Christmas Part 2

Well, it has been QUITE a busy past week but it has been SO GREAT!  We got up SUPER early last Wednesday and headed to BWI where we hopped on our flight and made it safely to Salt Lake.  Got our rental car (which was upgraded to an SUV big enough for a typical Utah family haha) and headed downtown for a haircut (no, we didn't fly all the way to Utah for a haircut haha) and then off to Seth's former employer's Christmas party.  After a long day of travel and fun, it was off to Chrissy and Ryan's for a good night's rest.  The next day was spent resting up and tying up some last minute Christmas stuff.  That evening, Seth, Jack, and I headed to the Canyons Resort in Park City to do the tasting for our wedding reception and there is only one word to describe it...YUMMMMMM!!!!  Can't wait to share that special day with you...and it's less than 7 months away :)

Most of the rest of the time was spent with Seth's family...eating, visiting, eating, playing games, and - oh yeah, did I mention eating :)  Seriously, this New Year's is a time of reckoning for me to hit the gym and prepare for the marathon in March, but I digress haha!  We had Christmas Eve dinner and opened presents with the fam at Chrissy and Ryan's and spent time between their home and Mindy and Josh's.  Us uncles got lots of quality time this visit and had a great time being with our family!  The Monday after Christmas we even had time to go down to Salt Lake and visit friends at our annual Friend's Christmas Dinner - good times!  Anyway, so much went on and the time passed quickly but we loved every second of it!  Like I said last time, the Holiday season really makes you take a look at your life and appreciate all that you have been given...and for me, although I have been blessed with so many things and opportunities, the most amazing part of my life are the people in it...and YOU are one of them and I love you for it :)  Well, it's about that time to head off to our New Year's Eve festivities but I will talk to you all in 2011!!!

The fam opening presents on Christmas Eve :)

Me, Dayton, Uncle Seth, and Evie <3

Mindy gettin down to my new Wii dance game...good times!

The whole crew (almost) at our Friend's Christmas Dinner!

Chirstmas Part 1

So this year, Seth and I are doing Christmas Part 1 (already done) with the VA family and then Christmas Part 2 (starting Wednesday) with the UT family!  And let me just say how lucky we are to have TWO amazing families that we get to celebrate with!


Christmas Part 1 was GREAT!  We got to Mom's late Friday night (after Beah's Birthday) and then got up on Saturday to open our presents from SANTA :)  Santa sure must have thought we were good boys because he took REALLY good care of us (as you can see from the presents under the tree!)  After unwrapping all the gifts, we headed off to the mall for a few last minute things and then Mom, Seth, and I met Carol and Marge at the Riverside Dinner Theater to see "It's a Wonderful Life." 

 

 

Seth on left, me on right :)

Seth, Carol, Mom, and Marge at the Riverside.

Sunday it was up and at 'em to wrap up the Christmas list and then a traditional visit to La Pizzeria for some lunch before heading home.  Oh, and by the way, Santa gave me an extra special treat: a while back I entered a context in GQ magazine...and this past week I found out I won...an iPad AND an in-home mixology party from Bombay Sapphire Gin's Master Mixologist...SWEET!!!  Well, anyway, needless to say it has been one heck of a stellar week and I hope yours has been too!  I love you all and hope a little special love from us to you arrives this week in your mailboxes!  Merry Christmas and lots of love!  See you next time with a special UTAH edition :) 

I'm 1/6th of a Lawyer!

Hooooorraaaayyyyy!!!!  Well, sorry I'm a little late with my usual update but, all is well...no, all is GRRRREEEAAATTT!!!!  I'm all done with my exams and I can't even tell you how happy that makes me :)  It was two of the most stressful weeks of my life but I have a good feeling about all of my exams and really hope all the work paid off...we will see soon I guess :)  Anyway, to celebrate, I organized a Happy Hour at the Front Page Bar & Grill the night of our last exam and got a part of the place reserved for our Section.  It went great and about 1/2 the section (50 or so people) showed to celebrate the end of the semester!  The next night we celebrated my classmate and friend Beah's birthday at cool restaurant downtown called Lima (before heading down to Fredericksburg for Christmas Part 1)  Anyway, with exams all done I guess it's on to the next step: summer job search...so if anyone knows of any good places, please let me know :)  xo

Beah, me, and Emily celebrating at Happy Hour!

Seth, Emily, Beah, Joanne, (her BF), and Matt outside Lima.

2 Down, 1 To Go!!!

Well, it's been one LOOOONG week...but time is a tickin and my first semester is quickly coming to a close!  This week I had my Torts exam on Monday (3.5 hours) and my Contracts exam on Saturday (4 hours) and MANY hours of studying in between...and after having taken both exams, I think (and HOPE) it paid off!  I took all the allotted time and really feel confident in my performance, so I guess now it's time to focus on my last exam this coming Thursday and wait to see how I do...and I hope you will all love me no matter what cause I really did try my best...but hopefully my best is a 4.0 :-D  Anyway, check out the picture below...my study sessions are pretty ridiculous!

Why, yes, that IS a burrito :)  

 Other than studying, Seth and I took a break on Monday night to celebrate the completion of my FIRST exam and went to a Holiday Party for WACA (the Washington Area Concierge Association).  it was a good time and a nice, much needed break!  Spent a little bit of time Friday trying to do my good deed (for some extra Exam blessing of course) and volunteered in our foreign language legal clinic doing some interpretation for people filing their naturalization papers and it was actually really cool experience!  Other than that, Seth is keeping busy working hard (and finishing our Christmas card!)  and life is good...and before you know it the break will be here and it will be Christmas - yay!!!  Hope all is well for you and look forward to seeing you soon!  Love and hugs til next week :)

Christmas is getting closer and underneath the tree is getting fuller :)

Art Educates...and so does studying...

Well, the semester is all done as far as classes go and its been study time for me!  Exams start on Wednesday and last for 10 days...luckily mine are spread out so I have extra time to study...although today I studied for about 16 hours so I'm not sure if my eyes can last that long B-)

Anyway, this Friday we got to take a break and go to the Art Educates Gala and Art Show at the Katzen Fine Arts Center at my school.  Maria (my Dad's first wife) and my sister Marissa invited Seth and I to attend and we had a great time!  The main purpose was to raise money for the Centronia Arts Center for the youth in the area - they had an auction and craft sale (we even bought a piece of student art for our home!)  It was a good time and, in addition to the nice spread and open bar, we got to meet a lot of really cool people - the Madam Under Secretary of State to Hillary Clinton, the ambassador to El Salvador, and a Federal Judge (to whom Maria sent my resume!)...very nice and so grateful to have a break and to be included in something so fun - thanks Maria and Marissa!!!

Me and Seth all dolled up and ready for the gala :)

The piece we bought is already hanging up!

Anyway, that's about all I got for this week (and while there is still another day left, I can tell you the studying that is to come isn't really blogworthy haha!) so I hope all is well with you guys!  Wish me luck on exams and soon enough I will be done for real with my first semester of school!  Yay!  xoxo

Chris Mouse is in the House!!!

So, for those of you who aren't familiar with the story of Chris Mouse, we need to rewind about 24 years to when Seth was a little boy.  At Christmas, Seth's Mom, Jack, used to invite Petey the Elf to come to the house to visit and bring treats to the kids.  It was a miracle and they were lucky little kids to have a Mom that knew a REAL ELF!!!  Well, as Seth got older, Petey decided he needed to retire and take a break from all the hard work he had done at the Longhurst household.  Then, when Seth had almost forgotten about Petey, he got a note last year from Petey saying that he would be sending a new friend to check in on him...and that visitor was none other than Chris Mouse (yet another one of Santa's little helpers!!!)

Chris Mouse stopped by to spread some Christmas cheer :)

 Anyway, Chris Mouse is in the house and is here to spread cheer til the end of the year!!!  Hooray!!!

Our tree...and of course our computers :)