December in Review
With a few exceptions, I was done with my Christmas shopping by December 4. The exceptions were for Secret Santa at work and a white elephant Yelp event, which I had to shop for on the busiest holiday shopping day this year (December 14). Maybe December 21 is busier. But it seemed pretty crazy to me. I like to enjoy my holiday season, so having shopping done early is something I like to do, and I'm capable of doing it since I don't have kids to shop for. That being said, this month was pretty great and felt really busy.
December 1 was a pretty low-key day. I did some Christmas preparations and some shopping. I helped decorate Matthew's tree. We watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and had a little misunderstanding that we resolved through conversation, as we always do. .
December 2, I had a regular day and did a few more errands. I watched Parks & Rec, read more of my book (City of Girls), and had a quiet evening.
On December 3, since I hadn't seen Matthew in a little bit, I stopped to see him for a minute at his work on my way to the dollar theater. I saw the Current War. I really liked it.
December 4, I had to report for jury duty. There were 18 people summoned. 16 showed up. And four were chosen. Guess who was picked? That's right. They let the old people go, and the stay at home parents go. Three of us on the jury were single and childless. It took them until noon to choose us four, and then they let us go for lunch. It was a really frustrating day. We were in and out of the court room since we shared the room with another case. By 6 o'clock, we were only on the second witness. They left it to us to decide if we wanted to stay and continue that night, or reconvene the following Wednesday. I had thought we might power through, but being only on the second witness, and seeing how inefficient the attorneys were, it was best we reconvened, because it took us the full 9-5 day the following week to be done! What was nice about this day is that I was at Draper City Court, which meant I was really close to my old work: Alpine Home Medical. I got myself some food and went to say hi to everyone. It was so fun.
December 5, Matthew and I got dinner and went to Festival of Trees. The trees were so beautiful. My favorites are always the Coca Cola trees and the rustic trees. The gingerbread houses were less impressive this year than in previous years, but there were some awesome ones.
December 6 was Matthew and I's 10 month anniversary. I made mac and cheese in the Instant Pot and got us a Capriotti's sandwich to share, plus a soda for him from Hey Soda. It was a quiet celebration.
December 7 was a super productive day for me. On top of my regular things: workout, laundry, groceries, and cleaning, we also had Matthew's best friend's son's birthday party. It was Baby Shark themed. Brionna always does such a good job. I set up my Ring doorbell, which is harder than you'd expect when your wifi signal competes with five other condos. And I washed and prepped two new sets of pots I got from a Macy's black Friday sale. I did a little bit of studying for my CPT recertification (behavior change), watched the cartoon Grinch, and wrapped some presents.
December 8 was tithing settlement, and my bishop is new. So it was nice to meet him. I did a little bit more shopping that day, did some online trading videos, and did more CPT study. I also made some tooth powder to give away as Christmas gifts, and I wrapped more presents. That day, my grandma, aunt, and cousin all share a birthday. We celebrated my grandma and cousin at her house with spaghetti and meatballs. So much chaos at my grandma's house. My favorite moment was that (the one time) I forgot to lock the bathroom door, and one cousin barged in, saw me, and walked away without closing the door. When I threw it closed as best I could, a second later his sister barged in. Rather than leaving immediately, she stayed there and asked why I hadn't locked the door. Well, eff me for forgetting one time. Kids, man.
On December 9, I had a regular day at work and met my friends Brittney and Kristine at Twigs Bistro in Farmington. I'm sad we didn't get any selfies, but the food was really good. It's always fun to chat with them. I woke up this day with a super dry throat and sinus. I spent all day really thirsty, so I wasn't sure if I was sick or what was wrong. Turned out that I would struggle with allergies for three weeks.
December 10 was so fun because I got to go to Alpine's Christmas party with Brittney to see Knives Out. I LOVED the movie, and it was so fun to see everyone I didn't see just a few days earlier.
December 11, I was back at jury duty. Thankfully we weren't sharing the courtroom with another case, but it was still a lot of 15 minute breaks turning into 45 minutes. It's super frustrating. When we convened as a jury, it took us over an hour to come to our verdicts. We worked through each one carefully and asked a lot of questions so each of us could be confident in our verdict. We found him guilty on three charges, and not guilty on one. They dismissed us before sentencing. I would like to do a full post about jury duty and may do that before this post gets published. After court, Matthew and I were able to see each other for a couple of hours.
December 12, I had a regular day but went to Fashion Place mall after work and then met Amber at Jinya Ramen Bar for dinner. It was my first time eating real ramen. I liked it. I like pho better. Sadly, I didn't take any selfies of us. I came home and watched Christmas Carol. I was deliberately scheduling myself full this week so Matthew could study.
Friday the 13th was a pretty low key day at work. I came home and packed. Matthew and I went up to Snowbird for his company party. Dinner was good. I was happy to meet his coworkers and superiors who all said really great things about him. We had a lot of fun dancing, but Matthew paid for it the next day.
Saturday morning, we ate at Black Bear Diner, and I came home to find someone parked in my covered stall. Matthew was super excited to call the towing company, but he didn't get to stick around for the person to get towed. I was checking periodically to see if they had moved or been towed yet. When I looked down, I saw the car pulling out before it could be towed. I ran downstairs to try to catch them, but they drove away. I moved my car back into my spot, and my neighbor told me she had given the kid an earful. I don't know how one doesn't know that you don't park in a marked covered stall. But now he knows. When I called the towing company to cancel, he said someone had canceled that a few minutes prior. I am annoyed that anyone could just call and cancel that, especially since I would've waited all day for someone to come tow that kid out of my spot. Oh well. I'm grateful for my neighbor looking out.
I spent the rest of that day doing my normal things: laundry, cleaning, and groceries. I was able to go to Matthew's that evening just to watch Christmas movies while he studied.
Sunday, December 15 was a quiet day. I fasted for Matthew and his test, went to church, got waxed, and we had dinner with his family that evening.
December 16, I was told I was getting a small Christmas bonus, and added PTO days! So that was a nice surprise. Matthew took his test, and sadly missed the target by 1%. He needed 75%, and he got 74%. He went through a lot of feelings about it and is probably still going through a lot of feelings. Since the agreement with RANLife was to pass the test and move up to the next level of employment, he was let go due to not passing the test. So he's applying to jobs now and amping up his resume.
I baked that night--sugar cookies, Chinese chews, and oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies.
December 17, I had dinner at Waffle Love with Kristen. She paid for my chicken & waffles - Merry Christmas to me! I also got us the seasonal peppermint waffle to share. We had a good chat.
December 18 was Christmas sweater day at work. We went to lunch at Current Fish & Oyster in Salt Lake, and had a company meeting.
That night I went to a Yelp Elite event at Shake Shack with my friend Natalie. We made a new friend too, so that was fun. I walked away with a Moab magnet, and a candle.
December 19, I met Rachel at Gourmandise for dinner and a present exchange.
After dinner, I went back to my work parking and met Matthew to wander Temple Square. We got a hot chocolate and took some photos.
December 20, I got some work done on my car before the drive, and went to see Star Wars with Matthew.
December 21, I did lots of adulting and errands, as I always do on Saturdays. Matthew and I had dinner at Buca di Beppo and went to the Harry Potter symphony. I finished packing my bag that night.
December 22 was a long day of driving. We got In-N-Out for dinner with dad.
December 23, we went to Donut Queen, which was basically sold out. So we went to Donut Club and then ran a couple of errands--Dollar Tree and Smart & Final. We did all the shopping for Christmas dinner and went to Casa del Rey for dinner. We decorated the Christmas tree also.
December 24, Matthew went to lunch with his brothers. I did a lot of baking--sugar cookies take longer with smaller cookie cutters. We went with Dad to dinner at Spaghetti Eddie's because Petrillo's was closed. Matthew spent some time trying to fix the entertainment system in the family room. I think some wires are messed up in the ceiling. We ended up just hooking up the DVD player to the TV on the mantle, and using the TV for the sound. It was nice to finally watch movies out there again! It's been a while. We watched It's a Wonderful Life until we both fell asleep. We didn't really do any Christmas Eve traditions as my dad and brother were both in their rooms, basically. So it was a quiet night.
Christmas day was so great. You can see my Christmas inventory [here]. Jason, Kellie, Jared, and Amoreena came over. Jake was home with us. Matthew and I did most of the cooking. My dad did the turkey. We opened presents and ate closer to 5pm. Everything was really good. Jared and Amoreena had to leave pretty early to take her mom to the movies, so we played Cards Against Humanity with everyone who stayed. It was hilarious and awful.
December 26, Matthew and I ate at Rail Side Cafe in San Dimas. We kept ourselves busy by doing some needless shopping at Dollar Tree, Five Below, and World Market. We ate leftovers and hung out. That evening, we went to see his brother Jason's family, and watched Mandalorian with them. That night, we chatted with my brother Jake about some of his struggles. It was a good talk.
December 27, we saw Star Wars again first thing in the morning with Matthew's brother Jason. We chatted with dad, and Jared came over for a little bit too. That evening, we went to Hana Haru for dinner just me and Matthew, and watched Finding Nemo and Son In Law.
December 28, we got Donut Man and met my friend Walter at Starbucks. It was fun to catch up. We got lunch at Wing Stop with Jared and Amoreena. Jason came over for a little bit to try dad's ribs on his new Traeger. I hung out with Cash and dad for a little bit. That evening, we went to Pick Up Stix for dinner and went to Matthew's cousins' house in Monrovia.
December 29, we packed up the car and started the drive home. We had to stop in Upland for my mom, and then in Hesperia for my mom. It set us back about a half hour. But we left at 9:20 Utah time and got to my place (after stopping at my mom's and Matthew's cousin's house in Lehi) at 7:40pm. So 10 hours and 20 minutes wasn't too bad considering all our stops.
December 30, I went to Orange Theory, donated plasma, and did some errands and some of a long to-do list. I wrote some thank you cards, talked to my grandpa, did this and other blogs.
December 31, I ran 5k, took down Christmas, and went to my grandma's (with Matthew) for New Year's festivities. I made sour cream dip, stuffed mushrooms, and Lil Smokies. We hung out and helped at my grandma's until about 10pm or so and called it an early night because we are old and tired.
Books I read in December
-I.M.: A Memoir by Isaac Mizrahi (audiobook)
-Wolfpack by Abby Wambach (audiobook)
-City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
-Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook)
-Dare to Lead by Brene Brown (started in June)
December 1 was a pretty low-key day. I did some Christmas preparations and some shopping. I helped decorate Matthew's tree. We watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and had a little misunderstanding that we resolved through conversation, as we always do. .
December 2, I had a regular day and did a few more errands. I watched Parks & Rec, read more of my book (City of Girls), and had a quiet evening.
On December 3, since I hadn't seen Matthew in a little bit, I stopped to see him for a minute at his work on my way to the dollar theater. I saw the Current War. I really liked it.
December 4, I had to report for jury duty. There were 18 people summoned. 16 showed up. And four were chosen. Guess who was picked? That's right. They let the old people go, and the stay at home parents go. Three of us on the jury were single and childless. It took them until noon to choose us four, and then they let us go for lunch. It was a really frustrating day. We were in and out of the court room since we shared the room with another case. By 6 o'clock, we were only on the second witness. They left it to us to decide if we wanted to stay and continue that night, or reconvene the following Wednesday. I had thought we might power through, but being only on the second witness, and seeing how inefficient the attorneys were, it was best we reconvened, because it took us the full 9-5 day the following week to be done! What was nice about this day is that I was at Draper City Court, which meant I was really close to my old work: Alpine Home Medical. I got myself some food and went to say hi to everyone. It was so fun.
December 5, Matthew and I got dinner and went to Festival of Trees. The trees were so beautiful. My favorites are always the Coca Cola trees and the rustic trees. The gingerbread houses were less impressive this year than in previous years, but there were some awesome ones.
December 7 was a super productive day for me. On top of my regular things: workout, laundry, groceries, and cleaning, we also had Matthew's best friend's son's birthday party. It was Baby Shark themed. Brionna always does such a good job. I set up my Ring doorbell, which is harder than you'd expect when your wifi signal competes with five other condos. And I washed and prepped two new sets of pots I got from a Macy's black Friday sale. I did a little bit of studying for my CPT recertification (behavior change), watched the cartoon Grinch, and wrapped some presents.
December 8 was tithing settlement, and my bishop is new. So it was nice to meet him. I did a little bit more shopping that day, did some online trading videos, and did more CPT study. I also made some tooth powder to give away as Christmas gifts, and I wrapped more presents. That day, my grandma, aunt, and cousin all share a birthday. We celebrated my grandma and cousin at her house with spaghetti and meatballs. So much chaos at my grandma's house. My favorite moment was that (the one time) I forgot to lock the bathroom door, and one cousin barged in, saw me, and walked away without closing the door. When I threw it closed as best I could, a second later his sister barged in. Rather than leaving immediately, she stayed there and asked why I hadn't locked the door. Well, eff me for forgetting one time. Kids, man.
On December 9, I had a regular day at work and met my friends Brittney and Kristine at Twigs Bistro in Farmington. I'm sad we didn't get any selfies, but the food was really good. It's always fun to chat with them. I woke up this day with a super dry throat and sinus. I spent all day really thirsty, so I wasn't sure if I was sick or what was wrong. Turned out that I would struggle with allergies for three weeks.
December 10 was so fun because I got to go to Alpine's Christmas party with Brittney to see Knives Out. I LOVED the movie, and it was so fun to see everyone I didn't see just a few days earlier.
December 11, I was back at jury duty. Thankfully we weren't sharing the courtroom with another case, but it was still a lot of 15 minute breaks turning into 45 minutes. It's super frustrating. When we convened as a jury, it took us over an hour to come to our verdicts. We worked through each one carefully and asked a lot of questions so each of us could be confident in our verdict. We found him guilty on three charges, and not guilty on one. They dismissed us before sentencing. I would like to do a full post about jury duty and may do that before this post gets published. After court, Matthew and I were able to see each other for a couple of hours.
December 12, I had a regular day but went to Fashion Place mall after work and then met Amber at Jinya Ramen Bar for dinner. It was my first time eating real ramen. I liked it. I like pho better. Sadly, I didn't take any selfies of us. I came home and watched Christmas Carol. I was deliberately scheduling myself full this week so Matthew could study.
Friday the 13th was a pretty low key day at work. I came home and packed. Matthew and I went up to Snowbird for his company party. Dinner was good. I was happy to meet his coworkers and superiors who all said really great things about him. We had a lot of fun dancing, but Matthew paid for it the next day.
Saturday morning, we ate at Black Bear Diner, and I came home to find someone parked in my covered stall. Matthew was super excited to call the towing company, but he didn't get to stick around for the person to get towed. I was checking periodically to see if they had moved or been towed yet. When I looked down, I saw the car pulling out before it could be towed. I ran downstairs to try to catch them, but they drove away. I moved my car back into my spot, and my neighbor told me she had given the kid an earful. I don't know how one doesn't know that you don't park in a marked covered stall. But now he knows. When I called the towing company to cancel, he said someone had canceled that a few minutes prior. I am annoyed that anyone could just call and cancel that, especially since I would've waited all day for someone to come tow that kid out of my spot. Oh well. I'm grateful for my neighbor looking out.
I spent the rest of that day doing my normal things: laundry, cleaning, and groceries. I was able to go to Matthew's that evening just to watch Christmas movies while he studied.
Sunday, December 15 was a quiet day. I fasted for Matthew and his test, went to church, got waxed, and we had dinner with his family that evening.
December 16, I was told I was getting a small Christmas bonus, and added PTO days! So that was a nice surprise. Matthew took his test, and sadly missed the target by 1%. He needed 75%, and he got 74%. He went through a lot of feelings about it and is probably still going through a lot of feelings. Since the agreement with RANLife was to pass the test and move up to the next level of employment, he was let go due to not passing the test. So he's applying to jobs now and amping up his resume.
I baked that night--sugar cookies, Chinese chews, and oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies.
December 17, I had dinner at Waffle Love with Kristen. She paid for my chicken & waffles - Merry Christmas to me! I also got us the seasonal peppermint waffle to share. We had a good chat.
December 18 was Christmas sweater day at work. We went to lunch at Current Fish & Oyster in Salt Lake, and had a company meeting.
That night I went to a Yelp Elite event at Shake Shack with my friend Natalie. We made a new friend too, so that was fun. I walked away with a Moab magnet, and a candle.
December 19, I met Rachel at Gourmandise for dinner and a present exchange.
After dinner, I went back to my work parking and met Matthew to wander Temple Square. We got a hot chocolate and took some photos.
December 20, I got some work done on my car before the drive, and went to see Star Wars with Matthew.
December 21, I did lots of adulting and errands, as I always do on Saturdays. Matthew and I had dinner at Buca di Beppo and went to the Harry Potter symphony. I finished packing my bag that night.
December 22 was a long day of driving. We got In-N-Out for dinner with dad.
December 23, we went to Donut Queen, which was basically sold out. So we went to Donut Club and then ran a couple of errands--Dollar Tree and Smart & Final. We did all the shopping for Christmas dinner and went to Casa del Rey for dinner. We decorated the Christmas tree also.
December 24, Matthew went to lunch with his brothers. I did a lot of baking--sugar cookies take longer with smaller cookie cutters. We went with Dad to dinner at Spaghetti Eddie's because Petrillo's was closed. Matthew spent some time trying to fix the entertainment system in the family room. I think some wires are messed up in the ceiling. We ended up just hooking up the DVD player to the TV on the mantle, and using the TV for the sound. It was nice to finally watch movies out there again! It's been a while. We watched It's a Wonderful Life until we both fell asleep. We didn't really do any Christmas Eve traditions as my dad and brother were both in their rooms, basically. So it was a quiet night.
Christmas day was so great. You can see my Christmas inventory [here]. Jason, Kellie, Jared, and Amoreena came over. Jake was home with us. Matthew and I did most of the cooking. My dad did the turkey. We opened presents and ate closer to 5pm. Everything was really good. Jared and Amoreena had to leave pretty early to take her mom to the movies, so we played Cards Against Humanity with everyone who stayed. It was hilarious and awful.
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| Please enjoy our inappropriate poems to end the game. |
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| Matthew and his nephew |
December 28, we got Donut Man and met my friend Walter at Starbucks. It was fun to catch up. We got lunch at Wing Stop with Jared and Amoreena. Jason came over for a little bit to try dad's ribs on his new Traeger. I hung out with Cash and dad for a little bit. That evening, we went to Pick Up Stix for dinner and went to Matthew's cousins' house in Monrovia.
December 29, we packed up the car and started the drive home. We had to stop in Upland for my mom, and then in Hesperia for my mom. It set us back about a half hour. But we left at 9:20 Utah time and got to my place (after stopping at my mom's and Matthew's cousin's house in Lehi) at 7:40pm. So 10 hours and 20 minutes wasn't too bad considering all our stops.
December 30, I went to Orange Theory, donated plasma, and did some errands and some of a long to-do list. I wrote some thank you cards, talked to my grandpa, did this and other blogs.
December 31, I ran 5k, took down Christmas, and went to my grandma's (with Matthew) for New Year's festivities. I made sour cream dip, stuffed mushrooms, and Lil Smokies. We hung out and helped at my grandma's until about 10pm or so and called it an early night because we are old and tired.
Books I read in December
-I.M.: A Memoir by Isaac Mizrahi (audiobook)
-Wolfpack by Abby Wambach (audiobook)
-City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
-Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook)
-Dare to Lead by Brene Brown (started in June)
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