All the Christmas Festivities!

Ok, so I know I'm a slacker for letting it take this long to post about Christmas, but I guess better late than never! Sorry, but get comfy...this is gonna be long!
Let's start with Christmas Eve: I took the day off work to make some Christmas goodies and Ryan played golf with his dad in the morning (he had the whole week off! lucky duck...). Then we both got cleaned up and went out to play Santa as we delivered some of our goodies to family and friends. We went to Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, had dinner with my parents, and went to their house to open presents! Aimee really had a blast this year...she and mom baked cookies for Santa, sprinkled reindeer food in the yard, and she's really starting to get the hang of opening presents on her own and showing how excited she is about the presents. We all exchanged gifts then watched Aimee open a few of hers, then we set out a few homemade snacks and watched Christmas Vacation until we could barely keep our eyes open (it's one of our traditions). It was so nice to have such a relaxed and enjoyable Christmas Eve! We're so happy that we also didn't have to drive 3 hours into town this time and barely get here in time for church. Yay for moving back to Dallas! It was really a great time.
On Christmas Day, Ryan and I got up and gave the dogs and cat their presents, then let them dig into the treats in their stockings. The dogs, like the little brats they are, decided that they liked each other's gifts more than their own, so they ended up switching. Picture this...my little Goosey dragging around a rawhide bone so big that she can't even pick it up or get her mouth completely around it while 90-pound Mav has one of those tiny Loofah dog toys in his mouth so that you can barely see the toy! He had the whole thing in his mouth walking around the apartment squeaking it...what a crack-up they both are! Tigger (aka Fatty) was perfectly content digging into his treats and smelling the cat-nip all over his new toys. After we watched them play for a while, we got ready and the whole gang (except Tigger) headed over to Ryan's parents' house. We munched on more Christmas goodies while we visited with Ryan's parents, his sister Jessica, and Jessica's boyfriend Will. Then what else...more presents! It's always fun with them because you really never know what to expect. Ryan and I have been together for almost 5 years now and I can't remember a single time that his mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas, but she always comes up with neat stuff! The presents ranged from travel coffee mugs (a joke between Ryan and his mom) to a Dooney and Bourke purse for Sue. We open presents (or "prizes" as Sue calls them...haha, I love it!) one at a time and this year we got to record the whole sha-bang on our new video camera. It's so funny to watch!
After presents we all sat down for a nice, traditional Christmas dinner with turkey, dressing, and all the fixin's! This was the first year that Sue asked for my help, and well...I'm afraid it might have also been the last! Here's the story...their family really likes canned cranberries, but I personally am not a fan of cranberries, so I've never really paid any attention to how they are served. I always ask Sue if I can help with anything, and this year she gives in and says "sure, why don't you get the cranberries out." So I open the can, loosen the cranberry gel-stuff from the can, and pour it into the bowl that she gave me. Well, as most of you know, I'm domestically challenged and Sue is always cracking jokes and being the life of the party...well that wasn't a good mix in her kitchen. When the cranberries came out of the can, they maintained the shape of the can, which I thought was hilarious. She says "oh my goodness! you got them out in one piece...I can never do that!" which I thought was one of her jokes since let's be honest, cranberry-goo in the shape of a can is not necessarily what I picture when I hear the word "cranberries." So I proceed to slice and dice the goo into what resembled (to me at least...) some type of cranberry salad that would have contained real cranberries and jello or something of the sort. When I go to place the bowl on the table, Sue says "oh no! what happened?" As it turns out, she was quite amused with the can-shaped cranberry goo and wanted me to leave it that way! That's what she tries to do every year, but she really can never get it out in one piece! And here we have it...I've smothered the daylights out of the can-shaped cranberries! Oops! Well everyone got a kick out of it and let's all just be thankful that she didn't ask for my help with the turkey! We had such a nice time and feel so blessed that we got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with such wonderful people.
Since we were having such a good time, why stop there? Let the festivities continue! Friday we packed the dogs up and took them over to Ryan's parents' house then we headed out to Austin to spend the weekend with friends. We got into town and I took a nap while Ryan went to Golfsmith to buy a few toys, then we hit up the Round Rock Outlets for some good shopping! Then we got all cleaned up and dressed up for a fantastic dinner and night out in downtown. We met Andrew and Kelly for dinner at Fleming's Steakhouse, which was so yummy. It was great to see them again and get to catch up! The next day, the boys tore up the golf course while Kelly and I hit the Domain for more shopping and a good visit and ring-cleaning with Nick at Ben Bridge's. Nick is our go-to guy for any and all jewelry. He got all of our wedding jewelry, my graduation ring, and he is currently working with Andrew and Kelly on their wedding jewelry. He and our friend Annette (who recently left us for Tiffany's, but that's ok...more jewelry to play with!) always hook us up with freebies during the holidays, great deals, and they let us play with the really expensive stuff! Kelly and I have tried on everything from fabulous ruby necklaces to $60K Mikimoto pearls and huge rings at the annual diamond show. It's always one of the first places Kelly and I head to when we're in town. With all this activity, we decided to have a relaxing evening with dinner at Olive Garden and a movie. We went to our favorite hole-in-the-wall (the amazing Juan in a Million!) for breakfast the next morning before we headed back home and Andrew and Kelly had to go to work. We had the best time and are so lucky to have such great friends! It really would have been a lot more enjoyable had I not been fighting allergies (cedar in particular) and a nasty cold that turned into an upper respiratory infection which royally kicked my butt. I fought the cold for 2 weeks and have been fighting the infection for about a week. Thank goodness I can finally see a light at the end of the "feeling crappy" tunnel! But there was no way that a head-cold was going to ruin our Christmas festivities-there was way too much to enjoy during this holiday!
Sorry, I know that was a lot to take in at once, but I hope you enjoyed it. We hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas, too! Some video of our festivities will be posted as well as some pictures, so check back soon!

Merry Christmas!

Ryan and I (and the fuzzy kids, of course) would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. Best Wishes from The Millers!

We got our new washer and dryer delivered! Yay! I'm so very excited that I don't have to drag our loads of clothes downstairs, get in my car, and go borrow someone else's appliances. Mom and Dad, I really appreciate that you let us borrow your washers and dryers for a few weeks, but I'm so happy to have our own again! Those delivery guys meant business too...they called at 6:45 AM and let us know that they'd be there in 20 minutes. They had our old appliances out the door, the new appliances upstairs, and got everything hooked up in like 30 minutes. The new ones are so nice...they even sing a little song when you start them up. Man, that beats the daylights out of the screaming that our old dryer did. They're quiet, they get our stuff super clean, and they're pretty quick too! I know you may think it's kinda sad that we're so excited over a new washer and dryer...but you must have never heard the old dryer!

Here's a pic of our new babies :) Oh how I love them!

An Update on Grandma

Grandma and her doctors have decided to do a mastectomy on January 5. They have chosen to do this and not chemo/radiation and are quite optimistic. As you remember my grandparents and their struggles in your thoughts and prayers, please also remember my sister Brittany. Her doctors decided to get her into the hospital today to run some tests on her pancreas and spleen and to adjust some of the medications that she has to take on a daily basis. We're hoping that everything will go well and that she will still be able to make the trip home with her new fiance to see everyone this weekend. Thanks everyone!

Go Mavs Go!

Ryan and I went to the Mavericks game on Thursday night with his parents, and it was a blast! A family friend on his parents' side has season tickets and was kind enough to give them to us for this game. Since Ryan and I both work in or very near downtown Dallas, we were able to just head to the American Airlines Center right after work and really make an evening of it all. We had a nice relaxing dinner in the Platinum Club, then hit up the shops for a while! We haven't been to a game together in years; a Mavericks game was actually one of our very frist dates! That was the last time we went together, so we felt obligated to commemorate the occasion. We both got new shirts to show our team spirit! We headed to our seats to watch the game, but at half time we went to meet one of Ryan's friends who happens to have a suite-Awesome! This guy is part of the team that manages the airplanes for the team, so the suite was pretty cool and they had all sorts of pics and info about the planes they use. We grabbed a drink and some ice cream on the way back to our seats and finished watching the game there-the seats were actually a little closer. The Mavs won, so that was just the cherry atop the evening. We had a great time! Thanks, Lucie!

FINALLY...almost!

So as many of you know, I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in April. As I was getting married and graduating, the school I was attending was also going through some changes. They changed their name from "Concordia University at Austin" to "Concordia University Texas" to reflect an ever changing student body. They also sold the campus in downtown Austin and purchased a much larger campus out by the lake to accomodate the quickly growing student body. Due to these recent changes, the students that had been attending "Concordia University at Austin" ended up graduating from "Concordia University Texas", which was a little bitter sweet for most of us. With all of the changes, I waited until I had my diploma in hand to order a frame for it so that the correct school seal (new or old) would be on the frame. As the school was moving, they must have put sending out diplomas pretty low on the priority list because it took until OCTOBER to get mine in the mail! That alone was pretty agitating, but anyways... So once I had my diploma, I placed the order for the frame with the NEW school seal so that the diploma and frame would match. Not too much to ask, right? Well...apparently the school has to receive my order and forward it to the manufacturer who will take up to 8 weeks to get my frame to me. That wasn't mentioned at the time of purchase. So the frame ended up getting here at the very end of November, but I didn't know it because the UPS guy didn't leave one of those package notice things on our door or in the mailbox! So I call the school who has to call the manufacturer to find out if the thing was ever shipped, and they call me back to say that it was. I call the apartment complex and ask if I have any packages, and they say NO! As you can imagine, I am not happy at this point. So I call the school back to call the manufacturer to get the UPS shipping info and find out who signed for it, and I take that info down to the apartment office ready to jump on someone! I walk in and ask again if I have any packages, and out comes my frame. I don't know if someone just missed the gi-normous package or if they knowingly lied to me, but I don't care anymore because the dang thing is finally here! So I was totally excited, put my diploma in it and hung it up on the wall...only to find out that they sent me a frame with the OLD school seal, not the NEW one that I specifically requested. I guess there are some causes in life just not worth fighting for any longer...I'm convincing myself that the frame will have to do and it can just signify the transition that the school went through while I was there. :)

My Grandma

Hey everyone, I have a request. Would you all please keep my Grandma Hill (my mom's mom) in your thoughts and prayers? We just found out today that she has breast cancer. We don't know much just yet since this was just a biopsy result. She's going back to the doctor later this week to get some more info and find out where to go from here. My Grandpa is very worried, as we all are, and is having a very difficult time, so please remember him too. His health is already not in the best shape, so this is taking an mental, emotional, and physical toll on him already. I'll pass along more information as we get it from Grandma and the doctors. Thanks.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas!

Well, it's beginning to look alot like Christmas around our apartment, at least! This is our first year in this apartment, so we were super excited to decorate for Christmas. We always decorated in Austin, but none of the family ever really got to see it and we didn't even spend Christmas in our own apartment since we were here! We went and got a REAL tree this year, which is yet another first for me. So far, so good. We'll update on that after the tree and I get some time to adjust to one another. This is also our first place with a fireplace, so we actually get to hang the stockings on a mantle this year. Again, very exciting for us! We attempted to string lights on the balcony...please notice the word "attempted." The first try looked like something off of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...very overdone and tacky. It looked fine in daylight, but when we came home that evening...wow. So I took almost everything down except the lights on the railing. Then it looked like we didn't really try and wasn't terribly festive. So...we bought some lights to hang down from the top that are supposed to look like snowflakes. They did NOT look like snowflakes, so we ended up returning them. In the meantime, I nearly electricuted the daylights out of myself with some other lights, so we decided to leave our sad attempt at outside lights alone and just have not-so-festive lights on the balcony railing. We will try again next year. :)

In the meantime, here are some pictures from our decorating fest!

First, here is our tree. The lights were on when Ryan took the picture, so it looks a little funny. Yes, that is Santa on top.

Here is our fireplace with all of our stockings and our cute new stocking hangers!

Here are the ever-helpful pups in front of the fireplace with my Christmas ducks! Cute, huh?

Ryan and I have a tradition of getting a new, special ornament every year. We got the one for this year while we were on our Honeymoon at DisneyWorld.