Christmas... Yeah, I'm late.

I'm attempting to play catch up and get back on track here with bloggidy. So here's one about Christmas!

After two months of go, go, go, which included:

• Three trips (not counting the one to Dallas for Christmas)
• A much-anticipated visit from my dad and stepmom
• My marathon relay
• Thanksgiving
• Shingles (yeah, I'm admitting I had shingles!)
• Drama (let's not relive that!)

...I really needed that time with family.

Here's a brief Christmas in review:

My dad, stepmom and I volunteered at The Salvation Army on Christmas Day... something I've always wanted to do and that we plan to do again. Couldn't think of a better way to spend Christmas!



I got to see the twins' first Christmas.





My niece knew who Santa was this year, and it was really cute to watch her open presents. Seeing a child so happy, so innocent - really reminds you of the magic of Christmas!



And it was super wonderful to see my dad, stepmom, brother, sister-in-law and stepsisters AND friends! Here's me and my brother.



All in all, great visit home. And happy to report that currently things are a little more settled at the homestead. How's it going for all of YOU?

Meeting Miss Liberty

When I went to New York in December, I took a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It's something I have always wanted to do and since I was alone I thought, what better time? So I caught the first ferry out on a Monday morning and saw this on the horizon.



First we had to go through security then we headed on our cold and windy way, stopping first to visit Miss Liberty. A few months before my trip, I reserved my spot for "crown access." Although I'm scared of heights, I figured I'd regret not going up to the top. Here we are pulling up to the island.



We got off the ferry and I headed to get my armband to go up to the crown. Then you had to put your purse and belongings in a locker and then stand in line to go through security again. Something I definitely did not mind. Then we waited at the base as they checked your name again and told you what time to be ready to head up.



After 10 minutes, I headed up 334 steps with about nine other people. We all started huffing a little as we neared the top. Little did we know we weren't quite at the top yet. I snapped the below picture not knowing that was the next staircase we'd be climbing.



Those were the hardest set of steps I ever climbed because it was a very tight spiral. If you're claustrophobic... these could be a problem. Everyone was struggling and I admit sweat was pouring down me. I made it to the top with another guy, both of us gasping for breath, and we were told we were the first two up there that day. This was what the inside of the crown looked like, from both angles. It was much smaller than I expected. And it was pretty awesome!





As we all gathered in her crown, we admired the view and took pictures of each other.





Then it was time to head back down again. Um, hello stairs.



Halfway down, I reached the pedestal and headed out to look at the view from there.



Wow. After walking around for a while, admiring her beauty, I caught the ferry over to Ellis Island.



Ellis Island was a moving experience for me. I recommend doing the audio tour because you get to walk through the whole process that our ancestors went through. It was amazing. I am very thankful I had the opportunity to go! Until next time... :)

Happy New Year!

I’ve really done a horrible job at updating good ol’ bloggidy lately… I mean, I only updated it three times in December? Yeah, that's unacceptable.

I’d like to say that I will make a resolution this new year to update this more but if I'm honest I don’t think that will work. Instead I have another resolution in mind. I am going to run a 15K! Last year my resolution was to run a 5K and I checked that one off the list by mid-March. The 15K will take longer because it is not until October, but hey, that’s OK! I plan to run my first 10K in March but I’m not counting that as a resolution because I already bought my plane ticket and am registered. The 15K is a new goal that I will see happens. I’m secretly hoping that I will do so well with it that I’ll be able to run a half marathon in November. Call me hopefully optimistic! ;)

But, seriously now, I will try to be better about this blogging business. I have some posts in mind... like I want to post abut my latest trips, and Christmas, and one about shoes! Oh, how I love shoes. I’ll get there. I promise… (I’m promising this to myself!) Maybe you all can hold me to it?

Now I want to know, what are your resolutions?