December

Weather
December was overall a great month. This year December was a very, very cloudy month for Phoenix. It was cloudy so often that I found myself cursing the weather. (I never curse Phoenix's weather in the winter. It's perfect here!) Luckily the weather in January has been making up for it. It's absolutely gorgeous and I haven't even needed a jacket during the day. We've been spending lots of time outside, which is lovely.

OK, back to December! The early weeks of the month were the hardest for me since Chris was away from home quite a bit. The last couple weeks of the school semester meant he was wrapped up in projects and lots of group meetings. By the time finals were over, I was pretty jealous of all the time school stole him away from me. Though it helped remind me to appreciate all the time I normally get with him.

My parents came to visit for a weekend. We had only a few plans, but ended up mostly staying around the house. I think the cold & cloudy weather did it. I loved just hanging out with them and talking. We also baked holiday cookies, cooked lots of great food, watched The Blind Side in the theater (and loved it), and went out to eat a couple times. It was an awesome weekend. I hope they visit us again soon.

Due to catching a cold, Chris and I missed a few holiday parties, which was a huge disappointment. But we were healthy for Celeste & Josiah's Dessert Party. It was a fun time with lots of sweets!

Out of Town Visitors
We were blessed with a few more out of town visitors in December as friends were in town for work, visiting family, or just passing through.

I got to see a friend from grad school, Aaron, who was here doing work. David & Arianne drove from Texas to California to spend the holiday with family. They stopped in Phoenix for a quick lunch with us. Later in the month, Cinnamon & Andrew were visiting family for Christmas. Luckily they stole away from the family for a couple hours and had dinner with us. Stewie just loved Cinnamon and she is now claiming him as her Phoenix boyfriend. (I don't think Andrew is too jealous.)

David & Arianne

Cinnamon & Andrew

Reconnecting with B
A highlight of December for me was reconnecting with B, the young woman I mentor. We hadn't seen each other in a couple months so it was great to catch up. She turned 17 in November, which reminded me how fast time moves the older we get. She's so positive and happy. It's amazing how comfortable we've become having known each other for over a year. Time is an important component of building trust.

We saw New Moon, the second movie in the Twilight series, in the theater together. It was great to hear her gush over the actor who plays Jacob. This past year I read all the books in the series and thought she would enjoy them as well. So B's Christmas present was the first three books. (The fourth isn't in paperback yet.) It was wonderful, wonderful to find out that only a few days later she had already begun the first book and couldn't put it down. I'm glad she's reading and enjoying it. Most importantly, I'm glad she's back in my life and that we're spending time together.

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