christmas come and gone

I can hardly believe my break is coming to an end.  Not in a bad way, it both feels as though I have been on vacation for months and just a few seconds, it's just crazy how time moves differently during different events.  First off my (28th!) birthday was such a great celebration with family.  I always feel so surrounded with love on my birthday, which I attribute to the day falling so close to Christmas...I get the joy of seeing my entire family all together almost every year, and everyone goes an extra mile to make me feel special during such a hectic time so I don't feel overshadowed.  It was just a nice day, we ate at Pei Men Miyake (one of our favorite places in Portland) for lunch with Joe and Emily, and made it out to the cabin for a homemade dinner of seafood piaya and presents with the whole family.  JP surprised me with a giant birthday cake from the gluten free bakery in town which was delicious!

Our humble home for the holidays

 We spent our time at the cabin tromping around in the outdoors, making food and playing games.  We got out for a few hikes before the dump of snow obscured the trails.  In fact the snow even extended Micah's stay unexpectedly! We went to the beach and to a lighthouse, found lots of ice to stomp/crush/throw rocks at/bowl on, rediscovered cat tails and the joys of destroying them, and just generally enjoyed the beauty of being outdoors during such a cozy season.

 And of course the beauty of being indoors during such a cozy season wasn't lost on us either

 

 

Sometimes gathering seven people in one house, six of whom are related, can be a bit stressful, but it didn't seem to be!  There was enough space to spread out, and I think having everyone on neutral ground gave the whole gathering a different sort of tone.  I had such a great hang!  It was also quite nice to have the pups with us for the holidays, something that isn't always feasible.  Overall I had a really, really great vacation.  I feel renewed, exercised and well slept for the first time in a long time!  My school went easy on us for this first week back, so we've got a pretty light schedule for the next couple of days.  I am planning on a little trip with Obie to Vermont to see Em next weekend, so I am going to just pretend I've got a little vacation extension of my own.  Happy New Year!