Happy Holidays...Share the Wealth!

Lets start with Thanksgiving. We created our own little "family" gathering by inviting our good friends into our small home and cooking a giant turkey! Luckily my roommate, Brad, has a brother who lives in Santa Cruz who has a wife who knows how to cook! She basically pulled everything together. I just made a small contribution of Skyline Chili dip, but everyone loved it! We had a ton of leftovers and couldn't move our big bellies for days!

After Thanksgiving, we took Christmas Tree shopping into our own hands. You can pay $10 to the Forest Service and go find your own little gem of a tree within the Tahoe area. We purchased a tree stand at the Thrift Store, borrowed a saw and went on a little adventure. We came out with a beautiful tree! But Brad is allergic to pine only when he sits in a room with it for long periods of time, so we set it up outside our living room window and keep shaking all the snow off of it!

Then my mom and sister came into town for Christmas and we spent it trying to stay warm in the big snow storms! The first adventure was picking Mom up at the Airport in Reno. We ate at In-n-Out and made a few other stops before realizing the Interstate was enforcing the Chain Law. I pulled over to put on my chains and was almost through when a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I've never done this before, can you help?" So I then put his chains on for him and by the time we got back to I-80 it was closed due to an accident and a helicopter's need to land on the Interstate. So we waited an hour and then drove 40 mph back to Tahoe City in whiteout conditions...awesome =0P

But we made it and began to enjoy a wonderful visit! Mom likes to stay in town with a nice view of the lake from her hotel room. After doing a little shopping, she comes up to Squaw to visit me while I work. Now the best part about that is that she brings me hot chocolate and helps me calm down the crying kids or kids who don't want to ski. Life is always nicer when moms are around =0)
Then my sister, Shelley, came into town and that's when the real party started. Now, I LOVE Karaoke and go every Monday at the local hot spot. I think this is a family trait because we killed it on the mic singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Everyone cheered and loved our little family sing-along. Mom, if you're reading this, I think this photo should be our Christmas picture for next year! (even though I have a beer in my hand...I'm sure people won't judge)

The fam then left with some great memories made. I continued the celebration with some friends on New Year's at a local dance spot with bad music but lots of familiar faces. And speaking of familiar faces, everyone is coming to visit me this year and I couldn't be more excited!!

Six of my college friends just came into town for a week early January. Unfortunately the snow has stopped coming down (temporarily), but we still had fun! Andrea and Omar (my college freshman roommate and her boyfriend) came in first and we enjoyed a snowshoe hike and drive around the lake!
Then the rest of the crew came in: Kristy (my sophomore roommate), Matt (her husband), Kate and Bret. We all had a ski and enjoyed some nightlife and dinners out. It is so great to have
friends from different stages of your life come out and experience where you're at right now! I could not have been more grateful to have such a great group of people come out and enjoy Tahoe! And there are more people coming! Some great high school friends are coming out in February and March and there's always room for more!

So take care of yourselves and never lose touch with all the great people who weave in and out of your life!