New Year's Eve Flashback

New Year’s Eve is sentimentally symbolic for me, and I celebrate the date not just with the typical fanfare for the New Year.  I celebrate its significance as it was the turning point of my entire relationship with Lance.  On December 31, 2010, I drove down to San Diego to spend a day with Lance.  It was the first time I had seen him outside of work.  Prior to that day,  I only had platonic feelings for Lance.  Something suddenly inexplicable happened that day.  As corny as it may sound, it was like magic.  I drove to San Diego thinking nothing of him, but the next day, he became my every thought.

This was the end of the day. December 31, 2010

 
I was so depressed with things that happened in my life in 2010, and I was determined to do everything positive to emotionally overcome the sadness.  I vowed if anyone invited me anywhere, I would accept the invitation disregarding my feelings of self-pity and desires to sit at home and wallow in pathetic misery.  I planned an excursion to San Diego with the kids. When I woke up that morning, I did not want to drive to San Diego, but with great willpower, I forced myself to go.  I was so surprised by the effort Lance put into making this day special for us.  He had gotten snacks for the kids and me.  He lit a candle.  He bought life jackets for the kids, because he had no child life jackets on board.  He was unbelievably amazing and wonderful with the kids.  It begin to dawn on me that he actually had "romantic" feelings for me.  I began to wonder if I was misleading him, because I did not feel the same.  I remember standing in the doorway on the boat when he tried to kiss me, but I moved my face away in an effort to avoid the kiss.  It was awkward.

Mia was only three years old when she first met Lance.



 

My little three-year old Mia





Lance tries to showing 5-year old Brandon how to fish



I remember feeling very uncomfortable and awkward sitting in the dingy close to him.  I know this picture does not reflect that.

Lance and I look very tight and close, but during the boat ride on the dingy, I was not touching him.  It was very awkward.

 

Lance teaching Dylan with his buck teeth how to steer the dingy.  Dylan was 11 years old.



Brandon gets a lesson in driving the dingy.



 



Lance teaches Dylan how to drive the big boat.

We spent hours there, and when I left in the late afternoon, he called me en route to make sure I was safe.  I went to sleep that New Year's Eve, and it was as if someone has sprinkled some magical dust on me, because I woke up the next morning, and Lance was in my every thought, and when I thought about him, I could feel butterflies dancing inside.

When I returned to work on Monday, I confessed that I was beginning to have romantic sentiments for him, and well....the storybook began.

It's been three years, and normally, the passion subsides, and you hopefully develop a deeper more profound love, but the truth is....I cannot stand to be apart from him.  When we are apart and we are finally reunited, I feel like an eager child at Christmas.  I'm ridiculously and foolishly giddy over him.

Reality.  I went to visit him in his office today during lunch.  During our casual conversation, I stopped mid sentence and just looked at him.  My eyes filled up with tears as I said, "Do you know how deeply I'm in love with you?" 

I am, and the world should know it.

Three years and many wonderful  memories later, we are married, and I am the happiest I have ever been in my life.

Our Christmas 2013





I love Christmas.  I love spending time with my family.  I love the spirit of Christmas.

I have to admit though that I had a difficult Christmas Eve.  I let the kids spend it with their dad because honestly, they have not spent a Christmas Eve with their dad since our marriage ended and  since I had nothing specific planned, they really needed to be with him.   It was difficult because I realized it was the first Christmas Eve that I had not shared with my babies. 

 

Kids on Christmas Eve.  They sent me a photo because I was whining about how much I missed them.

Lance, Joe, and I went to have an Italian dinner at Buca Di Peppo on Christmas Eve.  I wanted something different because I knew we would be bombarded with turkey and ham and leftovers the next few days.  Dinner was nice.  Lance and I returned home that evening to continue watching our Homeland TV series marathon.  I loved being in bed with him, cuddling, and watching Homeland.  I could not think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Card Wall.  I create this every year.  I love Christmas cards.

I woke up Christmas morning and did a 6.25 mile.  As I’m in training for the LA Marathon, the schedule called for a run, and unless I’m too physically sick, I will run.  No exceptions.  This year, Christmas was so warm in California with temperatures in the 80s.  It felt like summer.  It was so beautiful.  After my run, I spent the morning cooking.  Yes, I cooked, and I’m very happy with the end result.  It was delicious with plenty leftovers.  I made a lot of food, and even Lance said it was delicious.  Our Christmas dinner menu....

·         Ham

·         Smoked Turkey (gift from Keith Kosan)

·         Green bean casserole

·         Sweet potato casserole

·         Potato casserole

·         Seven layer salad

·         Bread rolls

·         Baked macaroni and cheese

·         Stuffing

·         Fruit salad

·         Apple pie

·         Peanut butter pie (homemade and it tasted gooooooooood!)

So proud of my dinner

The kids arrived home to celebrate Christmas with us at 2 p.m.  They were very eager to open presents.  I guess I should pick names, but in my family, we buy for everyone.  It is costly, but I actually prefer it this way.  Lance and I made a deal this year that we would only get stockings for each other with a limit of $50, but neither of us kept our end of the bargain.  It is just too hard.  I want to spoil him, and I know he wants to do the same for me.  This is our third Christmas together, and he has not gotten the message.  He orders my gifts online (which is ok), and just wants to shove them unwrapped in my stocking or in their shipping boxes under the tree (which is not ok).  It hurts my feelings a little because it makes me feel unimportant and not worth the effort of wrapping.  He ultimately did wrap the gifts, and I asked him quite frankly, “Are we going to have this discussion again next year?” Because honestly, he does this every year until I complain....

 

Holding our stockings - the entire family

Family Photo before the unwrapping begins

I do appreciate Lance's sweet comments to everyone before we began the day’s festivities.  He spoke about how special I had made this Christmas, and how it was all my doing…the presents, the dinner etc.  He also said that since I put in so much work in for everyone and all I wanted were some pictures of the day, they would do so without one complaint.  I love my family so dearly, and I want them  happy.  I think everyone got what they wanted.   Bella and Buddy were like two-year olds.  They were obnoxious in their excitement. 

So what did Santa bring us?

Mia :                      Barbie Dream House, Barbie RV, money, gift cards, Barbie dolls, hair accessories, sonic care toothbrush

Brandon:          Kindle, Nike basketball shoes, Nike shorts, Hot Wheels race track, skeleton anatomy set, money, heated throw, sonic care toothbrush

Dylan:                   money, speakers, clothes

Joe:                        clothes, money, Sonic Care toothbrush

Lance:                   medals from years of military service, clothes, whiskey, nuts

Liz:                          Iphone 5s, trail running shoes, running shirts, Breaking Bad shirts

the anatomy set for my future doctor

Barbie's RV (notice skipper is taking a poop on the toilet) 

Brandon's new kindle and OKC Westbrook jersey

Mia and her cousin Sienna in pretty dresses from Uncle Leroy and Aunt Masha

 

Mia's Barbie Dream House that poor Joe had to assemble



Everyone holding up their favorite present from Santa.  Yes, every year, we take a photo with our most favorite present.

my Princess made me an adorable ornament.  It was one of my best gifts.



Dylan crashed out very early.  I had to wake him up....Brandon got a cool OKC jacket from Aunt Yvette.

Our cool Ragnar emblem from our good friend, Jorge.

Mia with her new friend, Snoopy.

We had so MUCH trash that Lance had to make a trip to the dump to offload it.  Our trash bins were overflowing.  This will be the last year that Brandon believes in Santa.  He is questioning it and even had the audacity to tell me to put a video camera in the living room and one on me so he could prove his point.  Moreover, Santa sent Brandon and Mia a letter, and when Brandon read it, he said, “Why is Santa calling me ‘little friend’? Doesn’t he know my name?”  Knowing Brandon though, he will be very eager to ruin it for Mia, and my Princess still believes.

 

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I hope everyone’s Christmas was just as special as ours…..

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is approaching and as a newly-formed family of just under three years old, we are beginning to develop our own traditions.  It is the second year that we participated in the Cruise of Lights.  Last year, we cruised Huntington Harbor, and it was a wonderful experience to see all the houses of the immensely wealthy decorated in the Christmas spirit.  I thought we would try Newport Beach this year, and I expected an even more spectacular display.  I was surprisingly disappointed. 

It was the 105^th Annual Cruise of Lights in Newport Beach Bay, and there were a few houses that went all out, but generally, the lights were not that impressive.  Regardless, it was nice being on the water, sipping our hot chocolate and nibbling on buttered popcorn.  We rode in our car on the ferry over to Balboa Island.  It was the first time that the kids and I ever did that.  I liked driving through the little streets in Newport Bay.  It was very quaint, and Dylan commented it sort of reminded him of the film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  Yes, last weekend, we all watched the classic film.  It was Mia’s first black and white film.  The boys had already seen the Billy Wilder classic, “Some Like it Hot”.  I love “It’s a  Wonderful Life.”  It is, in my opinion, the best Christmas movie.

 

in the spirit of Christmas with her little Santa hat and cup of hot chocolate

the yacht that took us on our cruise.

 

Our yacht, The Ocean Explorer, played Christmas tunes as we sailed slowly around the bay.  We all agreed that next year, we will return back to Huntington Harbor.  The houses in Huntington Harbor are twice as big, and the lights are animated.  It is amazing.

 

 

John Wayne's old yacht now owned by Hornblower

 

the ferry dock

 

Every year, I take the kids to see Santa.  We always go see the “real” Santa.  I look in the local newspapers to find out where he is going to be, and we make sure we see him.  Mia got all dressed up and even wore multi-colored bracelets.  Brandon wore a button collared shirt, which is dressing up for him.  Brandon asked Santa for the Xbox One.  I don’t think that is going to happen.  MIa's Christmas wish list changes by the second.  Who knows what she asked Santa for?

 

One of our other traditions is the annual family photo Christmas card.  Actually, this is something I’ve done since I was single in my early 20s.  The dynamics of the photos have changed over the years.  Initially, it always included my sister and I with our dogs.  I think I’m going to try to dig up all the years of Christmas cards and put them in chronological order.  Each year, we try to do something different, and this year, we all wore NBA jerseys (yes, even Bella and Buddy).  It is a tremendous CHALLENGE to get a photo with three kids and two dogs.  Actually, it is the dogs that are difficult, but Lance refuses to have a card without the dogs.  10 mins of taking photos makes me sweat profusely…I’m happy with the end result though.

 

 

I love Christmas.  It is my absolute favorite holiday, and we always go all out!  This year, I discovered online shopping! Wow! I think I'll do this every year.  It is inexpensive, easy and hassle free!