Life Lately in the World of this Jersey Girl

In case you hadn't noticed, it's been pretty quiet around these parts this past week.  Not for lack of wanting to be here with you all, but because of the fact that since coming back from my cousin's wedding in Mexico my life has just been so darn busy!

After getting back from Mexico it was back to the grind with work for a few days and I must admit, while I missed some of my co-workers I did NOT miss all that we have to deal with on a regular basis.  Being a bartender has been fun, but I am starting to think that I have perhaps hit my limit with it and that it is truly time for me to move on.  Sure I have wanted to move on for a while and to put my education to use, but I didn't want to do it for less than I was making now.  But now I am really starting to think that taking a pay cut might be necessary in order to save my sanity.

Drinking Sweet Tea out of pitchers... cause that is how we roll

Thank goodness after our return I only worked 2 shifts before having another weekend off to enjoy some good times with great friends.  On Friday, December 5th Mark and I headed into West Chester to meet up with some friends for dinner and to watch the Old Fashioned Christmas Parade.  The only thing that would have made it better would been if it hadn't been raining.  But don't worry, despite the rain we still managed to have a great time!

Out to dinner with some of our best friends

Selfies while watching the parade in the rain

On Saturday morning Mark and I got up and braved the rain to go cut down our Christmas tree.  My parents were supposed to come with us, but they smartly decided to stay home in their nice warm house instead of trudging through the mud and rain to find a tree.  Although the weather was less than pleasant, we still managed to find a great tree... it might be our biggest yet.  It took both of us to carry it from the car to our apartment... it was sooooo incredibly heavy.  We put it up on Saturday night to decorate whenever we had the time.

Our 2014 Christmas Tree!!!

This is definitely by far the biggest tree we have ever had

Sunday morning we got up to  head to NJ so that I could go to my friend from high school's baby shower.  I have known KD and KD since I don't even know when in high school and I was so happy to be invited to be a part of celebrating their baby girl!! It was also great to get to catch up with one of my other friends from high school... every time we all get together it reminds me of how much I love them and how much I miss them!

PVHS Ladies at KD's baby shower

Sunday night we got to have some real NJ pizza (so much better than pizza in the Philly area) and also got to spend some time with my Grammy.  While I love spending time with her, I feel like it gets harder and harder each time I see her because I see how much she is deteriorating.  Alzheimer's (& dementia) is such a hard disease in that very often you can see your loved ones slipping away from you and losing their memories and all of that.  Grammy was one of the smartest people that I have ever known... I know that the smart, sharp, quick witted Grammy is still in there, but sometimes it is just really hard to see her and see how much she has lost.

On Monday Mark and I did a few things around the house for my parents before heading back home to West Chester.  Before we left I managed to set up the Snow Village for Mom which is one of my favorite things to do at the holidays.  I love to be able to create the different scenes... a town scene, a neighborhood scene, a church scene.... and I love that every year they look a little different.

When we got back home on Monday it was a super happy mail day for me as my new cell phone arrived along with my new Erin Condren Life Planner and note cards!

Our 2014 Tree all decorated

Starting on Tuesday I had a ridiculous week at work... closing Tuesday, opening as manager Wednesday, closing Thursday, closing Friday and opening as manager on Saturday.  That meant two "clopens" for me... which meant getting home after 2am and having to be back at work by 8am.

Saturday night we had dinner with friends who we haven't gotten to see much recently because mainly of my work schedule.  It was so nice to get to spend some time with them and it made me realize how much I miss those interactions with our college friends.

Sunday was a day for us to get a bunch of errands done as well as a day to finish our decorating and bake some Christmas cookies!!

M&M Cookies

Drop Sugar Cookies

Candle Holder Mark made from the part of our tree stump we cut off the bottom of the tree so it would fit in our house

Sunday was also the day that one of my best friends graduated from college after what I think she would describe as a long road to graduation so we were lucky enough to go out to celebrate with her!! It was great to get another night out with some of my favorite people... especially after what was one of the longest work weeks of my life!

Some of the best friends that a girl could ever ask for!!

So this is what has been going on in the crazy life of this Jersey girl since our return from Mexico!! Still lots to accomplish before Christmas (like shopping which is barely started), but I am confident that Mark and I will get it all done!! 

What have you been up to lately?