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My two week Christmas/ New Year vacation is coming to an end. While I'm sad to see it go, I'm very much ready to return home to California. Warm weather, sun shining, my job, my routines. I'm a fairly structured person, I like to believe. I love new years, new months, new weeks to start fresh and crisp.

The past two weeks have been packed with family, friends, tons of food, and an abundance of laughter. I started my trip by visiting my dad in the city (Louisville, KY that is). We spent the week just relaxing, seeing movies, shopping, Christmas Light looking, etc. It was a great time. We saw Sherlock Holmes on Christmas Day, and I have to say-I LOVED it! I knew that I would, I've been looking forward to it since the first day I saw the trailer for it. If you haven't seen the trailer, click HERE.

My dad and I got to visit my oldest brother, and that was so rewarding!! He is doing so well, and I can't wait to see what 2010 has for him. I also got to visit my youngest brother, Sam. We thought that he wasn't going to be able to be home for Christmas, but the Army came through and there he was!! He is doing so well also, and I'm so proud to have a brother in the military. We'll find out soon where he is to be stationed next; I'm looking forward to know where he'll be! I can't wait to go visit he and his wife, Tiffany.

From Louisville we drove down to Gatlinburg, TN to the cabin that my mom and her husband rented for us. We had so much fun just chilling by the fire, making tons of food, laughing, playing games, and warming up in the hot tub! Saturday we went shopping ALL DAY. We had so much fun, and I scored some awesome sales at the GAP outlet. Sunday we visited Ober Gatlinburg and went snow tubing, rode the alpine slide (I thought I was going to die!!),the chair lift to the top of the mountain, etc. The alpine slide is this fiberglass slide that is almost 2,000 feet long; down the side of a mountain. You get in this "cart" of sorts with wheels, and you go flying down the mountain!! It was so much fun, but I was scared I'd fall off! It's so high up, you have to take a ski lift to get there.

All in all, we had a blast. It was so great to be with family. My mom dropped me off in Nashville, and I met up with all of my different friends throughout the week. I'm staying with Katie, and so far we have had so much fun! We've been to all of our old "spots", Dan McGuiness, Blue Coast Burrito, 9Fruits Smoothies, etc. For New Years we got all dressed up and went downtown to the Flying Saucer. It's in the basement of my favorite hotel in Nashville, the Union Station Hotel. They had a live band, great food, darts, pool and the like. We left shortly after we rang in the New Year and called it a night. To get a good table, we got there fairly early, so by the time 12:00 came around, we were pooped! After taking friends home, we finally called it a night at 3:30am. SHEW! I'm just not that girl anymore!! New Years Day we rented movies, grabbed some food and stayed in most of the day. We had to recoup (as did the rest of the world) from the night before.

Today we are keeping it fairly low-key as well. Visiting my friends who are personal trainers is fun, but it makes you very sore! So we are heading to the YMCA for a quick, but hard work out. Then, hopefully we are going downtown to the Boot store to get my new cowboy boots!! A girl can't have too many. :) Tonight is a sweet friends wedding at the Cheekwood Estates, so I'm looking forward to celebrating with them.

I'll be posting my new years "resolutions" in the coming days-until then, have a fabulous new years weekend!