Thankful

It is the first of December, and I'm working my heiney (I'm not really sure how to spell that!) off substitute teaching and caroling, too. With the passing of Thanksgiving, I've been reminded of how absolutely blessed I am with a wonderful life, incredible husband, generous family, and awesome friends.

Since Jason's back at the ranch until Dec 10-ish, I've been filling every moment with work and fun things - namely quality time with friends and family. And while I'm missing Jason like crazy, I'm taking full advantage of him being gone, and honestly... I'm having a blast!

Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to since we made it to California!

I finally made it to the dmv and renewed my drivers license in person, since this was OF COURSE the year that I HAD to go in in person for a new photo. After 13 years, my old photo is no longer "the one". Unfortunately, I no longer have a hilarious topic of conversation. Fortunately, I will no longer have bartenders and the like who ask for my ID laughing at me. Here's the before and after. Wish it could have been clearer, but all the security measures on the cards makes it difficult to get a clear shot!

Obviously, it was high time for a new Drivers License Photo!

I was able to attend my god-daughter Caity's preschool Thanksgiving "performance". She is at SUCH a fun age right now, and it totally warms my heart that she still knows who I am and is so excited to see me! The more of a little person she becomes, the more I realize that we must be kindred spirits. I swear, she is just like I was at that age. Always singing and dancing and being girly. Very friendly with everyone she meets and absolutely precocious. Even better? She noticed I was at her performance, and in the middle of one of their songs screamed out, "Hi Auntie Bears!". For those of you that don't know, one of my longtime nicknames as been ErBear, shortened to Bears by Caity's parents Nik and Solange. So that's what my Caity Monkey calls me! And Caity and Bears dance ballet every time we're together. We sing princess songs while we dance and it's an absolute BLAST!

Caity in her Thanksgiving performance!

Jason smoked another turkey for Thanksgiving this year, and it was just as delicious as it was last year! My cousin and his wife were down with their precious new baby who is a total sweet nugget - no pictures, sorry! And Thanksgiving was wonderful! Here are my sister Kelli and bro-in-law Jeff on Thanksgiving!

Kelli and Jeff!

My parent's Christmas gift to Jason this year is a compound bow. He and Dad already picked it out and have had it properly weighted, so the two of them have been practicing with their bows in the backyard at Dad's arrow target.

They are too cute together. And Dad's shirt is awesome, by the way!

Since Jason is back at the ranch, I've been cramming lots of friend time in - Lunches with Jen, Visiting time and dinners with Solange, making dinner and Christmas tree decorating with Kelli. It's been an absolute blast!

Decorating with my glamorous sister!

My Michigan Wolverines went 10-2 in the regular season, defeating Ohio State for the first time in 7 years! AND we have a serious shot at a BCS Bowl Bid. It's Great to Be a Michigan Wolverine!

And to top it all off, I get to sing many, many gigs as a sub for the caroling company this season. I lost the opportunity for a regular season since we've been all over the place, but they've thrown me many gigs already as a sub, and I'm hoping for a few more! Tonight, I'm off to sing with a quartet at the Five Crowns in Corona del Mar!

And mostly, I'm thankful to be "on vacation" at home. I'm really appreciating the time and making the most of it! Happy late Thanksgiving to you all!