Sunday, January 6, 2008

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Hello to my blog readers! I needed to write about Christmas, so here ya'all go.

(at sacramento airport terminal)

Started off Thursday night, the 21st when I got off work and my room mate Michelle took me to the airport. I was cutting it close, but I did not miss my flight. Phew! It finally felt like Christmas, landing on the plane in Sacramento. I was home!
Jackie Curteman and her son McKay picked me up at the Sacramento airport and I got to Linda's house bout 10:30/11pm. It was SO good to see her and catch up on things. We went to IN N Out to eat in Davis, just like old times! Minus my sister Laura. I got to my aunt & uncle's house around 1am, they were nice enough to leave the door open for me.
Friday morning I woke up around 8 and headed over to Linda's to get online w/Laura's laptop (which is now in my possession for a year and a half! muah ha ha!) Went to lunch with my best friend Andrea's mom, Amada, went to Paco's and it was so great to see her and talk to her again. Went to her house afterwards and her son Adam and his gf Kelsey came home and we all talked until I had to leave around 1:30. Went to my favorite thrift store by Chubby's Diner, then headed over to my old work, Color Supply Inc, to visit ppl.


(where I used to work!)

Ed (my old supervisor) had just gone to lunch so I hung out in the warehouse talking to Hugo, Jesse, Brandon ("B"), Amanda (who took over part of my job), Travis and Andre (drivers), Sherri, Kip...aww everyone was super excited and happy to see me. It was wonderful to be back there and feel their unity and friendship. I miss working there so much, despite the blah times it really was one of my favorite jobs ever!
I was there for a bit over an hour and then took Linda's vaccum in to be fixed, and went over to Davis to meet up with my good friend Kokob & our friend Myca at a place called Pluto's to eat. It is salad or other things but you get to pick a bunch of different toppings for whatever you choose to eat. So I had a salad with chicken, cranberries, pineapple, apples...and more on it. SO GOOD!



Then Kokob & I went to Starbucks and got peppermint hot chocolate, worked on her laptop, went to Linda's house and I got on the phone with Tony for some IT help , in the end we were not able to get her wireless to work. Sad. Kokob spent the night w/me at my aunt's house and the next morning (Saturday) we went to Starbucks (the one she used to work at) again! and I saw Patrick , who used to work with me at Color Supply so we talked for a bit.



Then Kokob took off back to Tracy and I went to Vacaville to do a bit of shopping at the outlets and visit my friend Martin who works at Autocraft. I met him a long time ago and we talked on the phone from time to time when he had Q's about his VOC's or his orders and I'd help him out. He is the nicest guy ever!!



Went to a few stores at the Outlets - miss miss shopping there, with my sister or friends, even with the crazy pre-christmas traffic I had fun. Went to Ross, Tilly's,Old Navy and then I got a call from a few friends from AZ who were driving to Oregon, their car broke down in my town - Woodland! SO I left my shopping in Vacaville and drove 40 min back to town to help them out.



They ended up having to have their car towed to the Honda Dealership in Davis (about 20 min away) and all the rental cars in Woodland were gone so I drove them back and forth to the airport and a hotel they got in Davis and spent the rest of the day helping them out. They were nice enough to buy me dinner and fill my car with gas. They finally were on their way again on Sunday.

current price of gas in Woodland

My Sunday was totally awesome! It was the best feeling ever to be back in my family ward, the Woodland 2nd ward, and see people , familiar faces and friends visiting from Utah or other places for the holiday. After church about 1pm I went to visit the Castillo's for a bit. Then at 2pm I went to the Houston's for Sunday dinner. I used to go there some Sundays in the summer to eat and hang out. I miss them a lot! Not just bc I got a free meal but because they are all so fun and interesting to talk to and talk about cool things.

(Ryan,Corinne,Ryan,Meradith,Sis Houston,Spencer & me!)

(Jaz,Toby,Me & Andre!)

Later I went to the Bringhursts house where they so nicely let me use their kitchen to make my chocolate dipped pretzels. Was invited to the Valentines home for dinner at 5pm. One of my favorite families in Woodland! Sis Valentine made rice with chicken on the top , brocolli and we had cranberry sauce and her bread! Delish. It was SO fun to see them and talk to them, reminded me of old times - minus chocolate chip cookies. Bro Valentine hadnt made any lately. I left after a couple hours and went to deliver my pretzels to friends and neighbors, most people were not home so that was disappointing. Went to Linda's and hung out with her and 2 of her kids and their families who were in town visiting for Christmas. Emily Valentine flew in Sunday night so around 11pm I went to her house and we talked and hung out til midnight. Then I went to my aunts house and went to bed.

Monday I had SO much to catch up on , not being able to get too much done on Saturday, so I went and did some shopping at my favorite stores : Grocery Outlet,Raleys, and Food4Less!

Went to visit my best friend, Andrea Saragoza's grave at the Woodland cemetary. She passed away March 10 2006. I met her at Woodland Community College my first? semester there and we became great friends fast. We did everything together. I miss her so much but hope to see her again someday!


Stopped by the Manzers (in my ward and he is the owner of Color Supply) and visited them for awhile. At 12:30 I met up for lunch with Pam who I used to work with at Gemini Bio Products. It was fun to see her again because it had been awhile! We got Chinese food and caught up on things for about an hour. Then I drove to Sacramento (Citrus Heights) to meet my online friend, Michael Pratt! He is in a band called The Velvet Jones , and a few other bands.

He was pretty cool to meet and we hung out at his apartment for a bit, talked, then went to the Sunrise mall and Barnes & Noble to get a few last minute Christmas gifts. I had to head back around 4'ish to make it to the Kelley's house for dinner by 5pm. We had prime rib which tasted so good. They gave me a present (B&BW!) and it was so nice to see their family again. My dad home taught them forever and my sister and I used to wash their windows to earn money for girls camp. Then we house sat for them a few times a year. I miss doing that. They always filled their fridge with yummy food from Schwann's or The Nugget. Christmas Eve night....I delivered a few more bags of pretzels and went to Linda's again for a bit, then headed to my aunt's house earlier so I could rest up before the big day!
CHRISTMAS MORNING! Tuesday! My aunt made toast, eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast. My cousin Jason & his fiance Ann had spent the night so after eating we all opened presents and then I took off to get some fresh air and finally got to go see the newly remodeled Fern's Park. I grew up by this park, it was around the corner from my house. I was part of Project Play , redesigning and building a new play structure. A few months ago vandals burned down part of the park and it since got rebuilt so I went to check it out.


Went to the Curtemans and dropped something off on their doorstep. Went to the Saragoza's one last time and Andy was home and me, him and Amada all had fun talking together. I miss them so much. They are some of the nicest most giving people I know. Went to Linda's one last time to say goodbye and get some vacuum pieces I needed to take back to AZ with me. Linda got me a present - so nice and thoughtful of her! Went to my aunt's house and emptied out Laura's car that I had gotten to drive the whole time I was there. Loaded up my stuff into the car we were taking to my grandparents house in Rocklin and we were off!

Got to spend some good time with my aunts , uncles and grandparents. Jason and Ann were there of course, Paul and Rene couldn't come because she had to work and they live kind of far. My cousin Kevin was there. I made stuffed celery and we all ate so so so much good food. Feeling so stuffed afterwards it was all I could do to help with the puzzle - tradition that is done every year. The afternoon went by so fast and soon it was 4:30, my friend Eric was coming about 5 to pick me up and take me to the airport so we opened presents and I never got to play Mexican Train. I got some cool stuff though including presents that my family had sent to my grandparents house for me to open. Eric came and I loaded my stuff up and we all hung out still for another hour, my grandma gave me a bunch of desserts to take on the plane with me and I said my goodbyes. I cant wait to see my relatives again in 2008! Hopefully I'll make it back to California a few times to see them. They mean a lot to me and I am so grateful for their generosity and kindness.


3 comments:

Phoenix Girlfriends said...

OH...MY...GOSH...how BUSY and FUN was that holiday TRIP?! :) AWESOME! I cannot BELIEVE how many people you met up with and how PACKED your schedule was! FUN!!! :) Loved the holiday post, and see you in a couple!! :) -T

Phoenix Girlfriends said...

oh, oops, that's me tausha

Michael B said...

Quite the Christmas Trip! We need an update though! I check often to see what is going on in the world of Stacie Skinner!