Christmas Down Under!

Hello!!

I've been completely MIA, for which I apologize, but I have a good reason - JP and I spent Christmas in Australia!

We were in Sydney for almost 3 weeks, visiting and staying with JP's family (grandfather, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc), and spending a lot of time in the ocean, in a pool, or shopping. 

Pretty much the perfect vacation haha.
 

We went to the beach almost every day, ate fried calamari on Bondi Beach, tried the world's best gelato (actually was legitimately voted 'World's Best'!), got completely spoiled by his family (they are the most generous people), played Uno! and Trivial Pursuit, ate practically nothing except candy and desserts (I'm in full blown sugar-free detox mode currently, but it was worth it haha), played with koalas and kangaroo's, devoted a lot of time and effort into avoiding spiders, wandered around Darling Harbor, and rang in the new year by watching 3 massive fireworks shows around Sydney Harbor!

Oh I miss it so much. 

Except that I did nothing productive (school-wise) the entire time I was there and I just finished my first week back and am paying for it a little haha. 

And now for about a million pictures:

Christmas Eve:

^^^ the appetizer table! Delicious!

^^^ aunts and cousins! 

 Christmas Morning!

Bondi --> Coogee walk!

^^^ GELATO!

Koala Park!

^^^ I know I weirdly look like I am pushing the Koala off the ledge... but I'm not haha

^^^ family photo

THE BEACH!

^^^ One day we even tried going to the beach when it was freezing... we lasted about 35 minutes haha

^^^ Fireworks! 

And if you feel so inclined, you can see our Australia adventures from 2 years ago:

Exploring Sydney

Bondi Beach

CHRISTMAS

Koala Park!

The 6th Annual Christmas Party!

My friend Jordan and I (see the above pic? That's us!) hosted our 6th annual holiday soiree last weekend and I say this every year but think it was the best year yet!

Instead of a sit down dinner with place cards and hams and potatoes and lots of stress, we did a cocktail-style event and it was fabulous! We had cabaret tables and about 20 different appetizers and desserts, not to mention holiday punch and of course, the white elephant gift exchange! 

This year might have been the best year when it comes to the... um... variety of the white elephant gifts haha and seriously it was such a blast. 

I ended up with a Christmas clock that plays holiday songs every hour and some other lucky winners went home with a 49ers snuggy, a homemade twinky machine, and a pickle (to name a few!) 

This party is one that I look forward to each year - it's the best way to get all our friends from the past 6+ years together and spend a fabulous evening mingling and chatting and catching up. 

This year we had over 50 people come (!!!) and a new addition to the festivities included a photo backdrop that was made by Jordan's sister Kendel - it was maybe the most amazing backdrop I've ever seen and she also was the unofficial photographer of the night and took everyone's pictures in front of it! (seriously Kendel, you're a champ) I didn't even manage to take any photos of the centerpieces, the food, or the decor because I was too busy chatting and then suddenly 4 hours had passed and the party was over. 

What a night! Without any snow around it had hardly felt like Christmas, but after this party I was catapulted right into the Christmas spirit!

And thank you to everyone who came!

And I apologize in advance if your picture didn't make this post! There were  a lot to sort through and some most likely definitely slipped through the cracks!

^^^ Look at how amazing this made-from-scratch-and-held-together-with-3-nails backdrop is!

See previous years HERE and HERE!

So so thankful in 2014:

A few things I'm thankful for this year:

(yes, it's halfway through December but there was no way this post was going to get written in the middle of finals week - which I survived, by the way. 

So Happy very-late Thanksgiving! Hope yours was grand.)

>>> A husband who is unbelievably supportive of me and my dreams and also equally willing and excited to plan adventures around the world or just binge-watch Game of Thrones in our apartment. 

>>> The fact that I'm somehow in medical school and learning to be a doctor! I have a moment at least weekly where I can't believe this is my life - SO GRATEFUL!

>>> My family (and especially my parents!) that not only do I love, but I love being around! I love our hilarious group chats and face-timing at midnight and how I know they've always got my back - they're my people, and I am thankful for it. 

>>> Friends - new and old - that care about my life and make me realize how wonderful people can be (and are so much fun to buy Christmas presents for!)

>>> Our little apartment that is in the perfect location and is the perfect size for me and JP - not to mention the fabulous family that is renting it to us!

And now, a few pictures from our Thanksgiving, including but not limited to matching sweaters, deep fried turkey, and black and white checkered McKenzie Child dinnerware:

A Weekend in Park City:

This past weekend JP and I went up to Park City with our friends Eric and Kimmi for a weekend getaway!

We headed up on Friday and continued our halloween tradition of getting Chinese takeout for dinner. 

We played games and went hot tubbing, watched movies and the boys played a lot of FIFA. On Saturday we lounged around and explored shops on mainstreet, followed by dinner at Zoom!

Then, probably the best moment of all was waking up to SNOW on Sunday! It was seriously magical. 

And now we're trying to come up with a reason to go back this weekend haha