Daniel's best friends).

Here's Will, Ryan, & Daniel -- "Cause they're the 3 best friends that anybody could have..."

The next party was at Brett Fowler's house (one of our good friends from high school). It was just a Christmas party for a bunch of Gainesville High School folks. There were people there from the class of 2000 all the way down to the class of 2007. Craziness!

Sunday the 27th:

We went up to Sky Valley to meet the Williams side of the family for lunch. We ate at the Dillard house! It was so good to see Will's grandparents...we haven't seen them in so long! For my birthday, Oma handmade me a quilt -- such a special gift! For Christmas she also gave me a beautiful scarf, gloves, & a Wal-Mart gift card. She also put together a little gift bag of goodies to celebrate New Years! She always gives the most thoughtful gifts!

I wanted to take a picture with little Tini since we matched, but she is scared of cameras & wanted down. She's scared of everything!

That night we headed back to Athens, unpacked & put away everything, ordered Olive Garden to go & watched The Holiday. It felt soooooooo wonderful to be back home! =)

Here are just some of the Christmas treats we got from our families! We are gonna bring in the New Year with a few extra pounds!!!