if you're my friend on facebook, you've probably seen most of the following pictures. but read on for more details of our christmas vacation!
tori & ron, my best friend from high school & her fiance, came to greenville where tori's parents relocated when we were in college. we got to show them downtown and take them to one of our favorite pizza places,
barley's. we're looking forward to celebrating their wedding near chicago on july 4th weekend this year!
we went to augusta for the first part of christmas week. there i got to see my other high school best friend, jessie. we had lunch at one of my favorites,
french market grille. here we are making snickerdoodles at her parents' house afterward.
we got to see chris' high school best friend, patrick, and his wife brooke. they moved to iowa this summer and returned to the south for christmas. we hung out with them the night they arrived in augusta- which was also brooke's birthday!
we spent the first part of the week with my family. we enjoyed going to see
a christmas carol and spending christmas eve together. here we are during an early christmas dinner on wednesday with my dad, mom, and brother andy.
christmas day we drove to chris' grandparents house in south georgia. there we enjoyed lots of time with his extended family. he has 11 cousins on that side...compare that to the 1 i have on my dad's side. i'd say i've adjusted to his BIG family. unfortunately, i didn't get a good picture of everybody. eva loved chasing chris' aunt & uncle's dog, jojo, who is a jack russell mix. i forget that even though eva is an inside dog, she LOVES having the freedom to run wherever she wants - not on a leash - out in the country.
my favorite gift of the year: the vest we got eva. i think chris thinks these types of things are mildly ridiculous, but he is a good sport and i promise she's needed it. this week has been quite cold in greenville! chris reminds me that dogs are bred for the cold weather, but he humors me and puts it on her when he takes her outside.
we rung in 2010 with friends from church, tim & blaire. i never seem to remember to get a picture of the four of us, but here chris & i are in their living room.
the holidays got to stretch on a little later this year. my grandparents from alabama came to visit my parents the week of new year's, and they all drove to greenville for the day saturday. it was wonderful to see them, and it was a nice not to have to drive anywhere. we enjoyed showing them our home and going to lunch.
this weekend, we got some snow/sleet. not quite as much as last year, but enough to keep us in the house all day saturday. 
i was going to attempt to run some errands, but i decided against it after i spent nearly a half hour scraping the ice off my windshields and slipped once, falling on my knee (no injuries to report, thankfully!). i don't know how people in the north survive this weather on a regular basis! 
eva didn't know what to make of the ice. here she is, cautiously approaching the "grass."
i thought the way the ice melted on these branches was really beautiful.
