Happy Holidays!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As surprising as it may be to some of you, Matt and I will be spending the holidays in our home in England. Nope, no big getaway planned. Oh, we thought about it and even thought of driving over to France with Cheyenne for the week, but we just didn't book anything in time. I didn't even put any decorations up because I thought we weren't going to be here. So, thank you to all those who sent Christmas cards because they are the only festive decorations we have.

On a happier note, one of my coworkers invited us over for Tea on Christmas Day. Sharon and I have become quite good friends over the last year and it was very sweet of her to invite us to join her family. We will be having dinner (lunch) here at home first, as traditional as I can get it, and will then go over around 6:00pm. Tea in England usually means the beverage, of course, and cakes and biscuits (i.e. cookies). She has two teenage daughters who are looking forward to Cheyenne coming over and I am looking forward to spending the evening with friends.

On New Year's Eve Matt and I will be joining another friend and her husband at a NYE gala in Rochester, Kent. This will be mine and Matt's first New Year's Eve party, as we usually dine out at a Japanese Hibachi restaurant on NYE and spend a quiet evening at home - our own tradition. Andrea and I became friends last year when she moved from Charleston, SC to join her English hubby in Rochester. It has been great to have another American friend over here to talk about the differences and know that someone else understands what you are going through. (It isn't all fun and games, you know.) She and I will be taking a day trip to Paris via the Eurostar on January 6th to celebrate her birthday, which falls between Christmas and the New Year.

January will be quite a busy month for us. I will be visiting an old friend in Berlin mid-month and a sorority sister and her sister will be visiting us at the end of the month. Matt will be off again to one country or another for work and I will be missing him all the more. After that I am sure the time will fly by and we will be back in Denver before we know it. We still don't have an exact move date, but it should be no later than April. We will keep everyone posted!

We hope to hear from you and see pictures from your holiday celebrations!