#LeanIn2014

I'm back home from the annual NYE cabin trip and refusing to travel for a while. I need to be a hermit for a couple of days. I can't believe the past month went by so fast. Here are some quick updates on things I've been meaning to update everyone on.

• December traveling
• Richmond and Williamsburg



Submarine subs from a Richmond restaurant we ate at. They weren't joking around.



Candy shop in Williamsburg. I really wanted a gingerbread, but restrained myself.

• Mike and I journeyed with Kelly and Alex to Williamsburg and got to enjoy Williamsburg things like the the candy shop, cheese shop, Blue Talon, Aroma's, Yule log, and Paul's pizza. First we stopped in Richmond to visit Mike's friend Tyler from Woodberry and his wife Bitsy (we went to their wedding this summer). Our friend's Kylie and Cohen also journeyed up from Virginia Beach to hang out.
• Pre-Christmas at Home



Mike spending some quality time with Ashton. Ashton is trying to figure out Mike.



The closest I caught to a smile. My cute boy.

• Mike and I went to my house to exchange Christmas presents and I got to spend more time with Ashton. He had already changed so much from the last time I saw him! He was making 'gah' sounds and sorta kinda smiling and he liked to play a kick-y game with Mike and I. Mike also mesmerized Ashton by introducing him to Mr. Snaps, a game where Mike snaps his fingers nonstop for like 5 min.
• North Carolina for Christmas



Selfie during the Doctor Who Christmas Special.

• The similarities between last Christmas and this one were comforting to me. I had to work the day before Christmas Eve and the day after the day after Christmas so it was the same pressed schedule as last year. We watched Love Actually again on Christmas Eve and ate Moroccan Tagine. We went ate saltine cracker toffee and went to Nanny Mary Anne's house where I was, once again, welcomed by everyone in the house. We watched Muppet Christmas carol and feasted on Southern food. And Rachel and I had a Christmas pajama photo shoot. 
• New Years Eve at Smith Mountain Lake



#LeanIn2014 Our unofficial girls' motto for the weekend.



My Person & I






All of us after midnight.

• It was really hard to leave Mike behind for NYE, but I completely support his decision to wedge is foot in the door. I would have done the same thing and I'm so proud of his determination in the face of a really difficult situation. At NYE, we watched a lot of The Walking Dead, held our annual Secret Santa gift exchange, slept a lot, played pool and darts, played Boom and Munchkin and Settlers of Catan and the girls bonded and the boys bonded and we all watched the ball drop together. These are people I can completely be myself around and I always take that for granted until I see them again and realize.....I don't need to be anyone. I don't have to be entertaining or a great hostess or pretend that I'm completely grown-up or pretend that I'm perfect. Even when I was pacing around worrying myself like crazy because I didn't know Mike's surgery was delayed and hadn't heard from him, they didn't care that I needed time alone. They know all of the parts of me and love me for that. I'm so lucky to have this group of friends. 
• Mike's surgery
• His blog says most of it (http://walkingintoabuzzsaw.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-ear-is-still-attached.html). Even though I think it's an understatement that Mike doesn't like being taken care of, I still wish I was there. I'm glad I wasn't, though, because I probably would have stressed him out more.
• New job



Verizon Center

• Mike and I had the opportunity to go to the Wizards game on December 30th to hang out with some of my coworkers and meet some of my students. We got free chipotle and to stay in a suite box!
• I start my new job on January 13th and have a week left to transition students from my old job. I still have so much to do in preparation. I have to shop for new health care policies. I need to do a lot of paperwork and am also going to try to plan a goodbye happy hour with my coworkers.
• My new job is working for a nonprofit doing advising for first generation college students and I feel really good about the work environment so I'm really excited to start in a couple of weeks.
• New Year



Poster my mom got me for Christmas.

• While watching the Doctor Who Christmas special, this quote stood out to me: "We all change. When you think about it, we're all different people all through our lives. And that's OK, that's good, as long as you keep moving, as long as you remember all the people that you used to be." I know the new year is just another day, but because it's been advent and because the new year is followed shortly by my birthday and our anniversary, I get really reflective this time of year. I'm also starting a new job this time. I feel on the brink of regeneration and don't know quite what that means yet, but I'm excited for all of the possibilities that lie ahead. I'm excited that I think I'm on the cusp of some really big changes in my life. I'm excited for all that 2014 has in store. 
• Birthday
• Mike got me a spa/salon gift card for my birthday which is probably half because I asked for something like that and half because I always make him rub my shoulders. On Saturday, my sister, her boyfriend, my nephew, and my mom are coming into the city and we're going to get brunch. I'm so excited to spend time with my nephew. Then I have a massage schedule and I have no idea what else I'll do right now. I'm going to be 27 and what I'm craving more than anything is just some time to rest and relax.