SEE YA AROUND 2K14

It's snowing right now - the first real snow of the year. We had a little dusting on Christmas eve but that's really all we've gotten. Dustings of snow.

Until now.

It has been coming down in large flakes all day, covering the earth in a blanket of white. That is what I love about winter time, and probably the only thing I love about winter time. Even though I'm cold and I wish I was back on island time, that crisp, freshly fallen snow sure is glorious.

It finally feels like Christmastime to me. Which I find a little funny since Christmas was two days ago. I still have my Christmas cd playing in my car and probably will for a couple more days at least. Getting into the holiday spirit before Christmas is just something that my bones don't know how to do. The commercialization, the buying of gifts and shopping, shopping, shopping with the 18 million other people who are rude and inconsiderate and only thinking of themselves really just sours my mood and takes the jolly old elf right out of me. What is there to be happy about when you can't go anywhere without someone acting childish who shouldn't be acting childish?

And so, once Christmas is over and there is no stress of buying a zillion things for your family with enough time to wrap everything and stick it under a tree is really when the Christmas season is at its best. There's snow, we still have decorations up, and people are back to their daily grind. I really quite enjoy this side of the holidays, truth be told.

Plus, every one's a little nostalgic since it's the end of the year and all that jazz. Reminiscent and some such things.

You know, 2014, you were alright.

With every January comes a little change. And for three years of my life it was painful, agonizing, starting over again just like the leaves on the trees kind of awful change. But Jan 2014's only change for me was the beginning of a new semester at school. It brought a fluctuation of students through my classroom door and ushered in an era of new projects. Mostly, though, January solidified an ending to 2013, which was just a completely weird year for me in all reality.

In February was my first real Valentine's Day celebration with my favorite guy. He also had a birthday and my students made some pretty rad art that got entered in a contest at the University of Idaho. So, actually my absolute least favorite month of the year turned out alright.

April brought with it spring break, the first warm day of the year (it got to 63 degrees so I broke out the shorts), and prom. Hashtag prom2k14. I was a chaperone and, guys, if you get the opportunity to chaperone prom - just say yes. It will blow the fun you had at your own high school prom out of the water. Trust me on this one.

With every year there are ups and downs and May was my down. The school district laid me off due to budget cuts and I suffered a quarter-life-crisis of a what-the-hell-do-i-do-now kind. I ended up being fine, but this felt like a huge step backward and a giant relief all at the same time.

The beginning of summer vacation was a little tough for me. I cleaned out my classroom and said goodbye to all my students and I tried very hard not to cry very much. And then I didn't work for almost the whole month of June so that I could try to enjoy the summer while everyone else told me that I needed to find a job and quit being lazy. It's like they don't appreciate adulthood or something.

In July my little brother got fricken married. Just, I couldn't hardly believe it. But it was the awesomest, I mean, really.

August is always my favorite month and this year it helped me discover that I am a true chalkboard artist, which led to a whole different career path than I had originally intended, and also introduced me to my subtle Russian accent.

Pumpkin cookies descended upon us in October, along with everything else you can possibly add the flavor of pumpkin too. But this year I discovered the best, most perfectly cake-y, chocolate chip-y pumpkin cookie you could possibly dream up, so, winner winner chicken dinner is what. I made them twice.

There's just something about November that makes me introspective. Maybe it's Thanksgiving. Maybe it's the crispy fall air. Maybe it's that this year we were still having 80 degree days in October so November was when everything actually started to feel like autumn. Who knows. Whatever it was, it really helped me to remember my choice to be authentic this year, and to remember that this is my life and I am the boss of me.

And then, as the big finish to the year, the finale of sorts, I took a trip to the British Virgin Isles with Nathan. This marked a first for me in several different categories. It was my first real, actual vacation in a long time. It was the first time I got to meet Nathan's dad. It was the first vacation Nathan and I have taken together. It was the first time I got to sail on the open sea. It was the first time I got to snorkel. And it was my first visit to the caribbean, so check that off my bucket list, please.

So now, it's time to sit down with a big glass of eggnog and watch it snow in big chunky flakes. Happy Christmas and the like. 2014 has been solid and 2015 is right around the corner. Hard to believe how fast the time is flying by these days.

AND THEN WE WERE HOME

Once we booked our tickets it felt like our vacation would never come. And then all of a sudden it was Wednesday evening and we were sitting in the terminal waiting for our plane to come and take us away.

And then we were in Miami for ten hours and then we were on a boat in the Caribbean and now we're home.

Dudes, I miss the islands something awful. I always thought I was a sun and the sand and a drink in my hand kind of girl, and that is way beyond true. It killed me to come home. Straight up killed. The only thing I really missed while down there was the cell service and my bed. (Sleeping in a boat for a week, while completely awesome, is incredibly uncomfortable. Let the record show.)

The water down there is absolutely beautiful, just, I have never seen water like that before in real life. It just blows my mind. And the weather is amazing. And the people are friendly. And it didn't get dark at 4:00 in the afternoon like it does here and there were absolutely zero icy or cold days. I was living the life down there. Dang.

But also there is part of me that is glad to be home and in my own bed. I just wish that I could pick up my job and my house in some sort of magical realm and transport it down to the British Virgin Isles and only see the snow and the cold when I wanted it around, ya know? Every time I'm somewhere warm, that is always my wish.

Someday it will be my reality, but for now it is what it is. I have a good life going on here in little Idaho and I have some pretty fantastic people in my life. And Christmas is right around the corner, so happy feelings all around.

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal. Enjoy the pictures ;)

TOMORROW, TOMORROW, I'LL LOVE YA TOMORROW

So, I am a scoffer of things you know. I scoff at people's lack of driving skills. I scoff at people's taste in music and movies and books. I mean, what else do you do when someone is being ridiculous? You scoff at them, duh. And so I am also a scoffer of tanning beds.

I was that person who was like: "Oh me? No, I've never gone tanning. I've never fake'n'baked. I haven't been so vain for my skin to be a deep brown that I spend half my week laying in fake sunlight. Psh. Lame. "

And then you know what happened? I went tanning. Not for narcissistic reasons either, necessarily. I went tanning because Nathan and I are going on vacation to the caribbean and I didn't want to go down there and turn into a lobster on day two because my pale winter skin is afraid of a little sunlight. When I went to Houston on spring break I burned my skin so bad I was afraid I was going to blister (I didn't, thank goodness). But it made me nervous for the sunshine on this trip so I decided that maybe I would give the tanning salon a try after all. I mean, what's the harm?

YOU GUYS. This is probably the best idea I've ever had. And I am a good idea haver, as a general rule, so these are things that I know to be true deep down in my toes. In December in Idaho it gets dark at 4 in the afternoon. Temperatures can range from well below freezing to the tropical heat waves of the 40s. It is just freaking glorious and I really stinking love it here in the wintertime. (That statement was not sarcastic at all.) (Neither was that last one.) Ahem.

Have you ever read the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee? It is probably my absolute favorite poem in the history of ever and if you haven't read it, then go read it now otherwise you'll have no concept of the allusion I am going to make.

I am totally Sam McGee in that tanning bed for the length of time in which those toasty lights are glowing my body. It is the warmest I will be all day. I spend my time at work and at home always just slightly above freezing - as if I am some type of reptile who doesn't create her own body heat but instead pulls my temps from my environment. My fingers and toes are almost always cold and it is not uncommon for me to violently shiver after having been outside a mere two minutes. My tremors are all shock and awe, folks. Nathan is constantly astounded by just how vigorously my body will convulse and for the duration of the convulsing before my body can shake enough to warm itself back up again.

I always hear things like "you can't possibly be that cold?" and "are you really that cold, natalie?" in response to my shoulders shaking up and down and I speak through chattering teeth.

What's that you say? Put on more layers, Natalie? Oh please. I wear two pairs of pants, multiple shirts, a nice jacket, two pairs of socks and good shoes. There is no fixing this, I am just and forever will be, cold in the winter time.

Sure, snow is pretty and I like skiing, but I really really hate being cold. And now that I know what it's like on the inside of a tanning bed, I may just keep that habit up. For those of you worried about my skin and the potential cancer you can get from beds, don't worry. I haven't turned into that girl who lays in the beds for half an hour sans lotion every day. I will not look like a used leather handbag when this is all said and over with. Pinky promise.

On a somewhat related but also maybe unrelated note, I AM LEAVING FOR VACATION TOMORROW!!!!! Did you catch that? Tomorrow. Oh yeah, where will I be sleeping tomorrow night? On a plane headed from Seattle to Miami. NO BIG DEAL.

Dudes. It's gonna be rad.

BRING ON THE ADVENTURES

So Thanksgiving, huh? 

I had two of them this year. I don't think that's ever happened to me before? Thursday was Thanksgiving with my family - a mild affair. Dad smoked a small turkey and Nathan, Miranda and I made the stuffing and mashed yams. It was just five of us, so small. 

Growing up Thanksgiving was a huge deal around these parts. My family who lived in Southern California would fly up for the holiday and we would have a house-full of people for four or five days. I looked forward to it every year and Thanksgiving was my absolute favorite holiday in the history of ever. 

But then after my grandpa passed away things changed. And this year Jimmy and Rylie's work schedules wouldn't allow them to join us either. So a feast that used to include at least 11 people was reduced to less than half the amount. I mean, what even are traditions anymore these days?

And so on Saturday Nathan and I drove down to Moscow and had a second Thanksgiving dinner with his family.

All around it was a pretty good holiday given the circumstances. Gobble, gobble and all that. 

But now, here we are December! December is just crammed full of things always. Which I guess helps make up for the fact that I spend winter in a constant state of agitation since I'm almost always cold. It's just about the best thing ever. 

Actually, I've been going to the tanning salon this year in preparation for my upcoming trip to the Caribbean and can i tell you? Laying in that tanning bed is the only 8 minutes of my day I spend warm through to my toes. Can we have summer back yet? Anyway, moving on. 

First up in December is my sister-in-law's birthday. Her first birthday as part of the family. Too bad she lives too far away to get a good home made award winning apple pie with the number of her years on it. (But I didn't get one of those this year either. 2014, you have been interesting). 

On the 8th will mark two years that I graduated college. It seems surreal. How has it been two years already and how am I that old? I get to thinking that I can still do the things I did in college without consequence. Ha! If I want to pull an all-nighter I'm basically out of commission the entire next day. Who even am I anymore? An old woman, I suppose. 

The 10th is a day of adventure! We fly out for the British Virgin Isles for a long vacation on a yacht going from island to island. Dudes, I am going to be in the sun and the sand with a drink my hand. For ten days. I can't wait!

Jimmy's birthday is the 13th. He turns 22 and just - where does the time go? Crap. 

Then! The 21st we arrive back home which takes us to Christmas Eve, Christmas, and then Daniel's birthday (somewhere in there Daniel flies back home for the holidays from his place of residence in Arizona for school) and then we have New Year's Eve. 

Shoot you guys, this is gonna be fun. 

Plus, I colored my hair super blonde. I mean, I catch a glimpse of my reflection and I do a double take. Who is that blonde girl that's always around now? Oh yeah, that'd be me. 

these are the joys of high lighting your entire head. we weren't even half way done yet.

all finished here, it had been cut and styled and it was blonder than I imagined! 

it's weird for me to go back to this color after having been brunette for so long. it's like i'm not myself with this color and i have to figure out who this blonde girl is. When I look at myself I see 17 year old Natalie instead of 24 year old Natalie. 

and then Megan braided it for me and put a flower in my hair. we had a total blast.

anyway, it's passed my bedtime. 

natalie out.