Several weeks ago, Cary Anne and I began getting in the holiday spirit by decorating our place. Despite the fact that our apartment is already cramped, we decided to lose a little more square footage by putting up a tree. Last year, after Christmas, we bought a star on sale, and this year we learned that the thing is just a bit to heavy for our hand-me-down artificial tree, so it's almost constantly leaning at a 45 degree angle.Originally, we were hoping to get to spend Christmas in Virginia this year considering we haven't been back there since our wedding last year and we haven't seen Cary Anne's parents in over 6 months. Sadly, with our limited time off and limited income, a quick weekend trip down to Lexington became a much more practical plan.
So last Friday, the 23rd, I drove downtown to pick CA up from work around 4pm. It was my first time driving the car into the heart of the city. It was rush hour, and it was not a pretty sight. I quickly learned you basically need to have zero value for your fellow human beings in order to get anywhere. You know, real holiday spirit stuff.
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| Chris and I aren't as great at posing for pictures as Cary Anne and Hannah. |
After coffee, we headed out to Paris, Kentucky, to my "Cousin" Judy's horse farm. (She is technically my father's cousin. Not sure what that makes her in relation to me...?) We've started a bit of a tradition of sharing brunch out there around Christmas time, and it was great to see everyone since CA and I had to miss out on the annual Thanksgiving get-together last month.
Of course, the only thing better than a delicious, filling meal shared with family is the glorious nap time that follows. After dozing for a couple of hours, Cary Anne and I headed out to Southland Christian, the church we used to attend in Lexington, where we met up with our friend Al and her family for the candle light Christmas Eve service. As expected, it was a beautiful event.
The next morning we got up and went to the church I was raised in during my teenage years and the church my parents still attend, Rosemont Baptist. Like Christmas brunch, it was a time filled with hugs and "Good to see you"s and "How's Chicago?"s. It's always fun to go back there and see the things that have changed and the things that never will.After church, we threw some logs on the fire and my uncle Bob came over for present opening time. There was a chorus of "Ooohhs" and "Yaays" and "Don't worry, I saved the receipt," and overall, everyone came away with some great presents. Cary Anne and I got new covers from basically everyone since we recently moved to an icy tundra (though at this point in winter, Lexington has accumulated more snow than Chicago.) Later, in true Hall family fashion, my dad changed the oil in our car. Apparently, that guy can't even catch a break from mechanical work on Jesus' birthday.
After that, Cary Anne and I hopped around town a bit to visit some more friends. First, we stopped in at the Kelly's, where we got to catch up with Kate as she shared stories from her first semester working for Teach for America on a Native American reservation in South Dakota. We also got to play with puppy she rescued/adopted during her time on the reservation. Then, we hopped over to Waffle House for a late night snack with our friend Sharonda, and we all stuffed ourselves on greasy breakfast food as she shared the latest antics from her job.
The next day, our small vacation came to an end as we journeyed home. However, on the way, we were fortunate enough to get to stop in Cincinnati to meet some friends from Cumberland, Laura and Allison, for lunch. For some reason, Allison decided that meeting at a restaurant attached to a mall the day after Christmas was a smart idea, but we managed to fight the crowds. Allison shared her adventures from her first semester as a teacher in Winston-Salem, and Laura filled us in on all the latest Cumberland gossip.
Overall, it was a great Christmas weekend.
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