This time last year...

Ryan and I had planned to spend the holidays with just the two of us. My Grandma was in her final weeks after a short 8 month battle with lung cancer and of course my mom was spending every moment she could with her mom. I decided to avoid the craziness of the entire family being together, smushed into one place, at Christmas and opted for a longer visit, before the craziness, with just my Grandma & Mom. I wanted to be with her, get in some quality time and avoid the madness that always ensues when the ENTIRE family gets together for the holidays. That's a lot of people in one space & it just always seems to get loud, crazy... I opted for quality time instead. So as Christmas approached, after my visit with my grandparents, I finished some shopping, wrapping presents, and decorated the house. My mom was not home and my dad did his job of pulling out all the decorations and putting the tree up, but it was up to me to make sure Ryan & I had a CHRISTMAS-y house.


Christmas Eve my poor, sweet puppy wrenched his back, some how. Not too unusual for a dachshund dog, but I spent the morning at the vet getting emergency pain-killers and muscle relaxers for the sweetest puppy!! One might think that I am completely insane for how we spent the rest of the holiday week.... Riley could not walk up and down the stairs, so we pulled out the blow-up mattress and we slept downstairs, in the man-cave/basement, on the floor, so my baby would not be alone. Yes, he's that spoiled and yes, I am completely ok with it. I'm a firm believer that dogs are the closest thing to God as they practice unconditional love better than any human being ever has on Earth!! Riley, my puppy, deserved to have a happy Christmas with his best friend (me) and his brother (Reggie) and of course Ryan. He might have been doped up, but he was happy.
So, while my mom was taking care of her mom, I was home taking care of my doggy and we all celebrated a very different Christmas than ever before. Taking care of the ones we love who weren't able to care for themselves, trying to make the best of the situation. To say it wasn't exactly how I ever imagined spending Christmas would be an understatement, but it's not one I would trade. Christmas Eve also happened to be Ryan's birthday. While I tried to take him out on a date-night, that became afternoon (sorry Ryan, but your birthday falls second to taking care of my puppy-- I will make sure it never falls second to Christmas EVE because you only get one birthday a year, but sick/hurt puppy... yeah, sorry, definitely puppy first!) it wasn't exactly the best birthday I could have provided.

Christmas morning we woke up early, opened gifts, ate home-made sweet rolls, and then napped and relaxed the rest of the day. It was pretty nice, actually, just the two of us and the puppies. In a quiet house, relaxing.









Fast-forward....
Christmas 2011. Ryan & I live together now, in our own little house, with our own tiny little tree. I get to spend the weeks leading up to Christmas alone, because Ryan is traveling during the week for work. We will not get to see my parents until the weekend following Christmas (two years in a row not spending Christmas with the parents-- when did I become an adult?? I have not decided if I am ok with this yet)... and we will again have our very own quiet little Christmas morning together. Followed by an afternoon at Ryan's Grandma's house. My first holiday with the soon-to-be in-laws. Yes, I am a little nervous. Holidays with other people's family is very weird. I mean I have had so many holidays with my family that we don't call it "tradition" it's just second nature the way we do things at our house. So to see how other people attempt to celebrate a holiday will never be completely perfect, because it's not the way I'm used to-- that being said it's not that I fear their traditions or that I am concerned they are "doing it wrong" it's just hard to come to grips with leaving everything you've ever known behind and trying to balance it with "strangers." Yes, I know my future in-laws are not "strangers" but since everything is new to me up here it kind of feels that way. Ryan and I will create our own traditions and some how manage to balance it all to a happy median between his childhood and mine. that being said... Buckle up kiddos, this might be a crazy ride!!

Also, Christmas Eve, as most of you call it, happens to be Ryan's 30th Birthday this year. I would like to do something so much better than last year, but being unemployed during this time does not make it easy to do it all. Yes, before you go about doing the math, Ryan is younger than me, but we were born in the same year, so... ShhhhHH!!!!
Any tricks people can offer on how to celebrate 30 in a fun, affordable way?? Let's be honest, I am lucky that Ryan has said "I just want to spend it with you" but it just doesn't feel right. I mean we'll have plenty of birthdays, just us, at home-- I think that's what 31-39 are all about, right?? But then again, being that we are home-bodies at heart... A nice, relaxing, quiet night doesn't sound too bad to me. PLUS, Ryan will be working on the road all this month, so I kind of like having just Julie & Ryan time when we can squeeze it in since he'll be gone 13 days out of the next 20 days!!

Isn't it funny how things change in a year. We went from quiet, just us holidays to trying to meld separate family traditions into one. Celebrating Ryan's birthday alone with my first attempt at a layered cake & an afternoon date, to now figuring in how to make appearances at family functions and also not losing Ryan's birthday to the holiday fuss! It sucks having your birthday fall on holidays or near holidays-- so many expectations to do this or that and people always over-look that it's your one birthday a year!! Crazy to think how this could change, yet again, next year. Ryan & I will be married and who knows where we'll be living and what to expect!! As long as all my holidays, from here on out, are with Ryan I think we can handle it. As long as the Eve of Holidays never out-weighs the birthday celebrating, as long as the loved ones in our life come first to any commercialized celebration... we will survive the insanity that is DECEMBER-- Holiday time!!