Christmas Gifts

This was a great Christmas. I am so blessed. Christmas started out at Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's. I got my WONDERFUL coffee maker, and now I drink coffee at home everyday. It's so yummy! It's the Cuisinart grind and brew. Very loud, but fresh ground coffee is definitely the best.

Today was the first day back to school, college shirt day, so I got to wear my awesome new Harding sweatshirt from Megan and Joel!! I LOVE it!

My gift from Eric was really Brinkley, but I also got to order a pair of Reebok Easytones! They won't come in for several weeks, and I can't wait! I customized them to my school shirt colors.

Other gifts included:

New Moon Soundtrack, which is amazing.

Jillian Michaels Wii game

Lots of clothes and Jewelry. My favorite is my clock necklace from urban outfitters. Super cute.

Probably my favorite gift was The Night Before Christmas recordable book from my mom. She recorded herself reading it, which is priceless, especially for when I was missing my family on Christmas. It's such a neat gift. Next Christmas will be with my family. first time since we got married. Can't wait.

Two New Favorites

Eric and I had been wanting to try out this new restaurant in the Pearland towncenter for the longest time, and recently, since we've been on vacation, we ventured out on a date to Mongo - The Mongolian Fire Pit. If you have not had a chance to try it, you must. It's one of those places where you fill your bowl with all the vegetables, meats, and spices that you want, and the cooks cook it for you and bring it out. I wasn't sure what to put in mine to make it good, but I guess I did a good job, because it was TO DIE FOR!! MMMM. So yummy!

Afterwards, we walked down to the new Yogurt place at Pearland towncenter - Swirl. I have gotten to where I LOVE frozen yogurt, and Swirl is awesome. You get to fill your own cup up with whatever flavor(s) you want and add all the toppings you want, because they charge you by the ounce. This is just perfect since I never finish what they give me, and I always want more toppings! It was so yummy and the perfect end to a holiday date with my sweet Eric - who only went there because he knew how much I love yogurt! If you are ever at Pearland towncenter around lunch or dinner, check out Mongo, and go ahead and top it of with Swirl. You won't regret it!

Gingerbread Tradition

Why have I not blogged on my break about the holidays? There are so many things, I've decided to blog them separately.

This has been a relaxing Christmas break! Much needed. It started off with a little scare though. Eric and I were enjoying a relaxing day with Brinkley. I was loving taking him outside and letting him play around for as long as he wanted. This was also the day that the Ramirez/Kirksey girls build Gingerbread houses and watch Elf. I was just about to get ready for that, when I noticed Brinkley running around the apartment like crazy and rubbing his face on the carpet. I picked him up, and immediately noticed that his entire face was red and swollen. His eyes were almost swollen shut. I was so scared, I started pacing back and forth with him while Eric searched online for the closest Pet Emergency hospital. Somehow amidst the chaos, I remembered the Children's Benadryl and syringe that the Vet had given us a while back. We squirted that down his throat and Eric called the Vet. Apparently we did the right thing, and they told us to bring him in only if the swelling didn't go down.

It seemed like forever to me, but eventually it did. I was so worried the entire night though, and almost took him with me to Megan's for Gingerbread houses. I got the first taste of what it would feel like to be a mom - and I didn't like it.

Gingerbread house construction easily took my mind off of Brinkley. I love that this family has such a cool tradition between the girls! It was a blast, and our houses turned out much better than last year! I actually took mine home and left it up throughout the holidays! Here are a few pictures of the fun event!