Happy Holidays!

So normally I love putting together a holiday card to send out sometime between Thanksgivings and New Years, but this year I decided to save the postage and just send out this lovely blog instead!

The Micheletti sisters making
Thanksgiving dinner - 2013

This holiday season has been a fairly special one for me - I spent Thanksgiving with my mom's side of our extended family and enjoyed servings of turkey skin, stuffing and green bean hotdish.  But this Thanksgiving was the first once that I didn't leave afterwards to head back to Iowa, I simply got back in the car and headed home with my parents - the home that I now share with them.

Facetime with my favorite Alaskans!

After a filling Thanksgiving came my 28th birthday - a day celebrated with phone calls, text messages, facebook posts, and even a facetime chat with so many of the amazing people in my life.  I also was able to go on a long walk with my dad shaded by the woods and filled with the sound of a freezing river.  My mom made a delicious meal that was capped off by a round of homemade angel food cake and raspberry sauce.

Following my actual Birthday came my Birthday party in the Twin Cities with friends from Iowa and Minnesota.  Since it was my first birthday in 10 years as a Minnesotan resident, I figured it was only fitting to do stereotypical Minnesotan things.  We went to the Mall of America followed by the Hollidazzle Parade and dinner in downtown Minneapolis.  I loved seeing so many of my friends and catching up with many who I hadn't seen in awhile.

An extra bonus that occurred right after my Birthday was accepting a new job up here in Central Minnesota.  As I had recently decided to step away from my work at the American Cancer Society to look for a new opportunity, I was able to find that a lot sooner than I had thought.  My role will be with the Initiative Foundation in Little Falls, MN, working as an organizational development specialist and will allow me to continue my work in the nonprofit world, a world I have come to love.  And because my office would be only 10 miles from my parents home, it allows me to stay with them a little bit longer before starting my apartment hunt.  The new job not only lifted the stress of job and home shopping over the holidays, but because I don't start until after the new year, it also gave me the opportunity to fully enjoy the last three weeks of my mini-retirement. 

Now with Thanksgiving, my Birthday and my job offer and acceptance in the past and several inches of fresh snow on the cold ground, I am looking forward to our upcoming Christmas trip.  A few years ago my family decided that instead of having my brother and I always travel to Royalton, that we should fly somewhere a little warmer.  The first year we went to San Diego and then last year to Denver, where Josh lives, and this year we are traveling to Charleston, SC.  I went to Charleston last year to see my Alaskan friends, Adam and Amanda and their daughter, Emma.  I had a great time and was excited that my family decided to go there this year.

Our rental home in Golden, CO - 2012

The best part of our Christmas travels is that we always manage to find a beautiful home rental by using VRBO.com.  Last year it was a beautiful home in Golden, CO, that looked into the Rockies and the year before a condo in San Diego only a block from the beach.  These homes always work the best for us as we are able to spread out in the house, use the washer and dryer, and most importantly, we have a kitchen.  Everyone in my family loves to cook and to have fresh made food around.  My brother normally comes in first and attacks the kitchen by making some fresh guacamole and other snacks.  While we do find some great local restaurants to try and find a great sushi restaurant, we all really look forward to our annual Christmas meal of homemade fettuccine Alfredo with lots of seafood in it.  This meal was started so many years ago and it is one that my stomach craves every year.  And every year we always find something to add to it.  When I lived in Alaska, I would fly down some fresh King Crab and then my brother learned how to make sushi one year, so fresh homemade sushi rolls were added to the meal from time to time.  

Christmas 2011 - San Diego

Along with the food, we always find some local activities to partake in and local beer/wine to enjoy.  But really the best part of the trip is spending time with my family.  Normally Josh and I only see my parents a handful of times during the year, and Josh and I only really see each other once or twice during a good year.  So the four to five days spent together makes up for the lost time and creates new memories (and fights - who am I kidding right?  Nothing says family fun like a good argument!) to talk about for the coming year.  When we would all come up the Royalton we would spend the time catching up with friends who were back home as well, and not as much time together as a family.  But our annual trips are filled with days of being around each other while trying to navigate our rental car to where ever our hearts desire. 

The time during Thanksgiving and News Years truly is my favorite times of the year.  The days may be short but they are filled to the brim with family, friends, hope, shopping, smiles, and memories of another year spent on this beautiful Earth.

So from me to you and your family, I wish you nothing but the happiest of holidays filled with family, friends, food and fun!

Happy Holidays!

-Andrea