It's Like We Never Left

Its feels that way sometimes. You know, when you're looking forward to a trip for so long and then in a blink of an eye its gone--and suddenly you're back at work talking to endless panicked parents whose child's high school transcripts haven't been sent yet even though today is the deadline and their child is distraught because they have wanted to go to UT since the womb--the WOMB I tell you! (Don't even think for one second I haven't really heard this.) Anyway . . . today it almost felt like we never escaped Knoxville in the first place.
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Almost.
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We actually have proof that we did get away for a few days.
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Our drive up was a relatively uneventful one . . . except the part where we thought we were going to Virginia. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the interstates out here (oh, how I miss the simplicity of I-15), but our plan was to go up I-75, through Lexington, KY, to Cincinnati, then jump on I-65 through Indianapolis to Lafayette. Simple enough. C's mom asked us to call when we reached Lexington (exit 115) so she knew we were still alive. I was driving the first half, so I was watching for Exit 115. After a long while, I realized the exits were no longer counting up. And where did all the signs for Lexington go? So I said "Uh, C, where did Lexington go?" There were a few tense moments and frustration and I felt like an idiot and I was wondering if we were going to spend Thanksgiving in Virginia. Then we saw a sign for Louisville, KY. Turns out I turned onto (except I NEVER turned, thank you very much) I-64 west at some point. So we went through Louisville then straight up I-65 through southern Indiana and on to Lafayette. Turns out I actually did it on purpose, because with traffic the way it was in Cincinnati, we actually reached our destination faster by going through Louisville--so there.
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Upon our arrival we were met with a giant box in the living room. To our knowledge, C's entire family except his sister S would be at Thanksgiving this year. S is the last Connolly kid still at BYU. She told us she didn't feel like flying home and would just stay in Provo. All the siblings gave her a rough time for not coming out and there were even moments of anger toward her (all in love--we wanted her here). So back to the big box in the living room--turns out it contained a special guest:

It was hilarious. We were happy S came and C was able to enjoy his first Thanksgiving at home since he was a senior in high school--with his whole family present.

C helping to set the Thanksgiving feast

Beautiful Conn sisters ready to eat

Mandatory self-taken picture

Sammie doing what she does best--looking cute so you'll give her human food

Post-dinner nap time

On Thanksgiving night we pursued a little trivia.

Memo to me: never play Trivial Pursuit against C's dad, who knows ridiculous amounts of random information that no person should really know, especially when the said Trivial Pursuit was made 5 years before you were even born.

On Friday we participated in the long-practiced ritual of Black Friday. We went to a store called Gordman's, which is a fun clothes store, at 5 am. It was a little insane and I don't plan on ever doing it again, but it was the first time either of us had done such a thing, so it was a fun experiment. We were home by about 7:30 and I proceeded to sleep until 11. Then we saw Twilight (see previous post) and after that we headed to the mall--for a long time. After dinner, we made it back to Gordman's and finished the night around 9:00 at TJMaxx.

Saturday we got time to relax. In the morning we took some family pictures (see below). By lunch time I was back in my PJs and planted on the couch, where I would remain until I went to bed (for the record, I did get up to get enchiladas, and ice cream, and to visit C in the computer room where he was working on his 50 page paper). Me and various mixtures of his sisters watched a whole day's worth of movies: Rocky IV, Harry Potter 5, Persuasion, and Cinderella Man. It was a nice relaxing day--exactly what I needed before driving home on Sunday.

When we woke up on Sunday morning, we were greeted with this:

I think Indiana was giving me a little gift to remember it by.

The snow was beautiful and a welcome sight for an Idaho girl--except we had a 7 hour drive ahead of us. The trip home was slow, and I actually watched a truck roll over in front of my very eyes, but we made it and it was so nice to get back to our little home.

It was a great holiday and I'm so happy we decided to go and grateful for C's parents for providing such a great Thanksgiving!

But now I'm back and work . . . and it's like we never left.