Joyeux Noël

Oh, how I LOVE the holidays. I love Thanksgiving meals (yes, plural), Christmas trees and twinkle lights and wrapping gifts with pretty fabric ribbon. Patrick and I were both pretty lucky this year despite the economy (I mean, hell, we both kept our jobs!)- he had his biggest month in sales, and I got a bonus and a raise. We knew we were pretty fortunate and tried not to take it for granted.

We spent Thanksgiving in Santa Maria with the Carmichael fambam, since they (minus us) were planning on spending Christmas in Virginia. I was totally expecting a blowout family fight, since Patrick had warned me that the last time Thanksgiving was spent at his parent's house there was a war- but nothing happened and the whole week was relaxing and fun! I made a 'Williams-Sonoma' pumpkin pie (my first pie ever... well, the filling... since the crust was premade! Moo hahaha!) and it turned out really well. Earlier that day, on a last minute trip to the market with my mom-in-law and sissy-in-law, we ran into Patrick's very first girlfriend... very, very interesting. And I will say nothing more!

I am really going to miss spending Thanksgiving right on the beach in Oceanside with the Carms. It was a tradition when Patrick's grandma, Joan was around, and it was really special. We would spend the day riding beach cruisers right along the water, then head back for dinner and football.

I got Pat a PS3 and some clothes, and he got me a Canon 10-22mm super wide angle lens and a Canon speedlite flash. Yea, he loves me :) And he supports me in what I would really love to do for a career- photography. He believes in me much much more than I believe in myself... Ah it makes me get all teary eyed!

We are also totally loving a stereo/ipod system that one of my best buds Olivia gave us! We'd been using a crap clock radio for about 3 years now so it was a perfect gift! Thanks Liv!

We also were able to catch up with some old friends throughout the month. Our friends Nick and Eileen recently moved to Coronado and introduced us to the best burgers we've ever had, at a place called the Burger Lounge http://www.burgerlounge.com/. It's $8 for a burger and totally worth it. How I lived in San Diego for most of my life and never came across it, I will never know!

My brother was once again a shining star in this year's church Christmas play. I think he always does such a great job, and you can tell he totally loves the spotlight. I can't believe he's 9 now. He loves having a load of responsibility given to him and getting rewarded for it. I took pictures of all the children throughout the play and came away with some of my favorite shots ever.

We also went on a holiday cruise with one of Patrick's customers, Doche Dental, and watched the Parade of Lights. It was our first time and I had a blast. It's crazy to think how much work would go into decking out your boat in full on twinkle lights! It was also really cool to see what the San Diego 'holiday' skyline looks like at night from the water!

Christmas Eve was also our goddaughter Sienna's 1st birthday, so we stopped by Richard and Chrissy's house before heading to the church service. I can't believe how much she's grown. She's a beautiful baby and we're glad to spoil her! Now when we have a child of our own... we'll have to talk about that! For her gifts we got her a Christmas/birthday dress, diamond earrings (totally Pat's idea, and yes, they're real!), and I put together a photo book of her first year (which apparently was a real hit!).

A few days after Christmas Pat and I went to Coronado to test out my new lens and flash, and got some really great shots. There were monks visiting the island and I totally approached them and took a picture with them!