New Year's Eve

I was excited this year for New Years Eve. My friend Rachelle and I had decided to go to the bowling alley for their Monte Carlo night. We didn't feel like going out with all the crowds and we know we always have fun bowling. Dinner was included and they made some excellent prime rib. We were put into groups and then they started explaining what we would be doing. I had never done Monte Carlo before and to tell you the truth was lost most of the night! They had a paper that described the ways you could win, but it was hard to figure out. They had colored pins and you could win money if knocked down certain pins or left certain ones standing up. They had an MC who walked around teasing with people and helped let you know if you had a chance at winning money on your lane. It wasn't what I had expected, but Rachelle and I made the best of it. I did end up winning $10 though! Of course, they made a big deal about it turning midnight and passed out noisemakers. We had thought we would go out after bowling, but both of us were really tired and just wanted to sleep!

Right before midnight

We did make the holiday more exciting before the evening even started. We had been talking about this for a couple of weeks and just spontaneously decided to go through with it and not tell anyone until afterwards. After Rachelle got off work at 4:30, we drove down to Tri-Cities and had our noses pierced!!! I watched Rachelle get hers done first and still went through with mine. There was only a little sting and my eye watered up briefly, but other then that it was fine. The next couple of days my nose was pretty sore. I still love it everytime I see it and when it sparkles throughout the day. I told my sister about it and sent her a picture. She loved it and couldn't wait to see it in person. I decided not to tell my parents and waited for them to notice it. They were pretty cool with it, so I was glad about that. Most people didn't notice it and we were so bummed. People thought we already had one since a lot of people have them nowadays. Now I'm so used to it that someone will mention it to me and I will almost forget that I have one! When my dad noticed it, he asked why I did it and I said I wanted to. It was as simple as that, just because! Isn't it so cute!!!

Christmas

Christmas was a little different this year for me. I didn't have to physically go into work, but I was on call. Starting at 7am that morning until 3:30pm, I was on backup for the tech who was working. When they got off I was on call the rest of the day until 7am the next morning. Needless to say, I couldn't go anywhere for the holiday. It actually worked out just fine because the weather had been awful and tons of snow had been dumped making traveling anywhere iffy.

My parents and I talked about it and came up with a plan. They came down Christmas Eve and we made the tradional Clam Chowder. They spent the night and we fixed breakfast in the morning. We took some to Andrea, who had to work that day. We opened gifts, spent time relaxing and then they left about 1pm to head back home.

Christmas Eve Clam Chowder dinner

Random pic of mom and I

My dad and I in our black hats

I only got called in about 3 times which wasn't too bad. When Andrea got home from work, we were able to eat our snack foods we had bought. Then we took our time opening our gifts to each other and didn't get interrupted by me having to go to the hospital. Even though I rather would have traveled somewhere and had all the family together, the holiday wasn't too bad.Sparkling cider

New Jewelry

New earrings

Moving to a new apt

Towards the end of last year, my friend Andrea and I had been talking about moving into a two bedroom apt together. She is wanting to go back to school and it would save both of us money. I talked to my apt manager right away to put the bug in her ear. We were thinking it might be another 3 or 4 months before one came available. However, we were able to move into one in the middle of December! It came open so suddenly, that I didn't get myself ready and had to pack at the last minute. Of course, it didn't help that I got bronchitis during that time and had to put packing on hold. We were so glad we were able to get moved in before Christmas and somewhat get things organized. The apt has been wonderful! It's great having two bedrooms and two bathrooms. We decided that I would pay a bigger half of the rent to help her save more money. So because of that, I got the bigger bedroom with two closets and an attached bathroom! She said she didn't have enough clothes to fill up two closets, I don't seem to have a problem! Haha! Even though we both were used to living on our own, it's great knowing someone else is home. We also made sure to talk about our schedules before the move. We both knew we were involved in different things and have different friends. So sometimes we only see each other at work in passing when we have plans for after work and don't see each other. She is an early to bed person and I love being up late so sometimes we don't see each other a lot at night. There are some differences, but we have a lot in common and have had some great heart to heart talks. So far everything is going great!