What I did in NC:
- Spent time with my parents, siblings, and their children. I spent some one on one time with my only remaining grandparent; Nanny.
- I had a major girls night sleepover with two of my dearest best friends. We exchanged gifts and did what we used to do (have some wine, laugh, listen to Pandora, etc).
- Met up with my best friend from College Brianna. She went to England recently so she had me a special gift plus my Christmas gift. We had margaritas (classic B&B drink), went to downtown for a girls night, and had a night out at some of our old college hot spots (which aren’t so hot anymore).
- Went Christmas gift shopping with my mom. We love window shopping together and spending time looking at items to one day purchase for my home.
- Went Christmas shopping with my Dad. We have a tradition where we go to one of the major cities in NC to buy gifts. It felt like old time (plus Holly).
- Helped my Dad decorate his house for Christmas; this is another tradition of ours.
- Helped my Dad cut firewood for his house; yes I can use an Axe!
- Had Chinese food... In the area of Florida I live at there isn’t any Chinese restaurants. I grew up eating Chinese food at as treat; therefore... I needed my ’treat’ (I purchase fried rice and brought it back to Florida to eat!).
- Went to some of the local food places I grew up on: Bojangles, CookOut, Mayflower.
- Took some old clothing I had in my Childhood bedroom to a consignment store; then donated the rest.
- Visited the Nordstrom in NC and the area I used to manage the Flagship Abercrombie & Fitch; sadly they closed the store down which oddly enough, made me feel a bit depressed.
- Spent time with my parents, siblings, and their children. I spent some one on one time with my only remaining grandparent; Nanny.
- I had a major girls night sleepover with two of my dearest best friends. We exchanged gifts and did what we used to do (have some wine, laugh, listen to Pandora, etc).
- Met up with my best friend from College Brianna. She went to England recently so she had me a special gift plus my Christmas gift. We had margaritas (classic B&B drink), went to downtown for a girls night, and had a night out at some of our old college hot spots (which aren’t so hot anymore).
- Went Christmas gift shopping with my mom. We love window shopping together and spending time looking at items to one day purchase for my home.
- Went Christmas shopping with my Dad. We have a tradition where we go to one of the major cities in NC to buy gifts. It felt like old time (plus Holly).
- Helped my Dad decorate his house for Christmas; this is another tradition of ours.
- Helped my Dad cut firewood for his house; yes I can use an Axe!
- Had Chinese food... In the area of Florida I live at there isn’t any Chinese restaurants. I grew up eating Chinese food at as treat; therefore... I needed my ’treat’ (I purchase fried rice and brought it back to Florida to eat!).
- Went to some of the local food places I grew up on: Bojangles, CookOut, Mayflower.
- Took some old clothing I had in my Childhood bedroom to a consignment store; then donated the rest.
- Visited the Nordstrom in NC and the area I used to manage the Flagship Abercrombie & Fitch; sadly they closed the store down which oddly enough, made me feel a bit depressed.
How I feel being 700+ miles from my Family and Friends:
I’ll be frank, its hard. I see my family and friends all posting fun photos and events on their facebook - instagram - snapchat - etc and I’m having to watch from a screen. I miss everyone dearly and it was hard having to celebrate my favorite Holiday weeks early knowing that on Christmas Eve I will not have my parents and sibling with me. Holly, of course doesn’t understand yet. I hope down the road it’ll be easier on us all. We pray we can get into a nice house large enough to have my family come visit during Holidays.
I don’t want to throw a pity parade... I know some have it worse. Some are overseas away from loved ones. Some are on planes going to work on Christmas. And some are completely alone. But it's always hard being so accustom to a certain tradition and then having to 100% adjust. In general it's hard being so far from family. If I had a bad night with little sleep, I don’t have family nearby for help. If I’m ever sick and unable to tend to Holly, it would take my mom 11 hours to get to me. But the holidays make that reminder that I’m far away much more noticeable. Don’t get me wrong, I love Florida. I love my Husband. I love he has an incredible job that currently I can stay at home with Holly everyday. Its just hard realizing that there’s certain milestones that I want my family to witness but sadly they aren’t able to.
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