Day 65: December 30, 2010.

I'm really sleepy tonight, so this is all I'm going to say:
Class today at my old dance studio was awesome.
It felt so good to be moving after these two and a half weeks off.
And dancing in a room with such fun people.
A ton of dancers came out, both current students and LSB alumni, and it was really great that so many of the people that I've known and danced with for SO many years were all able to come together in the studio together again :)

Today, dance and being able to dance with such incredible and fun people make me happy :)

Day 64: December 29, 2010.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not really a huge fan of driving.  (One of the reasons why city livin' is fitting me nicely these days! Haha!)  I do enjoy driving when I come home for breaks, though, probably since I don't do it a whole lot anymore.  I do a lot of the driving for my parents, take my sister places...I don't mind half as much as I used to.  Today, some wonderful friends and I went out to shop at the Gabriel Brothers' discount warehouse in Winchester and I did the driving.  It's really easy to get to, basically straight down west Route 7.  It's a gorgeous drive.  It's amazing how one county has such different areas.  Western Loudoun is so much different than the places I'm familiar with (Ashburn, Leesburg and Reston mostly, with a little knowledge of a bit of Sterling), and it extends on forever!  It was such a pretty drive (and without any traffic!), and I really enjoyed seeing such beautiful trees and farmland and sky.  It was definitely an enjoyable drive and the people I was with made it all the more fun! :)

And the fact that I saw this in a vending machine today made me literally L.O.L.

It's a dill pickle?

Today, beautiful scenery, traffic-less drives and random pickles in vending machines make me happy :)

Day 63: December 28, 2010.

First of all, Despicable Me is THE cutest movie I've seen in a really long time.  Not to mention absolutely hilarious!
Those minions? The definition of awesome! :) Haha!

Tonight's going to be a wonderful evening.  I'm headed back out to Reston in a few hours for some ice skating and dinner-ing in the Town Center, but not before picking up some of the most fabulous ladies I'm lucky enough to have stayed so close with since high school graduation.  (I know it hasn't been all that long, but it's so easy to lose touch with people quickly, as I'm sure we've all experienced!)  Shiori and Meghann I've fortunately been able to see every so often on breaks here and there, but I haven't seen Taylor since just after graduation since her family moved down to Georgia right when we finished high school!  So this is really the first time I've seen her in a year and a half and I can't WAIT!  And being such close friends since the first day of freshman year, it's been really upsetting to not be able to just drive down the road to her house to hang out like we used to.  It'll be so fun to reconnect with some of my best high school friends while enjoying each other's company during a fun, winter-y activity in a fun little part of town! :)

Today, friendship and fun group outings make me happy :)

Day 62: December 27, 2010.

Coming at you live today from Nana and Pop-pop's in Reston, VA!
I was actually supposed to be in New York City right now.  Chase and I were going to head up today to see a performance tonight and then head back tomorrow, but thanks to the crazy snowfall in NY/NJ, all reasonable transportation options were cancelled.  It's really a bummer since the show is going to be spectacular (Merde to everyone dancing in "Prelude" tonight at The Joyce!), but getting to hang at my grandparents' house with the fam is a perfect alternative!

No matter how old I get, coming to Nana and Pop-pop's house is one of my favorite visits to make while I'm home.  I love the people, I love the area, I love the house...I was thinking as I turned into their street last week how much I'd love to live in this house someday (if only I could somehow get it to New York or find jobs dancing in Northern Virginia, neither of which are seeming like doable options for the time being! Haha!).  It's a fabulous house and a lot of time has been spent in it since the time I was born.  It sits in some of Reston's beautiful woods.  The front/side is spacious and has a great hill perfect for sledding.  The backyard has a big deck that feeds into the patio where us kids used to ride our plastic big wheels around and draw with chalk.  There's a woodshed where we used to play "Train" and pretend we were travelers going across the country on, you guessed it, a train, using rocks for fuel, sticks for steering mechanisms, upside down buckets for stools and seats, and we even had a map of the U.S. up so that we knew where we were heading.  Beyond that is the bike path...I used to go for walks back there all the time.  There was a swing set down the path in either direction that I liked to visit often.  There are tall, tall trees all over the place.  There's No Place Like Home! (a quote from Pop-pop's favorite movie) is painted over the window in the kitchen.  The SuperNintendo in the basement is still hooked up and still works.  (Morgan and I just came up from playing Mario World 3, actually!)  Holidays are held here.  "Spa time" happens frequently while I'm home (which is just me coming to visit to eat a lot of chocolate, watch some old movies and hang out and do nothing :))  This house is filled with a lot of memories and is one of the places that I look forward to coming back to the most when I'm home from school :)

I'll never get tired of this place :)

Today, Sourwood Lane and the home in the trees make me happy :)

Day 61: December 26, 2010.

I hope everyone's enjoying their day after Christmas!  Sorting through gifts, letting all that food settle...We've got round two of Christmas coming up within the next few hours at my Aunt's house for Dad's side of the family, so I figured I'd update this before the craziness of the day starts!

I love Sundays at home.  I may have already done a post on this, but if I have then I'm going to do another!  Sundays during the fall and winter were always my favorite days during high school.  Nutcracker season was in full swing, so after church, Chase and I would go out to lunch with his family (and sometimes even swing by the mall to do a little shopping after we'd had our birthdays and had gotten some birthday money from family!) before heading out to Leesburg for our afternoon rehearsals.  I loved coming home after rehearsal in the late afternoon and being able to wind down before a new week started.  Something about a fall and winter Sunday fills my heart with much joy.

Virginia Sundays are my favorite when I'm on break.  I love waking up on Sunday mornings and turning on my music and singing while I get ready for church.  I love going to church to hear the great sermons and being able to see so many fabulous people.  (I've got some of THE BEST friends!!)  Oftentimes I go over to Nana and Pop-pop's after service for lunch and to hang out.  It's something about the feeling I have when I wake up on these days...It's a peace and a rest that can't be shaken :)  Ahhhh, love it, love it, love it!

Today, the presence of Sunday makes me happy :)

Day 60: December 25, 2010.

MERRY, MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS, BEAUTIFUL FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!


I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas day, sharing in the joy and happiness of this day of celebration with loved ones!  It was a fabulous Christmas in the McGowan house, for sure!  McGowan family Christmases are pretty low-maintenance occasions, but that's one of my favorite things about the holiday! :)  Here's a little rundown of the day:

-Mom and Dad woke Morgan and me up at 9.  (Yup, this is the first year the parents have had to wake the kids up!  Boy, how times are changing!)
-Snow was falling from the sky.  Nothing crazy, but yes, a baby white Christmas was had :)
-Family presents/breakfast.
-Home screening of Despicable Me.  It was the first time I'd seen it and I absolutely LOVED it!  Those little Minions are too dang cute!
-Nana and Pop-pop's for some fun with the Sadlers and Rossbachs!
-LOTS of chocolate was consumed.  I just may explode :)
-Home to chill :) (And to watch The Goonies!  Haha!  Thank you Santa!)

It was such a nice day overall.  Nothing excessive.  Just family.  Some gifts.  Lots of conversation.  Tons of laughter.  And tomorrow we get to do round 2 with Dad's side of the family! :)

I'm SO thankful for the holidays and the family I get to spend them with :):)

Tonight on this Christmas night, low-key family gatherings, the family that gathers, and the ability for the family to gather make me happy :)

Day 59: December 24, 2010.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE, EVERYONE! 


Christmas Eve never feels like Christmas Eve to me.  It's always such a fabulous day and I always know that tomorrow is Christmas, I just find myself amazed every single year at how quickly the year went by!  It's so crazy to me!  Anyway, today really was a wonderful day!  I spent the day on "my" couch in my PJ's, watching the Christmas movies running on TV, hanging out with my sister...It was low-key, restful and I enjoyed every moment of the afternoon!  Tonight's 8pm Christmas Eve service at The Community Church was absolutely beautiful and the spirit of the season was apparent in the whole sanctuary between every member of the congregation!  :)

Some McGowan family Christmas Eve traditions are still held up, so after service, It's a Wonderful Life was watched, Christmas cookies were eaten (a LOT of Christmas cookies, I might add!), a fire's lit, Morgan and I got to open our "surprise" Christmas Eve gifts (pajamas as always!) the cookies and milk (and carrots for the reindeer!) were left out for Santa and the stockings were hung.  Mom had the camera and Dad had the video camera the whole time.

It was a successful Christmas Eve and I am more than ready to jump into the Christmas day celebration tomorrow morning and all the festivities that go along with it :)

Tonight on Christmas Eve of 2010, the spirit of the season makes me happy and I'm more thankful than words can describe for the people who I get to share it all with :)

Of course, let us not forget...

Luke 2:8-14--
  
  ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”


As spoken by Linus.....
A Charlie Brown Christmas! :)

Have a WONDERFUL Christmas, everyone :)