Insta Friday: a holiday recap through instagram

A lot happened over my blogging hiatus and I decided to combine it all in one giant insta-post. Be prepared for a photo-dump. A big 'ol dumpage of photos. Dumpa-de-photo?

High-five for Friday, yall! 

1. Christmas and all things that came along with it.

Chris and I went to Trans-Siberian Orchestra on December 23rd. It was phenomenal. So freakin' cool.

They used SO many different lights, it was amazing. I sat in awe of the whole production.



We gave the puppies a good 'ol Christmas Eve bath. Bailey looks less than thrilled, but her brother was his typical wimp self. Wrigley may be part doberman, but he is about as scared as a cat. Maybe I have spoiled him just a tad too much?!



Chris insisted on buying him this bone. It was so funny watching him try to carry it around. Bailey and Wrigley have this thing where they just want the other dogs toys/bones. The moment Wrigley laid this bone down Bailey went and got it. She is even smaller than Wrigley, so it was really funny watching her. She had a look on her face like,"I really don't want this bone, but I don't want YOU to have this bone, so no matter what it takes, I am bound and determined to carry it away from you!" She pranced away with it in the most adorable way. When she prances, I melt, instantly.





Just a normal totally random Christmas snow in North Texas. Snow, Christmas, and family made for the perfect, absolutely perfect day.



Bailey obviously takes snow-day afternoon naps veryyy seriously. She was literally like a baby in my arms. Once again, I melt. I adore that girl.



This is what our house looked like the morning after Christmas. I would have got a picture of the whole house, but I almost busted my bass walking down the driveway in my slippers and Christmas PJ's. Chris wasn't home and I didn't feel like having the neighbor rescue me. The snow made for a beautiful morning.

2. Colorado vacation with my family.



I nearly missed my flight out of Dallas (as in boarded the plane at 6:14am for a 6:15 departure...yes I was that crazy person sprinting through the airport.) due to a lack of planning skills. I legitimately was not thinking that morning. I have no idea why I thought getting to the airport 30 minutes before a flight would be okay two days after Christmas. I worked for Southwest Airlines last year and was so used to just skipping the lines and whizzing through like I owned the place. Reality check. I was literally hands-clasped-praying in the check-bag line. God pulled through. I walked into the airport at 5:55am, went through a line of 80+ people to check my bag, went to the secret security spot at Love Field, and SPRINTED to my gate...which was gate 12 of 12. God is good!

After being picked up by my family and making the final hike (not literally) to Durango, we were there. Hallelujah. 

Is this shot not gorgeous? 

We stopped at the famous Honeyville to stock up on honey lotion and, well duh, honey!

Aren't my brother and his girlfriends just adorable?! 

View from the (almost) top of the mountain. My brother was making yellow snow, so I took advantage of the photo op. TMI?

Someone made this cute little snowman-mouse. Presh.

Mountain dominators. I will say that my legs felt it this trip. Oh my word. I have lost SO MUCH muscle compared to last year. Not working out definitely hurt me this trip. New year calls for some sort of workout regime. At least I hope :)

Brothersister.

Me and the parentals. My Dad insists on wearing that beanie everywhere. He loves that thing. I love it because I can spot him from a mile away. 

Callie was a tad cold on the last day. 

3. Pit stop in New Mexico. Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Word.

A long day of traveling from Colorado called for a special meal. I will admit that I am not a huge steak fan. And I hate grilled chicken. Refuse to eat it actually. Anyways, this steak was freaking delicious. And HUGE! Callie and I split it...as in this plate was already split! She got a plate identical to this one. Luckily there was an 18 year old boy with us who cleans everyone's plates. Thanks, brother, for your never ending stomach.

Before my parents dropped me back off at the airport we squeezed in a couple games of bowling. A little background on my family. My grandparents owned bowling alleys in Austin for my my Dad's entire "young" life. My Dad was in the bowling business and my uncle is still in the bowling business. With that being said, my Dad has still got it after all these years. He hadn't bowled in years, but it all came back to him the second game we played. My brother, Mom, and I didn't get the "bowling" gene. I was a pitcher when I played softball and every time I bowled it would screw up my pitching game, so I never got to really see my full bowling potential. Yes, that is my excuse.

Callie, my brother's girlfriend, proclaimed before we played that she hadn't bowled in five years and she would be terrible. Please, please take a look at who won the first game. Oh ya, Callie! We were all laughing so hard because she was doing SO good!

Mom thinks that if she leans with it it will go that way...lean wit it rock wit it.

All too soon it was time for me to travel back to Dallas and the fam-bam to head back to the Austin area. I had hours to kill in the airport so I looked around the gift shops in the Albuquerque airport. There were these fantastic watercolor paintings with the most perfect sayings on them. 

"A box filled with things everyone thinks you should've done. <-- this only weighs a lot if you've forgotten to do the stuff you wanted to do all along."

I also brought this book. I really didn't want to jump on the wagon, but I. am. hooked. I haven't had much time to read, but I hope to finish it this weekend. Don't worry, I tried to hide the cover as much as possible in the airport. Once I got to a certain chapter I am sure my face was beamingggg red...and then I found out the guy sitting next to me on the plane's name was Christian. Ah!! I was slightly embarrassed. 

4. A Relaxing NYE Get-together 

My plane got in at 8pm on NYE and Chris and I were hosting a small get together at our house...I was in sweatpants and a t shirt from teaveling all day...and it was glorious! We stopped by target on our way home and I grabbed some hummus and carrots, cheese dip fixings, guacamole, and of course some bubbly! We played games and just hung out. It was a relaxed, fun NYE!

At midnight Chris (struggled) popped the bubbly! Hunter was there for moral support.

5. The First Day of the New Year

The first day of the new year was spent doing a lot of laying around...Wrigley-Pigley and his favorite pig. Precious.

And I tried to get caught up on some blogging...

So there ya have it. One GIANT recap of my blogging hiatus. I might have a proper Christmas post later, but for now this will have to do. If you see a post about Christmas in February, or even March, just know that I am a huge procrastinator..

Have a great weekend! 

What are your plans this weekend?! We are watching the Cotton Bowl tonight. My BEST FRIEND is coming to spend the weekend with us. She is an Aggie, so I guess that is who I'll be rooting for! Saturday our friend's are having a party and we are pumped! Hopefully Sunday will be a recharge day...and I might actually get to unload my suitcase and wash some clothes...just in time to head back to Colorado for skiing part two :)

Linking up with Life Rearranged and From My Grey Desk!

xo!