'Tis the Season!

After school ended for Christmas break things slowed down... 



waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay 



d
            o
                          w
                                        n. 



I spent my mornings sleeping in, waiting for Brian to get off work, and making life simple again.  I wasn't going to leave for Hawaii until December 28th, so I spent Christmas day with, first, Brian and the guys house at CMA in the morning.  Then, in the afternoon I went to Melissa's house for a cookout with her, her parents, and fiance Carlos.  We had EXCELLENT chuleta (pork chops) on the gril. OH. MY. GOODNESS they were so good! Melissa and I got engaged around the same time, so we of course had to take a picture of our fabulous rings :) 

The next day, the 26th, was the reason I stayed in the DR till the 28th...Melissa's wedding! We got our hair and makeup done - dOmInIcAn style - que chulo! 
We were basically dominican barbies...

Her and Carlos looked so great, and we had a great time! Definitely had a great time at her big, fat, dominican wedding (as she calls it) ;)

The 28th of December I flew on three planes, and 18 hours later landed in Honolulu.  It was super weird to be home at this time of year, let alone for only about 12 days.  But who knows when i'll be in Hawaii again? 
In one word, here's what I did while I home...

SHOP.


Every single day, except new years. For what? Pretty much all wedding stuff. At least now I can say I'm prepared for my big day! 

New Years Eve was uneventful. I fell asleep at 7pm, woke up at 11:59, said "happy new year," and went to bed. stupid jet lag.... or maybe i'm just old? 

In between shopping, I was in desperate need for the beach. The stupid rain kept me from my tanning crave, so I just went anyway.  Luckily, there were some patches of sun up there somewhere. 


The Saturday before I left, my mom threw me a bridal shower.  It was so great to see some old friends, make some new ones, and just celebrate getting married with people that have known me for a very long time! I'm really not used to having all the attention centered on me, but it wasn't all that bad after a while ;) 

Then I had to say goodbye :( Not as many tears at the airport like normal, but it was still hard to say goodbye.  At least I'll see my family again in two months!!! :):):):)