I love the holidays!

I had an awesome time over the holidays visiting with the family! Santa was good to everyone! : )

Matt and I drove down to Rochester, IL on Christmas Eve day. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents' friends house for dinner and then we all went to 10pm mass. I could barely stay awake at church after the big dinner and a few glasses of wine.

On Christmas, we all opened lots of gifts.

My parents' tree


I think my Dad's best gift was this first aid kit! Anyone who knows my Dad knows that this is the perfect thing for him as he spends quite a lot of time in the ER... to say he is "accident prone" is an understatement!



We all drove to Quincy, IL to hang out with my mom's family for a few days. We always have a ton of fun there.

My mom and I enjoying some wine (big surprise)


We do a gift exchange. I got the Twilight series of books and some really pretty jewelry from my aunt. Matt got a shirt and the History of Farting book from another aunt of mine. : )



Every year, the chocolate fish is traded back and forth between my dad and my uncle Rudy. I'm not even sure how this started, but they always get each other something fish related.



Another favorite gift of my Dad's... a remote control UFO


He's still trying to figure it out... there's no way to really steer the thing


Me and Matt


My cousins Kelly and Kelsey


Uncle Chuck (the real thing) and aunt June


My dad with another of his favorite xmas presents


Gramma (wearing dad's new "glasses") and Grampa


Gramma and Grampa and the grandkids... no one is looking at the camera!


My mom's brothers and sisters... again, not really paying attention to me.


The "in-laws" with Gramma and Grampa


We played lots of LRC (Left-Right-Center), a dice game. I was having lots of luck and won quite a bit of money! We also had the annual ladies lunch the day after xmas.

The ladies lunch at Tiramisu


Then we all went gambling at the boat in Missouri. I don't usually gamble much, but I sat down at a slot machine and started winning. After all was said and done, I came out of the casino $15 up. Definitely a win for me! Matt played some blackjack, but I don't think he came out quite as well. My gramma and mom did really well playing the Wizard of Oz slot machine... that thing couldn't lose!

That night, we went out for mexican food (and HUGE margaritas!) and went bowling afterwards. We were so full, it was hard to bowl. Matt and I ran into a guy that works at TP in Chicago. We don't really work with him, but recognized him. Such a small world.

Jean, Mom and me with our big margaritas!


Kelly and me at the bowling alley


Pat and Dan at the bowling alley


We drove back to Rochester on Saturday and watched the worst movie (Stepbrothers) while eating one of my favorite pizzas (Godfather's). My mom and I crashed early, but the rest of the fam and Matt went to go see the new Brad Pitt movie... Curious Case of Benjamin Button or something like that.

Then, it was back to reality and Chicago. Boo.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Bear down!

Matt and I watched the Bears v. Packers game last night from the comfort of the couch. I couldn't imagine being out there in the cold for that long. They kept showing these dudes who had no shirts on... OMG! They had to be drunk!

We were a little worried towards the end, but the Bears pulled through. I think it may have had something to do with the rally that was going on at Matt's house... we even got "Chuck" (a lifelong PACKERS fan!) to cheer on the Bears. That must have been what turned the tides for them! : )

i.am.bored

Today, my entire group at work is out of the office except for me. I am sitting in a six-pack of cubicles by myself. It's quiet. It's boring. I've finished all of the work I could scrounge up and I have nothing else to do right now, so I am just killing time until I can leave. UGH!

Domestic

Today was a lazy Sunday... and it was AWESOME! The only place I went today was the grocery store and the 3 minutes it took to walk there from Matt's place was enough outdoor time for me! Brrr... I can't believe how cold it was out there! It was so windy today the elevators stopped working at Matt's building (just in time for us when we got back from the store, of course.) That set off the fire alarms and the fire trucks stopped by.

For some reason today, I was feeling domestic and wanted to do some cooking and baking.

I made peanut butter cookies with Reese's peanut butter cups in the middle. I love those things! The goal now is to NOT eat all of them before I take them home for xmas.



I also decided to make one of my favorite comfort food meals... pot roast and mashed potatoes. This is my first attempt at pot roast and it turned out great! Not that it is hard. : ) I made garlic red mashed potatoes... those turned out good as well. Not as garlicky as I thought they would be, but that's probably a good thing.



Now, Matt and I are in food comas and catching up on some shows we have DVR'd.

Bulls win = we win!

Last night, Matt and I braved the cold and went to the Bulls game. Luckily, it's just a short bus ride away from his place. It was a good game... very close until the end.

Good news is that the Bulls scored over 100 points AND won the game, so everyone gets a free Big Mac. I'm not sure Matt and I are actually going to cash in on our "winnings" today considering it's cold and we'd have to leave the comfort of the couch. : )



And more good news... Matt "caught" another shirt. If anyone remembers, he also ended up with a t-shirt when we were in Utah at his brother-in-law's HS football game. That time, it just kind of hit him in the face. This time, the t-shirt bounced off some other people and landed in his hands. He has the best luck!

Here he is re-enacting the scene : )


The Bulls have added a new form of entertainment since the last time I went to a game (which was probably a very long time ago)... the Matadors. They are these overweight men that dance at halftime with the Luvabulls. They took their shirts off and they had M-E-R-R-Y-X-M-A-S written on their stomachs.


Happy Holidays from the United Center

DUN!

I have finished my Christmas shopping with a few days to spare... yay! And I got them all wrapped this afternoon, too. There is still one present on it's way, but it should be here by Tuesday.

I can't wait to go home for the holidays and visit with my family... it seems like forever since I've seen everyone! I'm already looking forward to all of the goodies my mom baked... I may gain 10 pounds before the New Year!