Christmas Travels Day Two

Yesterday was a lovely relaxing day for me. I slept in and headed out to check out all the shopping around Lauren that exists nowhere in Abilene. The highlight of the afternoon was The Container Store. This store is crazy! It has containers for things that I did not even know needed containers. It is an organizer's heaven. I just wandered around the store for like an hour looking at all the crazy stuff they have. I hate to go negative, but our society sure does know how to make me want something I know I don't need. 

The two coolest items I saw there were these disguised safes to go in your car. For example, there was one that looked exactly like a Dr. Pepper can but surprise! you can open it up and store your valuables in it to make sure no robbers look inside your car and want to steal you stuff. Nope, they just look in and see a Dr. Pepper can. Cool huh? The second item was a bulletin board made out of recycled paper. What was interesting was that you could actually see all the strips of paper that were packed into this board. They where packed in so close that you could tack something to it or slide things between the paper. I guess it is hard to describe. You just have to experience it yourself or check out this website for a picture.

After The Container Store I spent some time at Barnes and Noble. It's obvious I live in a small town when I am excited by wandering around B & N. That night I got to be culture and went to see A Christmas Carol that the BFF was in. The show was great and so was Lauren. It was a beautiful production and even kinda scary. We came home, decorated cookies and called it a night. Sadly I did not take any pictures. Maybe something exciting will happen today to take pictures of. My only plan for today is to make some more cookies, browse Half Price Books, hang out with Lauren and then spend the evening with my Ashers! Cant wait! My Christmas travels continue...

The Christmas Travels of Dee Begin

I left Abilene today to begin my Christmas travels. I headed to the DFW area to hang out with a few different friends. The first one, Mer, flew in from Nashville to visit various friends and since our time happened to overlap I got to be one of those friends. Our visits in DFW are always interesting since neither of us know our way around or where is best to meet but we had great success this time. We began by having a wonderful Mexican lunch, browsed a book store and then found a very exciting treat. I just happened to be browsing the names of stores in a strip mall and "what to my wondering eyes should appear," but an...

Me and Mer were so thrilled! We both studied abroad in Uruguay and spent time in Argentina and since that is where I did an internship I could not have been more thrilled to step into that world for a few moments. The woman who waited on us was from Mendoza and had the most beautiful Argentine accent. 

The pastries were beautiful and most of the full or covered with Dulce de Leche. I was such a dork taking pictures and acting like a complete tourist.
Mer and I enjoyed some wonderful Cafe con Leche and I had an alfahore and a medialuna. The coffee was so great and so were the treats. We were both just bubbling with excitement, reliving our South American experiences. There was a shelf full of Mate and other Argentine goodies and Spanish speaking people kept coming in and out. It was a wonderful way to spend time with Mer.

It was a blustery, snowy day and Mer and I had a blast. I was sad it had to be so short, but better than nothing. Come visit me in Abilene Mer! Now I am hanging out in the BFF's apartment, enjoying her heat, DVR and sweet dog, waiting for her to come home. What a blessed day!

Where will my Christmas travels bring me next? Check back soon to find out!

Blessings Blog

This blog is inspired by the BFF. She wrote about her blessings and encouraged others to do the same. I have been lacking in blogging thoughts lately so this is a good one. Here are my blessings that I am so thankful for and do not deserve!

>I am done with my second semester of grad school and still don't want to quit!
>Amazing roommates who I love to spend time with. I loved our Christmas night together.
>My family is almost completely free of health problems for the first time in a while. Keep my mom in your prayers still though.
>I had a super fun day yesterday celebrating Kaylynn's graduation
>My mission teammates are amazing and I cannot wait for us all to be together again
>Sometimes God provides for needs before I even knew I had them
>Dr. Pepper :)
>I have made friends being in grad school here that I never anticipated and they bless my life so much
>A brother and slaw (my new word for sister-in-law) that are welcoming me into their house for a week
>A slaw who is brave enough to teach me to knitt
>A BFF who wants me to visit her even when she does not have time. Can't wait to see you!
>Time to read books for fun
>The sun is so beautiful and warm today
>A warm snuggly bed to sleep as much as I want in
>NO SCHEDULE FOR A MONTH!!
>A nice place to take walks
>Interesting neighbors
>Friends who listen to my silly rambling and even relate sometimes
>Parents who love me and support me even though I am moving to a crazy foreign country
>Kate-my Subaru
>Coffee
>Leftovers
>Texans beating the Titans and actually being a team that I can hope to win sometimes
>Cleaning jobs that are flexible with holiday schedules
>Christmas time= family, fun, joy, Christ, giving, love
>A front porch
>Amazing roommate pictures hanging on our wall thanks to Donald and his amazing talent
>Jess being pregnant
>Visiting friends
>Emails to and from Randi

Whew! I could go on an on but you don't want to read all of that. Think about what you are blessed with!

Hooray for Christmas Break

I am officially done with my semester and it feels great. Tonight I ate dinner, watched some friends, read a magazine and....yea thats about it. Wow thats nice to do not having school hanging over my head. I am quite sick of being on the computer right now so maybe in a few days I will get back into the blogging world. Now its off to....do not much! :)