Holiday Traffic.

Man, nothing will turn you into a scrooge faster than sitting in two hours worth of traffic...

Traffic that has nothing to do with accidents or construction. No reason. Just cars. Lots and lots of cars.

On Thursday night, I left straight from my office at 5 o'clock to head to Prestonwood Baptist Church for their annual Christmas Festival and to meet up with Tanner's family. They were going to have dinner an hour before the show, which started at 7PM. The plan was to leave work on time in order to meet the Cobbs for dinner. Ten minutes into crawling on the highway, I jokingly told Tanner, "Hope I make it in time for the show!" This was a very sarcastic comment because the church was less than 20 miles away from my place of work. Surely I did not need 120 minutes to travel 20 miles.

Low and behold, at 6:58PM, I was sprinting in my work heels through Prestonwood's parking lot to make it inside before they shut the doors to start the show. I had completely missed dinner.

Thankfully, Tanner saved me a roll that I stuffed into my purse to hide from the Prestonwood ushers. Bah Humbug! Nothing like an empty stomach to accompany the side effects of highway congestion.

Luckily, the Christmas show was absolutely amazing. Prestonwood had brought in live camels, donkeys, acrobats, and flying things: like angels, drummer boys, Rudolf, and Santa's sleigh. It was a huge production that put me back in the Christmas spirit.

Fast-forward to Saturday at Northpark Mall. Tanner and I had not accomplished any Christmas shopping for our families, and we chose to shop on Saturday afternoon in the middle of December in Dallas, Texas. Ho Ho Hopeless. On our way to the Macy's parking lot, we witnessed people leaving their cars in the grass in order to make it inside the mall. We circled. And we circled. We stalked families walking to their cars, but every single time a different car had beat us to a spot. After thirty minutes and a few prayers, we finally got a parking spot! We spent a combined total of six hours at Northpark, Toys R Us, and Best Buy, but we marked off every name on our list. Strategically, Total Wine & Spirits is located next door to Toys R Us so Tanner and I purchased some spiked eggnog and drive-tru In-N-Out Burger to end the night. Both were well deserved.


Tanner and I had carried over the amount of fun we had on Friday night in order to survive our Saturday afternoon. On Friday, we drove to the Gaylord Texan Resort to look at the ICE sculpture exhibit they put on every year. Two years ago, we had visited the ice sculptures on our very first Kappa Sig Take-A-Date together. It was fun to revisit the resort and even the same restaurant we ate at as juniors in college. The memories made me miss our friends, especially when we needed our picture taken (ha!), but it was fun to go back just the two of us. How people have the patience to sculpt ice until it's silky smooth is beyond me. I'm  positive it took them longer than my drive to Prestonwood. But a little word to the wise if you plan on visiting ICE!: Walk slow and bring warm gloves for your hands!

Blame Scandal.

The real reason for my lack of blogging is not my incredible work ethic, my dedication to working-out 5 days a week, nor my out-of-control social life. The majority of my absence can be explained by Suzy introducing me to Scandal. I have canceled Pure Barre classes, skipped out on social outings, and spent my brain cells at work thinking about how perfect Oliva "Liv" Pope is. Her wardrobe is perfect. Her wine glasses are perfect. The fact that she only eats popcorn for dinner and never sleeps is perfect.

In record time, I watched the first two seasons of Scandal on Netflix. I quickly caught up to the third season, which is currently airing on Thursday nights on ABC, and had to suffer from withdrawals Friday-Wednesday. Since tonight is the season finale, maybe I can be re-initiated into the blogging world. Or maybe I'll be too depressed to write.

So much has happened since my last post that I'm not quite sure where to begin. I'll start by saying seasons fly by much faster at work than they ever did at school. And I mean FLY. I can't believe I am already entering my 7th month in the real-world. It feels like yesterday I was sweating on my way to the office and now I'm slipping on ice. Actually, both of those extremes happened just last week. On Tuesday, the high was above 80 degrees and by Friday, downtown was closed due to hazardous road conditions caused by freezing rain. Dallas is finally reaching temperatures above freezing, but the parking garage at my apartment still has enough ice to build a snowman. And cause me to slip on an ice patch, coffee in hand, as I'm running late to work. That sight, this morning, was not a pretty one.

 

 

Thanksgiving had already come and gone. Now I only have one full week of work left before I hop on a plane back to Lousiville for Christmas. I can't wait to be back with my favorite little people! I have sent Carly and Cassidy "emjois" to read on their iTouches everyday so they don't forget about me. I love that Christmas still means staying up late for Santa, and  half-eaten cookies, and wish-lists by the fireplace in Louisville. Over Thanksgiving I helped Cassidy write two letters to Santa asking for a Mega Lego Block Barbie House from Costco. I hope Santa reads her letters! ;)

 

 

 

Last weekend will forever be a memorable one for us Baylor grads. It will go down in history as the best football win in Floyd Casey Stadium and the coldest/ most miserable win for the fans. Tanner and I braved the icy bridges down I-35 and 27 degree temperatures  to warm our souls with a Big O from George's before entering Floyd Casey Stadium for the very last time. Never, in the history of Baylor's football program, have the bears won the Big 12 Championship... or had weather cold enough to cause this girl to wear five layers of clothing. (I don't even wear that many layers to go skiing). I will tell my children and grandchildren that I witnessed the great Art Briles turn off the very last light in Floyd Casey Stadium. Ah, that sentence almost brought tears to my eyes. It only cost me a couple of toes to frost bite.

 

Baylor fans have an exciting year ahead for them with a Hercules of a coach, a returning starting QB , and a brand-spanking-new stadium on campus. I have a feeling I will be down in Waco for 2014 just as much as I was in 2013.

 

 



 

 

Tanner and I will be getting in the Christmas spirit starting tonight at Prestonwood Babtist Church's Christmas Festival. Tomorrow we are driving down to Garland to enjoy the ICE! sculptures at The Gaylord Texan.

 

 

It really is the most wonderful time of year! But more importantly, thank you Lord-for your little boy. He is the reason for the season and I am blessed by Him more and more each year.

 

 

And Lord, please be with me as I try to venture to Northpark Mall for Christmas shopping on Saturday. Amen.