Welcome home

I left Midland early Saturday morning. I wanted to get to family as soon as possible. Having had some stressful workdays leading to vacation time, I sure needed the escape. Two weeks off and three different cities was my ticket to relaxation.

But first, we finally revealed who our secret Bulldogs were. Mine was surprised and had no idea it was me!

And who was my secret bulldog? My boss! The big enchilada. I sure had lots of fun giving him gifts this semester. When will I ever have an excuse to give him awesome gifts without looking weird or stalkish? Haha

I sure enjoyed giving him gifts. I haven't given a gift to a man in a long time, so I had fun thinking of what to give him. I hope he enjoyed them.

My secret bulldog on the other hand, just gave me an apology for being a terrible bulldog and then walked away. I was left feeling hurt and bummed. I had so much fu giving away gifts, I got caught up in the moment. I imagined mine would come in with an amazing gift. Everyone in the room had gifts for everyone. I felt a little cheated.

These are the last two gifts I gave my secret bulldog aka my boss.

The last day of school was stressful and tiresome. I had some issues with some grades and was exhausted.

Anyway, first on the itinerary for my two week vacation: Fort Worth.

Heavy fog prevented me from leaving early on Saturday, but I drove slow and made it out of the heavy fog area.

I spent the day hanging out with my sister. Much sister time was needed. Then early Sunday, we had breakfast at our favorite place before heading out to Austin.

Then we spent two amazing days with these bundles of joy:

They opened the Christmas gifts we gave them and it was such a magical time. They loved their gifts!

Aly couldn't decide what gift to play with. It was precious and hilarious. She just stood there, until she picked one and went off to play.

Aly, making Tia very happy since June 2011.

Here is Caleb building the train we got him for Christmas.

Some more fun moments:

And my favorite:

Endless hours with these two, watching television or playing, was the best part of it all.

And before we headed out to my parents house to the RGV, we made a stop at a coffee shop that has this sign. I wanted to take a photo and finally did! It was cold, freezing and windy. They have delicious coffee too!

And I saw that my college bookstore was opened, so we stopped and I took photos and bought a lot of alumni stuff.

Here at the university seal. 

I miss this school so much. Good times were had here.

We stopped in San Antonio and ate here:

I know, I felt like such a tourist.

Then my sister and I arrived home. We made the drive in five hours and it was all worth it because this was waiting for us. Homemade food. Yum. Yum.

Then I photobomed Prudence the dog.

Lots of coffee and food.

I have been so happy this past week. I know that a lot is waiting for me next semester with advisory classes, more lesson plans and more stress because of state tests. I will try not to think about work for another week. Until then, more fun is waiting for me.