Finally back in California after 4 years...

I can't believe the whole week in California has already passed! It was a brief and busy week with both sides of the family and I'm so glad we were finally able to come out. It had been a long 4 years in New England and it was so heartwarming to be back with the ones we love. From meeting up with my two closest friends, to going to Carmel, to having Thanksgiving with family, made for a truly fun and exciting week. Just like the holidays in Maine, it was busy and it seemed like we spent most of our time in the car, but it was well worth it. My favorite part of the trip was seeing how well Kevin fit in with the family. I think its safe to say that Kevin may have made some new buddies.

At some point on the airplane from San Jose to New York we hit a LOT of turbulence...well..."a lot of turbulence" means something different to Kevin, but needless to say I was shaking in my snow boots. We're talking full-on dramatics from me squeezing Kevin's hand so hard I could have easily broken it off, to tears streaming down my face while saying "I'm NEVER doing this again!!!!!" I'm not a good flyer. I'm probably one of the worst. I think every single bump means the whole plane is going to fall apart and I'm going to spiral down to my fiery death. Dramatic? Absolutely. I think its so ironically funny that I'm literally petrified of flying, yet Kevin is going to be a pilot someday. He's cool, calm, and collected while I'm wide awake even WITH a sleeping pill in my system. I realized flying over Iowa is not my friend, and the airport in New York not only has crazy looking people (women wearing 6 inch stilettos, and men wearing short shorts), but there's also birds hopping around pecking at crumbs of leftover muffins. Is it the weirdest thing you could see in an airport? Probably not, but it sure did make for an interesting layover.

It took us about 3 days to adjust back to Vermont time and weather. We were even greeted with snow on the drive back from the airport. We sluggishly sat around the rest of the weekend, and I had motion sickness for about 2 days straight...I didn't even know that was possible. Walking around the house, I must have resembled something of a drunken sailor. No joking...I was holding onto walls while I walked! haha

Anyways, thank you to everyone that made our trip memorable and exciting. Our apologies to everyone for being so tired the whole time...trust us, we are MUCH more fun on our Eastern time.

Love to everyone,
Amelia

Special Thanks:
Donna- Thank you for all of your hard work setting up Christmas for me. It really touched my heart.
Aunt Jody- Thank you for putting together the family album for me, the recipe to your delicious french toast cassarole that I couldn't quite get right on my own, and the Shark's water bottle. I'm sure I'll get some flack here in New England for carrying it around, but I don't care!!
Grandma- Thank you for letting us stay with you those 2 days...It was great getting to spend some alone time with you. And of course thank you for all of the hard work on Thanksgiving.
Mom- Thank you for showing the "embarassing" photos of me...nice try though, didn't work! haha And thank you for the sourdough bread, you know how much we love it!
Jason-Thank you for being so involved in our trip back to CA, it really meant a lot to me. Thank you for being kind and welcoming to my husband (he really likes having a brother)
Dad and Donna-Thank you for taking Kevin and I to my favorite restaurant, and driving us around all over the place, and for giving us our 2ND loaf of sourdough bread...do I talk about how much I miss it?? P.S. Pete's coffee still isn't as good as Starbucks!haha
Jacquie & Stephanie- Thank you for meeting with me at such random times of the night just to see me for a few hours. It was really sweet of you both to understand that even though I haven't seen you both in 4 years, you were content with what little time I could give you.


Sunday

Because Christmas is our favorite time of year, the tree was up and waiting for us as we arrived.

Monday

Finally, an updated photo of us!

"Welcome Back" dinner for Kevin and I

With Stephanie at the Cheesecake Factory. I can't believe we've been friends for almost 8 years!

Dessert with Stephanie and her boyfriend TJ

Tuesday

Santana Row for lunch

Grandma and Jason at Maggiano's

Jacquie and I, once again at the Cheesecake Factory...what can I say? Kevin and I love Cheesecake and there are NO restaurants where we live!

Wednesday

La Playa Hotel. Carmel, CA.

I LOVE Hydrangeas!

Give me a smooch!

Big Sur, CA.

Waiting for our table at Nepenthe

My all time FAVORITE restaurant!

Thursday

Thanksgiving at Grandma's house. Kevin's the turkey carver in Maine for Thanksgiving, so of course he went straight for the knife!

So, I may have taught the olive fingers to my Niece...what are Aunts for?!

Friday

Bike ride!

Saturday

Birds in JFK airport?...

View from the plane

You know you're in Vermont when you start to see GREEN!

Of course I couldn't leave San Jose without getting something to represent where I come from!